Crafting Gear From Monster Genes

Kreyn had already upgraded the Gene Forge once. To do so, he had to defeat the Stone Garud, and Kreyn did just that.

Now, he found himself in the opposite situation. He had come across a rare resource, but with his Gene Forge’s current level, he couldn’t make use of it.

"Is something wrong?" Groza asked, noticing Kreyn’s frown.

In response, Kreyn shook his head.

"No. Just lost in thought."

His answer differed from his thoughts.

’So I gained access to a rare resource earlier than I was supposed to? Something like that, right? Well, I can’t upgrade the Gene Forge right now. I need to focus on the mission.’

Kreyn glanced at his new boots.

’For now, I’m satisfied with our progress.’

Then, he turned to Groza while they were still holding the Queen Egg.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"We’ve achieved what we wanted in these caves," Groza replied. "Now, the next part of the plan awaits us."

"Anomalous Crystal Crusher?" Kreyn asked.

Groza narrowed her eyes. "Yes. We’ll head to the Lucent Gorge. That bastard should show up overnight, especially with bait like this."

"Good."

Kreyn looked back one last time at the dead spiders as they were about to leave.

"Hey, Groza, I have one question."

"Hmm? Is there something about our plan you don’t understand?"

He shook his head before pointing at the spiders lying around.

"If a Hunter needs to, they can absorb their genes as I did, but don’t they have some value themselves? I mean, the government must have a way to use their legs, chitin, and so on, right?"

"Well..."

Groza gave the spiders a long look.

"A lot depends on the type of mission and the initial agreements. If our entire mission were just to come here and kill all the spiders, we would have discussed harvesting materials with the military.

"Don’t forget, we originally came here for the Queen Egg. It was your idea to kill all the spiders, and our mission is to search for the Anomalous Crystal Crusher, not to clear out this nest."

Kreyn touched his chin thoughtfully.

"But... So they’re just leaving valuable materials here? Isn’t that stupid?"

Groza chuckled at his naivety.

"Come on, Kreyn, think about it. Imagine how much time and resources it would take to fly in cargo planes and haul all these spiders away. Also, there are risks involved, we don’t know what might happen during the harvest.

"Then again, if we’d agreed on this in advance, the military might have done it, but now it’s too late. And you don’t need to worry about the government."

Kreyn tilted his head. "Hmm?"

She smirked.

"If they knew we were going to kill some valuable monster, they would have contacted us themselves before the mission even started and asked us to preserve its corpse. So, these spiders just aren’t valuable enough, that’s all."

Without saying a word, Kreyn let go of the Queen Egg.

Groza’s eyes widened as she hurried to hold it back.

"Hey! Careful! This is our only way to get to the Crystal Crusher!"

Kreyn walked up to one of the spiders and, with a sharp movement, tore off its leg.

Their legs were long and sturdy, with sharp tips at the ends. In desperate situations, they could make for decent makeshift blades.

’I see. Nothing...’

Kreyn muttered to himself, staring at the spider leg.

’So it’s not a valuable enough resource, huh? Also, I can’t use it for anything. Is it just my current abilities, or will it always be like this?’

"Hey, you know a lot of blacksmiths, don’t you?" Kreyn asked, swinging the spider leg.

Groza nodded uncertainly.

"Yeah, while I was looking for the one who forged my sword, I got the contact info for a few of them. Is something bothering you?"

"No, I’m just curious. One of them could probably forge a blade from this leg, right?"

Groza shrugged.

"I guess so?"

"Got it."

Without another word, Kreyn tossed the spider leg aside and looked toward the exit.

"Shall we head to the Lucent Gorge?"

Groza’s expression changed in an instant.

"Yes. We’re already close, but be careful. In the Lucent Gorges, there are monsters we need to watch out for, though... as soon as the Anomalous Crystal Crusher arrives, they’ll all scatter."

"Hmm?" Kreyn gave her a questioning look.

"Gha..." Groza sighed. "You’ll understand everything soon."

...

The first part of the plan was carried out as they left the stone peak and headed straight for the Lucent Gorge.

From a distance, the Lucent Gorge was too bright to make out anything, but as they approached the edge, the light faded into the background.

Before Kreyn’s eyes, a deep gorge filled with bright crystals of all sizes unfolded, growing in every available spot.

"Here." Groza pointed to a figure moving in the distance.

It was a tall creature, about three meters tall, with broad shoulders and long arms that nearly reached the floor. Its body was made of stone, and short crystals grew from its shoulders, while in place of a face was a single blue sphere that flickered from time to time.

"These are the Lucent Golems, I think it’s clear why they’re called that."

"Yeah, I can guess why."

Groza rolled her eyes.

"They’re the most common monsters here, and to some extent, they’re natural prey for the Anomalous Crystal Crusher."

Kreyn blinked. "The monster we’re tracking hunts these guys?"

"Correct. But this gorge is huge. We’d have to sit here for a month before we’d be lucky enough to stumble upon such an encounter."

She looked at the Queen Egg.

"That’s exactly why we have this thing."

"What’s the plan?" Kreyn asked, pointing ahead. "Are we just going to leave the Queen Egg in the middle of the gorge and hide?"

"Yes. I’ll take care of everything, but first we need a good vantage point."

A few minutes later, Kreyn was sitting behind some rocks at the bottom of the gorge, watching as Groza set the Queen Egg down on the ground.

But before leaving, she picked up a sharp stone and left a short cut on the egg. It wasn’t enough to harm the queen inside, but it did cause the purple blood to gush out in a slow trickle.

The smell of blood quickly spread throughout the gorge. For the Lucent Golems, it didn’t matter at all, they couldn’t even sense it, but... for some, things were different.

At that very moment, Groza ran as fast as she could toward Kreyn, a trail of dust rising behind her.

Whoooooosh.

She leaped over a rock, hiding behind it next to Kreyn.

"So, are we waiting?"

Groza nodded.

"Soon, he’ll come. I’m sure of it." She gripped the edges as she looked intently from side to side.

A minute passed, then ten, and then a whole hour.

Only gusts of wind swept through the Lucent Gorge at high speed, and the stomping Lucent Golems could be seen in the distance.

But soon, a rumble broke out in the distance.

Rumble!

Groza and Kreyn spun around abruptly, only to witness an unexpected scene.

Something flew up above the gorge.

Kreyn narrowed his eyes immediately, shock evident on his face.

It was the Lucent Golem’s head, easily torn from its body.

Groza gulped as she realized something.

"He... He’s here..."

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