Birth Of The Crafts-God

"A Jaburian? No, never heard of it."

"Jaburian? Is that a pantherian desolate beast? Those are quite rare. I've never seen one in my life."

"Jaburian? Nah."

"You won't find a Jaburian around. They're fourth level beasts, so they don't live on the outskirts of the Wasteland, but deep within. Only those top guilds and teams dare go so far into the Wastelands."

Lucas sighed at the various responses he got from his customers, as none could give him any lead. Since the system had given him a mission, Lucas intended to complete it and get the rewards. With ten system coins on the line, and the fact he didn't know when next he would get a mission, there was no reason to miss this.

However, regardless of whom he asked in the store —freelancer or not— no one had any information on the Jaburian. Many didn't even know what type of desolate beast it was, and for the few who did, they confirmed to him that they had never seen it before; all, except for one

"I think you should check on the news or so. There was a similar looking beast in one of those broadcasts on the beast tide in Alleva district. You might as well go through the intranet and search for some clues."

Taking the advice, Lucas opened his communicator browser and began searching for information regarding the Jaburian, thanks to the lead of the man. He focused his efforts on news regarding Alleva district, but even that was difficult.

The beast tide was a large horde, it consisted of different species of desolate beasts, which was a unique occurrence.

The desolate beast biological kingdom was much different from the animal kingdom as on Earth. They were more than just an entirely new species, however, they did possess similarities with typical beasts on Earth.

For instance, some lived in colonies while others are independent; there were also some classes of desolate beasts of different species, who could still live in a particular niche in peaceful unison. However, there were also desolate beasts that preyed on the other.

A desolate beast tide, also called a desolate beasts wave or swarm, was a massive throng of desolate beasts of different species and habitats. What stood out from this was that such beasts might be natural enemies, but in a tide, they moved without wreaking havoc. Such an eerie detail had been noted by zoologists, who now also studied desolate beasts as well, long ago.

Since there was a beast tide in Alleva district, there was a significant chance that Lucas might find a Jaburian there. No reason other than the fact that the mission was well-timed and a desolate beast tide could have up to twenty three different species of desolate beasts.

After spending half an hour checking through the various databases and public investigation details on different platforms, Lucas finally found something.

On one certain website, there was a report about a pantherian beast sighted in the desolate beasts swarm. Further confirmation by the experts had suspected it to be a Jaburian. The reason why this was a suspicion was because the image wasn't clear as the creature was moving too fast and blended amidst the horde of monsters.

While the image was restructured using AI, there was no certainty regarding the final result. Nonetheless, it was supposedly accurate, at least an 80% likelihood.

'I figured.' Lucas sighed.

Just as with last time where the system had him go to the Wastelands, Lucas was suspicious that this mission would also send him somewhere dangerous.

As it stood, the only known sighting of a Jaburian was in the Alleva district, but that was a place at risk of a desolate beasts tide, and it was also the last known location of Ramirez.

'Oh, they're gone.' Lucas glanced at a certain direction.

Since the murder of the assassin a couple of weeks back, the Red Fangs had kept an eye on him just in case Ramirez retaliated. They used Lucas as an open bait to fish in Ramirez. However, the latter didn't bite. As such, it was only a matter of time before the Red Fangs gave up the plan.

Lucas had always sensed two individuals watching him from the dark. They would occasionally leave, but be replaced by another two right away. However, today, Lucas noticed that there were no replacements. It seemed like the Red Fangs had finally given up the plan, and with the situation at Alleva district, there was all the more reason to do so.

'The situation has to be more dire than it seems, considering they're calling back their agents.'

Thinking of this, Lucas narrowed his eyes. He had already made his decision.

. . .

The next day came about and the new customers were surprised to find out that the store was closed for the day. The old regulars however, weren't too stunned by this and just smiled.

One of the recent regulars couldn't help but stop one of them.

"The store's closed. Do you know where the owner went or what happened to him?"

"Oh, nothing. The owner does this sometimes. He leaves closes the store for a while and goes on a trip." The man replied.

"But why would he do such? His business just started off well. Isn't it a bad idea to suddenly take a break?" The young man, who was interested in the situation, pestered on.

"How would I know what goes through his head?, But if I'm correct, it's probably because he's going to meet his master."

"His master?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yeah. You know the store owner is a human, so there's no way he's the vestige-smith behind all these products. I'm guessing he went out to find his master and restock." The man said after some thought.

If Lucas were to hear this, one could only imagine the kind of expression he would have on his face. No one knew who had started up this explanation, but many went with it as it made sense. All points were logical, and there was never any sign of vestige shipments to the store.

It was only natural for many to seek a possible explanation as to how Lucas gets his vestige, and many believed that he did the shipping himself.

"I see." The young man narrowed his eyes.

"Thanks for the help."

The young man then left the area, but not entirely. He snuck into a corner and opened up his communicator.

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"The target has left the scene. I repeat, the target has left the scene."