Crafting Gear From Monster Genes

Sometimes an event could take several hours to happen, but sometimes one could get lucky, and everything would happen at exactly the right moment.

That’s exactly what happened to Kreyn and Groza.

They expected to wait for the traveling merchant and were ready to set up camp, but fortune smiled upon them.

Although this stroke of luck didn’t look very pleasant.

"What the...?" Groza frowned as she looked at the monster approaching them. "Do you think that is...?"

"Yep." Kreyn nodded. "The same thing as that beast from Garius’s convoy. It’s their mount, or something like that."

True, a traveling merchant was heading toward them, and in front wasn’t a cargo truck but a monster whose six long legs maneuvered skillfully among the sharp rocks.

Behind the monster were a van and a cargo cart. They were supported not by wheels, but by tracks like those on tanks.

"Damn, look at that. Seems like someone important is on their way here. I doubt every merchant has a setup like that."

Groza nodded. "It sure looks that way. To be honest, I’m not used to knowing so little. I have no experience with this kind of mission."

"There’s always a first time."

Groza wasn’t lying. She was a far more experienced Hunter than Kreyn and had completed dozens of missions, but her missions all followed the same pattern: She’d receive a mission -> head to the location -> kill the monster -> return.

This time, things didn’t go according to plan, to put it mildly.

Never before did she have to take down the leaders of the Nodes or search for wandering merchants across the wastelands.

Flash. Flash. Flash.

When the mount monster got close enough, three flashing lights came on at the front of the van. They flickered a few times before the light stabilized.

"Was that some kind of message?" Kreyn asked.

"I’m not sure... Let’s just wait. Now, I can see that this monster isn’t well-suited for combat."

True, the spider-like monster moving toward them resembled a spider only in its six legs and body shape. Its jaws had no sharp fangs or poisonous spines, but were bulky and full of heavy teeth suited for crushing stone.

’If this monster isn’t needed to protect the merchant, then someone else had to take on that role.’

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The six legs moved across the ground, and soon, a small convoy came to a stop in front of Kreyn and Groza.

The door of the van opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out. He was dressed in a loose-fitting robe of flowing fabric in shades of silver and purple. His hair was gray, not from age but by nature, styled in spikes that fell downward, hanging over his eyebrows and narrowed eyes.

"Good morning." The man raised his hand in greeting. "It seems we’re all in for an intriguing encounter today."

He took a step forward and bowed elegantly with a wave of his hand.

"My name is Diaro, and I’m a traveling merchant. I work primarily with the Nodes. Although if you’re here, you should already know that."

Groza stepped forward in response.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Groza, and this is—"

Unlike her, Kreyn wasn’t looking at Diaro, but at the entrance to the van, shrouded in darkness.

His eyes narrowed as his fingertips trembled.

Whoooooosh!

With a whistle, something shot out at high speed, heading straight for Kreyn.

In the blink of an eye, his hand shot upward, and only the part above his wrist transformed into a mutated form, catching a sharp shard of stone in a firm grip just before it reached his right eye.

He crushed the shard to dust but didn’t take a step forward.

Diaro, in turn, sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Norma, I asked you to stop doing that." His tone was weary. He was clearly in this situation before.

"What?" A carefree voice came from the van. "I just wanted to see if there was any point in even talking to them."

Then, a girl of average height with tousled pink hair and green eyes stepped out of the shadows.

Pop!

She blew her gum up to the size of her head, stepping forward briskly.

But she wasn’t the only one. Soon another figure appeared, much larger and taller.

Strangely enough, it was also a woman, with broad shoulders, black hair cut short to her chin, and a calm gaze. She was taller than Norma and the same height as Diaro.

"I’m sorry, but Norma is a pretty hot-tempered guard."

"Pffft!" Norma snorted. "I just thought this guy looked strange, that’s all. He was able to defend himself. Nothing terrible happened."

"I agree," the calm woman said, even her voice was low.

"Hmm?" Diaro turned around. "Varyn, is something wrong?"

"Yes."

She pointed at Kreyn.

"They were standing here, waiting for us. That alone is enough to raise suspicions, but look at his hand. Most would assume it’s a transformation, but in reality, it’s a mutation, isn’t it?" Varyn’s eyes narrowed.

Kreyn’s gaze grew darker.

No one had figured this out before: not Groza, not Grad or Ophelia, not even Prima and Leora. They all assumed it was a transformation, something like what Hargod had.

"Ha!" Norma exclaimed with a mocking smirk. "Look at his stupid face! He definitely didn’t expect this."

Kreyn clenched his jaw.

"How do you know that?"

"Relax."

Varyn shrugged before rolling up her sleeve, exposing her shoulder. On her upper arm was a black mark, a line the length of a finger - like a piece of a broken branch from a dry tree. It wasn’t a splinter or a wound. It was part of her body, as the branch had long since fused with her flesh.

It immediately reminded Kreyn of something.

’Hargod’s eye... It doesn’t look human either!’

"See?" Varyn gave him a calm look. "You’re not the only one. I have a mutation, too. Though... yours is a strange one."

She grew wary.

"I don’t see any mark on your arms. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with a mutation without a single trace of it."

Diaro lightened the mood with a soft laugh:

"Oh, it’s very rare to find a mutation among Hunters. We’ve only seen a few in all this time, so we can’t know everything."

Varyn nodded, lowering her sleeve.

"Yeah, I think you’re right."

Norma crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin haughtily.

"Your mutation is still cooler anyway! All this guy can do is break rocks, and that’s it."

Groza was surprised to learn this detail about Kreyn and Varyn, but she realized they had a more important task right now than discussing mutations.

"We only arrived here recently, but it’s true that we wanted to meet you. Well, not you personally, but some traveling merchant."

Diaro nodded, but he didn’t seem to be listening to Groza.

His rare amber eyes wandered from Kreyn’s boots to Groza’s strange armor, lingering only briefly on her gauntlets.

While Varyn immediately saw the essence of Kreyn’s arms, since she, too, had a mutation, Diaro’s gaze was focused on something else.

"What an interesting piece of equipment you two have."

Diaro’s eyes darted toward Kreyn.

"Did you create them, young man?"

Kreyn looked him up and down, with caution rather than arrogance.

"What if I did?"

In response, Dario spread his arms wide, his sleeves fluttering.

"That means you’re worth dealing with, after all."

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