Chapter 51: Declining

As soon as he finished speaking, Ba'en, realizing he had accidentally said a few too many words, immediately shut his mouth tight.

Facing Xia Nan's inquiry about the price, his face, covered in thick hair due to his dwarven blood, first showed a hint of hesitation.

Then, politely and with a sense of proportion, he subtly shifted his gaze from the black-haired youth before him to the heavy full-body plate armor on the back of the shelf labeled with a "1500 gold" price tag.

He spoke slowly:

"Actually, my suggestion is to first process this scale simply, and while retaining the integrity of its main material, forge a temporary arm shield."

"This way, not only can you take it and use it for emergencies now, but when you have the conditions later, if you want higher-strength advanced equipment, you can easily separate the scale from the arm shield."

"What do you think?"

Ba'en said it very tactfully.

Xia Nan also understood the other party's meaning.

To sum it up, it was four words—

No money, don't touch.

He was a normal person, so naturally, he wouldn't feel that the other party looked down on him because of these few words that were as subtle as possible, and he wouldn't go up and fight to the death.

Objectively speaking, his current savings might be a huge sum of money for ordinary people in this world that would be enough for many years of expenses.

But in the adventurer line of work where supernatural powers exist, it was only enough to buy a few bottles of potions.

Not a total loss.

At least from Ba'en's performance, he knew that a piece of magic equipment with special effects like the 【Dead Line】 and 【Green Pine】 in his hand, of green quality and above,

should be in the same tier as the 1500-gold full-body heavy armor in this world, or even higher.

"Then let's make a transitional arm shield first, the kind that retains the integrity of the main material."

"Uh... about how much will it cost?"

After such a digression, Xia Nan, who had originally felt that his small treasury was quite considerable, couldn't help but feel unsure.

Even his tone weakened.

Fortunately, if it was just ordinary white-board equipment, its price was still within the income range of low-level adventurers.

He saw Ba'en examining the snake scale in his hand, considering possible expenses, and spoke:

"Although I say it's a temporary transition, I certainly can't use those cheap auxiliary materials for you; combat equipment must ensure strength."

"The shape of your scale is special, and it's custom-made; the shop doesn't have the corresponding mold, so the labor cost might be slightly higher."

"Totaling it all up—"

"35 gold, I'll give you a small discount."

Hearing this, Xia Nan breathed a sigh of relief.

It was slightly more expensive than expected, but still within the range he could accept.

He nodded in agreement and paid the deposit.

And Ba'en was also very professional afterward, seriously discussing the specific details of the arm shield with him and measuring various data of his arm.

Perhaps feeling that his previous words about magic equipment were lacking in proportion, and the customer before him had just spent nearly 100 gold in the shop.

This "Rock Hammer" shop owner, who had an excellent reputation in the 【Adventurer's Handbook】, suddenly hesitated while measuring Xia Nan's arm size data.

He spoke slowly:

"I have a batch of goods to be sent to Kalanfur recently, a round trip of about four or five days from Hegu Town."

"The caravan is currently resting in town, and they are just recruiting guards."

"If you have time, help me run a trip, and I can reduce some labor costs and give you another discount."

"When you come back, this arm shield will be almost done, how about it?"

Xia Nan didn't agree.

Although in his view, a low-level adventurer like himself who hadn't even obtained a professional level yet.

Should kill more goblins and take on these kinds of classic errand missions.

But after all, he had just returned from the Mist Forest and hadn't even eaten a few proper hot meals, so going out to run a mission again was too urgent.

He had originally thought it was just a simple collection of some herbs on the outskirts, but he was dragged by the half-elves and others to spend many days in the forest, almost losing his life.

Going out again now, calling it a caravan guard, who knows what he might run into.

Having finally escaped the "996" blessing life from before and come to another world.

Couldn't he enjoy a few days of leisure!?

Moreover, Xia Nan was still waiting for the half-elf's reply.

At least until he confirmed when the combat technique mentor contacted by the other party would be free and when they could come to Hegu Town.

Only then did he plan to make further plans.

And during this time, Xia Nan was also pondering whether he could practice the two "suspected" combat techniques he had on hand first.

If he really managed to practice a move or two, plus the formal combat technique taught by the professional later, and the 【Spinning Slash】 he had already practiced to the full level...

Then he would have truly gathered the three conditions and become a professional!

Thinking this way, Xia Nan declined the other party.

Ba'en wasn't angry either, just smiled and patted his shoulder, saying:

"It's okay, the caravan will be staying in town for many days anyway."

"If you change your mind by then, it won't be too late to come find me."

"..."

Wearing the brand-new chain shirt, Xia Nan walked out of the blacksmith shop with two swords on his back.

By now, the loot obtained from this mission had basically been processed.

The 【Copper Tendons and Iron Bones】 specialty and the 3 points of Constitution attribute, these kinds of implicit improvements, went without saying.

In terms of equipment, the wooden sword 【Green Pine】, which had damage bonuses against "undead creatures" and "snakes and scorpions," and the fine chain shirt on his body with strong defensive performance, also raised his overall combat power to another level.

The originally shriveled wallet, after a round of consumption in the blacksmith shop, still had a huge sum of over one hundred and forty gold.

Even if he ate and slept every day without doing any work, he could still lie in the inn for more than half a year while enjoying decent living conditions.

Standing on the street, Xia Nan felt that his originally burdened heart, along with the backpack that was no longer heavy after processing the loot, had lightened up together.

The busy day had finally come to an end.

"Rest for a few days first."

Xia Nan thought to himself.

If possible, he could look around during this time to see if there was any place selling throwing items like incendiary bombs.

The oil-powder bomb that Wood threw at the scorpion swarm during the previous mission was still fresh in his memory.

In future adventures, this kind of prop was very likely to produce miraculous effects.

Practice the two combat techniques, and 【Spinning Slash】 couldn't be forgotten either; although it was already full level, who knew if this world had settings like breakthrough advancement.

Practicing more was always better than nothing.

As for supplies, there was no rush at all; he could just purchase them before the next mission started.

The sky gradually darkened.

Deep in the purple-red sunset glow was the rising cooking smoke in the town.

Xia Nan slowly let out a long breath.

"Dinner... let's have mushroom soup."

"Don't say, it's really quite delicious."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 52 =====