Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero

The system panel hovered before Tyler, displaying the stats of the White Prey Armour. A wave of surprise, coupled with a thrill of anticipation, washed over him as he saw the defence value. *700 Defence… It's so high,* he thought, stunned. *I expected it to be high, but not to this extent. It's pretty impressive. Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. No matter how much, how hard I hit that thing… not even a scratch, not even a dent… appeared on the scales. It felt indestructible.* He paused, recalling the battle. *And to think I didn't even enhance this yet.*

His focus shifted immediately to the listed skills. The current panel disappeared, replaced by a new one. The full descriptions of the skills were revealed:

Sense: An Awareness skill. Activated by scales, this grants advanced vibrational detection.

Within a 100-meter radius, the world's hidden vibrations become your focus. Footfalls, rustling cloth, and any subtle movements are all signals, revealing the presence of anything that makes sound.

Moreover, Sense allows you to interpret sound at a distance. Whispers, shouts, and the smallest creaks become clear, giving you advanced auditory awareness of your surroundings. *Sense* provides clarity in a world of unseen dangers."

Scale Shift: A skill that allows for the manipulation of bodily scales. You can instantly shift the scales within your body, concentrating them on a chosen area for defence. When a powerful attack is about to hit, the scales automatically rush to the point of impact, reinforcing that area. The more scales you have, the more scales you can manipulate. Scale Shift is highly vulnerable to acid-based attacks, offering very little resistance.

Slither: By activating this skill, you command your scales to become an engine for locomotion. Command your scales to glide and move along any surface touching your body. Travel on your back, your belly, or any orientation, and even upright. Slithering on your stomach increases your speed, and a serpentine wiggle during motion will allow for even greater velocities. Slither allows for very rapid movement across the land.

Tyler read the first skill, absorbing every detail. He placed his hands on his hips, contemplating the implications. *This skill allows me to sense everything around me within a hundred-meter radius… through vibration. I can even *hear* everything within a hundred-meter radius.*

He processed this. *And the way it put it… that means I can hear every footstep, every sound… I can hear when people are talking. I'll be able to hear everything they're saying… even if they whisper… if they are within a range of 100 meters.* He smiled. *This skill is super effective, especially in the situation I'm in. I might even use it to locate Rebecca. All right… Let's check out the other skills. I need to do this quickly.*

He moved on to the next skill, his eyes scanning the panel, *Scale Shift*. Tyler read the description, and his eyes widened. *Whoa… this is a pretty good skill.*

*This skill allows me to manipulate the armour's scales to whichever body part I want. And not only that… The skills also automatically go to the position or body part which is about to get attacked on the spot.*

He processed the information, his mind already formulating strategies. *This is a very good defence skill because I can manipulate the scales. The more scales I have, the more scales I can manipulate.*

A smile, barely visible beneath the scale-covered face, stretched across Tyler's forehead, and a subtle furrow of excitement appeared between his eyebrows. *That means if I can copy more scales, I can manipulate more of them…*

He then realised something significant. Both of the skills he had just read required absolutely no mana.

*This thing didn't say anything about mana… nice. This means I can use it as many times as I want… without relying on mana.*

Tyler's attention was then drawn to the last remaining skill. He looked at the panel and his expression turned dull. *What the hell?*

He read the skill: Slither.

He then thought, with a flat facial expression, *Slither? Why in the hell would I wanna slither? Apparently… slithering while wiggling my body increases the speed… Yeah… I am not doing that.*

He scratched the back of his head in contemplation. *Now… time to enhance this thing.*

Tyler opened his palm on his left hand, and an enhancement stone materialised. He pressed the stone against his chest and applied mana. The system panel appeared before him, and read: *Enhancement Successful.*

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*It worked!* Tyler thought, a spark of satisfaction in his eyes.

Another enhancement stone materialised in his hand. He repeated the process.

The system appeared, reading: *Enhancement Successful.*

Tyler's stats then quickly appeared in front of him.

SPECIES: Human

NAME: Tyler Evans

RANK: B

LVL: 81

CLASS: Craftsman

HP: 406/406 MP: 364/364

STR: 369 AGI: 487

DEF:3262 STM: 336

STATUS: Healthy

Skills: Armour Craft Lv2, Weapon Craft Lv2, Weapon Mastery, Alchemy, Accessory Craft, Acid Blood, Room Level 2 -CD: 8hrs, Combine- CD: 10hrs, Equipment's Tale-CD: 3hrs

Equipped Skills: Sense, Scale Shift, Slither

Tyler's eyes widened as he saw the new defence value. *3,000?* he thought to himself, astonished. *Can I even get hurt at this point?*

For some reason, however, he didn't feel as if the scales themselves had become any more potent. They still felt the same. He raised his hand, opening his palm, his gaze fixed on the scales. *These scales… they don't just feel like armour… they feel like a part of my skin… they feel like a part of me.*

As he looked at his hand, a darkness began to spread from all corners of his eyes, covering his eyes in pure black. His eyes now looked like those of the White Fang, those of the serpent, like the eyes of Gary's pet.

With a sudden knowingness, a sudden understanding filled Tyler. He could now use Scale Shift. He *knew* how to do it. With just a thought, all the scales on Tyler's hand retreated, drawing back to his wrist, leaving his hand free from the scales. He turned his hand over, inspecting it, and saw that his hand was clear. The scales were gone.

With another thought, all the scales flowed back to his hand, moving and attaching themselves to his skin, covering his skin completely once more.

Tyler thought, *All right… I have an idea, and I hope it works.*

He closed his eyes, and, with a thought, all the scales on his body disappeared. His eyes reverted to their normal colour.

Not that Tyler was even aware that his eyes had been black. He was completely oblivious to the change. However, the scales that did not disappear into his inventory were the ones covering his face.

Tyler opened his eyes, a wave of relief washing over him, though his expression was hidden behind the mask of scales. *It worked… I wanted to test if I could make some of the scales on my body disappear… while some remained. But it seems like that's possible, right?* He needed this.

The scales that had encased his face began to *undulate*, a slow, flowing movement as they retreated. They flowed backwards from his forehead, each scale pulling away, and retreated down his nose, the scales that had clung to the bridge now sliding downwards, converging and finally coalescing into a mask that covered the lower half of his face. The scales formed a perfect, seamless barrier over his mouth, jaw, and chin.

Tyler thought, *Right… I don't want more people discovering my identity. The base may be a bit far from the other houses in town, but I can't take any chances. There's a high chance people might hear disturbing noises and come here, maybe even the guards.*

He then mentally equipped the Shadow Armour. A wave of shadows, a liquid-like darkness, *billowed* from his legs, extending and caressing his arms. The shadows, like a living entity, *ascended* his torso, his abdomen, his legs…spreading, consuming… then hardening, transforming into the familiar, form-fitting Shadow Armour. It was a second skin of darkness.

Once more, Tyler's eyes flashed crimson, a quick flicker, a secret flash.

He smiled, a predatory grin hidden behind the white-scaled mask, his eyes gleaming with excitement and intent. He looked at his hands, and, with a simple thought, he equipped the gloves that increased his hand attack speed by 12%.

*Right… I'm ready.*

Tyler started walking, his gait purposeful and determined, and, without hesitation, he headed out of the dense, shadowed forest, and into the backyard of the Black Cloud Guild Hunters. The transition was abrupt, the air shifting from the cool, damp scent of the woods to the earthy, natural smell of… well, just plain dirt and grass. He crossed the threshold, his boots crunching softly on the *short, green grass*, and immediately positioned himself directly behind the imposing Black Cloud Guild Mansion. He stared, his masked face turned towards the rear entrance, the heavy wooden door a dark rectangle in the twilight.

Tyler closed his eyes, shutting out the visual world and focusing entirely on the symphony of sounds that surrounded him. He sought to magnify his senses, to hone his awareness to an almost painful degree. He listened. The whisper of the wind, a constant, subtle presence, rustled through the canopy far behind him. The leaves of the ancient trees danced and twirled in the air like dying fireflies, and far in the distance, the wind swept through the fields carrying along with it a series of secrets and the scents of the night.

Then, the sounds *inside* the mansion began to emerge, the voices of the people within becoming increasingly audible, each word rising in volume, colored with a distinct undertone of panic. He registered the sharp clatter of activity: tools being grabbed, the insistent clang of metal on metal, the hurried footsteps that echoed across the polished floors. Then came the sound of the footsteps, heavy and urgent, that were rapidly approaching. He heard the panicked voices of men and women, their words fragmented and desperate, then other noises that he could not identify. And then, there were other voices.

These were strange… Not just voices, but the sound of *breathing*.

The first breathing was ragged and strained, short inhales followed by equally brief exhales. Rapid, shallow breaths, as if the person was gripped by a suffocating fear. This breathing was frantic, a staccato rhythm that was alien and unnerving.

Tyler thought, *Rebecca… is that her? No, it can't be… It sounds different.*

He *knew* that people were coming his way, and they were very close. And then, from a different direction, he heard another person's breathing. This breathing was a long, laboured rhythm of inhales and exhales. The air was sucked in and expelled slowly, as if the breath was a precious commodity. It was weak, broken… more like a series of squeaks than true breaths, as if the person was teetering on the precipice of death, struggling against the crushing weight of an unseen foe.

Tyler's eyes widened, his heart rate skyrocketing. *That's her.* A jolt of adrenaline surged through his veins, each beat of his heart now a frantic, urgent drum.

What surprised Tyler even more, cutting through the already heightened tension, was the location of the distressed voice. It wasn't merely inside the mansion. It felt *deeper* than that, almost as if the source was buried beneath the structure, somewhere below ground. It was a deep, echoing plea that reverberated in the foundations of the earth.

The back door, a sturdy wooden barrier that had once seemed impenetrable, suddenly burst outwards, splintering under the pressure, and sending shards of wood scattering across the yard. The guild members rushed out, a frantic wave of movement, and as soon as they emerged… he was gone. All that remained was a fleeting trace of black smoke, a momentary phantom that dissolved almost instantly.

A woman with a severe expression, her black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, clad in gleaming metal armour, held her sword at the ready. Standing beside her, a man whose massive hammer glistened with a polished silver shine, mirrored her readiness. Other members of the guild, their faces twisted with anger and confusion, followed closely behind.

The woman with the sword barked, her voice tight with fury, "Where is he?" She scanned the area, her eyes darting around, desperately seeking any sign of the intruder.

The man with the hammer, his voice a low rumble, responded, "He was right there… just a moment ago!"

Meanwhile, a hundred meters into the air, Tyler plummeted towards the earth. The wind roared past him, whipping through his hair. His face was set in a grim mask of concentration, his crimson eyes fixed on the rooftop below, calculating the precise angle of his descent. He thought, *I've activated Shadow Den… which took up a lot of mana… and has given me two minutes to teleport within a range of 300 meters… only two minutes… I've got to make this quick.*

And, in midair, he vanished, leaving behind only the faintest wisp of the dissipating Shadow Armour.