Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

Tyler continued walking with Rebecca by his side. He had noticed the terrain beginning to change as they pressed forward. It wasn't just an empty green field anymore. Trees were starting to appear, scattered here and there, and beyond the village they were working toward, he could see a huge forest stretching into the distance.

Beyond the village the trees loomed over the houses, and even from where he was, he could already tell they were pretty big.

He also noticed the soil beneath their feet becoming damp, almost as if it had rained earlier, which confused him because he knew it hadn't rained in days.

The grass around them also felt different underfoot, softer and slightly darker than the open fields they had been walking through.

Rebecca began increasing her pace, forcing Tyler to pick up his as well. Up ahead, he spotted a dusty road stretching in from the left. They stepped onto it and followed it toward the village, the road becoming more defined as they got closer.

Unlike Veridia, the walls surrounding Lyria weren't nearly as large. They were darker and grayer too, almost as if they had been built from concrete. The walls stretched far off to either side, surrounding the small village, but there was no visible gate. Instead, the entrance was completely open, allowing anyone to walk straight in.

Tyler and Rebecca passed through it. The day was beginning to darken, and he could see several people moving through the streets. A lot of them were wearing armor, enough that Tyler couldn't help but glance around at the different hunters passing by. "So many hunters," Tyler muttered.

"Yeah. There are a lot of hunters here compared to the base you're used to," Rebecca answered.

Tyler looked around as they continued deeper into the village. The buildings weren't as large as the ones in Veridia. Most of them looked a little older, and unlike the tightly packed buildings he was used to, they were scattered around with more space between them. There weren't labyrinths of narrow alleys cutting through the settlement. Lyria felt much more open.

He spotted a few residents walking by, including several women talking amongst themselves. None of them seemed particularly bothered by the number of hunters moving around them, as though seeing armed men throughout the village was completely normal.

As Tyler's curiosity grew, the system panel began appearing over the people passing by one after another. To his surprise, almost every hunter he saw was a C-rank. A level 57. A level 48. A level 52. A level 51.

He kept glancing at each panel as they passed.

Almost everyone was either above his level or close to it.

Rebecca eyed him, watching as his gaze moved from one person to the next. His eyes kept shifting around the street, and his posture had become noticeably rigid. His arms stayed close to his body, and every time someone passed nearby, his attention seemed to follow them for a moment before returning to the path ahead. He looked almost as if he had stepped into enemy territory.

Rebecca let out a quiet sigh and glanced at the people around them before leaning slightly toward him. She didn't want to draw too much attention to what she was saying.

“Relax. You look like you did something wrong.”

Tyler turned his head toward her, his eyebrows lifting slightly. “What? What do you mean?”

“You keep staring too much. Plus, you look like you have your guard up.”

Tyler's eyes briefly wandered away again before he caught himself. He looked forward, trying to act more naturally.

“Come on. Follow me,” Rebecca said, already increasing her pace.

*Do I really look like that?* Tyler thought as he quickened his steps to walk beside her. As they continued, the faint smell of meat drifted through the air and reached his nostrils. It was mixed with another smell, though, one that was vague and slightly unpleasant.

Tyler breathed in again, trying to figure out what it was, but the scent was difficult to place. It smelled sour and sweet at the same time, and the more he focused on it, the more familiar it seemed.

Before he could figure it out, the sharp clang of a hammer striking iron rang out nearby.

Tyler turned his head toward the sound and saw a crafting shop on the left side of the road. A man inside brought his hammer down again, the impact sending another metallic clang through the street. Tyler's eyes stayed fixed on the shop as he slowed his steps.

To his surprise, it looked almost exactly like Hector's. This one was slightly smaller and the building looked older, with worn wood and darkened walls surrounding the entrance.

*They have craftsmen here? But why's he crafting this late?*

Curiosity pulled Tyler's attention toward the shop. He leaned slightly in its direction as another hammer strike rang out, his eyes following the movement inside. He wanted to see what it looked like in there. He wanted to know what kind of weapons they were making and what kind of equipment the craftsmen were working on.

He took another step toward it before noticing Rebecca continuing ahead without him.

Tyler hesitated, then glanced back at the shop. The sound of the hammer continued behind him.

He finally turned away and hurried to catch up.

“Where are we going?” Tyler asked.

“We're going to the tavern. That's where we'll sit down and plan our next move.”

*A tavern. I've never been in one before. I wonder what it looks like*, Tyler thought, his curiosity shifting toward the place they were heading.

They continued along the gravel road that ran through the town. Tyler's boots pressed into the loose stones with each step, and after a while, he noticed something strange. The gravel was damp. When he lifted his foot, a few dark stones clung briefly to the bottom of his boot before dropping back onto the road.

He looked down and saw small wet footprints trailing behind him.

He slowed slightly, staring at them before looking farther along the road. The entire street seemed damp, and the moisture had settled into the gravel enough to make some parts of it look darker than others.

“Why is this place wet? It hasn't rained in days,” he said, looking toward Rebecca.

“Oh, that,” Rebecca said, glancing back at him.

“The residents say it has something to do with the type of monster zone that's close by. Sometimes puddles of water just emerge from the ground itself.”

Tyler looked down at the gravel again, his eyebrows drawing together.

“What kind of monster zone does that?”

“It's a swamp,” Rebecca said.

She suddenly turned left, cutting in front of Tyler as she headed toward a building nearby. Two large doors stood closed at the entrance. She reached out, placed one hand against them, and pushed both doors apart with surprising ease before stepping inside.

Tyler followed close behind.

The moment he entered, the sound of voices surrounded him. Hunters sat on chairs throughout the room, mixed in with some of the residents. Several groups were talking over one another, some laughing loudly while others spoke with raised voices. Near one side of the room, two people sounded like they were in the middle of an argument, their voices carrying over the rest of the chatter.

Tyler paused for a moment as he looked around. He wasn't sure where to look first. There were people everywhere, cups being moved across tables, chairs scraping against the floor, and the constant noise of conversation filling the room.

Then a strong smell reached his nose.

It was the smell of ale.

His nose wrinkled almost instantly. He had never been fond of the smell of alcohol, and being surrounded by it made him instinctively breathe a little more through his mouth. He followed Rebecca toward the back corner of the building, where they found an empty table away from most of the crowd. Rebecca sat down and placed the bowl on the chair beside her before resting her arms on the table. Tyler pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.

“All right, now that we're here, we need to discuss our plan. But there's something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?” Tyler said, leaning forward slightly.

“The way you fought back there. I've never seen anything like it before. Who trained you how to fight like that?”

“Oh,” Tyler said, leaning back in his chair. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about it. “It was that old man you met that time.”

Rebecca's eyebrows lifted, and she stared at him for a moment as if she was trying to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

“Really?” she asked, clearly finding it hard to believe. “He's the one who taught you how to fight like that? But wasn't he weaker than you?”

Tyler's smile faded. He leaned forward again, resting his arms against the table as he looked at her.

“A person doesn't have to be stronger to train you. You can still learn a thing or two from them. And he's the one who had been training me before I even became as strong as I am.”

“Right...” Rebecca nodded slowly, her expression becoming more thoughtful as she looked down at the table for a moment.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

“He moved. I don't know where he is.” Tyler leaned back slightly and glanced around the tavern before looking back at her. “But that's not why we're here, right? Now, what's the plan?”

Rebecca let out a sigh and folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back in her chair.

“It's not easy planning to take down an entire guild, you know. And now that they know about us, they're on high alert. So going after them one by one is out of the question. They're probably moving in groups now.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Tyler said with a nod.

Despite staying focused on the conversation, He still couldn't completely wrap his head around the fact that he was planning to kill other people. The thought lingered in the back of his mind, making him quieter than usual as he listened to Rebecca.

Rebecca leaned forward again, lowering her voice slightly as the noise of the tavern continued around them.

“Before all of this happened, I planned on infiltrating them and killing them from the inside. I knew they were looking to recruit more archers. I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to gain their trust.”

As she spoke, she reached over to the chair beside her and picked up her bow. She carefully brought it over and placed it on the table between them, letting her hand rest against it for a moment.

“After that, I planned to use this bow to attack them, starting with their captain.” Rebecca folded her arms again, keeping her eyes on Tyler. “But with a bow like this, I couldn't even defend myself if I wanted to.”

Tyler's eyes dropped to the bow resting on the table. He studied it for a moment before looking back at Rebecca. The way she was staring at him made him feel as though she was waiting for something from him, almost like she expected an apology.

“You know this happened because of you, right?” he muttered.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and leaned back slightly. “I need a new bow, but I don't just want to depend on it anymore. I want to learn how to use a dagger like you can.”

She reached forward and placed her hand on the bow again, her fingers curling around it.

“I want you to train me.”

Tyler's eyebrows rose slightly. He hadn't expected her to say that. She didn't look like the kind of person who would easily accept being taught by someone else. Her expression remained stern, and even the way she held herself carried the same confidence he'd noticed since they first met. She had always seemed arrogant to him.

Though, lately, it seemed like that arrogance had lessened.

Maybe it was because he knew a little more about her now. He'd seen another side of her ever since he ran in to her that night, and it had changed the way he looked at her somewhat. Still, it hadn't completely erased his first impression.

“Well?” Rebecca asked, tilting her head slightly as she waited.

“Oh, it's just... I didn't expect you to say that.” Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about it. “Is it... because of what happened back there?”

Rebecca's confident expression softened slightly. Her eyes dropped to the bow in front of her, and she ran her thumb along its surface before answering.

“Yes. I learned how to use the bow for half of my life. I know I'm pretty damn good at it, but when I lost it, I couldn't do anything. You had to save me multiple times, in fact,” she said, her voice quieter than before.

Tyler listened without interrupting. After a moment, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Huh. All right.”

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

“I know it took you a lot of courage to admit that. So I'll help you. But you'd have to pay me for it.”

Rebecca's head lifted immediately.

“What?” she said, her brow furrowing.

“You heard me.”

“Why would I have to pay you? We're doing this to better our chances of survival.”

Tyler's smile disappeared. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table as his expression became completely serious.

“You know, I could just stand up right now and walk out that door, and you'll never see me again. Just because we're both a threat to the same faction doesn't mean we need to become allies.”

Rebecca stared at him.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her eyes remained fixed on his face as she tried to think of an answer. She knew he wasn't completely wrong. They had no obligation to help each other beyond dealing with the same threat, and judging by the look on Tyler's face, he wasn't going to back down simply because she disagreed with him.

“All right, I'll pay you,” she said eventually, her voice carrying a clear hint of annoyance.

“Good.”

A small smile of satisfaction returned to Tyler's face.