Crafting Gear From Monster Genes

The table was full of food, ranging from meat to fruits and berries that cost more than even the thickest steak.

For any resident of the Crooked Horn, such a feast cost a lot of money, even if that resident was one of the few Hunters.

"I swear," Kalysa gritted her teeth. "If you don’t eat all of this, I’ll force the food down your throat."

"You don’t have to worry about that. Where I come from, it’s not accepted to throw food away, not even food that isn’t very tasty, and everything here is decent." Kreyn picked up a rib.

"Ah? You do know that you’re both from the city, right? To us, you’re all rich."

Kreyn shook his head.

"There are poor and rich people everywhere. I’m poor, she—" he pointed at Groza. "She’s rich."

Groza had no choice but to nod awkwardly. It was a simplification, but Kreyn was telling the truth.

"To be honest, I didn’t expect things to turn out exactly like this," Kreyn continued. "I figured something like this might happen because of the situation between Hargod and Garius, but I didn’t think you’d make the first move. And... your ability. You’re the perfect assassin."

Kalysa shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring his praise.

"Every Hunter has an ability. There’s nothing special about that. You’d better tell me..."

A sharp gleam flashed in her eyes as she stared at him.

"How do you rate your chances?"

"I’ll beat Leora. You don’t have to stress about that, but not Hargod. To defeat him, I’ll need some help."

Kalysa tapped the table thoughtfully.

"I see. I believe you. Later, I’ll talk to Garius and try to convince him to work with us."

Groza frowned. "What are the odds of that?"

"Well..." Kalysa waved her hand from side to side. "At first he’ll grumble and try to find another solution, but in the end I’ll be able to convince him that this is the only way out."

She clenched her fist.

"Garius, he... he’s a good person. He’s just fixated on becoming third captain. He thinks that without that silly title, he’s not a worthy commander."

"Great." Kreyn devoured a large slice of pie in a few bites, moving on to the next dish.

"Huh."

Kalysa chuckled.

"You weren’t lying, you’re actually going to eat all of this, aren’t you?"

Then, she looked around. Their table was in a corner of a tavern full of people. It was evening, so everyone was drinking and enjoying their meals.

"Is this really a good place to discuss these things? What if someone notices us?"

Kreyn waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Even if that happens, you’ll just say you wanted to brush off the whole kidnapping thing since we’re one of you now. Something like that."

A few moments later, Kalysa nodded deeply.

"I see..." she muttered under her breath. "Yeah, that might work. When are you planning to visit Leora?"

"I’ll let you know, but if there aren’t any problems, it’ll be in a few days."

Kreyn’s voice grew deeper.

"Be ready, even if it’s 4 vs. 3, they still have the advantage."

Groza and Kalysa exchanged glances, then nodded.

There were no long, agonizing negotiations between Kreyn and Kalysa. She realized they had a chance to change everything, and they had to take it.

If she simply told Hargod about their plan, they would still be stuck in the same place.

As promised, Kalysa paid for everything, and they went their separate ways.

In fact, by this point, Kreyn did everything he could to become stronger.

He had one mutation, his boots, and a Product that was an unexpected discovery for him.

Still, he had one more thing to do.

Tap.

Kreyn touched his left eye, running his fingers over the scar. He was never injured in that spot, but the Crystal Crusher was.

[Mutation Saturation - Eye of the Hungry Scar.]

[Progress: 100%.]

[The first stage is complete. You may proceed to the second stage.]

He chose this path because he believed that a more difficult route would yield better rewards, but he took his time because he was worried about the second stage.

"Alright, let’s see. I want to know the conditions of the Monster Nature."

[Accepted.]

The next moment, another system window appeared before him as the text reflected in his single eye.

[Monster Nature.]

[To unlock this mutation, you must fulfill the will of the monster behind the gene.]

[Condition: ... ... ... ]

Kreyn read everything down to the last word as his gaze grew deeper and heavier.

"I see. So that’s how it is... I had a bad feeling for a reason... But I don’t have any other choice, right?"

With that, Kreyn crashed onto the bed and fell asleep.

...

Nothing out of the ordinary happened over the next two days, at least, that’s what Hargod and Leora thought.

There were no more powerful monsters left in the caves, so Hargod sat idly in his hall, dealing with matters concerning the Crooked Horn.

Leora, the miners, and the slaves were digging for new deposits of Orazit Ore. To avoid arousing suspicion, Kreyn occasionally joined them, simply pushing the mine carts.

Meanwhile, their team of four rebels had taken shape. Just as Kalysa had promised, she managed to persuade Garius.

They were ready to begin, but Kreyn had to take the first step.

It was supposed to happen the following early morning.

Crackle.

The bathroom door opened, the light came on, and Kreyn stood before the old, cracked mirror.

Splash.

He turned on the cold water, washing his face for a long time, as if trying to perk himself up even though it was the middle of the night.

He looked down, holding onto the edge of the sink, before lifting his head to meet his reflection in the mirror.

Staring back at him was a young man with dark brown hair, the color of amber bronze, the ends falling just below his upturned eyebrows.

Not now, but earlier, he would see two hazel eyes that turned gray in complete darkness and green in bright light, usually retaining their forest-like, multifaceted color.

His skin was a little paler than usual, and the light from the lamp above cast lines along his cheekbones, which, combined with the dark circles under his eyes, gave him an exhausted and somewhat intimidating appearance.

"Agh... Tomorrow, I’ll do it. Tomorrow my eyes will finally be open..."

Kreyn hadn’t seen his reflection in so long that he’d even started to forget what he looked like.

To some extent, that was exactly it.

It was the first look at him.

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