After that, Chuan Wenwu and his companions stayed in Rude Village for a while longer. After escorting the miners underground twice without encountering any monster attacks, however, he stopped going into the mines with them. Instead, he stayed in Rude Village and supervised Bruce and Raphtalia as they learned this world's common written language, ready to help if any dangerous attacks occurred.
During that time, he also fed the Shield of the Hero the rare monster corpses he had hauled out of the mines, monster materials unique to the area around Rude Village, and various special items it could absorb, unlocking more shield forms. Whether by putting in time or pouring in resources, he achieved their ability liberation and made their stat bonuses permanent.
Staying in Rude Village had not brought his growth to a halt.
One thing worth mentioning was that he had now found a particularly useful shield-the Light Metal Shield.
[Light Metal Ore Stone Shield] [Equipment bonus: defense +1; lightness (minor) [Ability not liberated]] [Exclusive effect: magic defense boost (minor)]
Absorbing light metal ore had unlocked this Light Metal Ore Stone Shield, giving it the material's two properties: "lightness" and "magic defense."
Its "lightness" effect greatly reduced the weight of equipment and weapons made from it, and the same applied to the shield. After all, his shield's weight included not only the shield itself, but every item stored in its internal storage space! The weight reduction from "lightness" applied to that extra weight as well!
That meant he could carry more items!
The "magic defense boost" effect was even more useful to him. All the shields he had unlocked had given him a considerable amount of extra defense, but very little resistance to magic of different elements. Yet this shield offered the prized effect of