Chapter 227: Team Changes and Familiar Figures

All things revive, the breath of spring has arrived.

The harsh winter melted with the snow into the streams, and the withered old oak trees sprouted new buds.

Before he knew it, time had arrived at the Month of Flowering.

Xia Nan was also about to welcome his first anniversary of transmigrating to the Aifala Dalu.

For this, he felt he needed a little sense of ritual to further relieve the heavy pressure brought by his tense adventurous life.

And to add a little more human touch to himself, so as not to completely degenerate into a heartless machine for earning gold coins and brushing proficiency.

Of course, because he wasn't the type of person who liked to show off or put on airs, he naturally couldn't spend a fortune to book an entire tavern to hold a banquet like the few professionals he had seen in recent days.

A large pot of cream mushroom soup specially prepared for his own preferences, surging with fragrance, plus a few pieces of wheat bread paired with it, baked until crispy and fragrant, a plate of high-grade stewed meat, and half a bottle of ice-cold ale.

Along with the crisp, refreshing feeling lingering between his fingers from tearing through goblin flesh with his blade a few days ago.

Was already enough to make him feel very satisfied, feeling that he had spent a fulfilling and wonderful day.

Sitting alone in his usual spot in the corner of the tavern hall, he enjoyed a table full of sumptuous delicacies.

The Baishanque Tavern was as lively as usual, filled with adventurers of all kinds.

Only, he didn't know when the willow twigs and hazel branches hanging above the tavern door, the grass bundles tied with ribbons by the wine cabinet, the small green plants specially placed in the corner of the front desk...

Signaled the arrival of the "Green Grass Festival," a traditional holiday on the Aifala Dalu.

Xia Nan didn't know what customs this holiday had in town; memories from his predecessor only told him that people would weave flower wreaths on this day, pray to the gods for a good harvest in the new year, and exchange spring plowing plans.

For the adventurers in the Baishanque Tavern, including himself, with so many holidays every year, there was actually not much difference.

Perhaps the tavern owner would put up a few small decorations, or even hold some eye-catching lively activities.

But in the end, what actually fell to the adventurers were just a few discounted fine wines and set meals.

It didn't save many copper coins, and even because of the festive atmosphere, the expenses were much higher than usual.

Today was the same.

But it had to be admitted that these exotic atmospheres reflecting the local customs of this world still looked quite good.

The plate-chain composite armor, bought from the blacksmith's shop for a discounted price of over 250 gold and forged from Malan patterned steel, had long since been repaired.

The most serious damage encountered in these two months was just being grazed by a hammer from a dying bugbear, and under Xia Nan's increasingly proficient equipment maintenance techniques, it still maintained a relatively intact state.

Perhaps it didn't look as brand new as when it first came out of the blacksmith's shop, but the slight battle marks remaining on its surface added a few points of veteran momentum to it.

The defensive ability was not weakened, and it was clear it could still be used for a long time.

The 【Tide-Inducing Rod】 from his teammate Kashi in the former Sea Thorn Squad was still in a consignment state, left unattended in the association.

It could be considered normal, after all, its usage conditions were harsh, and the equipment effect was relatively targeted.

Just waiting for a fated (fishing) person.

Regarding this, Xia Nan wasn't in a hurry.

The hidden danger of the beastification curse had been cleared with the help of that mage named "Weirouer."

He naturally no longer needed to spend 500 gold to purchase a Remove Curse magic scroll, and the pressure on his gold coins dropped sharply.

It was worth mentioning that after selling the resonance relic to Weirouer for 400 gold, Xia Nan's net worth once reached over 1,200 gold coins (the association charged a 5% handling fee for the resonance relic transaction).

And now, after two months of targeted training against goblins, his savings had decreased instead of increased, leaving only a little over 500 gold.

As for the reason... naturally, it wasn't because he was extravagant or had picked up any bad habits.

But because it was all spent on the upgrade of the 【Snake Scale Arm Shield】.

Having obtained the "Bone-Eroding Patterned Steel" as a reward for the association's beastman investigation mission, and using the snake scales obtained from the secret realm as the main material, the upgraded arm shield had already entered the forging process.

And even though he had already provided two precious main materials, for the remaining series of scattered expenses including labor costs and auxiliary material costs, after a rough calculation, he still paid Ba'en a full 1,000 gold coins.

It was said that the excess would be refunded or the deficit made up, but according to what Ba'en said at the time, for magic equipment made of materials of this level, even if there was a surplus in the end, it probably wouldn't be much.

Xia Nan naturally felt heartache.

But at the same time, there was more anticipation for the finished product in the future.

Without a doubt, whether it was the production cost or the quality of the materials, the arm shield would be much better than the 【Bone-Binding Iron Greaves】 he was currently wearing on his legs.

At that time, not to mention the specific effects, the grade of the finished equipment would definitely be above it.

Green equipment was definitely there, otherwise, let alone himself, just Ba'en as the forger would have proactively returned the materials and labor costs.

Blue equipment also had a considerable possibility.

And if he was lucky enough, or if Ba'en had a flash of inspiration during forging... perhaps Xia Nan could obtain his first piece of purple equipment after transmigrating!

Making him feel excited involuntarily.

The only pity was that Ba'en was, after all, a famous blacksmith in River Valley Town.

Some standard equipment that could be mass-produced and had formed a fixed process was fine, whether it was repair or production, it was relatively fast.

But for this type of magic equipment that needed to be customized according to material characteristics and user needs, the time required for forging was relatively long.

Just from what Xia Nan knew, when he officially handed the arm shield and Bone-Eroding Patterned Steel to the other party, he already had orders for at least two pieces of enchanted equipment on hand.

So for the past two months, for the vast majority of the time, Xia Nan was just waiting while communicating in detail with the other party about the upgrade plan for the arm shield, including but not limited to: the specific style after forming, whether it would still be used as an arm shield, materials mixed during forging...

It had only started production in the last two days.

Therefore, he still needed to wait for a period of time before he could get the finished product.

"Clatter."

Accompanied by the soft sound of armor metal rubbing and colliding and a faint smell of blood, a familiar footstep came from the front.

"Delayed a while at the grocery store." The voice was hoarse, still the messy short hair that looked like fur handled by a butcher.

"Green Blood" Adeline sat straight across from him, the two mugs of black beer she had just bought landing on the table amidst the sloshing of the drink.

"Late, today's meal is on me."

Hearing this, Xia Nan just shook his head, signaling the other party not to mind.

In the nearly one year since transmigrating, the friends he had made whom he could trust could be counted on one hand.

The Adeline before him was one of them.

They had experienced life-and-death battles together and were teammates who could entrust their backs to each other.

Even though they hadn't worked together for a long time now, in his spare time outside of missions, he often made appointments with her to drink and chat.

"How have you been lately? I heard you have a few newcomers in your team?"

Not looking at the other party, Xia Nan stared at a dwarf who was drinking with his teammates somewhere in the tavern hall, and asked casually. ===== CHAPTER 228 =====