Chapter 21: Weapons

"Rockhammer," one of the most famous blacksmith shops in Valley Town.

The armor and weapons produced here are renowned for their toughness and durability, earning them significant fame among the town's low-level adventurers.

There were even rumors that even professional adventurers from the second floor of the Association frequently commissioned custom equipment from "Rockhammer."

This only served to make the blacksmith shop's business increasingly prosperous.

Today, Xia Nan, who was preparing for his upcoming mission by referencing the [Adventurer's Handbook], finally met the owner of this blacksmith shop.

Barn Steelbeard,

A very characteristically dwarven name.

His massive, knotty muscles, hard as steel, and his reddish-brown braided beard that reached nearly to his chest, also fit the traditional perception of a dwarf.

However, he stood half a head taller than a Bugbear, with a height of 2.3 meters—hardly looking like someone with "dwarven" blood flowing through his veins, as he claimed.

"He looks more like one of those barbarians from the ice plains," Xia Nan thought to himself as he gazed at the burly figure in the shop.

Without stopping, he walked straight inside.

Unexpectedly, despite claiming descent from the "Steelbeard Clan," Barn, the owner of Rockhammer, did not possess the crude and reckless temperament one might expect from a dwarf.

Instead, he acted like an ordinary, enthusiastic shopkeeper, proactively introducing his wares once Xia Nan showed interest in purchasing.

"This type of ring mail is the lightest among heavy armors; the iron rings can effectively block slashing damage from swords and axes."

"This set of chainmail is also quite good. Its defensive capability is slightly higher than ring mail, but likewise, its price is about a dozen gold coins more expensive."

As Barn's detailed explanations filled his ears, Xia Nan's gaze swept across the display racks.

He paused.

"This set..."

What met his eyes was a full suit of full-body coverage armor composed of hard iron plates and metal buckles.

Iron gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a hollowed-out helmet with an integrated faceplate, and thick, tough cowhide padding underneath, paired with metal plates that emitted a cold luster through the interlacing of belts and buckles.

At a 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 small wooden sticks for two hours, he probably wouldn't lose a single strand of hair.

But similarly, while the thick metal plates provided formidable defense, they also brought an exaggerated weight that would be difficult for an ordinary person to bear.

With his current physical fitness... even walking normally would likely be a problem.

"Full plate armor, made from high-quality premium steel. Every single metal plate has been personally forged and tempered by me," Barn introduced with a sense of immense pride. "The defensive power goes without saying; you'll know just by looking at it."

"If you buy the whole set, 'Rockhammer' will include three free maintenance sessions."

"1500 gold. No credit."

Hearing the price, Xia Nan instantly abandoned the idea.

Clearly, this was not equipment he could consider; for now, he needed to be pragmatic.

Fortunately, Rockhammer carried a wide variety of equipment. After walking around with Barn and listening to his brief introductions, Xia Nan had a general idea of his options.

There were many styles of armor, but they were generally divided into three categories

Light, medium, and heavy armor.

Heavy armor was too cumbersome and would greatly affect Xia Nan's agility, which did not suit his current combat style. Therefore, he ruled it out for now.

Medium armor was decent; its weight was between heavy and light armor, it was versatile, and its defensive performance was quite good.

But perhaps because of this, it had the highest average price among the three types.

Even the cheapest "chainmail shirt" cost a full 50 gold coins.

This was completely beyond Xia Nan's budget.

Finally, after much hesitation and deliberation, he spent 10 gold to buy a set of specially made leather armor from Barn's shop.

This type of armor possessed extremely high flexibility and very light weight, with leather that had been hardened through soaking in boiling oil serving as its primary material.

Furthermore, coming from the renowned "Rockhammer" shop, the quality was excellent.

Its overall performance was several times better than the secondhand gear his predecessor had scavenged from somewhere.

With the armor problem solved, the next step was...

"A shield?" Xia Nan blinked, then waved his hand at Barn. "Never mind, I'm not very good at using them."

The real world was not like a game, where one could easily block an enemy's attack just by raising a shield, or even perform a so-called "parry counter" by timing a button press correctly.

Especially in a complex environment like the Misty Forest, if you hadn't mastered shield-bearing techniques, no matter how hard the shield was, it would be no different from holding a wooden door in your hands.

What Xia Nan needed most right now was to find a weapon suitable for him.

Fortunately, as the owner of Rockhammer, weapons were exactly the type of equipment Barn was most skilled at forging.

"Flails, light hammers, halberds..."

A wide variety of cold weapons, some light and some heavy, hung across almost an entire wall.

"A polearm blade, single-edged, suitable for combat in open areas."

"An iron mace, a tool for breaking armor; one strike might leave the armor intact, but the person underneath won't be."

"..."

Xia Nan's gaze swept over these weapons one by one following Barn's introductions.

His thoughts gradually became clear.

First, the weapon itself could not be too light.

He did not have the agile, assassin-type combat style of someone like Elki; the two short daggers on his person were only for emergencies.

With highly flexible, lightweight leather armor and the need for freedom of movement without a shield, he was more inclined toward a weapon that could be wielded with both hands.

The predecessor's single-handed sword was sharp enough, but having one hand empty during combat felt somewhat awkward; Gagu's two-handed axe was powerful, but in practice, it sometimes felt too clumsy.

Second, the weapon type had to be compatible with [Whirlwind Slash].

Although this trump card had been raised to level 5 (max) thanks to his predecessor's efforts and the boost from his attribute panel—becoming almost as natural to him as a daily movement—it was still a specific skill.

Not just short daggers, but even a hoe used in a field could be used by Xia Nan to easily execute [Whirlwind Slash].

But since he had a choice, he naturally wanted to find the most suitable one.

So, it would be...

Just as Xia Nan fell into deep thought over the choice of weapon, 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 aside.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of; everyone starts as a novice."

"It's fine if you don't have enough gold. Although we don't accept credit, we do have some relatively cheaper goods."

"Take a look, see if anything catches your eye?"

(End of Chapter)