"Rockhammer," one of the most famous blacksmith shops in River Valley Town.
The armor and weapons produced here are known for their toughness and durability, making them quite popular among the low-level adventurers in town.
There are even rumors that even the professional adventurers on the second floor of the guild often have their gear custom-made at "Rockhammer."
This has only served to make the blacksmith shop’s business increasingly booming.
Today, Xia Nan, who was preparing for his upcoming mission by referencing the [Adventurer's Handbook], finally met the owner of this shop.
Barn Steelbeard.
A name with a very dwarven flair.
The massive, knotted muscles like twisted steel, and the reddish-brown braided beard that hung almost to his chest, also fit the traditional image of a dwarf.
However, his height of 2.3 meters—a full head taller than a bugbear—did not seem to match his claim of having "dwarven" blood flowing through his veins.
"He looks more like one of those barbarians from the ice plains," Xia Nan thought to himself, watching the sturdy figure in the shop.
He didn't stop, however, and walked straight inside.
Unexpectedly, although he claimed to have the bloodline of the "Steelbeard Clan," the personality of "Barn," the owner of the Rockhammer blacksmith shop, was not as rough and reckless as one might imagine a dwarf to be.
Instead, he acted like an ordinary, enthusiastic shopkeeper, taking the initiative to introduce his wares the moment Xia Nan showed an interest in buying.
"This type of ring armor is the lightest among heavy armors. The iron rings on it can effectively block slashing damage from swords and axes."
"This set of chainmail is also quite good. Its defensive capability is even higher than the ring armor, but naturally, it costs a dozen gold coins more."
With Barn’s detailed explanations in his ears, Xia Nan’s gaze swept across the display racks.
He paused.
"This set..."
What caught his eye was a full-body suit of armor made of hard iron plates and metal buckles.
Iron gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a hollowed-out helmet with a built-in faceplate, and thick, tough cowhide padding underneath, all paired with metal plates that emitted a cold luster, held together by leather straps and buckles.
At first glance, it gave 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 whack him with their little wooden sticks for two hours, he probably wouldn't lose a single hair.
But at the same time, while the thick metal plates provided the armor with strong defensive power, they also brought an exaggerated weight that an ordinary person could hardly bear.
With his current physical fitness... he would probably have trouble even walking normally.
"Full plate armor, crafted from high-quality steel. Every single metal plate was forged and tempered by my own hands," Barn, standing to the side, introduced with immense pride. "The defensive power goes without saying; you can tell just by looking at it."
"If you buy the whole set, we at 'Rockhammer' will include three free maintenance sessions."
"1,500 gold. No credit."
Upon hearing the price, Xia Nan immediately dismissed the idea.
Clearly, this kind of gear was not something he could consider; for now, he should be more pragmatic.
Fortunately, the "Rockhammer" shop had a complete variety of equipment. After walking around with Barn and listening to his brief introductions, Xia Nan had a rough idea of what he needed.
There were many styles of armor, but they generally fell into three categories
Light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor.
Heavy armor was too cumbersome and would significantly affect Xia Nan's agility, which did not fit his current combat style.
So, that was out of the question for now.
Medium armor was quite good; its weight was between heavy and light armor, it had high versatility, and its defensive performance was decent.
But perhaps because of that, it had the highest average price of the three types of armor.
Even the cheapest "chain shirt" cost a full 50 gold coins.
This was completely beyond Xia Nan's budget.
Finally, after some deliberation, he spent 10 gold coins to buy a set of leather armor specially made in Barn's shop.
This type of armor possessed ultra-high flexibility and extremely light weight. Its main material was leather that had been soaked in boiling oil to make it tougher.
Moreover, coming from the renowned "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, the quality was excellent.
Its overall performance was several times better than the second-hand junk his predecessor had picked up from who-knows-where.
With the armor issue resolved, the next thing was...
"A shield?" Xia Nan paused, then waved his hand at Barn. "Better not. I'm not very good at using one."
In the real world, it wasn't like in a game where you could just raise a shield to easily block an enemy's attack, or even time your button press to perform a so-called "parry-counter."
Especially in the complex environment of the Misty Forest, if you hadn't mastered the relevant shield-wielding techniques, then no matter how sturdy the shield was, it was no different from holding a door panel in your hands.
What Xia Nan needed most right now was a weapon that suited him.
And fortunately, as the owner of the "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, weapons were exactly the type of equipment Barn was best at forging.
"Flails, light hammers, poleaxes..."
All kinds of cold weapons, some light and some heavy, hung across almost an entire wall.
"Pole-blade, single-edged, suitable for use in open-field combat."
"Iron prism hammer, an armor-piercing tool. One hit, and while the armor might be fine, the person inside might not be."
"..."
Xia Nan’s gaze swept over these weapons one by one as Barn introduced them.
His thoughts gradually became clear.
First, the weapon itself could not be too light.
He didn't have the agile combat style of an assassin like Elgi; the two short daggers on his person were only for emergencies.
The highly flexible light leather armor and the freedom of movement from not needing to hold a shield made him lean toward a weapon that could be wielded with two hands.
Like his predecessor's one-handed sword, it was sharp enough, but the empty hand felt somewhat awkward in combat; Gagu's two-handed axe was powerful, but it could sometimes feel cumbersome in practice.
Second, the weapon type had to be compatible with [Spinning Slash].
Although this trump card had been raised to the max level of Lv5 through his predecessor's efforts and the attribute panel's enhancement, it had become almost as integrated into him as a daily movement.
Not just short daggers, but even a hoe swung in the fields could easily unleash [Spinning Slash] in Xia Nan's hands.
But since he had a choice, he naturally had to find the most suitable one.
So, just...
Just as Xia Nan was lost in thought over his weapon choice, Barn, who had been observing him while explaining, seemed to have misunderstood something.
He let out a hearty laugh and pulled the bewildered Xia Nan to the side.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about. Who hasn't been a beginner before?"
"It's fine if you don't have enough gold. Although our shop doesn't accept credit, we do have some relatively cheaper goods."
"Take a look. See anything you like?"