Chapter 26: The Quiver of Vengeance

• The item they’re commissioning is a quiver.

“A quiver?”

• Yes. It seems they’ve estimated your level, Vulcanus-nim. That’s why they didn’t request a weapon or armor.

I thought I hadn’t let a single piece of personal information slip.

But the top-ranked Hunters were figuring me out far too easily.

The Berserker, and now Cheon-gung.

The Mir Guild probably has a rough idea of my level too.

Hmm…

A quiver.

As the name suggests, it’s a container for holding arrows.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t that strange.

While a quiver is often considered part of a set with a bow, it doesn’t have attack or defense stats, making it a type of accessory or auxiliary equipment.

• They said they’ll cover all material costs, so you can buy whatever materials you need. In fact, they even said to make it with the best materials, no matter the cost.

They’d cover the cost of materials?

Most high-end materials cost billions.

It was a bold proposal, worthy of the second-ranked Hunter.

“What’s the requirement?”

• Just one.

The Mir Guild replied with a hint of hesitation.

• Make an item better than Park Kang-chul’s Cloak. That’s all.

Ugh.

I accepted the commission.

It was demanding, but the only way to get adamantium right now was to take on this request.

But—

“Make an item better than an SSS-grade Cloak…?”

The requirement was absurd.

It seems Cheon-gung feels a strong rivalry with Park Kang-chul.

Well, considering he lost his second-place rank to him, it’s understandable.

Though, I suppose I’m partly to blame for that.

“Maybe I can make it work by raising the item level?”

I shook my head and decided to think simply while pondering how to make an item better than the SSS-grade Cloak.

I could definitely craft a higher-level item now.

The Cloak I made for Park Kang-chul was tailored specifically for him, so it didn’t have a level restriction.

“Let’s pick the item first.”

For once, I didn’t have to worry about the cost of materials.

Since Cheon-gung’s side would cover the expenses, I could go all out.

The most basic material would be wood.

“There’s not much of that either.”

Like ore and fiber, wood seemed to be mostly bought up by the Hunter Association.

Fortunately, there were some wood materials dropped by monsters available for sale.

Worst case, I could buy wooden items and disassemble them.

Since I could claim material costs, it wasn’t a burden at all.

While browsing the Auction House, I thought—

“I should decide on the concept first.”

Before buying materials, I decided to design what kind of quiver to make.

I’d already checked what items were available on the Auction House.

To settle on a concept, I turned to—

[The Chaos: Dark Curse]

It was a game I used to play a lot.

Coincidentally, The Chaos also featured quivers as auxiliary equipment for archers.

I wasn’t a hardcore player, but I’d seen the ending of The Chaos at least three times, so I looked up the items for the “Beast Hunter” class.

Bone Fang Quiver.

Sunken Shadow Quiver.

Traitor’s Tracker.

A variety of quivers were listed.

As expected, games are the best source of inspiration.

While scrolling through the items, I came across one that seemed perfect.

Among the max-level legendary items, often called the ultimate quiver for the “Poison Arrow Tree”—

[Tarantula’s Venom Sac]

The Tarantula’s Venom Sac.

As a quiver, it had basic options like increased agility and attack speed, but the real key was what came next.

Poison augmentation.

When equipped with the Tarantula’s Venom Sac, arrows gain a poison attribute.

The poison stacks with each hit, so with the right attack speed setup for the Poison Arrow Tree, it could unleash tremendous power.

And based on the information I’d received in advance—

• Ranger
  
• Passive Skill, Rapid Fire: Each attack increases attack speed, and after the tenth attack, attack speed stabilizes while attack power increases.
  
• Main Skill, Barrage: Fires a number of arrows proportional to current attack speed, dealing damage proportional to attack speed.
  
• Main Skill, Scattershot: Accuracy decreases, but attack speed temporarily surges dramatically.
  

Cheon-gung, Cheon Seung-heon’s Ranger class, was an archer specialized in attack speed.

“They don’t give this kind of info lightly.”

Ranger class information.

This was incredibly valuable.

The only reason Cheon-gung shared it with me was—

“Park Kang-chul gave out his class info?!”

Since Park Kang-chul did it, he would too.

That’s what it was.

Well, thanks to that, it was much easier for me to research an item suited for Cheon-gung.

“With this as the base concept, let’s pick materials.”

Looking through the Auction House, I found items that seemed perfect.

Normally, the high prices would’ve made my hands tremble, but now I bought materials without worry.

[‘Human-Faced Spider’s Venom Sac’ has been purchased.]

[‘Corrupted Wood’ has been purchased.]

[‘Manticore’s Hide’ has been purchased.]

Materials with minimum prices in the billions.

Truly luxurious materials appeared before me.

With the concept set and materials purchased, I was ready to start crafting.

[Using Production Skill.]

[Please select the shape of the item to craft.]

“Quiver.”

[Please specify the details of the quiver’s shape.]

For the details, I referenced the Tarantula’s Venom Sac as the motif.

I wondered if The Chaos game company might contact me about plagiarism, but—

Nah, no way.

Just in case, I added some personal touches.

Since it was a custom item for Cheon-gung, I engraved the characters for “Cheon-gung” on it.

[Please choose the material for the quiver.]

I selected all the materials I’d just bought.

Right after, recalling the time I made Park Kang-chul’s item, I waited for the next system message.

[Please set the owner of the quiver.]

[Setting an owner will create a soulbound item usable only by that individual.]

[If you do not wish to set an owner, crafting will proceed immediately.]

As expected.

The message I anticipated appeared.

“Cheon-gung, Cheon Seung-heon.”

[Setting ‘Cheon Seung-heon’ as the owner of the quiver.]

[Calculating Cheon Seung-heon’s Understanding.]

[Ranger Understanding: 58%]

[Cheon Seung-heon Understanding: 36%]

[Total Understanding: 52%]

Total Understanding: 52%.

Exactly 1% higher than Park Kang-chul’s.

Well, Cheon-gung’s request was for an item better than Park Kang-chul’s, so even a 1% difference was a pass for now.

[Crafting begins.]

As crafting started, points appeared.

I boldly struck the first point and noticed, just like with Park Kang-chul’s Cloak, the points’ form was slightly different.

Slosh.

When I crafted Park Kang-chul’s Cloak, the shattered points flowed like blood.

Now, the shattered points turned into a purple liquid, dripping down.

It was reminiscent of thick, poisonous fluid.

It seems the points change to match the item’s characteristics.

Well, even so—

Clang!

My task remained the same.

As I hammered, the Corrupted Wood transformed to suit the quiver.

Manticore’s Hide wrapped around it.

[Progress: 55%…]

The quiver, now taking shape, was infused with the venom of the Human-Faced Spider.

The Human-Faced Spider.

A giant spider-like boss monster with a human face.

It’s a notorious Level 5 monster known for its powerful poison among poison-using monsters.

If I couldn’t claim the cost, I’d never have bought such an expensive material.

[Progress: 79%…]

The venom from the Human-Faced Spider’s sac soaked the quiver, with plenty left over.

The remaining venom settled inside the quiver.

It formed a small pool, but a barrier seemed to keep the venom from spilling out.

[Progress: 96%…]

Finally, after the expensive monster materials harmonized with the quiver—

[Crafting is complete.]

[‘Sharp Vengeful Quiver’ has been obtained.]

The quiver was complete.

The Sharp Vengeful Quiver.

It had a name straight out of The Chaos.

But the name wasn’t the important part.

Cheon-gung’s request demanded an SSS-grade quiver.

If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to claim the material costs or get the adamantium.

With a heart pounding harder than ever, I checked the quiver’s details.

[Sharp Vengeful Quiver]

Type: Quiver

Grade: SSS

Restriction: Cheon-gung, Cheon Seung-heon

Description: A venom sac embodying the resentment of one aiming for the heavens, crafted to surpass those who have overtaken him.

Abilities:

1. Retribution – Deals greater damage the stronger the enemy is.
   
2. Venom Sac – Adds poison attribute damage to arrows, with a chance to inflict ‘Human-Faced Spider’s Extreme Poison’ status effect (stackable).
   
3. Grudge – Deals additional damage based on the number of status effects stacked on the target.
   
4. Envenomed Burst – Detonates accumulated poison stacks in the area, dealing wide-area poison damage. Instantly kills monsters with low health from stacked poison. Usable once per day.
   

“It’s done!”

Triple.

I was worried that using expensive materials might not yield a triple-SSS, but thankfully, it turned out exactly as expected.

“But what’s with the name and description?”

The Sharp Vengeful Quiver.

I could understand that part.

But the description was a bit vague.

A venom sac embodying Cheon-gung’s resentment?

I worried he might take offense to it.

“Well, what can I do?”

If he’s offended, so be it.

I don’t write the item descriptions—the system generates them automatically, so I can’t help it.

And, well, it’s not exactly wrong.

[Cheon Seung-heon’s commission has been completed.]

I uploaded the crafted item to the system, and the commission completion message appeared.

Unlike Park Kang-chul, who set prices based on item grade, Cheon-gung said he’d only give the adamantium if he was satisfied with the item.

So, I was nervously wondering if he’d like it when—

Ding.

The awaited message arrived.

With a pounding heart, I opened it, and instead of a reply from Cheon-gung, a heavy piece of metal dropped.

[Adamantium]

“Adamantium!”

With this, I’d gathered all the materials for the furnace.

Now, only one thing remained.

Take all these materials to Area 1, craft the furnace, and enter the hidden piece, Hephaestus’ Forge, to discover what lies within.