Becoming an adventurer by copying monster abilities

Chapter 120 Black Crystal Equipment and Silver Helmet

This shop, called "Good Brothers," is quite famous in Ryan City. Luca had heard Tina and El mention it before.

Rather than a traditional blacksmith shop, it's more like a large, comprehensive adventure supply store.

The shop's interior was very large, with the walls covered with swords, battle axes, and various shields that gleamed coldly under the firelight.

In the center of the hall, various exquisite leather armor, chainmail, and heavy plate armor were displayed in a staggered manner.

The goods were so numerous and varied that it was dazzling.

In addition to a wide variety of weapons and equipment, the shop also sells herbs, alchemy potions, and various tools.

Luke even saw a counter in the corner that was specifically for recycling rare metals and gems.

It's fair to say that the service scope and overall scale of this one store are equivalent to several shops in Twilight Town.

It's truly a big city.

Upon seeing Luca, who was fully armed, the young female receptionist immediately greeted him warmly.

These adventurers might be seen as terrifying beings that ordinary people would avoid at all costs.

But for them, these are "money trees".

"Respected adventurer, welcome to Good Brother's Shop! How can I help you?"

Luke nodded and succinctly stated his needs for plate armor repair and longsword maintenance.

He had initially worried that repairing and maintaining the hand-and-a-half sword with magical inscriptions might be quite troublesome.

However, after carefully observing the faint glimmer of light emanating from the sword's hilt, the young receptionist immediately gave a friendly smile, as if she were used to such things.

This indicates that the shop's technicians are fully capable of maintaining this level of magical weapon without causing any damage.

While waiting for the shop staff to take away the armor and weapons for maintenance and valuation.

The receptionist also kindly led Luca to the rest area on one side of the lobby.

They served him a cup of steaming black tea and a small dish of delicate cream pastries.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the receptionist came over with a parchment bill that listed the detailed expenses.

"Mr. Luke, this is your equipment maintenance plan."

The receptionist explained in a clear voice, "The main structure of the armor has not undergone severe deformation or damage, so it is relatively simple to repair and does not require too many consumables."

However, the longsword's blade is worn and needs to be re-filled with fine steel and sharpened. To ensure the internal magical enhancements are not affected, the repair will take a little longer and cost a bit more.

The receptionist explained the specific maintenance plan and the materials needed in detail, and then concluded with a smile: "The price is clearly marked, totaling ten gold coins and three silver coins. Since you are a first-time customer, we have rounded it down to ten gold coins."

This price is astronomical.

After all, Luke used to pay for equipment maintenance in silver coins.

But then he thought about it again and realized that his equipment had also been upgraded.

A full set of mid-to-high-end equipment is worth thousands of gold coins. The more expensive the equipment, the higher the maintenance cost, so it cannot be compared with the past.

After paying, the receptionist handed Luke a parchment order stamped with the shop's wax seal: "Please keep this receipt safe and come back to pick it up in three days. Also, if you make five purchases, you can get a free equipment maintenance service costing no more than 10 gold!"

A series of smooth and effective marketing tactics aroused Luca's curiosity about the shop owner.

In this other world where simple business practices are still prevalent, the owner of this shop is simply a business genius.

After receiving the order, Luca did not rush to leave.

Besides repairing equipment, he had an even more important purpose for this trip.

That was the huge black crystal that had been lying quietly in his ring's storage space.

He didn't take out the whole piece of ore.

Before coming here, he had already chipped off a piece that was about the size of a fist.

Luke had already tried it, and the black crystal fragments he knocked off still retained that deep luster.

Unlike before in the mine, when it left that special plant, it won't suddenly turn into a pile of dust.

The reason he chose to do this is quite simple.

A black crystal the size of a washbasin looks rather horrifying.

As for the strange plant roots growing above the black crystal, he dared not show them to anyone.

Luke intends to keep his abilities sealed away in the ring until he has grown strong enough to disregard most of the rules or until he has met someone he can trust enough.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." He didn't want to be targeted because of showing off such a thing.

Luke took the fist-sized black crystal from his pocket, gently placed it on the counter, and asked the receptionist, "Does your shop have anyone who can process this black crystal?"

Upon hearing the name "Black Crystal," the young receptionist was visibly taken aback.

As an employee who frequently deals with various rare materials, she had naturally heard of this famous "anti-magic" ore.

However, the black crystal that Luke had placed on the counter was so large that she didn't react for a moment.

"This whole area, is it?"

Black crystal was once a popular luxury crafting material in the city of Ryan, sought after by top blacksmith shops.

However, as the largest black crystal veins in the vicinity were over-exploited until they were depleted, this material, which is naturally immune to low-level magic, became increasingly precious.

Nowadays, it's rare for an adventurer team to produce a scrap of black crystal the size of a finger joint.

This is already considered a very rare and valuable item.

And this man in front of me just casually pulled out a piece the size of a fist!

The receptionist swallowed hard and solemnly held the black crystal in her hands: "Please wait a moment. The value and processing difficulty of this ore are beyond my authority. I'll go and ask the boss to come and evaluate it for you personally!"

Not long after, Luca saw the receptionist hurriedly return, carrying the black crystal.

She placed the black crystal on the tray and then very carefully placed it on the counter in front of Luke.

Looking behind him where there was no one, Luke frowned slightly and asked curiously, "Where's your boss?"

"Ahem!"

As soon as Luke finished speaking, a deliberate coughing sound came from under the wooden counter.

Then, a sturdy dwarf, struggling to step onto a small wooden stool that the receptionist had prepared, peered halfway out from under the tall counter.

The dwarf was dressed in a magnificent silk robe that completely covered his muscular body.

Underneath the expensive brown fabric, he looked like a sturdy oak barrel.

The comically dressed dwarf boss immediately flashed Luke a shrewd and enthusiastic business smile.

His thick, reddish-brown beard bounced excitedly up and down on his chest as he opened and closed his mouth: "Welcome to Good Brother Blacksmith's Shop! I am Mogran Silverhelm, the owner of this shop. May Moradin bless you!"

Silver helmet?

Luke felt that the surname sounded familiar, and when he thought of the shop's name, a figure immediately came to mind.

"Boss Mogran, do you know Durik Silver Helmet?"

"Of course I recognize him! He's my younger brother, born to the same parents!"

Mogran's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing the name.

He patted his chest vigorously, seemingly very proud of his younger brother, and even his tone became more intimate: "What? You and my brother are friends?"

"I guess so. The equipment I just handed you over was made by Boss Durek."

"No wonder the forging technique of that armor looked so familiar at first glance; that kid's skills seem to have improved quite a bit!"

With the unexpected connection of Durek as a bond, Luke's conversation with the dwarf Mogran was very harmonious and pleasant.

Mogran picked up the large black crystal from the tray and examined it closely, a look of fascination in his eyes.

He looked up at Luke and said sincerely, "This piece of extremely pure black crystal is large enough to be added to a full set of armor. What kind of equipment do you want to forge?"

Luke had the same idea.

He had planned to acquire a full set of magical equipment back in Twilight Town, and upon hearing the other person's words, he asked with some curiosity, "Can such a small amount of obsidian be used to forge a full set of armor? Won't the effectiveness be compromised?"

"Of course not. The material properties of black crystal are only suitable for use as an auxiliary material in the furnace. So this size is not only enough to cover the whole body, but if the craftsmanship is excellent, there is also room to make a small arm shield or something similar."

Mogran gestured at the black crystal in his hand as he explained, "Although this ore is extremely hard after quenching, it is very tough. So if too much of it is added during forging, it will affect the armor's defensive capabilities and practicality if it is subjected to a heavy blow from a blunt weapon or a heavy weapon."

"Can you custom-make a set of armor here? Just make it the same style as mine."

Since the materials were plentiful and the technology was mature, Luke immediately decided to splurge once again.

A set of armor with magical protection can not only play an unexpected role in battle, but also grant immunity to some unavoidable curses, which sounds powerful enough.

"It's possible, but as Durek's friend, I still want to remind you to think it over carefully."

Mogran nodded first, then shook his head: "Although you can make a set of armor with magic immunity by using regular fine steel as the main material and mixing in black crystal, the fact that it is made of ordinary fine steel means that its physical defense is not very outstanding."

Of course, it's more than enough to handle attacks from ordinary swords and low-level monsters. But since you need magical protection, it means the dangers you face are no longer limited to ordinary physical damage.

, 7

Mogran touched the extremely pure black crystal with some reluctance: "If we use such top-notch auxiliary materials, it would be a waste to use ordinary refined steel as the main material in order to save money. So... my suggestion is that we should also change the main material to rare and special materials with extremely high defensive capabilities."

After saying that, the dwarf boss, who looked very shrewd, began to talk at length.

He introduced the various expensive special metals and rare ores that he had treasured for many years in the underground vault of his shop.

See the picture poorly.

Luke was amused by the other person's appearance.

He was clearly trying to persuade me to spend more money in his store, but he acted as if he was only thinking of me.

No wonder he was able to run such a large shop in the prime location of the bustling city of Ryan.

Compared to his younger brother, Durek, who lives far away in Twilight and focuses on cost-effective products.

This dwarf boss is much better at doing business.

However, Luca had to admit that Mogran's words were not without merit.

Given the opportunity, who wouldn't want their survival gear to be perfect and without any weaknesses?

However—the so-called rare materials in this shop are ridiculously overpriced.

Prices in Lane City are high, and while other daily necessities aren't cheap either, they're still within Luke's budget.

But the dwarf boss had just been pushing on him a material called "Red Iron Gold," which had good compatibility with black crystal and strong physical defense capabilities.

The cost of materials needed to forge a full suit of armor was as high as five thousand gold coins.

Moreover, this is only the price of the rough blank, and does not include other costs incurred during the forging process.

For example, a fusion agent that allows black crystal and hematite to be perfectly fused together.

And several other expensive auxiliary materials that must be added to improve the toughness of the armor.

Finally, there's the cost of the blacksmith's work.

The total price, excluding the black crystal that Luca comes with, is about six thousand gold coins.

Luca's current assets, including the bag of luminous moss he entrusted to Rena to sell, amount to only a little over a thousand gold coins, which is naturally insufficient to afford such spending.

Of course, the black crystal the size of a washbasin in the ring's storage space is its true treasure.

He could easily chip off another fragment of black crystal from it and use it to offset the six thousand gold coins for crafting.

However, Luca did not rush to place an order.

Compare prices at several shops; there are more than one blacksmith shop in Ryan City.

Luke decided to first find a reliable local to ask about the local market and get their opinion before making any decisions.

So he ignored Mogran's expectant gaze, picked up the black crystal, and stuffed it back into his pocket.

He indicated that he needed to go back and prepare the funds again to think things over carefully.

Luke nodded politely, then turned and walked out of his good brother's blacksmith shop.

As dusk approached, Luke looked up to determine his direction.

His next target was the largest church in Ryan City, the Losanda Church.

The local person he was looking for on this trip was, of course, the blonde pastor girl, Ir, whom he hadn't seen for many days.

Judging by the time, that trainee pastor who is always busy should be "off work" soon, right?

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