Chapter 5: Replicate Me!

Jamal took the card and examined it. Then just like what his grandson has instructed, he crushed it with his full strength. The card was then shattered into many pieces before combining again and formed into a $100 money.

"This is… amazing!" his eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. "You also did this to the long swords I crafted?"

"Yes! Unfortunately, I could only replicate it once."

"Still, your ability is really great. I'm sure all the guilds and the hunters association will do their best to invite you. Even foreign countries might send their people here to recruit you."

Ran smiled wryly, if his ability were to be exposed. He will be targeted by many people, it won't just bring him fortune but also misfortune. It's like a double edged sword. What he need the most now is strength in order to protect himself from future enemies.

"Since your ability is replication…" Jamal's eyes shone brightly and said, "Replicate me!"

"W-what?! Why would you want yourself to be replicated?"

"Can't you imagine? Think about it, having two of me working together in my workshop. That would be a lot of money. Moreover, I won't be asking you to be my assistant anymore if that really happens!"

"Sighs… then how will you explain it to your clients? Will you tell them 'Oh! This is my identical twin' or whatnot?" Ran asked as he put his hand on his forehead. It's a lot of headache just thinking of it.

"Don't worry about it. I can manage."

"Alright, alright, I'll give it a try. You see, I haven't tried it on a living being before." Ran sighed helplessly before placing his hand on his grandfather's broad shoulder.

'Replicate!'

Ding!

[Magic power is not enough to replicate the selected target!]

[Replication has failed!]

[The host is advised to raise his stats and rank!]

Ran stared at the system window blankly for a few minutes before cursing loudly.

"What is it? Did it fail?"

"My magic power is not enough to replicate someone of your level. Forget it, I'll replicate you next time after raising my magical power." After saying that, he didn't wait for his grandfather to say anything and just left to his room.

Looking at his grandson's back, Jamal smiled happily. His grandson's dream of becoming a hunter has finally come true. He couldn't wait to see his progress in fulfilling his dream.

"Don't worry, I'll always be right here supporting you."

In his room, Ran laid on his bed still staring blankly at the system window in front of him. It's saying that his magic power was not enough to replicate his grandfather, which means replication is possible if the magic power requirements were met.

However, he didn't know how to increase his rank nor his magical power. Even after replicating dozens of long swords, he still didn't received any reward or a level up notification. The system was also mean, not even giving instructions nor tutorials.

A while later, he opened his phone and saw a notification popped up. It was from a website that hires porters. Clicking it, he was brought to a post scouting porters to enter an E rank dungeon. He immediately sent a message to the person who made the post together with a picture of his license.

Ding!

[Hi, thank you for your interest. We will be gathering at Cawilan village at 2 in the afternoon. Please arrive on time so we can raid the dungeon two times.]

Just a few minutes after his message, a reply was immediately sent to him. Reading it, his expression became more and more ecstatic. Finally, his first job after getting awakened.

Ran didn't waste any time and immediately prepared some stuff. He also stored some ready to eat food inside his inventory and some bottles of water. Afterwards, he left the house and went to his grandfather's workshop.

Thang! Thang! Thang!

As he neared the workshop, the familiar sound of his grandfather's hammering entered his ears. Then he saw him reheating a metal that seems to be a dagger. A smirk immediately appeared on his face.

"Gramps, let me borrow that after it's done."

"No problem. Find a seat and wait." Jamal agreed without any hesitation. He already know what his grandson was about to do.

"Alright." Ran then walked towards the empty chair nearby and sat down. There's still 4 hours left until 2 in the afternoon so waiting for a few hours doesn't matter to him.

"By the way Ran, do you want me to buy you a skill book? Although you have that replication skill, it seems to not be suited for fighting." Jamal suggested with a hint of worry carried in his voice.

'A skill book huh?' Ran thought seriously. What his grandfather said was true, his skill could be considered an auxiliary one and not suited for battle. If he want to grow strong, having a good skill would be great. Unfortunately, it's a rare commodity and were sold at a high price.

"It would be great but acquiring one won't be easy. Also, it's very expensive to buy one." Ran replied shaking his head. If he ever get one in the future, he promised that he would replicate it immediately.

Jamal stayed silent at his grandson's reply and continued hammering the dagger. After half an hour passed, the dagger were finally finished.

"Here, take a look. What do you think about my craftsmanship?"

Ran took the dagger from his grandfather's hand before examining it closely. He could feel the sharpness the dagger was emitting. Although it looked shabby due to the material used, its value still revolved with its sharpness.

Ding!

[Iron Dagger] (Rare)

- Dagger made from iron with doubled sharpness.

Note: Can be replicated!

'Another rare item?!' Ran was surprised. His grandfather could really craft rare items with subpar materials and it's not just luck. Moreover, the description of the item was similar with the long sword with their sharpness doubled.

If it's like this, what will happen if his grandfather would make weapon out from high quality ores and materials? Something great might come out if that happens.

"Gramps, what's your current rank?"

"Me? I'm a registered D rank hunter but my ability suits blacksmithing." Jamal replied with a confused expression on his face.

"If that so, what do you think is the grade of this dagger and its property?"

"I don't know about its grade as we need a measuring device for that and we don't have one. As for the property of it, I know it has doubled sharpness as it's what my skill does."

"You mean you're selling what you made without its grade getting measured?" Ran asked stunned. If that's really the case, aren't his grandfather making a loss?

"Yeah. You know how expensive a measuring device were sold in the market. I would rather use the money to buy you a skill book." Jamal replied shaking head, "And there's no need for my items to be appraise, all I craft are just normal grade weapons. My customer are ordering from me because all I sell were cheap weapons with doubled sharpness."

"That's not true! The long sword you crafted before has four rare among them. This dagger too is a rare weapon!"

"How can you be so sure? Do you have a measuring device on you?" Jamal asked, not believing what his grandson was saying.

"Sighs. Here take it and bring it to be measured. If it's not rare, I'll be your assistant for ten days. However if it's graded as rare, you'll have to trust everything I say without questioning. How about it?" Ran said giving the dagger back to his grandfather after he's done replicating it.

It's no use for him to explain something that's hard to believe. After all, his skill was replication and not appraisal. Thus, he'll leave the job at the people in the town with appraisal business.

Jamal looked at his grandson with wide eyes before an ecstatic expression appeared on his face. It's a win-win situation for him. If it turned out to be a normal weapon, his grandson will become his assistant that he wished for. And if it's really a rare weapon, he could just sell it with a raised price.

"Deal! There's no turning back you brat hahaha!"

Seeing how happy his grandfather was, Ran also became happy. This old man after all was his only family in this world. If not for him, he would have died long ago.

"Alright. I hope you can still smile even if it turned out to be a rare one." Ran teased as he chuckled softly. "I will be going then. Thanks for the rare dagger."

'Tsk, tsk, tsk, he's becoming more and more lively.' Jamal thought as he gaze tenderly at his grandson's leaving figure.

Then a deep long sigh left his mouth before looking at the blue sky above. His eyes were a bit misty. 'If you were alive, you could have seen your son grow. I'm sure you'll be so proud of him.'