Chapter 21: Weapons

"Rock Hammer," one of the most famous blacksmith shops in River Valley Town.

The armor and weapons produced here were known for being tough and durable, quite famous among the low-level adventurers in town.

There were even rumors that even the professional adventurers on the second floor of the association often had equipment custom-made at "Rock Hammer."

This made the blacksmith shop's business increasingly hot.

Today, Xia Nan, who was preparing for his upcoming mission by referencing the 【Adventurer's Handbook】, finally met the owner of this blacksmith shop.

Ba'en Gangxu,

a name with very strong dwarven characteristics.

The massive muscles piled up like steel, and the reddish-brown braided beard that practically hung to his chest, also fit the traditional image of a dwarf.

It was just that, at 2.3 meters tall, a head taller than a Bugbear, he didn't look like he had the "dwarven" bloodline he claimed to have.

"Looks more like those Barbarians on the ice plains."

Xia Nan thought to himself while looking at the burly figure in the shop.

His feet, however, didn't stop, and he walked straight in.

Unexpectedly, although he claimed to have the bloodline of the "Gangxu Clan," the owner of the Rock Hammer blacksmith shop, "Ba'en," didn't have the rough and reckless personality of a dwarf as one might imagine.

Instead, he was like an ordinary, enthusiastic shopkeeper who took the initiative to introduce things when Xia Nan showed an intention to purchase.

"This type of ring mail is the lightest among heavy armor. The iron rings on it can effectively block slashing damage from swords and axes."

"This set of chain mail is also good; its defensive capability is even higher than ring mail, but similarly, its price is also more than a dozen gold coins higher."

With Ba'en's detailed explanation in his ears, Xia Nan's gaze swept across the display rack.

Pause.

"This set……"

What came into view was a full set of full-body coverage armor made of hard iron plates and metal buckles.

Iron gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a hollowed-out helmet with a built-in faceplate, and the thick, tough cowhide lining underneath, paired with metal plates that emitted a cold luster under the interlacing of leather straps and buckles.

At a glance, it gave one the illusion of a mobile fortress.

If he could wear this set of super heavy armor, even if he stood in a pile of Goblins and let them knock on him with their little wooden sticks for two hours, he was afraid not even a single hair would fall off.

But similarly, while the thick metal plates granted the armor strong defensive power, they also brought an exaggerated weight that was difficult for ordinary people to bear.

With his current physical fitness…… he was afraid even walking normally would be a problem.

"Full plate armor, made of high-quality steel, every metal piece forged and hammered by me personally." Ba'en on the side introduced it with full pride at the right time. "The defensive power goes without saying; you'll know just by looking at it."

"If you buy the whole set, we at 'Rock Hammer' will also throw in three free maintenance sessions."

"1500 gold, no credit."

Hearing the price, Xia Nan instantly dismissed the idea.

Clearly, this kind of equipment wasn't something he could consider; for now, he should be more pragmatic.

Fortunately, "Rock Hammer" had a complete variety of equipment. After strolling around with Ba'en and listening to his brief introduction, he had a rough idea.

There were many styles of armor, but they were generally divided into three types:

Light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor.

Among them, heavy armor was too heavy and would greatly affect Xia Nan's flexibility, which didn't fit his current combat style.

So he wouldn't consider it for now.

Medium armor was quite good; its weight was between heavy and light armor, it had strong versatility, and its defensive performance was also quite decent.

But perhaps precisely because of this, it had the highest average price among the three types of armor.

Even the cheapest "chain shirt" required a full 50 gold coins.

This was completely beyond Xia Nan's budget.

Finally, after some hesitation and consideration, he spent 10 gold to buy a set of leather armor specially made in Ba'en's shop.

This type of armor possessed super high flexibility and extremely light weight; leather soaked in boiling oil to become harder was its main material.

And it came from the well-known blacksmith shop "Rock Hammer," so the quality was excellent.

Its comprehensive performance was several times stronger than the second-hand goods the predecessor had picked up from who knows where.

Having solved the armor problem, the next thing was……

"Shield?" Xia Nan paused, then waved his hand at Ba'en in front of him. "Better not, I'm not very good at using one."

The real world wasn't like a game where you could easily block an enemy's attack by just holding up a shield, or even perform a so-called "block counter" by pressing a button at the right time.

Especially in the complex environment of the Mist Forest, if you hadn't mastered the relevant shield-holding techniques, then no matter how hard the shield was, it was no different from holding a door panel in your hands.

What Xia Nan needed most right now was to find a weapon that suited him.

And fortunately, as the owner of the "Rock Hammer" blacksmith shop, weapons were also the type of equipment Ba'en was best at forging.

"Flail, light hammer, poleaxe……"

All kinds of cold weapons, whether light or heavy, practically covered an entire wall.

"Poleaxe, single-edged, suitable for use in open-field combat."

"Iron prism hammer, an armor-piercing weapon; one hammer down, the armor might be fine, but the person underneath wouldn't be."

"……"

Xia Nan's gaze swept across these weapons one by one, following Ba'en's introduction.

His thoughts gradually became clear.

First, the weapon itself couldn't be too light.

He wasn't the nimble combat style of an assassin like Erji; the two short daggers on his body were only for emergencies.

The highly flexible light leather armor and the operational space freed up by not needing to hold a shield made him lean more towards weapons that could be held with both hands.

Like the one-handed sword the predecessor had, it was sharp enough, but the empty hand felt somewhat awkward in combat; Gagu's two-handed axe had momentum, but it sometimes felt cumbersome in actual use.

Second, the weapon type must fit 【Circle Slash】.

Although this trump card, with the help of the predecessor's efforts and the attribute panel, had been raised to the max level of lv5, practically merging with him like a daily movement.

Not just short daggers, even the hoe swung in the fields could easily release 【Circle Slash】 in Xia Nan's hands.

But since there was a choice, he naturally had to find the most suitable one.

So, just……

Just as Xia Nan was lost in thought due to the choice of weapon, Ba'en, who had been observing him while explaining, seemed to have misunderstood something.

He laughed heartily and pulled the bewildered Xia Nan to the side.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about; who didn't start as a novice?"

"It's fine if you don't have enough gold coins. Although our shop doesn't accept credit, it's not like we don't have relatively cheaper goods."

"Take a look, see if there's anything you like?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 22 =====