Chapter 49: Selection

Xia Nan was a bit surprised by the craftsman's reaction.

With the "battle-hardened" look of the leather armor he was wearing, let alone a discounted buyback, even a roadside general store wouldn't have given it a second glance.

He had thought it could only be treated as scrap, but he hadn't expected to be able to sell it for a price at "Rock Hammer," which was always known for its high-end boutiques.

Naturally, he couldn't refuse.

He took it off right then and there and handed it to Ba'en.

Come to think of it, this leather armor lived up to its 10-gold price tag.

Facing the impact of the Shihua Xiyi, although it was breached and smashed on the spot, it undoubtedly helped Xia Nan mitigate a lot of damage.

If he had been greedy for a bargain and bought one of those shoddy, cheap items,

he was afraid he wouldn't have even waited for the half-elves' support before being killed by the Shihua Xiyi.

3 silver coins went into his pocket.

Ba'en Gangxu swung the reddish-brown braided beard that hung to his chest, grinning as he put the leather armor behind the counter.

Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of iron-gray cold light flickered.

He couldn't help but look up, glance at the decapitation longsword on Xia Nan's back, and ask tentatively:

"This sword... how is it?"

To this, Xia Nan didn't shy away, saying bluntly:

"Very good, sharp and durable, much better than the weapon I used before."

As he spoke, he observed the other party's expression, trying to avoid revealing his golden finger as much as possible, and hinted:

"I don't know if it's because of the gray steel mixed in, but I even feel this sword is tougher than other weapons."

"If you remember the details of the forging, maybe you could research a pretty good product."

Hearing this, Ba'en's deep and straightforward laughter rang out in the blacksmith shop once again.

His fan-like hand patted Xia Nan's shoulder hard.

"Hahaha, you're too polite! But still, be careful, don't suffer in battle because of this weapon."

Clearly, he didn't understand the point Xia Nan was hinting at.

"Our blacksmith shop only makes boutiques! Equipment like this, where the quality details can't be determined, cannot be mass-produced."

"Besides, even if I really accidentally made a pretty good work," Ba'en's eyes were slightly unfocused, seemingly recalling the scene when he forged the decapitation longsword, "that was just an unexpected small-probability event, it can't be replicated."

With things at this point, Xia Nan couldn't say anything more.

He nodded.

He pulled the 【Green Pine】 wooden sword from his back and handed it to the other party.

"I need you to help me custom-make a scabbard, the price is negotiable."

Ba'en took it with both hands, his gaze scanning the sword, but he didn't ask why he wanted a custom scabbard for a wooden sword.

He just flipped through it and muttered to himself:

"Hmm... dark brown wooden material, the toughness doesn't look like ordinary wood. Is it iron oak from Ivelius? Or the sparrow willow by Rong Cui Hu? No, the color shouldn't be that dark..."

As he spoke, he took out measuring tools from the storage cabinet behind the counter and asked without looking up:

"Any specific requirements?"

Xia Nan pondered carefully for a moment.

"Durable, the color shouldn't be too conspicuous, and the design should be slightly simple and low-key."

The scabbard itself, as a tool for storing weapons, might not have much presence in battle.

But a suitable scabbard is extremely important for an adventurer.

Besides the function of protecting the blade and preventing rust and moisture as recognized by the world, it can also influence an adventurer's drawing speed to a certain extent, as well as maintain center-of-gravity balance during daily activities and combat.

Xia Nan had heard several drunks bragging in the tavern that those high-level professionals with staggering wealth would even spend a lot of money to ask professional spellcasters to enchant their scabbards, giving them effects like automatic maintenance and faster drawing speed.

Of course, this was still too far away for him right now, so he didn't need to think about it so much.

Ba'en came from a dwarven clan, and his professional level was among the best in all of River Valley Town.

In about ten minutes, he had measured all kinds of data.

He handed the wooden sword back to Xia Nan and said in a deep voice:

"Although the sword's style is a bit rare, it's not hard to make just a scabbard."

"I plan to use rock carbon steel; the color will be similar to the sword, not too conspicuous, and its own moisture-proof ability is also good, suitable for this kind of wooden material weapon."

"You can come and pick it up in three days; as for the labor and material costs... you know, custom-made is a bit more expensive."

"10 gold."

"Deal."

Xia Nan nodded.

It was the same price as his previous leather armor, and it was a necessary expense.

Saving money in this regard was going against his own life safety.

Putting the wooden sword back behind him, Xia Nan looked at the various armors displayed on the display rack.

Having completed the customization of the 【Green Pine】 scabbard, he now needed to buy a set of armor for himself.

Feeling the heavy weight of the money bag at his waist, he made up his mind, already prepared for a major expenditure.

The battle with the Shihua Xiyi and the extremely high-pressure environment of the Mist Forest made him deeply realize.

If he wanted to survive mission after mission for a long time and safely as an adventurer.

His fault tolerance must be improved!

High attack and low defense might be an option for those professionals with high enough "killing power."

But for a low-level adventurer who hadn't even mastered the most basic combat techniques, sacrificing defense too much to improve combat power was undoubtedly a trap that would significantly increase the probability of death.

Therefore, Xia Nan planned to purchase a set of armor that wouldn't significantly affect his agility while possessing a certain degree of defensive strength.

Regarding this, he had already made a decision long before he first came to "Rock Hammer" and bought that 10-gold leather armor.

His gaze passed over the "light armor" that was light enough but lacked defense, and passed through the "heavy armor" that had strong defense but limited agility.

He arrived at the center of the shelf.

"Chain shirt," medium armor, iron rings made of metal are densely and neatly inserted into leather clothing material, covered with a layer of flexible fabric for decoration.

"Scale armor," medium armor, also with leather as a base, fish-scale-like metal pieces overlapping and arranged, and also comes with two leg guards.

Both are priced at 50 gold.

The former has stronger defensive performance against slashing attacks and is relatively simple to maintain, making less noise when moving, but the weight distribution is uneven, requiring sufficient muscle strength to support, and it has poor defensive ability against blunt impact damage;

The latter has better piercing resistance, performing well against weapons like bows and spears, and has a large coverage area, but the maintenance cost is higher, and the overall weight is significantly heavier.

Clearly, although the two sets of armor are the same price, they each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Xia Nan wanted to choose a set that was more suitable for him, so he had to combine his own specific situation and start from reality.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====