Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

Tyler stared at the panel in front of him, his eyes wide with disbelief. His expression remained frozen as he struggled to process the information he had just been given. His gaze stayed fixed on the words, reading them over again as if they might change if he looked at them long enough. The situation was already terrible, but he had never expected it to get any worse.

"Okay, first off, we need to come up with a plan." Rebecca's voice snapped Tyler out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he breathed, his eyes finally leaving the panel and shifting toward her.

"The Black Cloud Guild has thirteen members, or at least it had thirteen members. With Gene, Lucy, and Ben dead, only ten of them are left."

"How do you know this?" Tyler asked, his brow furrowing.

"It's not really that hard to get information on a guild, especially when they want themselves to be known."

"Really?"

"I mean, it's obvious. The more recognition the guild gets, the more likely they are to receive guild quests from nobles and such."

"Oh, right," Tyler said, giving a small nod.

Rebecca watched him for a moment, her expression changing slightly. The way he responded made it obvious that he genuinely didn't know something she had assumed would be common knowledge. Her eyes lingered on him before she leaned forward, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Do you not know this? Actually, wait." She paused, narrowing her eyes as she looked him over. "What are you exactly?"

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked, his face tightening with confusion.

"Your rank." She lifted a hand, gesturing toward the dark pendant around his neck.

Tyler's eyes briefly dropped to the pendant.

*Right, she already saw what I'm capable of. If I say I'm C-rank, which is true, she's going to see that as an obvious lie.*

He crossed his arms, settling back slightly as he thought about what to tell her.

"I'm a B-rank," he said.

Rebecca's eyes narrowed almost immediately. She tilted her head slightly, studying him as though the answer had only made her more suspicious.

"No, you're not."

"Why not?"

"You took down Naomi and Lucy at the same time." Rebecca's hand moved as she spoke, her fingers briefly lifting as she counted off the things she had witnessed. "I think Lucy was a B-rank herself, and Naomi was an A-rank, yet you were able to take them down in such a short time. You must be an A-rank, or maybe an A-plus."

"I'm not A-rank," Tyler said, his arms still folded as he looked at her.

"Stop lying." Frustration strained her voice. She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing further. "With your speed and strength, I can see how you could have easily beaten Gary. I've seen other assassins who are B-rank, and their speed isn't nearly as fast as yours."

Rebecca's gaze shifted for a moment as the memory came back to her, her fingers tightening against her arm.

*I almost couldn't keep track of his movements.*

Tyler let out a tired sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away.

*She won't believe me when I say I'm a B-rank either.*

"All right, I'm an A-rank. Happy?" He lowered his hand and gave her a firm look. "But you ain't gonna tell anyone else. Got it?"

Rebecca hesitated, her mouth opening slightly before she answered.

"Y-Yes, of course," she said, nodding quickly. She hadn't expected him to admit it so easily, and now that he had, even more questions began filling her mind.

She leaned forward again, her curiosity becoming difficult to contain.

"What about your skills? I've never seen those kind of skills on an assassin before." Her eyebrows drew together as she remembered what she had seen in the forest. "You were making those barrels appear out of nowhere. Is it some sort of subspace skill?"

"Yes, it is," Tyler said, a bit hesitant.

"That makes sense..." Rebecca nodded slowly, but the curiosity in her expression remained. "But what about that weapon?"

"What weapon?" Tyler asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"That pendant," she said, pointing at his necklace.

Tyler's gaze dropped to the pendant. He reached up and held it between his fingers, his expression becoming more guarded as he looked back at her.

"So you were following me?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice becoming a little quieter. She lowered her hand and glanced away for a moment. "You had my weapon with you. What was I supposed to do? Just let you leave?"

Tyler stared at her for a moment before letting the pendant fall back against his chest.

"All right. What's this plan of yours?"

"I haven't got one yet." Rebecca leaned back slightly, thinking as she looked toward the entrance of the tent. "We need to think of something together. A way to take them down."

"You mean kill them?"

"That's right." Rebecca looked back at him, her expression becoming more serious. "They've already sent three of their members out to kill us. They might send more. And the next bunch will be more capable than the last. Probably A-ranks."

She paused, her fingers resting against the edge of the bench as she considered their situation.

"So I think the first thing we should do is get out of here. We need to find a place to hide and think first. I'm sure they already know what we look like. Naomi has probably told them."

"Naomi? You mean that A-rank, right?" Tyler asked, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "She disappeared while I was fighting her."

"Yeah, that's because she has a teleportation skill." Rebecca nodded. "I believe it's her ultimate skill. She must have used it to get back when she got heavily injured."

"So that's what that was. She teleported back. But where is that exactly? Where is their guild located?" Tyler asked.

"It's in Aria. It's pretty far from here," Rebecca said as she stood from the bench. "The distance doesn't seem to slow them down, which is why I think we need to get out of here as quickly as possible. We'll discuss the plan further when we get to another base. It'll work as our hideout."

"A hideout? Where?" Tyler asked, getting to his feet as well.

"Lyria. It's not too far from here."

Rebecca turned to face Tyler. "Have you been to Lyria before?"

Tyler glanced over at Serena and saw her attending to another hunter, this time a woman. She seemed occupied as she listened to her and sorted through whatever the hunter had brought to her.

"Uh, no, not really," he replied.

"All right. Then follow me," Rebecca said, turning toward the tent's exit.

Tyler followed her with his eyes as she walked away, but an unnatural unease had already begun settling deep inside him. There was some annoyance at having to do what she told him, but that wasn't what was bothering him the most.

Something about all of this felt wrong. The sudden mission the system had given him, telling him to kill humans now, was something he had never thought possible. The thought alone made his heartbeat quicken, while his breathing became uneven. Each inhale and exhale felt strangely noticeable as air passed through his mouth, his chest rising and falling more heavily than it normally would.

He looked toward Serena before walking over to the counter. As he stepped beside the female hunter, she finished accepting her reward from her recent quest and moved away, leaving the counter clear.

Serena's eyes immediately settled on Tyler.

"Tyler, tell me the truth. What is happening?" she asked, her gaze shifting toward the tent's exit where Rebecca had just disappeared. "Earlier this morning, you got into a fight with that hunter. Now you're sitting down talking with her. And what happened in the forest? There's no way you were attacked by monsters."

Tyler looked toward the tent's exit before turning back to Serena. Her emerald eyes were filled with worry and concern, and the sight of them made him hesitate for a moment.

"All right, listen. I can't tell you all the details, but the truth is we were attacked by members of the Blood Cloud Guild."

"What?" Serena said out loud.

"Shh!" Tyler immediately raised a finger to his lips. "Not so loud. We don't want anyone to know about this."

Serena lowered her voice, but the concern in her expression only grew. "They found you? How? I didn't even see them."

"As I told you before, I can't tell you all the details, but it has something to do with a skill." Tyler glanced toward the entrance before looking back at her. "Right now we're headed towards Lyria, so we can hide there for a bit."

"But won't they just find you there the same way they did here?" Serena asked, her voice becoming more urgent. She leaned slightly toward him, her hands tightening against the edge of the counter. "Lyria is too close. If you want to escape, you should maybe get out of the region, just like James did. If you hide somewhere far enough, then they definitely won't find you."

Tyler's gaze lowered, his expression becoming heavier as he thought about what she was suggesting.

"And leave everything behind?"

"Yes," Serena responded, anger beginning to strain her voice. She stared at him across the counter, her fingers pressing harder against the wood. "This is your life we're talking about. You can start over."

"Hey!" Rebecca called from the entrance.

Tyler turned his head and saw Rebecca standing there with one hand on her hip.

"How long does it take to say goodbye? We have to go."

Tyler looked back at Serena. Her expression had changed, the anger from moments ago slowly giving way to the same worry he had seen in her eyes before. He swallowed and stepped away from the counter.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said as he walked over to Rebecca.

He reached the entrance, but before stepping outside, he turned around and looked at Serena one last time.

"I'll be safe, I promise."

Tyler then walked out of the tent with Rebecca, the canvas flap falling back into place behind them.

"Wait..." Serena said quietly.

She remained standing behind the counter, staring at the entrance as if expecting Tyler to come back through it. Her heart raced against her chest, and she slowly lowered her gaze as the feeling she had buried deep within herself long ago began forcing its way back to the surface.

She knew this feeling.

That same fear.

That same horrible feeling of having to look at someone one last time while knowing there was a chance she would never see them again.

She had felt it before. She remembered looking at someone with that same concern and worry, only for that person to never return. Only for them to die.

Serena's fingers trembled against the counter. She clenched them into fists, trying to push the feeling back down, but the harder she tried, the more her chest tightened. She didn't want to feel this again. She didn't want to watch someone walk away and be left wondering whether that would be the last time she ever saw them.

"Just why?" she whispered.

Both of her hands pressed against the counter as she lowered her head. The words came out as a breath, carrying every question that had been racing through her mind since Tyler arrived with Rebecca.

Meanwhile, Tyler and Rebecca walked around the outside of the tent. Tyler kept his eyes ahead, but the image of Serena's face remained in his mind.

He felt guilty for not telling her the whole truth. More than that, he felt guilty for making her worry again.

He knew Serena was one to worry, even worrying every time he went into that forest to hunt monsters. Every time he left the counter to enter that monster zone, he saw it in her eyes. There was confidence in him, a belief that he could handle himself, but there was always a subtle worry buried beneath it as well. He had always dismissed it as genuine care for him. But this time, it felt like more. It hurt him even more.

The image of her face stayed in his mind, bringing back the feeling of how much he had wanted this. How much he wanted someone to worry about him, to actually care enough that it showed on their face. Yet now that he finally had someone who looked at him that way, it didn't make him smile. It only hurt.

He blinked, pushing those thoughts away as he tried to focus on the road ahead and staying alive. *I'll have to get back to her after we're done with this. Hopefully she won't be too angry*, he thought.

Rebecca walked him completely out of the base before turning to the right, leaving behind the dirt road that led to Veridia. Tyler glanced at the road they had just left before looking ahead at the unfamiliar path.

"That's the way?" he asked.

"Yes, it is."

Tyler increased his pace, walking beside her. "Just how far away is it?"

"A couple of hours."

"A couple of hours? Then why didn't we wait for a wagon instead?"

"Because if we took a wagon, it'd be easier for them to track us. They already know what we look like. All they'd have to do is ask the driver for people who look like us, and he'd easily point them in our direction."

"Oh, right," Tyler said, rubbing the back of his neck as a little embarrassment crept into his expression.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, glancing at Tyler again. The worried, thoughtful expression on his face hadn't disappeared. With how strong he was, she had expected him to be more composed than she was. Instead, there was an uncertainty in his eyes, and even the way his body moved seemed slightly forced, as though he had to keep pushing himself forward despite everything that was on his mind.

"How did you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?" Tyler answered, turning his head toward her.

"Get so strong so quickly." Rebecca kept her eyes on him as she walked. "Just a month ago, you were barely a hunter, but now you're an A-rank. That should be impossible."

She paused for a moment, studying his expression.

"Well, unless you were pretending all along. That would make sense."

"I wasn't", Tyler said, looking away from her and looking at the open field ahead of them.

"So you're telling me you went from an E-rank to an A-rank in just a month?"

"Yeah, right", she said, smirking. "Stop lying. You think I'm stupid?"

"You are if you don't believe me", Tyler interrupted.

Rebecca's eyebrow twitched, an annoyance at what Tyler had just said. "No, you're the stupid one for thinking I'd believe that. You'd have to be concealing your aura somehow. I know some people can do that."

"Aura?" Tyler said, confused.

"Yeah. Why are you acting like you don't know about it?"

"That's because I don't."

"There you go again, lying again."

"Do you think everything I say is a lie to you?" Tyler said, annoyance flaring within him as well.

"How can you be an A-rank and not know what aura is? Everyone unlocks it at that rank. It's like a passive skill, though it barely counts as one."

"Just tell me what it is."

Rebecca looked at Tyler seeing the annoyed but clueless expression. *He really doesn't know.*

"All right. It's some kind of skill that A-ranks use to intimidate people. When they activate it, it releases some kind of invisible pressure that makes you feel small, afraid. Your whole body goes on alert as if you're facing a kind of boss monster you can't even beat. It makes them look invincible."

"Invincible", Tyler thought. Suddenly, the memory of back at Feridia that night, when he walked past the woman, resurfaced. He remembered the suffocating feeling, the way he felt as if passing by her meant absolute death. The feeling she described didn't even come close to what he felt that day.

"Oh, so that's it", he said out loud.

"Yeah." She looked at Tyler.

"I'm surprised you don't know about it. So that means you weren't even masking your aura." Rebecca glanced at Tyler as they continued walking. "I thought you were, since it can also be used to make someone look weak fooling those around them. And right now you look..." Her voice faded as her eyes moved over him from head to toe.

Tyler glanced at her, waiting for her to finish.

His body had greatly changed from how she had seen him back then. He was slightly more muscular now, with a leaner, more athletic build that looked well suited for combat. Even beneath his clothes, there was a noticeable difference in the way he carried himself. His movements seemed stronger and more controlled than before.

"...Stronger," she finally said.

She looked at him for another moment before continuing. "How did you do it back then? How were you able to heal me like that? That thing... what was it?"

"Oh, you mean the potion?" Tyler said casually, his attention remaining on the road ahead.

"It's called a potion?" Rebecca's brow rose. She turned toward him as they walked. "So that's the thing you used to heal me with. I've never seen anything like that before. Where did you get it?"

"I made it."

"You made that?" Rebecca's voice rose slightly with surprise. She looked at Tyler again, then back ahead, still trying to process it. Everything about him seemed to become more unfamiliar the more she learned. First his strength, then his strange skills, and now this. It was strange seeing an assassin able to use something like that, especially one who could heal himself and others in the middle of a fight.

"That's... incredible." Her eyes remained on him as she walked. "How did you do it?"

"I can't tell you how. Just know that I'm the one who's making them. You should also be thankful that I saved your life back there..." Tyler turned his head toward her, a slight edge of satisfaction creeping into his voice. "...Again."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. She turned her gaze forward, saying nothing as her footsteps continued against the dirt road. The silence lasted for several steps before she finally looked back at Tyler.

"Thanks."

Tyler's eyebrows rose. The word had been so quiet that he almost thought he had imagined it, but he had heard her clearly.

He looked at Rebecca, waiting for her to acknowledge what she had just said, but she kept her eyes ahead as if nothing had happened. Tyler's gaze eventually dropped toward the weapon in her hand. The bow was disfigured from earlier, its body damaged and warped enough that it was difficult to imagine it being useful in another battle.

*If we want to win this, I'll have to get her another bow. I'll definitely give her the silver bow when we get to the other base. But I wonder how she'll react when she finds out it has a skill.*

Tyler and Rebecca continued walking along the road. After some time, Tyler began to feel uncomfortable with how long the journey was taking.

He was confident that he could run there and reach their destination much faster on foot, but Rebecca would have to keep up with him, and he wasn't sure she could. More than once, he glanced over at her, thinking about asking if he should carry her the rest of the way, but he hesitated. Her pride probably wouldn't let her agree.

He looked ahead again, and after another few minutes, he finally noticed several buildings in the distance. The sight immediately caught his attention.

The sky had already begun to darken, the last light of day spreading across it in deep orange tones as the buildings slowly came into view.