Stats were what made you king

"Hey, hey, hey, boss, I'm back! Have you finished the things I commissioned yesterday?"

At first light, Chuan Wenwu arrived at the weapon shop with Bruce, his booming voice brimming with energy.

Elhart, the weapon shop's bald owner, was tending to a sword behind the counter. At the sound of Chuan Wenwu's voice, he looked up and smiled. "Finished ages ago. I thought you'd come get them last night, but you waited until today... hmm?"

His gaze landed on Bruce, and his eyes went wide. The cloth in his hand fell to the floor as he asked in disbelief, "Kid, if you haven't changed companions, the one behind you... wouldn't happen to be Bruce, would he?"

Chuan Wenwu gave him a thumbs-up. "Sharp eyes, boss! Bruce has changed so much, and you still recognized him."

Bruce obligingly barked twice. "Woof, woof!"

"No, no, no. I recognized you, so I guessed he was Bruce..." Elhart wiped away some sweat, still sounding stunned. "You've only been gone a day, right? How did Bruce change so much? His size, his presence-he's on a completely different level from yesterday!"

"It's all thanks to this shield."

Chuan Wenwu switched the shield on his arm to the [Companion Shield] and explained excitedly, "This shield gives Bruce growth and stat bonuses. He gained a few more levels yesterday and transformed straight into this. Doesn't he look much more impressive now? Haha, I didn't expect the shield's growth bonus to have such a powerful effect either."

"His size and strength grow along with his level?" The owner pondered for a moment, then nodded as though he understood. Meeting Chuan Wenwu's expectant gaze, he declared with certainty, "No idea."

"Then why did you look like you were thinking something through?" Chuan Wenwu asked irritably.

"When you see something unbelievable, you've got to think about it, don't you? Thinking doesn't mean you'll figure it out." Elhart picked up the cloth and shrugged helplessly. "At the end of the day, I'm just a weapon shop owner who knows a bit about forging. How would I know so much about the growth of monsters and demi-humans?"

He paused, then added, "But here's my advice: raise Bruce well. Who knows? He might actually grow into a legendary divine beast someday."

"As if you need to tell me! Bruce is definitely going to become a top-tier powerhouse alongside me!" Chuan Wenwu clenched his fist, his eyes full of confidence. "I was worried he wouldn't be able to keep up with my growth at first. I'm a hero, after all. My growth potential speaks for itself. But with this Companion Shield, Bruce gains more stats from one level now than he used to get from several!"

"Woof, woof!" Bruce barked twice more, as though agreeing with Chuan Wenwu.

"He certainly has presence." Elhart smiled and nodded, then took a bundle from beneath the counter and handed it to Chuan Wenwu. "Here. All the spikes you wanted, in different materials."

Chuan Wenwu opened the bundle. Sure enough, it contained dozens of spikes of varying lengths, made from wood, stone, iron... all sorts of materials.

"Hmm?" He gave Elhart a puzzled look. He had only commissioned spikes made from a few basic materials, so why were there so many extras?

Elhart waved a hand generously. "The extras are a gift. You paid so much in 'tuition' before that I ought to give you something in return. Besides, I'm curious how many kinds of materials your Shield of the Hero can absorb."

"You're too good to me, boss!" Chuan Wenwu exclaimed sincerely. He immediately picked up a wooden spike and tried to "feed" it to the Shield of the Hero.

Now that the materials were ready, it was time for everyone's favorite part: upgrading equipment.

Chuan Wenwu picked up the spikes and fed them one after another to the Shield of the Hero's transformation orb. Every one produced a reaction-

Wooden Thorn Shield requirements met. Successfully unlocked!

Stone Thorn Shield requirements met. Successfully unlocked!

Iron Needle Shield requirements met. Successfully unlocked!

Magic Steel Iron Needle Shield requirements met. Successfully unlocked!

Silver Iron Needle Shield requirements met. Successfully unlocked!

...

[Silver Iron Needle Shield]

[Equipment bonus effects: magic power amplification (minor); increased magic resistance (minor); defense +2; thorns +4 [abilities not unlocked]]

[Magic Steel Iron Needle Shield]

[Equipment bonus effects: increased magic penetration (minor); defense +2; thorns +3 [abilities not unlocked]]

...

After absorbing spikes made from five different materials in one go, Chuan Wenwu had five new shields in his Book of Weapons.

Unfortunately, it seemed that spikes made from the same material counted as the same resource regardless of their length or thickness. The Shield of the Hero wouldn't recognize and absorb them repeatedly to unlock shields such as a "Long Wooden Thorn Shield" or a "Short Wooden Thorn Shield."

Of these newly unlocked shields, only those made from silver iron and magic steel added special stats. Most of the others only increased defense and thorns.

Each individual bonus was small, but they would add up. If he unlocked every shield's abilities, his stats would certainly rise another notch.

"Awesome!" Chuan Wenwu couldn't help cheering. The feeling of gaining stats made him even happier than earning money.

"Boss, do you have any other high-grade materials here? I'd like to commission some more equipment." He set a bulging money pouch on the counter, filled to the brim with silver coins.

"That's a lot of silver! What did you do yesterday? Where did you get all this money?" the owner asked, startled and suspicious.

"Those monster materials merchants..." Chuan Wenwu briefly explained how the merchants had tried to extort him, only for him to extort them instead.

Once he knew the money's source was legitimate, the owner nodded in relief. "Then there's no problem. Same as before-spikes made from different materials, right? I don't have many more varieties of ore here, though. The next shipment won't come until next month, so I might not be able to make that many."

"Just make whatever you can, boss. I'm not in much of a hurry. But besides spikes, I'd also like you to make some shields for me..."

"Shields? Haven't you already learned every shield in my shop? Why do you need more? Never mind. Let's hear it."

"You can never have too many shields, okay? Every shield I unlock gives me at least one stat bonus. Those little gains add up to a pretty sizable boost. The shields I've copied from your shop might seem like a lot, but I think there's room for more variety."

Chuan Wenwu laid out the clever plan he had spent so long considering. "Take the Iron-Banded Wooden Square Shield I copied at the very beginning. Once I copied it, the Shield of the Hero could take its form, but only the form of a square shield. Are square shields the only shape shields come in? Of course not! There are round shields, triangular shields, cross-shaped shields, and plenty more!"

He offered a bold conjecture. "So I want you to make some wooden shields in different shapes to fill out the Shield of the Hero's collection-the Book of Weapons. If it works, I should be able to stack my strength sky-high in no time!"

After all, as the saying went: stats were what made you king.

"???"

The owner was utterly bewildered. In all his years in business, when had he ever encountered such a wild idea?

Yet when he calmed down and thought it over, he bizarrely found Chuan Wenwu's proposal quite feasible.

"Heroes can get stronger like that? That's really... a path I never imagined." As he marveled at the idea, he found Chuan Wenwu, the Shield Hero, increasingly extraordinary.

After all, he had never heard of any legendary hero proposing anything like this, which was practically exploiting a bug.

"Haha, just a little imagination. Boss, you can handle this job, right? If it works, I might order who knows how many custom shields from you later. That's a huge business opportunity!"

The owner thumped his chest hard and said confidently, "Of course I can! Don't underestimate my skills!"

But he immediately warned, "Custom shields won't come cheap, though. Even with all the money you've got now, you won't be able to keep it up for very long."

"True. This method sounds powerful, but it burns through resources. Boss, besides selling monster materials, is there any other way to make money quickly?" Chuan Wenwu asked.

The owner answered at once. "Selling equipment and weapons, of course. Sell a good weapon, and you can easily earn dozens of silver coins, or even dozens of gold coins. There's no limit to the profit. The kingdom's knights and adventurers have a huge demand for equipment!"

"So you're suggesting I learn to forge, then come steal your business?"

"Uh... let's not do that! I don't know how quickly you heroes learn, but that shield of yours does make me nervous. If you really took up smithing, I reckon I'd be out of a job." The owner froze, then shook his head repeatedly, taking back his own suggestion.

He thought for a moment, then said, "That leaves trading potions. The Wave is coming soon, after all, and the prices of healing medicines are rising. Plenty of medicinal herbs grow in the wild, too. If you know how to make medicine, kid, you could earn a hefty extra sum while adventuring and hunting monsters."

"I see. Thanks for the advice, boss. I'll give it a try. And sorry for the trouble with these commissions. I should go buy some necessities now. I probably won't be returning to town for quite a while, so once the things I ordered are ready, could you hold on to them for me?"

"Where are you going?"

"To camp out in the wilderness and get stronger more efficiently, of course!"