Chapter 149 Wood Carving

Back when he had first taken the serpent scale from Xia Nan and suggested crafting it into an Arm Shield, Barn had already recognized the material's extraordinary nature through his years of forging experience.

Later, during the basic processing phase, he had gained a deeper appreciation for the scale's inherent toughness and hardness.

He could even deduce that, beyond its physical defenses, the scale highly likely possessed some form of magical resistance.

However, the processing time had been brief, and without ownership of the scale, he couldn't conduct a comprehensive test.

In fact, if Barn hadn't personally worked with so-called "dragon scales" before and understood their texture and appearance, he would have suspected Xia Nan of plucking this very scale straight off an adult dragon.

In short, by using the black scale as the primary material, supplementing it with metal or bone of a similar or slightly lower grade, and incorporating his own craftsmanship, producing a high-quality piece of Magic Equipment—even if it wasn't an Epic divine artifact—would be a breeze.

It was just that Xia Nan hadn't yet obtained a Class Level at the time. With an empty purse, he lacked the means to pay such an exorbitant bill, so the matter had been dropped.

Instead, relying purely on the scale's natural hardness, Barn had fashioned it into a temporary Arm Shield for him to "make do" with.

Now, however, things seemed to have taken a turn.

"You're saying we can use this bone as a supplementary material for the scale, upgrading the Arm Shield into a piece of Magic Equipment?"

Xia Nan looked at Barn, who was carefully examining the bone club, a look of surprise crossing his face.

Having learned the steep cost of Magic Equipment from the blacksmith, he had thought he would need to save up for quite some time before the serpent scale could achieve its true potential.

He hadn't expected a turning point so soon.

"It's just an idea for now." Barn ran both hands inch by inch over the surface of the bone club, carefully feeling its texture. "The specifics will depend on how well it harmonizes with the scale, and on its actual performance during the forging process."

His expression suddenly turned serious. He set down the bone club and met Xia Nan's eyes.

"You need to prepare yourself for failure first."

"After all, the materials haven't undergone detailed testing, and all sorts of bizarre accidents can happen during forging."

"If I discover later that the scale and the bone aren't compatible, I'd advise stopping right there. Forcibly fusing two unsuitable materials will yield an unstable piece of equipment, and its defensive strength will plummet."

"It would just be a waste of two precious materials."

"So..." Xia Nan swept his gaze over the pale surface of the bone club, which reflected a faint glimmer of light. "We need a backup plan?"

Barn nodded. Not one to beat around the bush, he laid out his thoughts.

"Setting aside what I just said about using the bone as a supplementary material for the Arm Shield."

"Right now, I can offer you three options."

He held up three callused fingers before Xia Nan's eyes.

"The first, and the simplest—put it on hold."

"If we determine that the scale and the bone aren't compatible, and you don't want to just get rid of the club, you could find a safe place to store it."

"You can deal with it later when you find a craftsman proficient in the relevant techniques, or when you come across suitable materials."

Hmm... He really wasn't in any desperate need to convert materials into combat power right now.

If there was no suitable way to process it, perhaps he could store it in the bank for now and worry about it later?

Xia Nan nodded.

"And then?"

"The second." Barn lowered a finger, his deep voice echoing among the iron wares on the shelves. "Sell it to me."

"I won't take advantage of you. I can hire a professional to appraise this bone club, and I'll cover the fee."

"In most cases, materials capable of being crafted into Magic Equipment do not come cheap. You can rest easy on that front."

Hearing this, Xia Nan silently agreed.

The proposal coincided perfectly with his own thoughts prior to arriving.

Rather than messing around with flashy complications, it was much more practical to just cash it out. Converting a useless bone club into a bank deposit was the most grounded approach.

After all, in theory, as long as he had enough gold coins, he could easily acquire the Snake-Scale Arm Shield or any other piece of Magic Equipment.

Of course, even though he thought this...

Whether he actually sold it would depend on the price offered.

So he didn't reply immediately, merely gesturing for Barn to continue.

"As for the final option..."

A simple, honest smile suddenly broke across Barn's large, normally stern face.

He scratched the back of his head and explained with a chuckle, "Actually, a piece of equipment I've been working on recently is missing some materials. I was planning to post a bounty at the Association."

"I just checked it over, and the material of your bone club perfectly meets my requirements."

"If it turns out that the bone club and the Arm Shield are incompatible, perhaps you could consider selling a portion of the bone to me to offset the labor costs."

"With the remaining portion, I can craft a defensive item for you—an enchanted one—and give you a rather nice discount on the overall fee."

At those words, Xia Nan felt a stir of interest.

With the development of [Gravity Control] proving so difficult, [Fang Hunt], [Spinning Slash], and [Gravity Etching] were all combat techniques skewed toward offense.

Even with good mobility, there was no guarantee he could dodge every attack.

[Bronze Sinews and Iron Bones] only offered a 0.5% chance of physical damage immunity, making it practically impossible to trigger during normal combat.

Compared to his other attributes, his "defensive capabilities" were undoubtedly his weak point.

Furthermore, his naturally aggressive fighting style meant he desperately needed armor to increase his margin of error.

This was exactly why Xia Nan never skimped on gold coins when it came to his equipment.

Even the slightest damage warranted a trip to the smithy for paid repairs; if the damage compromised defensive performance, he would simply sell the item and buy a replacement.

An exceptional piece of defensive gear could patch up his shortcomings and boost his combat power to a massive degree.

If this bone club really could be forged into an enchanted piece of armor, that would be for the best.

Provided the price was right, of course.

As for the concerns Xia Nan vaguely hinted at, Barn simply let out a hearty laugh, gesturing for him not to worry.

Although it would be a bona fide piece of Magic Equipment, the primary material was provided by Xia Nan himself, eliminating any extra material costs.

The vast majority of the labor fees would be offset by the portion of the bone club he sold to Barn.

In the end, all Xia Nan would have to pay for was a handful of supplementary materials and a small fraction of the discounted labor cost.

Overall, the entire bill would even be discounted.

"It should only take about 300 to 500 gold coins. The exact amount will depend on the actual situation."

500 gold coins... huh.

Looking at the expression on Barn's face—one that suggested he was doing Xia Nan a huge favor and saving him a fortune—Xia Nan's mouth twitched imperceptibly.

He could already feel the modest treasury he had worked so hard to build bracing for an unprecedented, massive expense.

Even though he hadn't paid it out yet, his heart was already bleeding at the thought.

Barn's reputation spoke for itself. He had many Class Holders as regular customers, so Xia Nan knew the blacksmith wouldn't try to scam him.

He had also long since learned about the exorbitant prices of Magic Equipment through various channels.

He knew full well that this quote was indeed a discounted rate.

After mulling it over carefully, he reached a preliminary decision.

The three options Barn had proposed were all based on the premise that the scale and the bone were incompatible.

If the two materials were compatible and could be combined into an upgraded Arm Shield, then nothing more needed to be said.

If their compatibility was poor... they would revisit the matter then.

He chatted with Barn for a few more moments, leaving the Snake-Scale Arm Shield at the smithy for compatibility testing with the intention of retrieving it in a few days.

Wearing the Chainmail Shirt he had just bought for 50 gold coins, Xia Nan turned and walked out of the shop.

His equipment matters were more or less sorted out.

Next, he needed to make a trip to the sundry shop.

...

...

Fey Wind.

Over the past few months, this sundry shop—renowned throughout town for its owner's exceptional appraisal skills—had barely changed.

It retained its spacious, bright appearance, simply yet cleverly furnished.

The shop owner, Farlio, had also gradually recovered from the previous burglary. No longer anxious and depressed, he had fully returned to his usual serious and steady self.

Xia Nan remembered hearing other adventurers in the tavern mention that the stolen item was a family heirloom of Farlio's. Although he didn't know its exact appearance or value, seeing how unsettled the man had been back then made it obvious that the item was extremely important to him.

Later on, someone had apparently provided a clue, claiming they saw a figure in black leaving Fey Wind and fleeing the town overnight.

Farlio had even added to the bounty because of it.

It was just a pity that, even now, no one had been able to provide any further leads.

Xia Nan shook his head.

It had nothing to do with him anyway. He'd only listened to satisfy his curiosity with some local gossip; he wasn't genuinely interested.

Pushing the thought aside, he stepped into the shop.

Unexpectedly, the first thing that caught his eye was a faintly familiar figure.

It was none other than the middle-aged adventurer who had tried to run a scam on Barn at the Rockhammer Smithy.

He remembered bumping into the man while he was fleeing, but the adventurer seemed to have recognized his identity from the Decapitating Longsword and hadn't dared to cause any trouble.

He had thought the man was just a passerby he would never see again. He hadn't expected to run into him here.

Xia Nan frowned slightly, but seeing the man standing behind a shelf, earnestly picking out goods without any intention of causing trouble, he looked away and walked toward the shop owner.

"Thud."

Small, fragmented stones landed lightly on the counter inside a soft cloth pouch, letting out a dull sound.

"I'd like to get these appraised, please."

"Very well, sir. Please wait a moment."

Farlio accepted the pouch. His eyes, framed by gold-rimmed glasses, swept over Xia Nan's face. His tone carried the detached politeness characteristic of the service industry.

Clearly, he hadn't recognized this customer who had already patronized his shop several times.

This was completely normal.

He received countless adventurers every single day. Forget their names; just memorizing every face was a highly difficult task.

Furthermore, unlike at the Rockhammer Smithy, which Xia Nan frequented due to his exceptionally high equipment turnover rate, he hadn't done anything to stand out at Fey Wind.

He was just an ordinary customer who had stopped by a few times.

Of course, if he could help the shop owner recover his lost family heirloom, he might actually be remembered for a lifetime.

Farlio's professional competence remained as sharp as ever.

Squinting closely, he pinched each of the sparkling little stones one by one to examine them.

In just a minute or two, Farlio provided his quote. "Tiger's eye, two stones for a total of 20 gold coins. That's the market price."

"One blue quartz, one turquoise. Let's call it 42 gold coins."

"Hmm, this onyx is of good quality, and the size isn't bad either. 47 gold coins."

"That brings the total to... 109 gold coins."

"How does that sound?"

Carefully placing the opaque, black-and-white gemstone back into the pouch, Farlio lifted his head and looked at Xia Nan across the counter.

"How about 120 gold coins?"

"115?"

"Deal."

The massive potential expense looming over him from the Rockhammer Smithy had prompted Xia Nan to test the waters with a bit of haggling.

But since he wasn't particularly skilled at it, and the other party's price was already quite reasonable, he didn't waste any more breath after a single back-and-forth and simply nodded in agreement.

This caused his net worth to instantly soar to over eight hundred gold coins.

Without realizing it, he felt a renewed sense of confidence.

He was in no rush to leave. Since it was still early, he let his eyes wander casually over the shop's shelves.

"Insect-Repellent Resin Sachet — 9 silver, 8 copper"

"Luminous Moss Powder — 5 silver, 6 copper"

"Wolverine Ointment — 3 gold, 7 silver"

"..."

His gaze suddenly paused.

There, positioned on the lower-left middle section of a shelf, sat a palm-sized statue.

To be honest, the statue's appearance was nothing special. It was far from the kind of object that would catch a person's eye at a glance amid shelves piled high with countless assorted goods.

Covered in dust and completely unpainted, it looked just like any common pebble you might find on the side of the road.

Yet, for some unknown reason...

It was like a drop of oil suspended in clear water.

When Xia Nan's gaze swept over it, his eyes instinctively locked onto the statue before his brain even registered it, while he was still wondering if he should buy anything.

He immediately felt a sense of oddity.

Taking two steps closer, he examined it carefully.

"Huh? It's not stone?"

The statue's murky, grayish-blue coloring had originally led him to believe it was carved from cheap stone.

Only after stepping closer did he notice the faint, fingerprint-like textures running across its surface.

It had to be some strangely colored type of wood.

As for the specific subject of the carving...

It seemed to be a deer standing on two legs, or perhaps a sheep?

It wasn't that Xia Nan lacked the common sense to identify animals; rather, the lines on the wooden carving were far too blurry. It was little more than a rough outline.

Had he not confirmed the wooden material, he would have suspected that the object before him wasn't a "statue" hand-carved by an intelligent being at all, but a rock naturally shaped by countless years of wind and rain.

But much like that subtle sensation that had caused his eyes to stop on it amidst the endless clutter...

While Xia Nan was puzzling over the "statue's" form, his mind had inadvertently been drawn in, sinking into an invisible vortex.

His field of vision instantly expanded.

Deeper, sinking further.

Those fine, ring-like textures swayed like strands of hair, twining around the very ends of his mental synapses and snaking upward, reaching all the way into the pitch-black tranquility of his deepest consciousness...

Buzz—

A sudden interruption!

His hyper-focused attention caused semi-transparent characters to surface before his eyes.

Xia Nan suddenly shivered. The previously vacant, glazed look in his eyes receded, and clarity returned to his gaze.

His consciousness snapped back to reality.

Right before him sat the familiar, stable, and incomparably reliable Attribute Panel.

...

[Sheep-Deer Figurine]

Category: Statue

Level: /

Description:

Tree rings and ocean tides; you do not want to know the secrets hidden within those folds.

Note:

"Ef'tisuuHai'lot'vhuVurahkia"