Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 428 Enchantment Equipment Customization Plan
Xia Nan himself was unaware of the exact origins of the shark beast.

Based on the available intelligence, he could only conclude that this monster was most likely related to the Shahua fishmen.

There was nothing to hide. After concealing some information about himself, he told the half-elf in front of him the whole story of his encounter with the shark beast on Cliff Island.

"Humanoid shark...Shahua fishman..."

Selene's deep green eyes were fixed on the materials on the table, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his light blue face.

Xia Nan keenly noticed that when he mentioned the words "shark" and "Shahua fish-man," the half-sea elf's face revealed an undisguised look of disgust.

Clearly, even if she wasn't a true sea elf, and probably didn't even have half of the elven blood in her body, this mixed-race tailor shop owner still continued the tradition of her race, showing extreme hostility towards sharks and shahua fish-men.

After hearing that Xia Nan had killed all the shark beasts he had encountered, along with the dozens of Shahua fishmen in the cave, their attitudes toward him improved considerably without anyone noticing.

"I guess it's one of those deformed bastards with bulging eyes that they found in some unknown trench."

Selene's tone was full of sarcasm and disdain, revealing his extreme hatred for the Shahua fish-men.

"However, the quality of the materials from this bastard is not bad."

Unaffected by his emotions, the half-elf changed the subject and began to explain in detail the samples of the monster materials he had brought.

His fingers, noticeably longer than average, gently stroked the rough surface of the sharkskin, feeling the dense granules on it with his fingertips. He would occasionally press down hard, causing the resilient sharkskin to dent and then quickly spring back.

"Of course, detailed tests are still needed to assess the specific strength of the material itself, but based on preliminary assessments, this sharkskin should have excellent physical defense capabilities and be much more flexible than armor made of ordinary metal."

He then picked up the side fins and black claws that were also placed on the counter and gestured them slightly in the air.

"The edges have a natural serrated structure, which makes it easy to cut. It is extremely sharp and has a high density of claws, making it suitable for piercing attacks."

"The bone is hollow, weighing only about one-eighth of the same volume of steel, but its strength is unexpectedly high, and it even has quite good toughness." He bent his knuckles and gently tapped the surface of the bone, producing a hollow and crisp sound.

"Tendons are very elastic and have almost no loss of elasticity. With a little processing, they can be very good bowstrings or connecting materials."

"The last one..."

Seliane's gaze shifted to the far left of the counter, looking at the shark-like fish bladder lying quietly in place, its body surrounded by dense magical particles that made the air subtly moist.

"It is the core material."

He said so.

Unlike previous materials such as sharkskin and skeletal tendons, whose strength and quality could be roughly determined through simple tests in a very short time, this material is different.

The magical particles in the surrounding air that the fish bladder attracts indicate that this is an extremely special "extraordinary material".

Without any information about the shark beast or experience in handling its carcass, a thorough and detailed professional examination of the swim bladder is necessary to make a reasonable analysis of its properties.

As a meticulous and responsible craftsman, Céleigne would never make a hasty judgment about such uncertain materials.

"Its value should be quite high, but as for its exact worth and purpose... if you're comfortable with that, you can temporarily leave the swim bladder with me, and I'll give you a detailed report after I've completed the appraisal."

"So, what do you plan to do about these things?" The half-elf placed his hands on the counter, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at the black-haired adventurer before him.

Having already considered it on the way here, Xia Nan did not hesitate when asked by the tailor shop owner and directly gave his own idea.

"First, if you can offer a reasonable price to exchange all of these for gold coins, I can accept it."

“You don’t need to worry about that.” A hint of harmless pride appeared on Seliane’s face. “I don’t know if Hera mentioned this when she introduced it to you, but you can probably guess from the store’s environment that most of the customers who come to [Pearl Spinning] are nobles and high-level adventurers from the White Cliff District.”

"I don't lack money, and I won't ruin my reputation for a few gold coins."

"The materials you provided are of very good quality. To be honest, I am indeed interested in acquiring them."

"And I can guarantee that, in terms of bidding alone, you will absolutely not find any shop in the entire Suyu Bay that can offer a higher price than me."

Hearing this, Xia Nan nodded slightly to show that she understood, but she was not in a hurry to make a decision. Instead, she continued from her previous answer:

"I remember you offer enchanted equipment customization services?"

“Of course!” Seliane nodded confidently, as if he was very confident in his skills.

Regarding this point, Xia Nan had already confirmed it with some adventurers in Hera and the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern before he arrived.

The sea elf hybrid in front of us has a pretty good reputation in Shuttlefish Bay.

Although the price is a bit high, the craftsmanship is impeccable.

If Xia Nan wants to customize equipment, [Pearl Spinning] is definitely a good choice.

As for the specific types of equipment...

There's not much to say.

Armor, armor, and more armor!

As one of Xia Nan's few weaknesses, his defensive capabilities largely depend on the armor he wears.

To some extent, this is one of the main reasons why his armor breakage rate is so high.

Without the sacrifice of these discarded armor pieces, even with [Echoes of Ember] and [Tears of Spring] as backup, the seven-day to one-month cooldown would have been enough for Xia Nan to suffer many more injuries in battle.

Therefore, even though he knew that armor wears out much faster than usual, Xia Nan still had to buy high-quality defensive equipment again and again, even if it meant emptying his savings.

He didn't want to risk his life to save a few gold coins that he could earn again anytime.

Now that it is known that the shark beast's skin has good physical defense performance, and its bone strength is far beyond ordinary, Xia Nan wondered if he could use these materials to make a piece of armor.

In this way, even with enchanted equipment, having already provided the main forging materials, the remaining costs for auxiliary materials and labor should be manageable with my small savings of over nine hundred gold coins.

The half-elf didn't immediately answer Xia Nan's question. Instead, he looked at the shark beast materials on the table, pondered for a moment, and then asked again:
"These should just be samples, right?"

"It's mainly shark skin and its bones. How much of the actual material is there in total?"

Without having measured the weight in detail, Xia Nan answered figuratively:

"That shark beast was about nine feet tall and even more robust than the bear goblin. I took all its skin and bones and brought them back."

“That’s perfectly sufficient.” The half-elf nodded. “Then let me share my thoughts.”

"Of course, the decision is still yours. I'm just offering a suggestion that you can consider. Ultimately, the choice is yours."

In front of Xia Nan, Seliane took the sharkskin from the counter, pinched the two edges of the sharkskin with both hands, and pulled it outward with force.

It's like a piece of rubber sheet; the rough sharkskin stretches and tightens to both sides due to its elasticity.

Carefully examining its physical properties, he repeated the process several times before finally placing the sharkskin back on the counter. After organizing his thoughts, he looked at Xia Nan and said:

"Just like you said, it's certainly possible to make armor from this kind of shark skin."

"The finished product's defensive performance is definitely much stronger than most leather armor on the market, and it is also much lighter."

"But in my opinion, using these precious shark skins to make leather armor is actually a bit wasteful and fails to bring out the excellent properties of the material itself."

"My idea is to use this highly elastic and resilient shark skin, with shark tendons as the connection, to make a close-fitting lining to wear inside the armor."

"The material is extremely thin and not much heavier than ordinary fabrics. In fact, because of its elasticity and fit, it is more flexible and convenient for daily activities than the shirt you are wearing now."

"In addition to its excellent defense against physical attacks, it can be used as a second layer of insurance under external protection."

"As for armor..."

The half-elf's gaze shifted to the shark skeleton beside him.

"These bones are actually quite good; they are lightweight and have strong support. Some of them can be used in armor, but if we consider defensive performance, they are not quite good enough as the main material."

"My personal suggestion is to use special metals with stronger defensive properties as the main material, and use these shark bones as auxiliary materials for forging."

"Once the swim bladder test results are available, if they are suitable, they can be incorporated into the forging process of these two pieces of equipment. However, the specific fusion method still needs to be carefully considered."

The meaning of Seraianne is actually quite simple.

Shark skin and shark bones are not suitable for making armor with excellent defensive capabilities.

The former can be used to make underwear, while the latter can only be used as an auxiliary material and needs to be combined with other metal materials.

He suggested that Xia Nan use these materials to make two pieces of equipment at once.

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

To be honest, Xia Nan was secretly tempted.

First of all, these materials, including the swim bladder, all come from that mutated shark beast, so there's absolutely no need to worry about compatibility.

Secondly, the double-layer protection of "inner lining + armor" perfectly meets the requirement of improving defensive capabilities.

Finally, by providing the main materials for the equipment, his expenses were greatly reduced.

With sufficient half-elf skills at hand, the only thing I need to consider now is the cost of the main metal for armor forging, as well as the crafting and auxiliary materials for the two pieces of equipment.

"I actually have some ideas about which metal to use as the main material for the armor, but we still need to test its compatibility with the shark beast's skeleton."

"In other aspects, apart from the identification of the swim bladder, there are basically no difficulties."

"what do you think?"

Xia Nan's expression remained unchanged, but he had already begun to make calculations in his mind.

Drawing on his experience of customizing enchanted equipment at the "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, let's take the [Bone-Binding Iron Greaves] on his legs as an example.

Assuming he has already provided the main materials for the equipment, a green-quality enchanted item, along with the remaining miscellaneous costs including crafting, will cost approximately 500 gold.

One piece costs 500 gold.

Two items would cost 1000 gold.

Not to mention the cost of the special metals mentioned by the half-elf.

With his current savings of over nine hundred gold coins, it's simply not enough.

After the finished product was completed, the tailor shop would even be owed several hundred gold coins.

He felt as if his heart was bleeding.

However, Xia Nan knew that these were all expenses he had to pay as an adventurer.

Every penny is an investment in oneself.

If it is truly as Serianne described, that it is possible to create two enchanted pieces of equipment that can be worn simultaneously and have excellent defensive capabilities.

This money wasn't wasted!
Of course, despite having made up her mind, Xia Nan did not show any signs of being carried away.

He simply nodded slightly to the half-elf before him:

"Let's develop a detailed plan first."

"If I think it's feasible, we can move forward; if it's not suitable, we can cut our losses in time."

“That’s only right.” The half-elf had no objection.

"Shall I take your body measurements first?"

"No rush." ​​Xia Nan shook his head. The huge expenses that were about to be incurred were completely beyond his current financial means.

Fortunately, Xia Nan gained a lot from this mission, and most of it has not yet been converted into gold coins, which is one of the reasons why he came here specifically.

He might be able to recover his losses in other areas first.

If that's still not enough, we can sell the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" that's currently docked at Broken Waves Wharf, and we can easily scrape together a few hundred gold coins.

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

But unexpectedly, what he took out of his backpack first was neither the green scimitar from the pirates nor the two staffs.

Instead, it was the "predecessor" armor that had been severely damaged in battle—[Pulse of Purgatory].

It was forged from a special metal from hell, after all. Even if it was already scrapped as equipment, simply recycling its materials should be enough to sell for some gold coins.

The half-elf had excellent eyesight; almost the instant Xia Nan placed [Purgatory Pulse] on the counter, he recognized its hellish steel material.

But after getting a closer look, the owner of the high-end tailor shop in Suoyu Bay subconsciously let out a "Huh?" and showed a surprised expression on his face.

"interesting."

"The craftsmanship of this armor is exquisite and ingenious; it must have been made by an outstanding artisan."

"Excuse me... would you mind revealing a little about the identity of its creator?"

(End of this chapter)