Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero

Toren, the fighter, as he walked behind Jason with the group as they arrived behind the tent, remarked, "Looks like we're really here. Your teleportation skill really took us far." Jason, however, ignored him, his focus solely on the task ahead.

Tom, one of the archers, chimed in, "Of course it did. He's an A-ranked mage; he can actually use a teleportation skill to take us really far, unlike someone else."

Toren chuckled softly. "Yeah, I forgot about that. Sometimes you can forget she's even a mage."

Jason, his voice sharp with warning, said, "Quiet, both of you. This isn't a time for idle chatter. Do you find this situation amusing? If you don't take this seriously, that hunter might kill you."

Tim, the knight, who was carrying a thin sword on his back, stated, "I don't think so. We came in a large group, and we have you to support us, a mage. I'd be surprised if he could even badly injure any of us. Especially with your buffs; those alone can boost our abilities to that of a B-rank."

Jason stopped, turning to face them. "You're forgetting that this guy might be a false ranker. I only agreed to take you guys because the captain said so. He picked all of you specifically because he thinks this hunter might be an assassin type, and you all have abilities to counter that. And if I boost them, we might actually win. But in my opinion, I don't think he is. I think he might actually be a knight. Which is why I suggested bringing archers along." The air was now heavy with a specific tension as Jason's gaze swept over them.

Tim waved his hand dismissively, his other hand resting on his waist. "Come on, I know he defeated Lucas, but you're forgetting that Lucas could barely handle me! When you boosted my abilities, you know how fast I am with the sword."

Tom added, "Yeah. Remember what the Captain said earlier? We can't let this one guy shake the whole guild. Just five of us… that's enough. We can take him down easily, even if we have to bring him back alive."

Aaron, the other archer, who had been quiet until now, said, "Jason might actually be right. If he's a false ranker, that's another problem. But Jason, I think the Captain was right as well. How strong can this guy be to actually take all of us on when you've given us the buffs? Plus, you're an A-rank mage. I think you can even easily take him on yourself. Hell, we're even here to stop you from killing him, remember? The Captain also said that—"

Jason interrupted, "Alright, Aaron. Enough. I got that you believe we can actually easily take him on. I'm just telling you to be cautious. Now, let's go see where this guy is."

The group of guild members then entered the tent of the Crossroads base. Almost every hunter inside turned to look at them, and whispers immediately rippled through the crowded space. Jason's eyes scanned the crowd, hearing snippets of conversation: "Hey, look at those hunters over there." Then, another voice: "They're all clad in the same armor. Are they in some kind of guild?" The air in the tent grew thick with unspoken observation.

Another hunter remarked, "Wait a minute, isn't that the members of the Black Cloud Guild?"

Another voice chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, I think I've heard of them." They paused. "They're like a starting guild, right?"

"Starting guild?" another hunter scoffed. "They've been a guild for almost a whole year now!"

Jason and the other guild members paid no attention to the whispers and curious stares. They purposefully moved deeper into the tent, where most hunters were gathering. Jason headed towards the counter, his focus unwavering.

From behind the counter, a man was speaking with the two guild members, Ian and Alec. He was alone, managing the flow of the bustling base. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the approaching group. *Black Cloud Guild members? What are they doing here? This is the Yellow tier Monster Zone.* The man's muscles tensed instinctively as he straightened up, removing his hand from his jaw, which he had been resting on the counter.

Jason arrived at the counter, his presence demanding attention. The man, aware of the hunter's reputation, greeted him with practiced courtesy. "Oh, good evening, sir. How may I help you?" *This hunter is Jason,* he thought. *That's Gary's brother. I've only ever seen him once. And that was back then, when a commotion arose when a hunter offended him. He beat that hunter to a pulp… and there's a rumor that hunter was seen the next day… his body, a burnt-up corpse. I should really be careful with this guy.*

Jason went straight to the point. "I am looking for a hunter. The hunter is an assassin type and has taken a mission recently. His name is Tyler, and he's a C-rank."

*Tyler…? Wait, are they looking for that hunter the other guild members were looking for?* The man snapped out of his thoughts as he was distracted.

Jason grew impatient, interrupting the man's thought with his impatience. "Do you know where he is?"

The man, regaining his composure, replied, "Oh yes, of course. He's taken on a quest and hasn't returned yet. He's still in the monster zone as of now."

Jason responded, "So he's still here. Okay then. I want to take on a quest—a C-rank quest, if you will."

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The man said, "Oh, right," then began sifting through quest flyers. *A quest? Yeah right.* He thought. *I'm pretty sure they're gonna kill that guy* (Tyler) *as soon as they find him. I know they're going to look for him. What was that guy even thinking, he messed with the wrong people! He shouldn't have killed that guy.* The man then located the quest flyer, placing it on the counter. His eyes quickly scanned the group, and their black uniforms. He briefly met eyes with one of the members.

"Okay, sign here and here," the man said, handing Jason a pencil.

Jason signed, then added the guild signature as well.

"Alright, good luck on your… hardship." The man said, barely masking the sarcasm.

Jason ignored him, turning to his guild members, who had been as emotionless as ever, to tell them, "Let's go."

Jason and the guild members exited the tent, leaving in an almost perfect line, one by one.

Right as the last member exited, Serena returned behind the counter and sighed. She stretched her back and said, "Ah, okay, you said we could take turns. It's my turn now…so tired of standing the whole day…why won't they just let us sit on chairs, huh?"

The man, still a bit shaken, asked "What are you talking about? Didn't you just see who came in?"

" No, i didn't. What happened? Who was it?" Serena asked, confused with the man's odd behavior.

The man answered, "Black Cloud Guild members were just here. They just left… you just missed them."

Serena's eyes widened in shock. "Black Cloud Guild members?"

The man said, with a grin, as he turned to look at Serena, one hand resting on the counter, "Yeah. And guess who was with them? Jason, Gary's big brother."

Serena covered her mouth, her face pale. "Oh no… Jason was *with* them?" She thought to herself, *Jason… He has a bad reputation as a mage. No one has ever publicly offended him since months ago when a hunter did it. Almost everyone fears him, especially in Lyria, where it happened.*

The man, still grinning, asked, "Oh, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothing," Serena said quickly, trying to regain her composure. "I'm just… surprised, that's all. I mean, this is the Yellow Tier Monster Zone, isn't it?"

The man replied, "Yeah, it is. I'm also surprised what guild hunters would be doing here. This is like… a starting point for hunters, yeah?" He thought to himself, *Just surprised, yeah right. I know you're scared for your little friend… With so many Guild Hunters, it's too bad you'll never see him again.*

Serena asked, "How many Guild Hunters were there?"

The man, jerked from his thoughts, replied, "Hmm? Oh, there were about five of them. I didn't see their ranks though. They came and left pretty quick."

Serena bit her lip, looking down with concern. *This isn't good. Tyler's going to be in big trouble.* The weight of the situation pressed down on her, a knot of worry tightening in her stomach.

"Well," the man said, as he moved from behind the counter in Serena's direction. "It's your turn to serve the hunters." As he passed her, he said, stopping, "Oh, they also said they were looking for someone. Jason looked pretty angry. I sure hope it's nothing bad… cause if it is… Knowing Jason, that guy's probably dead."

Serena felt her heartbeat quicken that moment, and her concern was growing tenfold. So, as the man just passed by her and she walked to the counter to now stand behind it, Serena thought to herself, *Tyler, I know he's strong, but with so many guild members coming after him… I don't think he can come out of that alive.* She continued. *I hope they won't find him. I hope they happen to miss him and he'll just find his way here. Yeah, that's what I can hope for. Maybe they can miss him in the forest when he's coming here. Maybe he'll take a different path, and I'll tell him to get out of here as soon as he comes.*

Serena's thoughts was interrupted by a hunter, approaching her. "Hey."

Serena snapped out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, sir. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking to take a quest," he said.

"What kind of quest?" Serena started, now in a professional tone. "Which rank are you looking for, exactly?"

"Show me some options." The man replied.

Serena went searching through the flyers, removing them and putting them on the counter. But as she went through the motions, her thoughts still dwelled on Tyler's situation. The words of the conversation echoing in her mind.

Meanwhile, the blurry forest began to slow in Rebecca's vision as the trees started to become more distinct. She felt her skill "Archer's Flight" expire, and she stopped, still carrying Tyler. She thought to herself, *Man, how deep did we go into this forest? I was running as fast as I could, but…* * We still have a long way to go. Just how much distance did he cover? We weren't even running a straight line,* she thought, remembering the countless number of monsters Tyler helped her slaughter. She sighed and thought, *Whatever, I must continue running. This skill doesn't consume a lot of mana, anyway.*

The faint silver glow in her eyes returned and she set off running again with Tyler on her back. Her speed increased tremendously, leaving the trees and plants to blur by, causing the leaves beside to flicker in the wind.

As she ran, she thought to herself, *I'm now a level 84.* Her heart rate was increasing slightly. *If I told anyone I leveled up more than 10 times in a day, they'd call me a liar. And if I told them I leveled up more than 15 times in a day, they'd call me crazy. But with Tyler… I was able to do it. With his help alone, I was able to level up so much.* She considered the implications. *If he didn't spend any time helping me… this actually means he would have leveled up a lot by himself. He would have grown stronger so quickly. It all makes sense now. It all makes sense why he's able to grow so strong so quickly. He's not afraid. He's not afraid to throw himself at a monster to gain more strength…* She trailed off, as the wind whipped past her. *Like I was.*

Images of their shared battles, their trials and their triumph, began to resurface in her mind. *Even back then, when we were facing the slime boss monster, he didn't seem to hesitate at all.* She recalled, *Even when it was the second time I met him, when I truly interacted with him, when he was facing the Shadow Walker. It looked to be stronger than him back then, but he still faced it* She corrected herself. *No, it's not that he didn't have fear, but he was brave enough to do it.* The recognition, the admiration, welled up. *I need to be like that. I need to be just like him. I need to grow stronger.*

*I need to be strong enough.*

Suddenly, a wave of painful images washed over her. She was back to thinking of her mother and father's death, the helplessness she felt that day, and the seemingly emotionless faces of the Black Cloud Guild members. All of them devoid of the barest show of guilt or remorse. The deep pain she felt, the crushing weight, the utter weakness of that moment. The difficult path she had navigated while growing up with her uncle. It all came back, and this time, anger began to build within her. How she had found out where the Black Cloud Guild members were, but she still couldn't do anything when she heard about their levels and reputation. The shame of, how she had still felt too weak. The fear she felt, the fear of dying from a single monster—the fear of dying before she could exact revenge.

All of that fear, the way she saw things, changed when she saw how Tyler fought. It was a new perspective, and a new fire.

Meanwhile, at the Crossroads base, the Black Cloud Guild Hunters marched together into the Monster Zones. Jason held his shortstaff, topped with a golden orb, in his right hand. The archers had already notched arrows on their bows, ready. The fighter walked with a casual stride, metal gauntlets protecting his hands, arm guards on his arms. The knight strode ahead already with his sword unsheathed.

Tom remarked, "Man, we haven't encountered many monsters in a while. Why is that?"

Tim added, "Hey, do you think the hunters around here actually grew a pair of balls?"

Aaron questioned. "What are you saying?"

Tim explained. "I mean, it's obvious, isn't it? These monsters aren't here because they were *killed*. It seems we'll actually have to go deeper."

As they walked forward, Jason was lost in his thoughts. *Is he really here? Or did he leave?* he wondered. Then, he turned his head to look at Aaron. "You said this is the road that most hunters take, right?"

Aaron replied, "Yeah, we should be nearing the river."

Jason said, "You'd better be right. Because if we happen to miss him, you're going to face the consequences."

Aaron insisted, "No, I'm absolutely sure. I used to hunt around here."

Jason said nothing as they continued to walk forward. Surprisingly, they reached a clearing and they saw a river splitting the forest. There were stepping stones in the river, inviting passage. Jason and the Hunters began to cross. The air, however, was still heavy as their gaze was fixed on their path forward.