Chapter 3: The Surprised Jamal

Approximately four hours later, Ran had finally finished replicating everything. The storage rack is now almost full with long swords. Currently, there are 44 long swords on the storage rack with four rare and forty normal. The rare one take approximately 10 minutes to replicate while the normal one only take 5 minutes.

It wouldn't have taken that long, unfortunately he only have 150 magic power and he needed to rest to replenish it naturally. Since his job was done, he searched for a chair to sit down while also bringing one rare long sword with him. It will be considered his salary for doing an impossible job.

"Hah! This is very satisfying. If I have this kind of ability, I won't need to work at all and just search for some stuff then replicate it." Ran thought to himself with a huge grin. Imagining himself sleeping in his room full of items.

His face suddenly contorted when he remembered the system's restriction.

First rule: He must be holding the item to replicate it.

Second rule: Time vary depending on the item's rank.

Third rule: Magic Power consumption vary depending on the item's rank.

"Damn it! This would mean that I can't replicate high rank items sold in store."

Ran clenched his fist tightly. If he did try replicating one in a store, an epic grade weapon might take an hour to replicate. Which store owner would allow him to hold an epic grade item for one hour? They will definitely kick him out without any shred of hesitation.

He could try rare but the time still varies depending on the item's quality. This was his findings after replicating the rare items his grandfather had crafted. Although the ranks are the same, one of them still took him 13 minutes to finish replicating.

Moreover, even after replicating for a few hours, he didn't receive any notification of him leveling up. This only means one thing, he can't level up through replication. If that's the case, wouldn't he stay as an F rank hunter forever?

"Sighs. At least I could replicate money." Ran muttered to himself trying to cheer his depressed self.

Thang! Thang! Thang!

The sound of hammering continued again, waking him up from his thoughts. Ran then quickly stood up and stored the long sword in his inventory.

"Gramps, I'll leave first to cook food."

Jamal stopped hammering for a moment and gazed at his grandson with his tired eyes. A sweet smile formed on his face, "Alright. I'll follow you after I'm done with this one."

Ran nodded his head then left the workshop. His eyes were shining in amazement, he never thought his grandfather could craft three sharp long swords and one unfinished in just four hours. Though he could tell that he was having a hard time.

"Don't worry Gramps, there's a surprise waiting for you in the storage."

After a few minutes, he finally arrived at their house. It wasn't big but its quite sturdy. Also, he had been living in this place for 25 years now. The only downside today was that their village only has around 10 families that choose to stay. Its very little compared to what it was before.

Unlike other lucky villages that has a permanent dungeon, their economy were booming like mad as many hunters would visit their place. Well, its not like living peacefully is bad.

Sizzle~

A distinct sizzling sound echoed in the kitchen as Ran dropped the egg on the pan, while also singing at the same time. Few seconds later, he flipped the egg that has become fried and fluffy.

When it's finally cooked, he put it on a clean bowl and placed it at the table. Afterwards, he fried another one while doing exactly the same thing as before. A while later, their lunch were ready.

"Ran! Ran! What have you done?!"

Following his grandfather's shout, the door burst open and his grandfather entered with a face written with disbelief. Then he stood in place staring at him in the eyes, waiting for him to respond.

"What is it?" Ran asked with a frown, feigning ignorance. He already know what this is all about. It probably has something to do with the long swords he had replicated in the workshop.

"This…" Jamal wanted to ask his grandson about the situation at the workshop. However, seeing his confused expression, he couldn't help but hesitate. "It's nothing. Maybe I'm just tired."

"Alright. Come and have a sit. You have been hammering for four hours so it's quite normal for you to feel tired." Ran stated with a gentle smile on his face.

Jamal sighed before sitting down. He was sure that the long sword he had crafted were only twenty two, but the moment he visited the storage rack there are forty three long swords. It's impossible that he made a mistake while counting.

The only reasonable explanation was that it's his grandson's doing. But he couldn't just possibly tell him that, much more when his grandson was just a normal person and not an awakened.

"Gramps, aren't you tired from all that hammering? You've been doing that for many years now." Ran couldn't help but asked. His grandfather was already old but still insists on working.

"Hah! If I stop now, who will make money for us? Also, you don't need to worry about me. I'm also an awakened hunter." Jamal assured with a faint smile on his face. "But sometimes, I hope there's someone who could help me."

Ran only smiled sheepishly and started eating lunch. He knew that his grandfather was talking about him, but his dream was not becoming a blacksmith. It's becoming a hero that would save the world.

After they were done with lunch, Jamal left first to continue with his work. He only need to create three more for the order to be completed.

As for Ran, he didn't have anything to do and just went to his room. What his grandfather said to him a while ago had opened an idea in his head. What if, the replication skill don't only work on items but also to living beings? That would be dope!

But he suppressed his excitement before opening his system window. He still hadn't checked the shop button and he was curious what it has in store for him.

When he tapped it, another buttons appeared from swords, armors, skill books, potions, and so on. There are so many buttons to choose from. Without further ado, he first clicked the sword button and a new buttons popped up again from normal, rare, until mythical rank.

Ran couldn't help but feel speechless. The system has so many buttons to choose from, but he was hooked by the mythical section. It was the only thing he hadn't heard of in today's world.

"Unfortunately, it's locked. Well, doesn't matter. I'll just take a look at the normal section."

Tapping the button, rows of normal sword appeared in his view. There are long sword, short sword, greatsword, and so many others. However, he wasn't happy at all. After all, the cheapest normal sword sold by the system was 500 copper coins.

But he only have 100 copper coins and he doesn't even know how to acquire some. If it's this expensive in the normal section, just how expensive was the one displayed on the mythical one? Just thinking of it made his body tremble.

Without any other choice, he decided to look at the other items sold in the other section. And he found out one thing, everything sold by the system were expensive beyond his budget. Even the potion are sold at 100 copper per bottle. Meaning, he can only buy one bottle with the money he currently have now.

Ran quickly closed the system window as he stared blankly at the space in front of him. A helpless sigh left his mouth before taking out his phone. He need to find a new job now since he was kicked out at the construction site. But before that, he still have to register himself as an awakened.

Checking out the website of the Hunters Association, he found that tomorrow is the weekly assessment for those who want to register themselves as an awakened. The assessment were free to everyone who wished to get their license as an awakened. After all, the officials managing the dungeons won't allow anyone without license to enter.

"Alright! After I'm done getting my license, I'll become a porter." With that in mind, Ran turned off his phone and dozed off.

There's no need for him to rush things, just one step at a time. Moreover, he had his reason why he wanted to be a porter. Not only can he enter dungeon, do nothing but lift stuff, he could also replicate the items he's holding.

That means, he will receive a salary and also earn money at the same time. Dungeons after all was a place full of unknown mystery, it's also a source for new minerals, magic stones, and carcass of monsters that could be sold in the market at a high price.