Weapon Upgrade, Flawless Heavy Blade

They worked hard during the day, then shared meals with the Meat-toothed Beasts in the evening and listened to the Lupe Family recount their once-prosperous life in Yishuaoken.

Though it might have sounded a little strange, the villagers' morale had stabilized. Some thought there was no need to change anything and that life in the mountains was quite nice, but the village's young people and the parents of its children were filled with tremendous enthusiasm.

During this time, Yuan Chen also kept learning about herbalism from Nedeli and, under her guidance, prepared a large quantity of poison.

Aside from a few potent poisons that took effect immediately, most of the poisons the two made were slow-acting, their effects building over time.

Most of these poisons were colorless and odorless. Even if they had a smell, it didn't matter. The Meat-toothed Beast hunters would inject the poisons into their prey and drive them near the Elemental Dragon's lair.

Driven by hunger, the Elemental Dragon kept devouring these poisoned meals.

Though the food didn't cause any immediate harm, the toxins gradually accumulated. Compared to its condition at the start, the Elemental Dragon's physical state had already noticeably deteriorated.

Through his constant gathering and preparation of herbs, Yuan Chen's herbalism level quickly reached lv2. His ability to make potions on his own still left much to be desired, but he had made plenty of progress in identifying whether plants were poisonous or edible.

At the same time, Yuan Chen's weapons were due for an overhaul.

Earlier, while searching for the Meat-toothed Beasts, Yuan Chen and Nedeli had clashed badly. During the conflict, Nedeli's throwing spears had wrecked both sets of Yuan Chen's Axiom Wheels. Of the thirty-four Axiom Wheels in total, only seven were still usable by the time they returned to the village.

The two sets of Dancer Blades had fared somewhat better thanks to their design, with thirteen still usable. But seven of those thirteen had fallen from fine quality to ordinary due to wear.

Against a dragon-level opponent, they probably couldn't even pierce the gaps between its scales...

So Yuan Chen's weapons, too, were due for an upgrade.

He scrapped the Dancer Blades outright. When he'd first started using them, his targets had only been ordinary beasts, or at most large man-eating predators.

For that purpose, the Dancer Blades were relatively thin and light. Because of how they were made, their durability was nearly two-thirds lower than that of short knives and battle-axes.

But this time, he was facing a dragon. Single-edged throwing daggers designed for ordinary beasts were clearly unsuitable—the Elemental Drake's scales, even weakened and made brittle, were far tougher than animal hide.

So Yuan Chen's weapons were made thicker and harder, and their original single-edged design was supplemented with an armor-piercing spike.

The increased weight meant Yuan Chen wouldn't be able to spare the attention to control his Axiom Wheels in battle, but considering his opponent was a monster like an Elemental Drake...

Even if the Axiom Wheels hit, the resulting flesh wounds couldn't cause the dragon any real harm.

After all, Yuan Chen wasn't a pure elemental mage, and his ability to develop a special "magic weapon" like the Axiom Wheels was limited.

Yuan Chen had also considered combining Dancer Blades to create a heavy Dancer Blade from a large number of them.

Unfortunately, although he knew how to combine them, the process of forging these unusual, combinable Dancer Blades was far beyond the skills of a blacksmith in a little mountain village...

The Zaan Family of the Chouwu Family in Ionia had mastered a similar technique. But even by the time Yuan Chen was shipwrecked, his junior, Blade Dancer Irelia, still hadn't learned anything about it...

Asking someone who loved dancing to take up blacksmithing as well was clearly asking too much.

With that approach out of reach, he could only focus on the materials.

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

Wiping the sweat from his brow, the bearded blacksmith carefully set the heavy blades, stacked high in a pile, on the table before Yuan Chen.

As the steel clunked dully against the padded cloth and wood, the blacksmith wiped the sweat from his brow as well—

Most of it had come from the heat. The forge had been running almost nonstop for overtime work, and the blacksmith, who was already dark-skinned, seemed to have gotten even darker.

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

Though he said that, his eyes were mostly teasing.

Yuan Chen laughed and played along for a few words, then focused his attention on his new main weapon.

Name: Flawless Heavy Blade

Quality: Fine

Equipment Skill: Armor Piercing Enchantment (Ordinary):

An enchanter imbued this equipment with magic during the forging process. With forging and enchanting techniques that were decent enough, the weapon's power had been slightly enhanced without making it prone to wear...

At least it could inflict more damage on armored enemies, though only relatively speaking.

Seeing the equipment skill, Yuan Chen nodded with satisfaction—

The equipment was still only fine quality, but he couldn't expect more from a blacksmith in a mountain village so far from civilization.

Besides, with its design and materials upgraded, this set of Dancer Blades was at least far more destructive than the two previous sets. As for its quality...

Even in great empires like Demacia and Noxus, only the most elite, top-tier troops could all be equipped with excellent-quality gear. Standard armor in lower-ranking legions was mostly a mix of ungraded and ordinary-quality pieces.

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

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

At that, the blacksmith reluctantly took a dagger-like short sword from his pack. Its hilt and spine were wrapped in animal hide and inlaid with plain-looking but precious gems—

With a little polishing, these gems could fetch a sky-high price among the nobles of the Valoran Continent, enough to support a poor commoner for ten lifetimes.

"This is..." Yuan Chen narrowed his eyes at the Short Blade. "The Earth Vein Blade? That's generous of her. Did Lupe say anything else?"

"She said to make good use of it."

The blacksmith shrugged, a hint of envy in his expression—

Though the Short Blade looked plain, it had a rich magical aura, and its engraved patterns were exquisitely detailed. As a craftsman, the blacksmith could tell at a glance that it was a treasure among treasures. It was only natural that he felt envious.

If he offered a blade like this to some bigwig in the county, the merit alone would be enough to make him a county resident, wouldn't it? Yet now it was being given to an outsider just like that...

At excellent quality, the Earth Vein Blade's equipment skill was simple and straightforward: its user could greatly increase the blade's mass by infusing it with magic.

The blade itself looked to be only twenty centimeters long, a little longer than a palm. But when infused with magic, it could easily weigh over a hundred pounds.

Don't think that was light. The hammer carried by the Golden Gourd Warriors of ancient times in Yuan Chen's previous life weighed only one or two jin.

Because of its center of gravity, swinging that one- or two-jin hammer could deliver an impact of several hundred kilograms. This Short Blade, whose weight could be increased by infusing it with magic, could produce an impact of several thousand kilograms if used properly—even in a simple free fall.

The wielder would also form a magical bond with the weapon, becoming one with it on an energy level and unaffected by its weight. What's more, this was a blade, not a hammer. Used properly, a single thrown strike could pierce even the corner of a city wall.

Weighing the relatively light Short Blade in his hand, Yuan Chen fell into thought. A moment later, he nodded as if he'd figured something out and asked, "Could you make me an extended shaft?"

"A shaft?"

At Yuan Chen's question, the blacksmith blinked, then slapped his forehead as understanding dawned. "You mean a spear shaft? But are you sure? Ixialia is covered in dense vegetation and forests. You won't be able to wield a spear freely."

"That won't be a problem," Yuan Chen said with an understanding nod.

"Make me a shaft... Hmm, it needs to conduct magic well. Preferably wooden, and when the Short Blade's weight increases, the two should form a single whole on a magical level, so it doesn't snap as soon as the blade gets heavier."

"Easy enough. I'll just add a little Magic Metal. No problem."

The blacksmith nodded, looking hardly troubled—

Making a spear shaft was much easier than forging Yuan Chen's oddly shaped blades. The only tricky part was that it had to be made of wood.

With a metal shaft, he only needed to add some Magic Metal and carve Mana Circuits into it. Wood would feel better in the hand and be more flexible.

But making it conduct magic well on top of that would be a little tricky.

Also, since it wouldn't be forged as one piece, it would be a little more fragile in use. But that wouldn't affect people too much.

After settling on the design, Yuan Chen also ordered some sheaths and similar items—

He'd previously kept the Dancer Blades and Axiom Wheels in his backpack, but when a fight broke out, he hadn't had time to open it. Instead, he'd immediately sent the blades flying out, turning his decent-quality hide backpack into scraps and forcing him to make a carrying case out of tree branches.

It wasn't difficult; it was just a matter of cutting and sewing.

Three days later, it was made from the trunk of a special Ixialian plant called the Snake Firm Tree.

Growing deep in the forests of Ixialia, this tree lived in symbiosis with a great many vine plants. It was extremely hard yet also very tough. Though its magical conductivity wasn't as good as a shaft made entirely of Magic Metal, it was lightweight and felt better in the hand.

It also wouldn't freeze your hand in winter, and if you stuck your tongue to it, it wouldn't get stuck.

Though Ixialia was practically summer all year round...

The sheaths Yuan Chen had ordered were ready too.

They weren't sheaths that completely enclosed the blades. Instead, they were custom-made Metal Buckles, each sized to hold a Flawless Heavy Blade snugly in place. Yuan Chen attached all twelve Flawless Heavy Blades to his upper arms, forearms, back, hips, thighs, and outer calves.

In a fight, all Yuan Chen had to do was move his thoughts, and the Metal Buckles would fall away. In an emergency, he could even send a Flawless Heavy Blade flying without bothering with the buckle—

He'd just have to do some sewing afterward.

Besides the Flawless Heavy Blades, Yuan Chen also wore a Hand Axe, a Hunting Knife, a Short Sword, and a water pouch filled with Poisoned Cloth Strips, along with other weapons and tools.

Even without the Dancer Blades, he could still give his weapons a simple coating of poison by wiping them with the Poisoned Cloth Strips.

With his hood up, he looked even more like NM Blade Shadow than NM Blade Shadow. Anyone seeing him might have thought some berserker... assassin had wandered over from Ubisoft.

His armor was still the same leather armor as before. Forging armor took far too much time compared to making weapons, and even excellent-quality armor was about as useful as paper against a dragon's bites and claws. At best, it might let him survive a couple more attacks.

So Yuan Chen kept his old armor, simply patching the parts that had been damaged in battle.

Although a cloak would have looked cool, Yuan Chen chose not to wear one—

In a tropical rainforest like Ixialia, wearing a cloak was just asking for trouble. The heat and moisture would build up until even a fair-skinned Ionia youth was steamed into a red-skinned duck.

After saying goodbye to the blacksmith and taking his things, Yuan Chen returned to his camp. Ignoring Nedeli's disdainful look, he performed a dazzling Fancy Spearplay routine, then—whoosh!—threw the spear into the post in front of her.

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

Looking at Yuan Chen's spear, Nedeli was clearly astonished. After a moment, she stared at him and his casual expression, then asked with suspicion, "What are you... planning to do?"

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

Yuan Chen shrugged.

"I only have one excellent-quality Magic Item, and it's a keepsake I brought from home. My weapon is the Dancer Blades, and I can't get much power out of a Short Blade like this... We're up against an Elemental Drake, so you should use it."

Hearing that he was only lending it to her, Nedeli relaxed—

There was no such thing as a free lunch. When hunting in the wilderness, no matter how hungry she was, Nedeli would never eat an animal that had already died.

Either it was poisonous or it was a trap. Gifts from others were the same. Yuan Chen had proven as much with his actions... Being targeted by a Nascent Demon was no good thing.

But if he was only lending it to her, then that was fine.