Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

Naomi lay unconscious on a small bed in her chambers. She had just been healed by one of her comrades, Victoria, who sat on a wooden chair beside her. Victoria's curly golden-blonde hair poured down her back, while her simple, beautiful white dress covered her body, thin brown curling lines running across the fabric. Her golden-brown eyes remained fixed on Naomi's unconscious figure, concern evident in her face.

The room had been quiet for some time, the only sound coming from Naomi's faint breathing. The vice captain stood beside the bed with his arms folded, his gaze occasionally shifting toward Naomi. He had been shocked when he first heard what had happened, but now confusion had begun to replace that shock. He needed Naomi to wake up. Whatever had happened out there, she was the only one who could tell them exactly what they were dealing with.

*How could this happen?* he thought. *To put Naomi in such a state and kill our two B-rank hunters like that.*

"When is she going to wake up?" the vice captain finally asked.

"I'm not sure," Victoria answered. "She's completely healed, but she seems to be in shock. It might take hours for her to wake up."

The vice captain's arms slowly fell to his sides. He stared at Naomi for a moment before looking back at Victoria.

"But how is this even possible? Gary said that the hunter was a C-rank. We already concluded that he's a false ranker, but to beat an A-rank assassin like this?" His brow furrowed as he struggled to make sense of it. "It doesn't make any sense. He can only be an A-rank plus, or maybe an S-rank, which wouldn't make any sense either."

"Maybe... maybe he is," Victoria responded after a slight pause.

The vice captain looked down at Naomi before responding. "If he is, why is he even hunting in a fractured monster zone? And why is he targeting our guild?"

"What if he wasn't? Maybe because Gary provoked him—"

Victoria's words were cut off as the vice captain suddenly turned toward her. He grabbed the back of her wooden chair and pulled it around to face him so quickly that the legs scraped against the floor. Victoria gasped, her body tensing as she looked up at him.

"Provoked him?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing.

"He didn't have a reason to kill Gene," he said. "Gene was only sent there to observe, and his ally killed him. She's even killed Lucy. They obviously have some type of grudge against us."

"You're right," Victoria said quickly, her body stiffening beneath his gaze.

The vice captain remained silent for a moment, his grip still tight around the back of the chair. Eventually, his hand slipped away from the chair, leaving a visible crack in the wood where his fingers had been gripping it.

"...But we'll just have to wait for her to wake up so we can find out more about what happened."

"Call me when she wakes up," he said before turning toward the door.

Victoria watched him leave, the sound of his footsteps fading down the hallway. Only after the door closed behind him did she finally sigh, her tense muscles slowly relaxing.

A memory suddenly flashed through her mind.

Catherine panicking as she called her.

The sight of Lucy's blood covering her face.

Victoria's hand slowly rose to her forehead as the memory replayed in her mind. Her heart began pounding harder against her ribs, the feeling of unease returning to her chest. She had never encountered anything like this since joining the guild. She had healed injuries before, but never anything like the wounds Naomi had suffered.

Her fingers pressed against her forehead as she lowered her gaze toward the floor.

Something about what had happened felt wrong.

And for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the end of it.

***

Meanwhile, back at the base, Rebecca had just returned with Tyler. As she made her way through the camp, she noticed that there weren't nearly as many hunters around as there usually were, but the few who were there couldn't help staring at her. She couldn't blame them. She was walking through the base with an unconscious man hanging over her back.

She found it somewhat embarrassing, but she ignored the looks and continued forward, eventually reaching the tent. She ducked beneath the canvas flap and stepped inside.

Serena was standing behind the counter, sorting through a stack of flyers. She hadn't noticed Rebecca enter until Tyler was lowered onto the wooden bench with a loud thud.

Rebecca straightened, rolling her shoulders as she let out a long sigh. Her back ached from carrying him all the way back.

"Why are you so heavy?" she muttered, breathing heavily.

Serena's eyes widened.

"Is that...?" she muttered before immediately walking around the counter.

She stopped beside Rebecca, her gaze falling onto Tyler's unconscious body.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

Rebecca glanced at her. *This woman... who is she to him? They seemed close.*

She remembered how casually Tyler had spoken to Serena earlier.

"We were attacked. But we managed to escape."

Serena crouched beside Tyler, carefully examining him. She lifted one of his hands, turning it slightly as she inspected his body.

There wasn't a scratch on him. *He isn't hurt anywhere.* Her eyes moved to his chest, watching the slow rise and fall as he breathed. he's clearly unconscious.*

Something suddenly clicked in her mind.

Serena straightened and looked at Rebecca.

"We?" she asked. "So you went hunting together?"

Rebecca hesitated. "No, I ran into him in the monster zone, and that's when it happened."

Serena stared at her for another moment before looking back at Tyler.

For some reason, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She believed Tyler couldn't get hurt in this particular monster zone? She knew he was strong, perhaps even the strongest hunter stationed here.

"I don't believe you," she said.

"What?" Rebecca breathed.

"I don't believe you. What happened? What did you do to him!?"

Rebecca stepped forward, her expression tightening. "I didn't do anything. We were attacked by a horde of monsters. They were hard to fight off."

"Stop lying. There aren't even that many monsters left in this zone anymore. Hunters don't even come here as often as they used to."

Rebecca opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself. She looked at Serena for a moment before letting out a small sigh.

"If you don't believe me, that's fine. It's up to you. But I just saved his life. If I'd left him there, he would've died. You should be thanking me."

Serena's expression hardened as anger and frustration continued to build inside her.

She knew Tyler didn't get along with the woman standing in front of her. After what had happened that morning, Rebecca's story made even less sense.

*Why would she save Tyler after what happened? She's obviously lying.*

Before Serena could say anything else, Tyler suddenly groaned.

His fingers twitched against the bench as his eyes slowly fluttered open. For a few seconds, the canvas ceiling above him remained nothing more than a blurry mass. His vision gradually cleared, the shapes around him becoming sharper.

"Tyler?" Serena said, helping Tyler sit up straight. Tyler grabbed his forehead, his fingers pressing against his temple as he felt a small pulse of a headache before it suddenly vanished. He blinked a few times, his eyebrows rising as he saw Rebecca and Serena staring at him.

"How did I get here?" he asked, his voice groggy as he looked between them.

"You were knocked out back in the monster zone. So I had to carry you all the way here." Rebecca adjusted her shoulders after saying it, still feeling the strain from carrying him such a long distance.

With that, the last seconds of what happened before he fainted all resurfaced in his mind in a breath. The memory of the monster zone came rushing back, along with the pain that had coursed through his body.

*Right. I fainted because of the rush skills aftereffects. It hurt like crazy.*

"Tyler, what happened?" Serena asked.

Tyler looked at Serena, then stared at Rebecca. Rebecca raised an eyebrow and slowly shook her head, her eyes warning him to stick to the story she had already given.

"I told you, we were attacked by monsters."

"I wasn't asking you," Serena said angrily at Rebecca, her voice becoming sharper. She turned back toward Tyler and waited for an answer, her eyes fixed on him.

Tyler swallowed and searched for an answer. His gaze briefly dropped toward the floor before he looked back at Serena.

"Yeah, we just got attacked by some monsters, and I was knocked out when a monster caught me off guard," he said while avoiding her gaze.

*He's such a bad liar*, Rebecca thought, her shoulders falling as she watched him struggle to keep his story straight.

"Really? So it's true? What kind of monsters attacked you?"

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something that would sound believable.

"Well, I was busy fighting with the Dracos until a group of Hexborns came out of nowhere."

"Hexborns?" Serena muttered, her eyebrows drawing together. She glanced toward Tyler's body again, then back at his face. "Hunters said there are barely any Hexborns here. More will probably spawn in the coming months."

"Oh, we were pretty deep in, so maybe that's why."

Serena continued studying him for a moment. Her gaze moved over his arms and chest, searching for any sign of the injuries she would expect from what he had supposedly been through. There was none except for his torn armour.

"Alright, but you don't look like you have sustained big injuries. Are you feeling all right?"

Tyler shifted slightly on the bench, testing his body as he considered the question. Aside from the lingering weakness from the Rush Skills' aftereffects, he felt fine.

As Tyler answered, Rebecca folded her arms in front of herself and watched the two of them. Serena's concern was becoming more obvious with every question she asked, and the way she kept examining Tyler made Rebecca's thoughts wander.

*They're really close. She really cares about him. What are they?*

Serena sighed in relief, her heartbeat slowing down.

"I'm glad you're all right, but you have to be careful next time. Okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

She straightened herself, looking at Rebecca with a suspicious glare. Her eyes stayed on her for a moment, as if she were still trying to figure her out.

"Hey lady," said a hunter who was standing at the counter.

"Oh, am Coming." Serena turned away from them, heading over to attend to the hunter. Tyler sighed, the tension slowly dying from his shoulders as he watched her leave. Rebecca immediately sat down on the bench across from Tyler, resting herself against the back of it.

"You said you carried me all the way here?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, now we're even."

Tyler looked at Rebecca for a moment in disbelief at what she said. His eyes lingered on her face as he thought about everything that had happened in the forest. He had saved her more than once, even going as far as wasting his potions to heal her, and now she was acting like carrying him back here had somehow settled the score.

"No, we're not," he said, shaking his head.

He stood up from where he was sitting and stretched, rolling his shoulders as a groan escaped from his throat. His body still felt slightly heavy from everything that had happened, but he paid little attention to it as he straightened himself.

""What are you doing?" Rebecca asked, following him with her eyes.

"What does it look like? I'm getting out of here."

Rebecca's eyebrows rose as she leaned forward slightly.

"Are you serious? We just got attacked by the guild and almost died. We've got to come up with a plan."

Tyler's hands fell to his sides, his fingers curling as frustration built in his chest. He slammed both hands onto the table in front of them, making the wood shake beneath the impact.

"I told you. I don't want nothing to do with this damn guild of yours. I almost killed two people because of you."

"Almost?" Rebecca said, raising an eyebrow as she stared at Tyler.

Tyler's eyebrows rose in return, his anger fading for a moment as he caught the meaning behind her words. "They're dead?" he asked.

"Yeah. Ben's dead." Rebecca folded her arms, keeping her eyes on Tyler. "But Lucy was still alive, so I had to finish her off."

"What? You killed one of them?"

"Yes." She leaned forward, placing both her arms on the table as she looked directly at him.

"Why are you acting surprised? They wanted to kill us." Her eyes remained fixed on Tyler, as though his reaction genuinely confused her.

"Again with us. I'm not in this with you." Tyler dragged a hand down his face, frustration creeping back into his voice. "Damn it, because of you. Because of what you said, they even thought we're in this together."

"Well, now you are," Rebecca interrupted, her voice louder than his. She kept her hands planted on the table as she leaned closer. "After killing Ben, the Kindred Flame's tracking will be stronger. It won't be as weak as it was for just breaking another guy's shoulder."

"Just Leave me out of this," Tyler said, pulling himself away from the table as he turned to leave.

Rebecca immediately stood and grabbed a ,hold of Tyler's hand. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stopping him before he could take a single step.

"If you leave now, they'll track you and they'll find where you are. They'll kill you and everyone close to you."

Tyler stopped at her words, his hand remaining in hers for a moment before he slowly looked back at her.

*People close to me?*

Back in Veridia, he knew the only people that were important to him right then were Hector and Kai. James had left long ago, so he didn't think he'd be in danger.

Rebecca watched Tyler's reaction closely, her fingers still wrapped around his hand as she noticed the way his expression had changed.

*So he has people he cares about*, Rebecca thought.

Alright, fine!" he said, pulling his hand free as he sat back down.

*Even though I don't like it, she's right. I'm stuck in this mess. If what she said about that skill is true, then they'll definitely find me.*

Suddenly, the system panel appeared before Tyler.

[ONGOING QUEST HAS BEEN UPDATED]

QUEST:'KILL THOSE LINKED TO THE KINDRED FLAME: 3/10.

[USER HAS SEVEN DAYS TO COMPLETE THE QUEST]

Tyler stared at the panel, his eyes moving over the words until they reached the final line. His breath hitched as the realization settled in.

*Seven days?*