27 Weapon Updates, Flawless Heavy Blade

Chapter 28: 27 Update, Flawless Heavy Blade

During the day, they toiled hard, and at night, they shared meals with the Meat-toothed Beasts, listening to the Lupe family recount their prosperous lives in Yishuaoken.

Though it sounded a bit strange, the villagers' morale stabilized. Some felt there was no need for change, as life in the mountains was quite good. However, the village's youth and the parents of its children erupted with immense enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Yuan Chen, under Nedeli's guidance, continuously learned about Herbalism. Under her tutelage, he concocted a large quantity of poisons.

Aside from a portion of potent poisons that took immediate effect, most of the poisons they created were subtle, slow-acting ones.

These chronic poisons were mostly colorless and odorless. Even if they had a taste, it wouldn't matter. The Meat-toothed Beast hunters would inject these poisons into their prey and drive them towards the Elemental Dragon's lair.

Driven by hunger, the Elemental Dragon continuously preyed on this "enhanced" food.

Although this food didn't cause immediate, effective poisoning, it continuously accumulated toxins through subtle means. Compared to the beginning, the Elemental Dragon's physiological state had already shown a significant decline.

Through constant herb gathering and medicine preparation, Yuan Chen's Herbalism level rapidly reached Lv2. While his ability to independently craft potions was still a bit concerning, his proficiency in identifying poisonous or edible plants had greatly improved.

Similarly, Yuan Chen's weapons also underwent an innovation.

Earlier, during the hunt for the Meat-toothed Beasts, Yuan Chen and Nedeli had a severe conflict. During this clash, Yuan Chen's two sets of Axiom Wheels were severely damaged by Nedeli's javelins. Out of a total of thirty-four Axiom Wheels, only seven remained usable after returning to the village.

Another two sets of Dancer Blades fared relatively better due to their standardized design, with thirteen blades still usable. However, seven of these thirteen blades had degraded from "Fine" to "Normal" due to wear and tear.

Facing the combat intensity of a dragon, they likely wouldn't even be able to penetrate the gaps between its scales...

For this reason, Yuan Chen's weapons ushered in a wave of replacement.

The Dancer Blades were completely discarded. When Yuan Chen first used the Dancer Blades, his targets were ordinary beasts, at most large, ferocious predators.

In such situations, the Dancer Blades, being relatively light and thin, had a durability nearly two-thirds lower than short swords or battle axes due to their craftsmanship.

But this time, facing a dragon, the thin-bladed Flying Daggers used against ordinary beasts were clearly unsuitable. Even weakened and brittle, a dragon's scales were far tougher than beast hide.

Therefore, this time, Yuan Chen's weapons were thickened and hardened, and their original thin-blade design was augmented with additional armor-piercing cones.

Although this increase in mass meant Yuan Chen couldn't spare extra attention to operate the Axiom Wheels in combat, considering the opponent was a monster like an Elemental Drake...

Even if the Axiom Wheels managed to hit, the resulting flesh wounds wouldn't inflict any substantial damage on the dragon.

Yuan Chen wasn't a pure Elementalist, and his development of specialized "magic weapons" like the Axiom Wheels was severely limited.

Yuan Chen had also considered combining the Dancer Flying Blades to form a heavy Dancer Heavy Blade from a large number of them.

But unfortunately, although Yuan Chen had mastered the technique of combination, the craftsmanship required to forge such combinable, specialized Dancer Blades was far beyond the capabilities of a blacksmith in this small mountain village.

The Chouwu Family of Ionia, known for their dance heritage, possessed similar craftsmanship. However, even by the time Yuan Chen encountered the shipwreck, his junior schoolmate, Blade Dancer Irelia, hadn't yet mastered the relevant knowledge.

It was too much to ask someone who loved dancing to also develop a passion for forging.

This path won't work, so naturally, we'll have to put more effort into the materials.

After a month of overtime forging, a set of twelve thicker, harder, and heavier throwing blades appeared before Yuan Chen.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, the bearded blacksmith carefully placed the heavily stacked blades on the table in front of Yuan Chen with some effort.

Accompanied by the dull thud of steel colliding with cotton cloth and wood, the blacksmith also wiped the sweat from his forehead--

Most of it was from the heat, as the blacksmith shop had been forging overtime with its furnace almost constantly running. The already dark-skinned blacksmith seemed to have become even darker.

"These blades cost me a lot of hard work! If we fail in the end, I won't let you off easily~"

Although he said this, there was more teasing in the blacksmith's eyes.

Yuan Chen responded with a few words with a smile, then focused his attention on his main combat weapon.

Name: Flawless Heavy Blade

Quality: Fine

Equipment Skill: Armor Piercing Enchantment (Normal):

Magic is attached by a specialized enchanter during the forging process. With relatively passable forging and enchanting craftsmanship, this equipment's power is slightly increased while being resistant to wear...

At least it can cause greater lethality when facing armored enemies, though it's only relatively greater.

Seeing the equipment's skill, Yuan Chen nodded in satisfaction--

Although the quality of the equipment itself was still Fine, you couldn't expect more from a blacksmith in a remote mountain village far from civilization.

Moreover, with the upgrade in specifications and materials, this set of Dancer Blades far surpassed the previous two sets in destructive power. As for the grade...

Even in great empires like Demacia and Noxus, only the most elite and top-tier troops could be fully equipped with Excellent grade items. Lower-level legions mostly wore a mix of unrated and normal quality armor.

"Oh, right. Granny Lupe asked me to give you something."

"Lupe?" Hearing this, Yuan Chen raised an eyebrow. "What does she want to give me?"

At this, the blacksmith reluctantly took a dagger-like short sword from his backpack. The hilt and spine of the short sword were wrapped in beast hide, and inlaid with simple yet expensive gems--

With a little polishing, these gems could fetch an exorbitant price in the noble circles of the Valoran Continent, enough for a commoner to live without worry for ten lifetimes.

"This is..." Looking at the short blade before him, Yuan Chen narrowed his eyes and said, "Earth Vein Blade? So generous? What else did Lupe say?"

"She said to use this weapon well."

The blacksmith shrugged, a hint of envy in his brows--

Although this short blade looked very plain, the magical aura on it was very strong, and the engraved patterns were incredibly intricate. As a craftsman, the blacksmith could tell at a glance that it was a rare treasure among rare treasures. It would be a lie to say he wasn't envious.

Such blades, if presented to a dignitary in the prefecture, the merit alone would be enough to make one a resident of the prefecture. Yet now, it was being given to an outsider...

Achieving excellent quality, the Earth Vein Blade's equipment skill was simple and unpretentious. The user could greatly enhance the Earth Vein Blade's own quality by infusing it with mana.

Although the blade of this short blade appeared to be only twenty centimeters long, slightly longer than a palm, when infused with mana, it could easily reach a weight of over fifty kilograms.

Don't think this weight is light. Remember, the hammers wielded by ancient Golden Gourd Warriors in Yuan Chen's past life weighed only one to two kilograms.

Due to the center of gravity, a one to two kilogram hammer swung could generate hundreds of kilograms of impact through impulse. This short blade, which could increase its weight by inputting mana, if utilized properly, could deliver thousands of kilograms of impact even in freefall.

The wielder of the short blade would form a whole with the weapon itself on an energy level due to the mana, unaffected by the weapon's weight. Moreover, this was a blade, not a hammer. Used correctly, a single slash could even pierce through the corner of a city wall.

Weighing the short blade, which was not particularly heavy in his hand, Yuan Chen fell into thought for a moment. After a moment, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully and said, "Can you make me an extended shaft?"

"Shaft?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's question, the blacksmith was slightly taken aback, then slapped his forehead and realized, "You mean a spear? But are you sure? The entire Ixialia is covered in dense vegetation and forests, a spear can't be easily wielded."

"You don't need to worry about that," Yuan Chen nodded, understanding. "Help me craft a shaft... hmm, it needs to have good mana conductivity, preferably wooden, and when the short blade's weight increases, it should form a whole with it on a magical level, so it doesn't break immediately when the weight is added."

"Easy, just add some magic metal, small problem."

The blacksmith nodded, not looking particularly troubled—

Crafting a spear shaft was much easier than forging the uniquely shaped sword Yuan Chen had requested. The only difficulty was the requirement for it to be wooden.

For a metal spear shaft, it would only require adding some magic metal and carving mana circuits. A wooden shaft, however, would have a better feel and also possess flexibility.

But to also have good magical conductivity on top of that would be somewhat difficult.

Also, since it wasn't cast as a single piece, it would be slightly more fragile in use compared to a one-piece casting. However, this wouldn't significantly affect its usability.

After confirming the specifications, Yuan Chen also ordered some scabbards and other items—

Previously, he had kept the Dancer Blades and Axiom Wheel in his backpack. When combat occurred, he had no time to open the backpack and instead immediately controlled the blades to fly out. This resulted in the reasonably good quality beast-skin backpack being reduced to shreds, forcing Yuan Chen to even specially fashion a backpack from tree branches.

The difficulty wasn't high, just a matter of cutting and sewing.

Three days later, it was constructed from the main trunk of Ixialia's special Snake Firm Tree.

This tree, growing deep in Ixialia's dense forests, coexists with a large number of Vine Plants. It is extremely hard and very tough. While its mana conductivity isn't as smooth as a shaft made entirely of magic metal, it has the advantage of being lightweight and having a better feel.

And it wouldn't freeze your hands in winter, nor would your tongue stick to it if you licked it.

Although Ixialia is practically summer year-round...

And the scabbards Yuan Chen had ordered also arrived.

It wasn't a scabbard that truly wrapped the blade, but rather custom-made metal buckles, perfectly sized to hold the Flawless Heavy Blades securely. Yuan Chen placed twelve Flawless Heavy Blades on his upper arms, forearms, back, waist, thighs, and the outer sides of his calves, one by one.

When engaging in combat, Yuan Chen only needed to move his mind, and the metal buckles would release. In emergencies, he could even directly control the Flawless Heavy Blades to strike without the buckles—

Though he would have to mend them after the battle.

Besides the Flawless Heavy Blades, Yuan Chen also equipped himself with a hand axe, a hunting knife, a short sword, and a waterskin containing poisoned cloth strips at his waist, along with other weapons and auxiliary tools.

During combat, even without his Dancer Blades, Yuan Chen could easily poison his weapons by wiping his short sword with the poisoned cloth strips.

Donning his cloak, he was more of a Blade Shadow than NM Blade Shadow. One might mistake him for a Berserker Assassin who had dropped in from Ubisoft.

His armor remained the same leather set. Compared to forging weapons, forging armor took far too much time. Even excellently crafted armor was like paper against the biting and tearing of a Dragon; it would only last a couple of more hits at best.

Therefore, Yuan Chen wore his original armor, merely repairing the parts damaged in previous battles.

Although it looked cool, Yuan Chen did not opt to wear a cloak—

In a tropical rainforest region like Ixialia, wearing a cloak would be asking for trouble. The accumulating heat and moisture would be enough to steam a fair-skinned Ionian Youth into a red-skinned duck.

After collecting his gear and bidding farewell to the Blacksmith, Yuan Chen returned to his camp. Under Nedeli's disdainful gaze, Yuan Chen performed a dazzling display of Fancy Spearplay, then whoosh! He threw it, landing it by a pillar in front of Nedeli.

Under the sun's glare, Yuan Chen's straight, thick spear cast a long cylindrical shadow on Nedeli's face.

Looking at Yuan Chen's spear, Nedeli's face was filled with surprise. A moment later, she gazed at Yuan Chen, observing his relaxed expression, and asked somewhat suspiciously:

"What are you... doing?"

"Don't overthink it, I'm lending it to you."

Yuan Chen shrugged and said:

"I only have one excellent quality Magic Item, a souvenir from my hometown. My weapon is the Dancer Blades, and I can't exert much power with these short blades... My opponent is an Elemental Drake, so you should use it."

Hearing that it was a loan, Nedeli breathed a sigh of relief—

There was no such thing as a free lunch. When hunting in the wilderness, no matter how hungry Nedeli was, she would never attempt to eat a dead animal.

Either it was poisoned, or it was a trap. The same applied to gifts from others, and Yuan Chen had proven this fact with his own experience... being targeted by a Nascent Demon was no good thing.

But if it was just a loan, then there was no problem.