Chapter 283: Kendall City — New Equipment Concepts and the Training of Guard Waru

"This is just like when I see dough being made in a bakery; a skilled chef can always use the exact measurements and succeed in making bread that is both fluffy and delicious in one go. But apprentices, they add water when there's too much flour, and flour when there's too much water. In the end, they have such a huge lump of dough that it won't even fit into the furnace." Ganna gestured with his hands to describe it.

Jier understood what the other meant; one could not simply widen the leather straps just because the strength at the armor's joints was insufficient. After all, once the straps were widened, the enlarged straps would then require enlarged armor to cover them, which once again increased the weight of the armor. And with the weight of the armor increased yet again, the size of the connecting straps would have to be increased once more to secure the connections of the various armor components.

It was a vicious cycle.

Jier scratched his head and asked Ganna if he had any way to solve this problem. Unexpectedly, Ganna indicated that he was actually waiting for Jier to come up with a solution.

Neither of them had a solution for the time being, so they agreed to think about it again after returning.

However, although the armor was difficult to manufacture for now, the helmet for the new armor could be tried first. Because for a thing like a helmet, the weight is primarily borne by the head, and it does not add a weight burden to other components. It could actually be prioritized for production.

Speaking of this, Jier specifically brought out the design for the new armor's helmet to discuss with Ganna.

"This, these are ram horns, right?" Ganna pointed to the two metal horns on the forehead and top of the helmet in the drawing.

Jier nodded: "Yes, this is a change I made based on the experience I gained from battle. The original helmet, when I was grappling with enemies, didn't have a final, decisive way to attack."

Ganna gestured on his own head and smiled bitterly: "Are you always that close when you grapple with enemies? They were practically clinging to you, weren't they?"

"Hey, how did you know? We really were hugging each other, our weapons were both jammed, unable to move, and unable to exert force to break free and attack. Do you know what happened after that?" Jier asked with some surprise.

"What happened after that?"

"After that, although the two enemies couldn't hurt me through the full-coverage armor I was wearing, they used their foreheads to smash hard against my helmet, trying to knock me unconscious." Jier shook his head to mimic the act of headbutting.

"In the end, they succeeded in knocking me unconscious for quite a while." When Jier said this, Ganna listened very nervously; although he knew that Jier could talk freely in front of him now, which meant he had ultimately won the battle, he didn't know how he had won.

"You were knocked out, so how did you win?"

Jier laughed and patted Ganna on the shoulder, saying: "I was knocked out, but the two bandits who were using their heads to smash me ended up being smashed to death just like that."

Ganna, however, could not laugh. He had grown up in Kendall City since he was a child and could not imagine a scene where someone would use their head to smash a helmet for the sake of victory, only to smash themselves to death.

Seeing Ganna's dazed look, Jier patted the other's arm: "Thanks to the armor you made, otherwise I would have died back then."

Taking a breath, Ganna shook his head and said: "Without you, I couldn't have made that set of armor. Alright, I understand the necessity of installing ram horns on the helmet. However, you have one on the forehead and one on the top—two metal ram horns—how should I put it, it's too ugly."

Jier turned his gaze back to the drawing, rubbing the fine fuzz on his chin, and also felt that such a helmet looked much uglier because of the appearance of the ram horns.

"How about changing the ram horn on the forehead into two smaller ones on the left and right? This way, it doesn't block the front of the faceplate and also looks more symmetrical." Jier stretched out his hands to gesture at the position of his two temples, not expecting Ganna to think it was very good and that it should be done that way.

Since it was decided, Jier took out some dry bread on the workshop table to wipe away the top part of the helmet on the drawing, and used the exquisite charcoal pencil he had inexplicably obtained in the Elf Ruins to draw the modified design.

The modified helmet changed from the original two ram horns to three. Because the original ram horn on the forehead became two shortened ones, the weight did not increase much.

At the same time, the faceplate of the armor could also be changed from the design he had originally planned for this new helmet—with hinges at the bottom—to the sliding rail fixed faceplate like the current armor. In this way, Ganna, who had experience in making the previous armor, would not need to create a new method for opening and closing the faceplate.

Using the old method would suffice.

The two continued to discuss the various details of this new helmet.

For example, lining the inside of the metal helmet with a layer of glued-on buffer cork, and also preparing a sheepskin cap that could be worn on the head as an initial defensive buffer.

This idea was Jier's; he designed it based on the style of the anti-collision tank caps worn by tank crews in his previous life. In this way, the helmet would ultimately form three layers of protection: the outer metal helmet part would resist sword slashes, while the inner buffer cork layer and the sheepskin cap would resist heavy impacts.

Additionally, to defend against attacks on the front of the faceplate, Jier also proposed adding several horizontal metal strips to the inside of the faceplate. Firstly, this could serve as a measure to increase the strength of the helmet, and secondly, it could provide a load-bearing part to absorb the force of an attack when the faceplate was struck.

When the enemy's attack hit the faceplate, the force would be transmitted by the metal strips under the faceplate to the helmet as a whole to bear, so it would not crush Jier's own face.

Although he didn't rely on his face to make a living, he didn't want to ruin this young face of his either.

Wouldn't a face without wounds also look more decent?

As for the neck protection, which was as important as the helmet, Jier's design was to make a ring of movable metal circles, plus small pieces of metal iron plates, to try to achieve full protection of the neck. The final force-bearing part would eventually be added to the chest armor and connected to it.

This part was also not easy. Compared to neck armor made of hard cowhide, this metal one required much, much higher precision. Jier suggested that Ganna could try using small metal lock rings to connect the various parts when making this section.

As for the most important chest armor, they still had to think about how to do it.

After finishing the talk about the armor, Jier handed these metals to Ganna, and Ganna also took out a wooden tag as a voucher for accepting this work.

Then, Jier took out a not-so-small shield from a bag on the ground.

Originally, Ganna hadn't noticed anything strange about this standard shield-shaped shield. After all, Jier had wrapped the surface of the shield with rags and rope so that not a single gap was left. At a glance, it looked just like an ordinary Mudu.

But as Jier untied the knotted ropes on the surface of the shield one by one and pulled off the rags on the surface, Ganna's eyes could finally no longer move away from the shield.

"Good fellow, an all-metal shield. Jier, you spent all your money on this, didn't you?" Ganna asked jokingly.

Smiling mysteriously, Jier saw that Ganna had not yet discovered the magical aspect of this shield.

He was holding this shield with one hand.

If it were an ordinary iron shield, such a wide shield-shaped shield would weigh at least around ten kilograms. It wasn't that one couldn't hold it with one hand, but to hold one side of the shield horizontally, and to hold the entire front of the shield very steadily, that was something an ordinary person basically could not do.

"This is not an ordinary shield; you'll know in a moment." Jier smiled and handed the shield to Ganna.

When Ganna took the shield with both hands, he was completely stunned. He held the shield with both hands, bobbing it up and down a few times, his eyes full of disbelief.

"This thing, this thing!" What about this thing? Ganna repeated it several times, but couldn't say it.

This time, Jier finally laughed out loud. He said the next words for Ganna: "How is this thing so light, right?"

Ganna finally came to his senses. He tapped the surface of the shield with his hand, and not feeling reassured, he used professional tools—an iron awl and a small iron hammer—to tap a few times on the front of the shield.

"Indeed, indeed. This thing is not only so light in weight, but also very sturdy. It's much sturdier than iron, and might even be stronger than steel. It's impossible, it's actually this light." Ganna muttered to himself.

He looked at Jier and said: "There are light metals, too. I heard my master mention them; they are called Light Iron. But the strength of that metal is not high. It's fine as household items for Nobles, but no one has ever tried making swords or shields out of it."

He then tapped the shield again. He used some force, but still could not leave a mark on the surface of the shield: "But this shield of yours is so hard, and it's also so light. Wait, is this a new shield?"

Jier shrugged: "You noticed. It is indeed a new shield. Regarding its origin, didn't I tell you before that I dealt with some Bandits a few days ago?"

Ganna nodded: "You did say that. Is it a trophy obtained from those Bandits? But it shouldn't be a semi-finished product either; those Bandits couldn't have had good things and not taken them out to use, right?"

"Of course. I found it at the Bandits', but it wasn't a shield, but a few finished Metal Ingots." Jier stated the origin he had already fabricated. Although it was a bit unfair to his friend, he simply couldn't talk about the Elf Ruins.

"Metal Ingots? Where would those Bandits have the ability to smelt metal? They must have robbed them!"

"Not bad, that's what I think too. The box containing the Metal Ingots looked very valuable. I originally thought it was something valuable like Gold Coins inside, but it turned out to be unremarkable-looking Metal Ingots. However, I still noticed the weight of these Metal Ingots."

Jier pointed to this shield: "I later found a blacksmith and let the other party try to forge a shield using these free Metal Ingots, and it even came in very handy in a battle at Bingxun Pass. However, both then and now, this shield is still an unfinished product. I brought it here for you to help me finish it completely."

Ganna, who had figured out the ins and outs, stroked the surface of the shield, the cold metal transmitting the temperature of his fingers: "So? How do you plan to do it?"

"In such cold weather, first of all, the back of it where it touches my arm needs to be insulated, right? Otherwise, it's too cold." Jier flipped the shield over and pointed to the handle of the shield and the metal railing that clamped the forearm.

Ganna nodded: "Not bad, this is the most important thing. Next is here on the back, right?" Ganna pointed to the recessed part on the back of the shield and said.

"We need to add some cork here for cushioning, and how about fixing some softer leather over the cork?"

"Not bad."

Jier flipped the shield over and pointed at the front: "The entire front here will be made of harder wood as the shield's face. Hmm, and let's paint it with a single color of lacquer."

"Fine, then when will you come to pick it up? I'll try to get it done for you as soon as possible."

Jier shook his head: "It's not that I don't trust you, but please, just finish it today. It's not a complicated process; I'm mainly worried that other Craftsmen will hear about the unknown metal in this shield and be so curious that they'll insist on coming to see it. It would be troublesome if the situation gets out of control then."

Ganna pursed his lips: "That's true, though I am also very curious about the properties of this metal. Actually, it would be great if you used this metal to make weapons; it would definitely become very famous. It's a bit of a pity to make a shield."

Jier mocked: "If it were made into a weapon, would you even get a chance to touch it? By making it into a shield, you at least get to handle it yourself. As for weapons, there are plenty of Craftsmen in the Craftsman District who specialize in that."

Ganna scratched his head and smiled.

For the rest of the entire day, Ganna was busy finishing the shield, and Jier helped out as an assistant.

After dark, they finally heated the last of the lacquer and applied it to the wooden board on the front of the shield; only then was it considered finished.

Placing the shield next to the furnace to let the paint dry, Ganna asked Jier if the shield had a name.

Jier considered it for a while and thought of a few names, but none of them were quite right, so in the end, he decided not to name the shield for the time being.

Once the shield was finished, Jier paid the fee, packed the shield into a bag, and headed back.

There were still many things to do tomorrow.

The next morning.

Jier waited in the backyard of the Merchant Guild with two long wooden poles. A while later, the city gate guard Waru arrived, draped in the wolf-fur cloak he had gifted him earlier.

Jier had previously told the old Shop Assistant who watched the gate for the Merchant Guild about the guard coming to teach him, and everyone already knew about the previous few teaching sessions.

"Jier! I'm here. Ah, you've already prepared the things, so when shall we start?" Waru was a young man not much older than Jier; compared to Jier's dullness, he possessed the liveliness and enthusiasm of a young man.

According to other guards, Waru was able to join the work of guarding the city gate at such a young age precisely because he possessed a superb Long Spear Technique.

All the guards were unable to defeat Waru, who was very talented in this area, when fighting with long spears. Even Knight Kela often praised Waru's talent and skill.

If Waru could leave Kendall City, go to a larger city, or join the Kingdom's army, perhaps he would have broader and more impressive prospects.

However, Waru's family was small, and he could barely support himself, so naturally, he could not leave home to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Jier had never seen Waru train for combat, but since all the guards said that among the commoners in Kendall City, Waru was the strongest in terms of long spear technique, let's see what his true level was.

"Here you go, let's start! I've been waiting for a while." Jier handed the headless long wooden pole to Waru.

Waru took the wooden pole, first took off the thick wolf-fur cloak he was wearing, folded it well, and placed it on a clean step nearby. He put on the wooden Helmet and Wooden Armor before weighing the weapon in his hand.

"Jier, I haven't taught anyone else before, how should we do this?" Waru scratched his face and asked Jier with a smile.

Moving around a bit, Jier held the wooden pole up and entered a combat stance: "I learned a few moves with the long spear from the old warrior Duomu in Doraerlin Village; let's practice while we spar! You should be better than me, so I'll just learn your movements while we fight."

"Good method! That makes it simple. Alright, shall we start?" Waru suddenly realized, then eagerly grabbed the wooden pole standing beside him.

"Let's start!" Jier replied.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw Waru opposite him grab the upper part of the wooden pole with one hand, then kick the base of the pole with his Boot; the entire pole lunged forward violently, and Waru's figure also charged toward him following the momentum of the pole.

Jier grew tense, gripped the wooden pole tightly, and deflected the pole that was raised and thrusting toward him.

Jier originally thought Waru should retreat to his original position to prepare for the next round of combat. Who would have thought that Waru would rotate his entire body, and the deflected wooden pole would make a large arc, sweeping over from the other side.

Jier hurriedly held his wooden pole upright, but he didn't expect the opponent's force to be so heavy and powerful; it pushed Jier back at least half a meter after he blocked the attack. Jier's boots dragged half-meter-long marks on the ground, and his hands went numb and were difficult to move.

He hadn't expected that among the few guards, this young-looking Waru would actually be the most formidable one.

Or perhaps, the others had been intentionally holding back when they taught Jier before? Thinking of this, Jier held his breath and launched a counterattack.

Taking advantage of Waru retracting his wooden pole, he thrust out directly with his own.

Waru didn't fully retract his weapon either; he used the same movement as Jier and thrust toward Jier's chest.

The two weapons crossed each other, but the result was that Jier's own wooden armor on his chest was tapped by Waru first, and he was knocked down after being struck by this blow.

Jier was a bit stunned, but after looking up and seeing Waru's movement, he realized that just at that moment, Waru had shifted his palm gripping the wooden pole to the very end, essentially extending the length of the entire pole beyond Jier's side.

As for Jier, he was gripping the wooden pole at the one-third mark from the end; although he had tried his best to extend his arm during the thrust, he was still a little short in terms of the weapon's attack range.

It was this tiny distance that Waru had accurately grasped, while he, Jier, was tapped on the chest armor first and then pushed to the ground by the force.

After figuring this out, Jier took Waru's extended hand and stood up.

"How is it? Are you okay?" Waru asked.

Jier smiled; he felt he had learned some combat techniques and was quite happy. Although he felt a bit frustrated realizing that the other guards had been letting him win during training before.

But after recognizing this, being able to learn new things and make progress was actually not bad.

"I'm fine, let's continue. That move of yours was really accurate! How did you judge that my thrust didn't have as much reach as yours?" Jier asked the question that had just puzzled him.

Waru laughed: "No need to judge; the moment you raised your hand, I knew exactly how far you could reach. I was already at the very edge of your attack range, so there was no way you could hit me. Then I stepped in one step closer, gripped the end of the wooden pole, and thrust out to knock you over."

Jier looked at the position where he was standing and where Waru was standing, and tried to slowly thrust the wooden pole in his hand. His palm was gripped in the same place as before.

Waru opposite him picked his nose while watching Jier's movements, showing no reaction at all.

Sure enough, sure enough.

After Jier extended his arm, the tip of the wooden pole was still short of Waru by a little less than five centimeters.

In that round just now, he hadn't lost; rather, there had been no possibility of winning at all.