Chapter 106

Even before stepping into the blacksmith shop, he had already prepared himself psychologically.

But when Xia Nan really heard that the chain mail shirt he had once spent 50 gold to buy was sentenced to "death," his heart still couldn't stop aching.

Seeming to notice his gaze lingering on the chain mail, the burly man in front of him, "Rock Hammer" Ba'en, showed a comforting smile on his face.

"A true sharp blade never fears breaking or damage, only fears not having drunk its fill of blood."

"No need to regret."

He stretched out his sturdy arm, which was as thick as an ordinary person's thigh, and patted Xia Nan's shoulder forcefully.

"That you can still stand here steadily already proves its value."

It was not a collectible placed in a display cabinet, nor did it ever need any gorgeous decoration.

The meaning of armor's existence is to isolate those injuries that should have been borne by the flesh.

Every spark under the forging hammer, every ray of light refracted by the chain links, was born for this.

It endured damage far exceeding its own defensive performance, and the metal structure collapsed as a result, but it also turned the heavy injuries that would have been fatal in a fierce battle into ordinary light injuries that did not affect combat capability.

50 gold or 500 gold, it didn't matter.

The chain mail shirt had completed its mission.

"If you are willing, you can sell it to me again."

Ba'en held the chain mail with one hand and shook it a few times in the air.

The rings rubbed and collided with each other, making the unique light sound of metal.

"15 gold, the parts of it that are still considered intact will be used as part of other equipment to continue to exert residual heat."

Completely scrapped, no meaning to repair.

This chain mail shirt naturally could not stay on his body anymore.

Ba'en took the initiative to propose recycling, which also saved him from running to "Walnut Furnace" again.

In terms of price, given the degree of damage to the equipment, the offer given by the other party was not very favorable, but it was within a reasonable range.

"Deal." Xia Nan nodded in agreement.

His eyes turned slightly, looking at the other piece of equipment on the counter.

That light plate armor that was also pierced by bone spikes and stripped from a dead person.

"If I want to repair it, about how much will it cost?"

Because of the influence of forging craftsmanship and materials, equipment of the heavy armor type was inherently much more expensive than other types of armor.

Although this plate armor was modified from the mass-produced standard goods equipped by the sheriff, the size and type were more similar to a breastplate, only covering a few vital parts of the upper body.

But whether it was its own value or defensive performance, it was much better than the few pieces of equipment Xia Nan had once owned.

If it could be repaired, he certainly had to repair it.

"Hmm... let me see." Ba'en's thick palm brushed over the scars on the surface of the plate armor, observing carefully and pondering.

After a while, he slowly opened his mouth again:

"The internal metal baffle needs to be completely replaced, and the connection points also need to be fused and reinforced, otherwise there may be a risk of separation."

"At least 40 gold."

After speaking, without waiting for Xia Nan to reply, Ba'en bent his fingers and tapped lightly on the metal surface of the plate armor, adding:

"Although I have already said it, I still have to remind you one more time."

"With this degree of piercing scars, even if it were me, it is very difficult to guarantee that it will still possess the same defensive strength after repair."

"And in case it suffers an attack of the same level in the same position again, its remaining durability will also be completely exhausted."

"I suggest you consider it carefully again."

Ba'en's attitude was sincere, and the good reputation accumulated over many years also made Xia Nan tend to believe that what the other party said was the truth.

He couldn't help but follow the other party's meaning and seriously consider it.

As an adventurer who was not good at defense and had no other active defensive equipment or combat techniques except for a thin arm shield made temporarily,

his fault tolerance was basically all on the armor.

With this as a premise, the stability of the equipment, whether it could provide him with defensive capability for a long time and steadily,

was what he valued now.

Light plate armor was indeed expensive, but it was already in a state that required major repairs.

According to Ba'en's statement, even if he spent more than forty gold coins, he couldn't guarantee the durability and defensive strength afterward.

Wearing it on his body made him feel uneasy, and he had to be careful when using it.

He didn't want to have to distract himself during the battle to pay attention to the angle, avoiding the opponent's attacks landing on the fitted parts of the plate armor repair.

He made up his mind on the spot.

Xia Nan raised his head slightly and looked at Ba'en behind the counter.

"If I recycle it, how much can I sell it for?"

"You come here every few days, you can be considered a regular customer, I'll earn a little less, how about 35 gold?"

"Deal."

One mission, both pieces of armor on his body were scrapped, Xia Nan only felt his heart dripping blood.

Along with the money bag he received from the other party, it didn't seem to have the solid, heavy feel it used to have.

After the two old pieces of equipment were processed, the consumption link naturally arrived.

Heavy armor was too heavy, and there was no light type in the blacksmith shop that reduced weight by significantly cutting volume and coverage area like the one equipped by the sheriff.

Not to mention how much money it would cost, with his current physical fitness, it would be very difficult for him to support a full set of plate armor including boots and gloves.

So he stopped considering it.

The chain mail shirt that had stubbornly survived two missions before still had good defensive performance after a major repair.

The usage experience was very good.

Without hesitation, he took out 50 gold directly and bought a brand-new chain mail shirt to wear on the outside.

On the other hand, perhaps it was because he had tasted the sweetness of "double-layer protection" by equipping two pieces of armor at the same time.

After comprehensive consideration, Xia Nan spent another 45 gold to buy a set of studded leather armor as a lining.

Deep brown leather that was as tough as iron after tanning, two rows of brass rivets spreading from the shoulders down to the side waist.

It was light and fitted without appearing tight.

The defensive performance was almost the highest grade of leather armor in the shop.

In addition, the two daggers that had been with him the longest among all the equipment on his body, which came from the gnome Erji of the "Rotten Fish and Shrimp" squad, were also lost in the battle with the Spined Devil.

He spent another 2 gold coins to buy one.

Collecting magic beast materials, cutting food, and even using them in special combat situations...

Wide range of uses.

At this point, his spending in the "Rock Hammer" blacksmith shop was a total of 50+45+2—

97 gold.

Returning the 50 gold obtained from recycling the two discarded pieces of equipment, Xia Nan added another 47 gold himself.

Only then could it be considered that the equipment matters were handled.

Directly putting on the new armor, he walked out of the blacksmith shop.

He couldn't help but reach out and touch the tough surface of the studded leather armor sticking to the lining under the chain mail.

Feeling the solid weight on his body that took into account both flexibility and defense, Xia Nan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

His gaze swept across the bustling street.

New equipment purchased, next is...

Adventurer Association (Hegu Town Branch).

In the corner of the hall, a shop with a sign labeled "Alchemist Association."

Xia Nan moved his footsteps carefully, passing through the shelves filled with all kinds of alchemy potions.

He moved with his body slightly sideways to prevent the two swords on his back from accidentally brushing against the bottles and jars on the shelves on both sides.

Having worked as an adventurer for a few months, and being only one combat technique away from becoming a professional,

this place was still not a place he could afford to consume.

【Corrosion Resistance Potion】, 【Slippery Oil】, 【Kalin Soul-Binding Elixir】...

The selling price was often in the three digits; accidentally knocking over two bottles would be enough to make him lose everything and pay all the gold coins he had managed to save.

He couldn't help but feel some emotion in his heart:

"This is the real profiteering..."

Don't know if alchemists have requirements for talent, and where one can learn relevant knowledge.

It's just a pity that his golden finger currently only has the ability to display equipment and his own attribute information.

If it were more useful, extending the "proficiency" system beyond combat techniques, like in the games of his past life, allowing him to quickly improve skills like "gathering," "forging," "alchemy" through training.

He wouldn't have to sleep in the open in the wild, struggling for ten days or half a month for those few pennies.

Staying in an inn, clanking out dozens of bottles of medicine, this life would be set.

Passing by another bottle labeled "230 gold" for 【Underwater Breathing Potion】, Xia Nan's eyes couldn't help but twitch twice.

"What kind of people are consuming here?"

Muttering to himself, his feet suddenly stopped.

Coming into view was a potion with a golden color, the foam on its surface reflecting a brilliant golden light.

【Radiance Resistance Potion】, 300 gold.

In his mind, he couldn't help but recall the battle with the sheriff Ingram in Kalanfur many days ago.

At that time, although he had triggered 【Strong Toughness】 with the help of the "Fate Coin," immunizing himself against the physical damage caused by the other party,

the holy light impact attached to 【Divine Smite】 had hit him squarely.

Even now, Xia Nan could still clearly remember the burning pain that was more intense than fire roasting at that time.

If he had drunk this bottle of potion in advance in response at that time, I'm afraid his post-battle injuries would have been much lighter, and he wouldn't have needed to take such a big risk.

For those veteran adventurers who could earn hundreds, or even four-digit gold coins in a single mission, this kind of potion that could significantly improve survival rates was undoubtedly worth it.

If his future mission targets were magic beasts clearly possessing some kind of special damage, perhaps he could also...

Xia Nan shook his head, dispersing the chaotic thoughts within.

A bottle of potion was worth most of his net worth, far from what he could consider right now.

His footsteps couldn't help but quicken as he took a bottle of healing potion from the shelf in the middle of the shop.

He walked toward the front desk.

The prices of goods in the small alchemy shop were expensive, and even though it was located in the crowded association hall, few people patronized it.

Therefore, the suspected shop owner, the bald man who had reminded him of the existence of the 【Adventurer's Handbook】 when Xia Nan first came to Hegu Town,

usually wore his alchemist robe, lazily leaning on the recliner behind the counter, occasionally with his hands behind his back, not caring about the shop behind him filled with potions worth tens of thousands of gold coins, slowly going out to chat with other staff members in the association, seemingly not worried at all that someone would take advantage of his absence to be light-fingered.

Today was no different from the past.

In the entire shelf area, Xia Nan was the only one.

Arriving at the counter, there was only one more guest.

Also fully armed, wearing thick iron armor, and there were even bloodstains remaining on the surface of the elbow pads.

With her back to Xia Nan, he couldn't see her face clearly, but judging by the other party's clean and neat short hair and sturdy body, it was not hard to see...

"Stop talking nonsense, take the money."

Huh?

The voice was hoarse and low, but the tone was slightly soft and short.

A woman?

His gaze paused subconsciously.

As if to confirm, his gaze swept over the other party's short, fine black hair, which was no different from a crew cut, and her muscular body again.

She seemed to be arguing with the shop owner, and the two's words became increasingly intense.

"How many times has this been this month? What about the detox ointment I sold you last time? Don't tell me you used it up again."

"With Bugbears, those green-skinned beasts also seem to have grown brains and know how to use poison."

"You've earned gold coins for most of the past half year, and 80% of it has been filled into my medicine cabinet? Even Old Charlie next door, who is always 'only in and never out,' dares to bet with me that you won't live until next year."

"Heh (sneer)."

"If you ask me, you should save the money you spend on medicine and go to Niumu..."

"Bang!" It was the noise of a money bag hitting the table, and the tone was full of impatience, "50 gold is all in there, it's just a bottle of healing potion, don't dawdle!"

"Damn it..." Accompanied by a sigh, the bottom of the glass potion rubbed against the wooden table, "I bet 300 copper coins with him that you can at least live until the end of this winter, don't you..."

"Patter..."

There was no answer, and the sound of footsteps gradually moving away came from the air.

Seeing this, Xia Nan also lowered his pricked-up ears and deliberately made some noise as he walked out from behind the shelves.

"Healing potion, 50 gold."

It was just a one-time meeting, and the bald man didn't recognize the black-haired youth in front of him, just treating him as a normal guest.

Although Xia Nan was curious about the conversation between the two just now, he didn't ask too many questions.

He handed the gold coins to the other party, put the healing potion into the waist bag that was easy to reach, and walked out of the shop.

The price of "healing potion" was high, but there was no doubt that its exaggerated effect of being able to heal light injuries in a breath and hold onto a breath when facing heavy injuries that could be fatal.

In Xia Nan's view, it was a must-have item before an adventure and one of the important trump cards in battle.

The bottle he bought before had its last mouthful drunk in the battle with the Spined Devil, so after returning to Hegu Town, he naturally had to replenish it.

And then...

"Rest for two days first?"

Xia Nan considered in his heart.

This trip out, although he paid the price of two pieces of armor and half a bottle of healing potion, the harvest was equally generous.

Following behind the Barbarian, just by picking up some things, his assets soared to more than 400 gold coins;

and more importantly, he completed the key prerequisite for obtaining a professional level, mastered a new combat technique 【Tooth Hunt】, and obtained advanced knowledge related to "specialties"—specialty types affect the direction of employment to a certain extent;

he even learned some secrets about Goblins and their main god during his exchanges with Fugang.

His goals for the next step were also clear.

First, find a channel to obtain new combat techniques (preferably in the direction of the Warrior profession) and accelerate the speed of obtaining a professional level as much as possible;

second, save more money, and then go to "Rock Hammer" Ba'en to upgrade the Snake Scale Arm Shield in his hand into magic equipment.

Judging by the strength of this alien snake scale, after being forged into magic equipment, his actual combat power would definitely be qualitatively improved.

Finally, since 【Tooth Hunt】 had been thoroughly mastered and displayed on the attribute panel.

Taking advantage of this period, he could also improve the proficiency of 【Tooth Hunt】 through training and battle while earning money.

Pondering, his eyes stared involuntarily at his own reflection on the glass surface in front of him.

Semi-transparent characters floated before his eyes:

【Tooth Hunt】 lv1 (1/100)

"Forget it, rest my foot."

"Start grinding!"

(End of chapter)