Chapter 429 Enchanted Equipment Customization Plan

Xia Nan had no idea where the Shark Beast had actually come from.

Based on the information he had, he could only deduce that the monster was highly likely related to the Sahuagin.

There was nothing to hide. After omitting a few personal details, he recounted his entire encounter with the Shark Beast on Cliff Rock Island to the half-elf before him.

"A humanoid shark... Sahuagin..."

Celianne's deep green eyes stared at the materials on the table, a thoughtful expression surfacing on his pale blue face.

Xia Nan keenly noticed that when he mentioned the words "shark" and "Sahuagin," an undisguised look of disgust crossed the sea elf half-blood's face.

Clearly, even if he wasn't a true sea elf in the strict sense—and might not even possess a full half of elven blood—the mixed-blood tailor shop owner still carried on his race's tradition, holding extreme hostility toward sharks and Sahuagin.

Upon hearing that Xia Nan had killed the Shark Beast, along with the dozens of Sahuagin in the cave, Celianne's attitude toward him quietly improved by quite a margin.

"Probably another deformed mongrel those bug-eyed freaks dug up from some unknown trench."

Celianne's tone was full of mockery and disdain, showing his extreme hatred for the Sahuagin.

"Still, the quality of the materials from this mongrel is quite good."

Not letting his emotions affect his actual work, the half-elf shifted the topic and began to detail the monster material samples Xia Nan had brought in.

His fingers, noticeably longer than an ordinary person's, gently stroked the rough surface of the shark skin. He felt the dense granules with his fingertips, occasionally pressing down hard to make the highly resilient skin indent and then quickly spring back.

"Of course, we still need to run detailed tests on the specific strength of the material itself. But from an initial assessment, this shark skin's physical defense should be excellent. Its flexibility is also much better than armor made from ordinary metals."

He then picked up the side fin and black claws resting on the counter, making a few light gestures in the air.

"The edges have a natural serrated structure, handy for cutting. The sharpness is outstanding. The claws have a very high density, making them suitable for piercing attacks."

"The bones are hollow, weighing almost an eighth of steel of the same volume, but their strength is unexpectedly high. They even have pretty good toughness." He bent his knuckles and lightly tapped the surface of the bone, producing a hollow, crisp sound.

"The tendons are highly elastic, with almost no loss of force when snapping back. With a little processing, they would make excellent bowstrings or binding materials."

"And finally, this..."

Celianne's gaze shifted to the far left of the counter, looking at the Shark Beast's swim bladder lying quietly in place. The dense magical particles swirling around it made the air feel faintly humid.

"It is a core material," he said.

Unlike the shark skin, bones, and tendons—ordinary materials whose strength and quality could be roughly judged through brief, simple tests—the way the swim bladder drew in magical particles from the surrounding air proved it was a highly unique "Transcendent Tier material."

With absolutely no intelligence on the Shark Beast and no experience processing its corpse, a detailed and comprehensive professional inspection was required to make a reasonable analysis of its properties.

As a rigorous and responsible craftsman, Celianne naturally wouldn't jump to conclusions about a material he was unsure of.

"Its value shouldn't be low, but as for exactly how much it's worth and what uses it has... if you feel comfortable doing so, you can leave the swim bladder with me for now. I'll give you a detailed report once my appraisal is finished."

"So, as for all this," the half-elf said, leaning both hands on the counter. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the black-haired adventurer before him. "How do you plan to handle it?"

Having already thought this over on his way here, Xia Nan didn't hesitate when faced with the tailor's question. He directly stated his idea.

"First, if you can offer a reasonable price, I'd be willing to exchange all of this for gold coins."

"You don't need to worry about that." A faint hint of malice-free pride surfaced on Celianne's face. "I don't know if Hera mentioned this when she recommended me, but you should be able to guess from the shop's atmosphere that the vast majority of patrons who visit [Pearl Spun Yarn] are nobles and high-level adventurers from the White Cliff District."

"I'm not short on money, nor would I ruin my reputation over a handful of gold coins."

"The materials you've provided are all of excellent quality. To be honest, I am indeed interested in buying them."

"And I can guarantee that in terms of price alone, you absolutely won't find a single shop in all of Barracuda Bay that will offer you more than I can."

Hearing the other man say this, Xia Nan gave a slight nod to show he understood. But he wasn't in a hurry to make a decision; instead, he continued from his previous answer, "I recall you offer customization services for enchanted equipment here?"

"Of course!" Celianne nodded with considerable confidence, evidently very assured in his craft.

In truth, Xia Nan had already confirmed this with Hera and some of the adventurers at the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern before coming here.

This sea elf half-blood before him truly had a solid reputation in Barracuda Bay.

Although his fees were on the pricier side, his workmanship was impeccable.

If Xia Nan wanted to customize equipment, [Pearl Spun Yarn] was definitely a solid choice.

As for the specific type of equipment...

There really wasn't much to say.

Armor, armor, and more armor!

With defense being one of Xia Nan's few remaining shortcomings, a large portion of his margin for error was propped up by the armor he wore.

To a certain extent, this was one of the main reasons his armor-breaking rate was so high.

If it weren't for the sacrifice of one ruined set of armor after another, even with [Ember Echoes] and [Tears of Spring Breath] as his safety nets, their cooldown periods of seven days to a month would have been enough for Xia Nan to suffer many more injuries in combat.

Therefore, even knowing that armor durability degraded on him far faster than normal, Xia Nan had to buy high-quality defensive equipment time and time again, even if it meant emptying his little treasury.

He had no desire to trade his life just to save a few gold coins that he could always earn back later.

Now that he knew the Shark Beast's skin had good physical defense and its bones were extraordinarily strong, Xia Nan wondered if he could use these materials to craft a set of armor.

This way, even for enchanted equipment, since he was providing the main forging materials, his small treasury of over nine hundred gold coins should be able to just barely cover the remaining costs for secondary materials and labor.

The half-elf didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at the Shark Beast materials on the table, pondering for a moment before he asked, "These should just be samples, right?"

"Mainly the shark skin and its bones. How much of the actual material do you have in total?"

Not having calculated the exact weight, Xia Nan gave a descriptive answer, "That Shark Beast was about nine chi tall, with a build even bulkier than a bugbear. I stripped off all its skin and bones and brought them back."

"In that case, it's more than enough," the half-elf nodded. "Then I'll share my thoughts."

"Of course, the decision remains in your hands. I'm just offering a suggestion for you to consider; the final choice is up to you."

Right in front of Xia Nan, Celianne picked up the shark skin from the counter, grabbed both edges with his hands, and pulled outward forcefully.

Like a sheet of rubber, the rough shark skin stretched taut on both sides, driven by its natural elasticity.

He carefully gauged its physical properties, repeating the motion several times before setting the skin back on the counter.

Organizing his words mentally, Celianne looked at Xia Nan and began, "Just as you mentioned, it is certainly possible to make armor out of this shark skin."

"The defensive capabilities of the finished product would absolutely be far stronger than most leather armor on the market, and it would be much lighter too."

"But in my opinion, making leather armor out of this precious shark skin is actually a bit of a waste, and it wouldn't fully utilize the material's excellent properties."

"My idea is to use this highly elastic and tough shark skin, bound with the Shark Beast's tendons, to craft a close-fitting inner lining to be worn beneath your armor."

"The texture of the material is extremely thin, and it wouldn't weigh much more than ordinary clothing fabric. In fact, because of its natural elasticity and tight fit, everyday movement would be even more flexible and convenient than the shirt you're wearing right now."

"Coupled with its outstanding defense against physical attacks, it would serve perfectly as a second layer of insurance beneath your outer protection."

"As for the armor..."

The half-elf's gaze shifted to the Shark Beast bones on the side.

"These bones are actually quite good—lightweight with strong support. We can select some to incorporate into the armor, but if we're prioritizing defensive performance, using them as the primary material still falls a bit short."

"I personally recommend using a special metal with stronger defensive properties as the base, while letting these Shark Beast bones serve as a supplementary forging material."

"Once the test results for the swim bladder are out, if it's suitable, we could also add it into the forging process for both pieces of equipment. However, we'll need to carefully consider exactly how to integrate it."

Celianne's point was actually quite simple.

If they wanted to craft armor with outstanding defense, neither the shark skin nor the Shark Beast bones were entirely fitting.

The former could be used to make innerwear, while the latter could only serve as a supplement and needed to be combined with metallic materials.

He was suggesting that Xia Nan use these materials to craft two pieces of equipment at once.

A set of armor, and a set of inner lining.

Truth be told, Xia Nan was faintly tempted.

First, these materials, including the swim bladder, all came from that deformed Shark Beast, so there was absolutely no need to worry about their compatibility.

Second, the dual-layered protection of "inner lining + armor" perfectly satisfied his need for enhanced defense.

Lastly, by providing the main materials for the equipment, his expenses would drop significantly.

Given the half-elf's sufficient skill, the only things he needed to consider now were the primary metal used for the armor's forging, along with the labor and secondary material costs for both pieces.

"As for which metal to use as the primary material for the armor, I actually already have some ideas, but I still need to run practical tests on its compatibility with the Shark Beast bones."

"As for the rest, aside from appraising the swim bladder, there are basically no difficulties."

"What do you think?"

Xia Nan's expression remained unchanged, but inside, he had already begun to calculate.

Drawing on his experience of customizing enchanted equipment at the "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, he took the [Bone-Bound Iron Greaves] currently on his legs as an example.

With him already providing the main materials, the miscellaneous costs for a green-quality enchanted item, including labor, ran about 500 gold coins.

One piece was 500 gold.

Two pieces would be 1,000 gold.

Not to mention adding the cost of the special metal the half-elf had spoken of.

With his current savings of just over nine hundred gold coins, it wouldn't be nearly enough.

Once the finished products were made, he would even owe the tailor shop a few hundred gold in debt.

He felt as if his heart was bleeding.

But Xia Nan knew clearly that these were the necessary expenses he had to pay as an adventurer.

Every copper coin was an investment in himself.

If it truly turned out as Celianne described, producing two pieces of enchanted equipment with outstanding defense that could be worn simultaneously, then the money would not be spent in vain!

Of course, despite having made his decision, Xia Nan didn't let any eagerness show.

He simply gave the half-elf a slight nod. "Let's draw up a detailed plan first."

"If I find it feasible, we'll move forward; if it's not suitable, we can cut our losses early."

"As it should be." The half-elf had no objections.

"Shall I take your body measurements first, then?"

"No rush." Xia Nan shook his head. With his current financial resources, he absolutely couldn't afford the massive expenses coming up.

Fortunately, Xia Nan had reaped quite a harvest on this mission, and the vast majority of it had not yet been converted into gold coins. This was also one of the reasons he had made a special trip here.

He could perhaps recoup some of his funds through other means first.

If it really wasn't enough, he could sell the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" currently anchored at Wave-Breaking Wharf. No matter what, he'd be able to scrounge up the remaining few hundred gold.

"I have a few other pieces of equipment I need you to take a look at."

But unexpectedly, the first thing he pulled from his backpack was not the green-tier scimitar taken from the pirates, nor the two staves.

Instead, it was his heavily damaged "former" armor from the battle—the [Purgatory Pulse].

After all, it had been forged from special metals originating in hell. Even if it was already scrapped as a piece of equipment, purely recycling its materials should still fetch some gold coins.

The half-elf had a keen eye. Almost the second Xia Nan placed the [Purgatory Pulse] on the counter, he recognized its hell-steel composition.

But after leaning in for a closer look, the owner of Barracuda Bay's high-end tailor shop unconsciously let out a "Huh," a look of surprise appearing on his face.

"Interesting."

"The craftsmanship of this armor is exquisite and ingenious. It must have come from the hands of a master artisan."

"Excuse me... would it be convenient to slightly reveal the identity of its maker?"