"You didn't go 'robbing' those material merchants again, did you?"
Elhart eyed the heavy pouch of silver coins with suspicion, then noticed what Chuan Wenwu had done-he had actually "pulled" the money pouch out of his shield.
"Wait, where were you keeping that pouch? I don't see a backpack on you."
Only then did he belatedly notice that Chuan Wenwu was traveling light. Not only was he no longer carrying that enormous backpack, but he wasn't wearing the light plate armor he had bought here either. He wore only a plain set of cloth clothes.
"What do you mean, robbing? I earned all this through honest work." Chuan Wenwu rolled his eyes at him, then switched his shield into a form resembling a leather bag and explained, "As for the money pouch, I kept it in this Storage Shield. I unlocked it when I reached Lv.30. It absorbed the Hiking Backpack I used to carry and gave me a portable storage space. Putting things in and taking them out is really convenient."
Old Elhart's eyes lit up. "It can really do that?"
"Of course, but it has its drawbacks too." Chuan Wenwu sounded a little frustrated. "This thing is completely different from the storage items described in novels back in my world. There really is a storage space inside the shield, but the weight of whatever I put in there doesn't disappear. It gets added to the shield instead. The more I store, the heavier the shield gets..."
"To be more precise, it's like carrying an invisible backpack. The Shield of the Hero can distribute its weight across my entire body, so it doesn't all press down on my shoulders through straps like a backpack does. Still, carrying too much is always inconvenient. That's why I only keep important supplies in there, like money, medicine, and food. Even so, this shield already weighs several dozen kilograms. Luckily, leveling up has made me a lot stronger, so I can still manage a fair amount of stuff."
[Equipment bonus effects: carrying capacity +1; backpack space (small) [Ability not unlocked]]
Elhart nodded. "Even so, that's an impressive feature. You certainly gained a lot from that trip, young man!"
"I did gain a lot, but I don't think any of it compares to what I got from coming back to your weapon shop and copying that Cross Shield. Going from no ability to attack to being able to attack-that's a breakthrough from zero to one!"
Chuan Wenwu's praise seemed to put Elhart in a very good mood, and he naturally followed it up by saying:
"Haha, it was just a coincidence... But since you put it that way, of course I won't turn you down. And it looks like you prefer shields of the Cross Shield type, so I'll focus more on those in my future work. No need for another deposit, though. I haven't used up what you gave me last time yet."
"That couldn't be better. You're a good man, boss! And then there's..."
As he spoke, Chuan Wenwu pulled a battered suit of armor out of his shield. It was none other than the Light Iron Plate Armor he had bought from Elhart before. What sort of brutal battles had it been through to end up in such a state?
He said to Elhart, "I guess I've been getting stronger too quickly. While earning experience in the forest, I kept drifting deeper in without realizing it, where the monsters were stronger. Then the packs of monsters attacking me left this plate armor looking like this. Can you see if it's still repairable, boss?"
"..."
A faint green glow appeared in Elhart's eyes as he used a spell called Appraisal Magic on the plate armor.
After a moment, he sighed softly and shook his head. "I can certainly repair it, but I wouldn't recommend it. Even if I fix it, there's a limit to how sturdy this equipment is. It's only suitable for beginners and adventurers just starting out, and it can't keep up with your current strength anymore. I'd recommend replacing it with a better suit of armor."
"You're right. The defense this armor provides has been lower than my own defense for a while now. It's time for better equipment... Sigh, the stat inflation in this world feels a little fast. A suit of armor can't even last a week?"
Elhart did his utmost to defend the dignity of the ordinary people in his world. "Hey, don't judge us ordinary people by the rate you heroes grow! Do you think we level up as ridiculously fast as you? A suit of light plate armor is enough to last a beginner half a year, or even a full year! Just what level are you now, anyway?"
Chuan Wenwu glanced at his status panel. "Lv.41."
"Level forty-one!" Elhart's eyes nearly popped out in shock. "What did you do? How did you level up so fast?"
"Nothing much. I just went into the forest to earn experience and killed every monster I saw. My level naturally went up this high."
Chuan Wenwu didn't really grasp the significance of it and added, "Bruce is already level thirty-seven too. So, boss, what equipment would you recommend?"
"Why bother wearing equipment? You might as well run around naked!"
Elhart seemed thoroughly rattled and spat out a curse, but he soon composed himself and muttered, "Young man, you're getting stronger far too quickly. If you were only level twenty or thirty, I'd have some ready-made armor that would suit you. But you've already passed level forty. I don't keep high-end goods like that in stock when nobody would buy them. So if you want new equipment, you'll have to pay a hefty price to have it custom-made."
"Roughly how much would it cost?"
"That depends on what you need. If your requirements aren't too high, I can make it from fairly common materials. It'll be cheap, but its performance will be fairly ordinary too..."
Chuan Wenwu got straight to the point. "What if I want the best?"
"Ooh, the best? That's hard to say. A little weapon shop like mine can only get hold of so much precious ore. What I can make will depend on what ores or high-level monster materials you can find... Even without the materials, the crafting fee will be charged in gold coins."
"...What if you include the materials?"
"Then you're looking at dozens of gold coins at least, maybe a hundred or more." Elhart counted on his fingers. "Things like dragon scales and magic crystal steel... They're all incredibly rare materials. Even if you want them, there's nowhere to buy them! That's already very cheap. I'm only quoting you that discounted price because I like you and we get along so well!"
"..."
Chuan Wenwu fell silent.
While leveling up in the forest, he had collected mushroom monsters of all different colors and, by chance, unlocked his shield's potion-making function. It came with an herb encyclopedia and a complete collection of basic potion recipes, allowing him to make basic potions with ease and even improve the quality of the herbs he gathered... Although he could make potions in bulk and sell them for money, even that wouldn't cover equipment-forging fees that could easily run to a hundred gold coins or more!
After thinking it over, he pushed Bruce in front of him. "My armor can wait. Let's get a custom set made for Bruce first. He's only in his thirties, and he's pretty big. Do you have any equipment that would suit him?"
"Only? In his thirties? Young man, if other adventurers heard you describe it like that, they'd probably be heartbroken for a long time. Still, you really are in luck. I happen to have a weapon that would suit him. Look-"
With some effort, Elhart took a heavy, dark gray greatsword down from the wall. The blade alone was two meters long, half a meter wide, and half a finger thick. Plain and sturdy, it gleamed with a mysterious, dark metallic luster.
What a door-sized greatsword!
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