Naturally, he wouldn’t overlook the weapon that had directly chipped the overused Claymore, and Xia Nan inquired of Barn.
In response, the seasoned blacksmith, with whom he had collaborated countless tis, provided his reply:
"Of course!"
"Although the Beard Demon isn’t considered a high-tier type of devil in Purgatory, due to its combat style and humanoid form, it often cos equipped with fairly good quality weapons."
"This long handled knife is also forged from Purgatory tal. Unfortunately, while the handle is also tal, its quality is very poor, almost like the Little Devil’s steel fork."
"The only usable part is the blade itself."
Halfway through the conversation, Barn couldn’t help but glance at the Ash Fall longsword on the table behind him.
"When I say usable, I an if you were to forge a weapon with it, it definitely wouldn’t compare to the Straight Sword you’re holding now."
"In my personal opinion..."
Barn suddenly looked hesitant.
His impression of Xia Nan had beco more complex with each collaboration.
—A young adventurer with exceptional talent and outstanding combat ability.
That was the foundation.
In just over a year, he had advanced from being a low-level adventurer to soone who could afford to spend three thousand Gold Coins to forge a primary weapon, which enough proved his rapid progress.
And being labeled "outstanding combat ability" had as much to do with his "Gray Sword" reputation in town as it did with the nurous sets of armor he seed to treat as consumables.
All of which had been personally crafted by Barn, who naturally knew how durable this equipnt was.
Under normal high-intensity battle conditions, even if they got worn, he could generally repair them if sent back to the blacksmith shop.
But based on the situation described and the few returned wrecked pieces, this armor was so irreparable that it could only be treated like lumps of pure iron.
Initially, Barn was rely astonished by how fast Xia Nan’s armor degraded.
But when Xia Nan repeatedly stood complete in front of the counter, ordering new armor, Barn finally realized—
Despite his armor getting wrecked one after another, how did he... remain unscathed?
Never once gravely injured, only appearing lightly injured with a few bandages, in stark contrast to the shocking armor wreckage rate.
In a sense, this catching his attention is why he increasingly focused on the frequency with which Xia Nan’s armor got destroyed.
Now, when he handed over the Beard Demon long knife from Purgatory seeking his opinion on processing it, these views on Xia Nan influenced Barn’s thoughts.
The blade wasn’t long, perhaps wide and thick, but it didn’t nearly et the size required for half-body armor.
If Barn wanted to conserve effort, he could directly suggest to Xia Nan to reforge the blade into a spare short dagger or armguard, armband, and such.
Given the trust the black-haired youth had in him, he definitely wouldn’t refuse.
Of course, as a professional, he couldn’t skimp on craftsmanship either.
It was just a relatively easy processing plan, fully reasonable and in their mutual interest.
But at this point, the Dwarf Blacksmith had a different thought.
From the blacksmith shop owner and businessman perspective, Barn naturally hoped for more clients like Xia Nan. There’s never enough.
Every few tasks, he’d return to purchase high-level armor, generating triple-digit Gold Coin revenue monthly; who wouldn’t welco such clients?
But from the perspective of a craftsman focused on forging to achieve Master Level status...
The frequent armor destruction on Xia Nan was a significant ntal blow due to its intensity.
Can’t let this continue!
Determination flashed in Barn’s eyes.
The notion to suggest relting the knife into armguards was swallowed down.
"Armor..." he suggested to Xia Nan, "Make it into armor using the blade as a primary material for key areas."
Without a doubt, for Barn, this was a choice as unrewarding as it could be.
Compared to forearms or spare daggers, crafting armor from the blade required more energy—designing the appearance, fusing the blade material, selecting other auxiliary materials, and such factors.
While potentially more profitable than past alternatives, it was nowhere near compensating for the ti and effort he’d need to invest.
Not a losing deal per se, but basically close.
Yet, Barn unflinchingly proposed it to Xia Nan for his conviction.
"Oh? Armor?"
Unaware of the nurous thoughts flashing through the blacksmith’s mind, Xia Nan only noted the hesitation before the suggestion.
He saw no issue with it.
As the user, he also wished for more durable armor to save money himself.
Compared to unsaid forearm guards or daggers, armor as an equipnt type better suited his current needs.
But...
"Isn’t making armor from just a blade a bit... tough?"
Looking at the Beard Demon long knife in Barn’s hand, Xia Nan voiced his doubt.
"Definitely not enough!" Barn’s fingers lightly caressed the blade, deep in thought, "But there are solutions."
"Like the previous Plate Chain Composite Armors you bought, not needing to be one piece. With high-quality tal for vital parts and solid materials with slightly less defense for the rest, it’s workable."
This implied Barn had to rethink the whole structure, avoiding the fixed templates of shelf-ready equipnt.
Perceiving the implication in his words, apprehension suddenly struck Xia Nan.
"How much?"
Considering even the tail paynt of the Ash Fall Straight Sword depended on the association commission reward in days to co, Xia Nan feared any large expense would leave him unable to even afford cream of mushroom soup.
Fortunately, Barn’s response assured him.
Patting the blade lightly, Barn smiled and explained,
"Don’t worry. The Beard Demon long knife’s material grade is not as high as the previous silver ingots you provided, nor does it need costly auxiliary materials like ’Yangli Iron Plating Powder’."
"It just needs more tallic supplentary material due to the small blade size."
"The entire armor forging shouldn’t cost much more than the leg armor you’re wearing."
"About... five or six hundred gold?"
Upon hearing it, Xia Nan felt relieved.
Good news—the mission reward sufficed to clear the Ash Fall tail paynt and marginally replenish his funds;
Bad news—a new armor order would potentially drain the savings he’d only just started rebuilding.
He might likely slip back into debt once more.
Earn! Earn! Earn!
The imdiate short-term goal was earning money.
He couldn’t risk being unable to cover Tavern lodging costs, which would be inconvenient.
With the required forging ti for the armor, he lacked the funds on hand to just wait in town and needed to take on safer missions for so cash.
Thus, after confirming the order with Barn and discussing armor crafting details, he purchased a set of Good chain armor for interdiate use for 50 gold, then bid farewell.
"Creak..."
The door closed, hinges creaking in perfu-scented friction behind.
The Ash Fall sword replaced the Beheading Longsword, strapped to Xia Nan’s back, restoring his "Dual Swords form."
Not long after returning, his debt anxiety surged once more.
Combined with the urge to test his new sword.
"Lately, the pressure’s been intense..."
"Well, let the goblins suffer for it."
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