Chapter 285 [Darkscale Coiled Guard]

Rivervale Town.

Thanks to the surrounding Misty Forest and its rampant monsters, this remote town—which constantly drew throngs of adventurers—was arguably the most "free" human settlement in all of Cloudclimb Province.

In economically and culturally developed cities like Nym, the lavish decadence enjoyed by nobles and wealthy merchants went without saying. Even the most careless street kid in the Slums would slap on a handful of pomade swiped from god-knows-where and hide the patches on his shirt before stepping out, maintaining a basic level of decency.

Out in the countryside, farmers spent their days tending to wheat and beans, rarely seeing an outsider while shouldering crushing tax burdens. These impoverished peasants could only plaster plain, honest smiles on their faces. They still had their darker, selfish traits hidden in the shadows, of course, but the blistering, venomous sun suppressed that human nature deep within their bones. Unless you got close enough to really know them, they all acted like robots fresh off an assembly line, sharing similar temperaments and behaviors.

Rivervale Town was completely different.

Its unique status as an adventurer hub gave the town a bizarre atmosphere rarely seen across the continent.

To put it nicely, it was "free," "individualistic," and "unrestrained."

To put it bluntly—borrowing a popular term from Xia Nan's previous life—the place was crawling with freaks.

"Rumble—"

The clatter of wooden wheels rolling down the adjacent street brought with it a pungent stench of rot.

A few shabbily dressed, low-ranking human adventurers were trudging in from outside town, hauling a large cart piled high with creature corpses.

At a quick glance, Xia Nan spotted five goblins, two unknown deer-like beasts, a skinned jungle panther, and several wriggling little organisms climbing out of the wounds to feast.

He had no idea where those monstrous carcasses were being delivered.

With a faint guess, he made up his mind right then and there: for the near future, he would strictly eat his three meals a day at the White Chickadee Tavern and never indulge at the outside street stalls.

By the roadside, two dusty-looking dwarves had piled up a few rocks for a makeshift stage. They were belting out a traditional folk song from their homeland with intense emotion, seemingly trying to busk for travel fare and drinking money.

As for how they sounded... well, even Xia Nan, who had built up a maxed-out tolerance from the bombardment of internet garbage in his past life, couldn't help but speed up his pace as he walked by.

Well, at least they were loud.

And honestly, being loud had its perks. Their bellowing attracted quite a few of their dwarven kin, who tossed copper coins as they passed. It was likely enough for the two street performers to live it up at the tavern for a night.

A nearby half-orc apparently shared Xia Nan's tastes and couldn't stand the noise the two runts were making.

However, he had a much fouler temper and a rather short fuse.

Paying no mind to the crude animal-skin apron that left half his ass exposed, the half-orc took massive strides straight into the crowd. Right in front of the dwarven audience, he began viciously cursing out the two street performers, spitting as he yelled.

Naturally, the words spewing from his mouth were extremely malicious, racial insults like "slag" and "stone-belly."

What happened next was entirely predictable.

Mentally tuning out the brawling and insults erupting behind him, Xia Nan strolled down the street, recalling his recent experiences in the Misty Forest.

It wasn't that he had wanted to dawdle in the woods, but he had happened to run into a hunting party of green-skinned goblins on his way back.

Since the Goddess of Luck had smiled upon him so kindly, he naturally couldn't let her goodwill go to waste.

Plus, having finally finished his mission and trekked such a long way, he felt he needed to treat himself and relieve some mental stress.

So, he had trailed the small squad all the way back to their lair, using his sword and bare hands to thoroughly enjoy venting his frustrations.

As for Abi and the others, they were just a minor interlude on the journey back, nothing worth dwelling on.

Many days ago, while he and Adeline were chatting in the tavern, she had mentioned that the kid wasn't satisfied with their current earnings and had a lot of complaints about the team's restrictions. He wanted to leave, and Adeline had even gone out of her way to call in some favors to have someone look out for him.

Knowing what the adventurer environment was like, and considering he and Abi had only been temporary teammates for a short while before drifting apart, Xia Nan hadn't gotten involved.

It had been a long time since they last saw each other, and he certainly hadn't expected to bump into him in the forest.

At the time, he had thought about catching up and asking how things were going.

But the kid had already been tainted by the unspeakable colors of the adventurer world's great vat. The fear and alienation Abi naturally displayed toward a Class Holder made Xia Nan lose interest.

After exchanging just a couple of brief words, he had left on his own and returned to town.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Xia Nan walked along the bustling street with a thoughtful look on his face.

Venturing into the goblin lair to release his pent-up battle lust was only part of the reason. The other part was that he wanted to use live combat to train his newly acquired combat technique, hoping to reach the Novice tier sooner rather than later.

Many days had passed since he obtained [Ember Echoes] in the Secret Realm.

While his progress wasn't exactly fast, he couldn't say he had made no headway at all.

At the very least, he could gradually feel that invisible, scorching, and ruinous power brewing and lingering within his body, even if he couldn't quite mobilize it yet.

When he trained [Fang Hunt], he had the personal guidance of Forgan, a barbarian mentor who was close to the Legendary rank. When his [Gravity Control] underwent its qualitative awakening, it was thanks to the Titan Umbilical Cord - Gravity Core summoned by the [Fate Coin].

This time, the Flame Crystal he had crushed at the tip of the cane had instilled him with detailed training insights for this combat technique, allowing him to train steadily even while traveling alone.

Xia Nan figured that at this rate, with a slight adjustment to his training plan and barring any bottlenecks, it wouldn't be long before he thoroughly reached the Novice tier in [Ember Echoes] and had it show up on his Attribute Panel.

He wasn't in a rush; taking it step by step was fine.

Having finally ended his long journey and returned from the escort mission, he had plenty of things to sort out in Rivervale Town.

First, he would head back to the White Chickadee Tavern to unpack his luggage and enjoy a long-overdue, steaming hot, rich, and creamy mushroom soup.

Then, he would find a general store to pawn off the assorted loot he was carrying. Along the way, he'd get an appraisal for the [Iron Stomach Company] items, or perhaps just consign them through the Association.

Of course, before all that, he needed to visit the Rockhammer weapon and armor shop. He wanted to buy a high-quality, well-fitting set of Fine armor, ask if his Decapitating Longsword could be repaired, and inquire about how to use the [Molten Ash Silver Ingot].

And then there was the most important matter—the item he had commissioned months ago. Even after providing the main materials, he had still paid a full 1,000 gold coins for its upgrade plan. It was crafted from the resilient materials found in the alien Secret Realm: the [Snake-Scale Arm Shield]!

As one of the most highly rated smithies in all of Rivervale Town, Rockhammer was famous for producing sturdy, durable, and high-quality gear.

Even though their prices were noticeably higher than other shops, the owner's strict standards for his work had cultivated a large base of loyal customers.

Lately, however, for some unknown reason, Barn had suddenly launched a meticulous, comprehensive inspection of the durability and sturdiness of the shop's products, especially the armor and defensive gear.

Whatever had provoked him, it had even caused a significant drop in the smithy's overall production.

When Xia Nan walked into the shop, Barn was nowhere in sight. He only heard the faint clink of a forging hammer coming from the back room. It wasn't until Xia Nan called out that the hammering stopped, replaced by the sound of hurried, approaching footsteps.

"Creak."

The wooden door was shoved open violently from the inside.

A familiar figure, more robust than a bugbear, squeezed through the frame. His brownish-red braided beard swayed over his soot-stained cloth shirt.

The shop was empty, so Barn immediately spotted Xia Nan standing alone at the counter.

Naturally, the gaze of this burly man—who claimed to have dwarven blood running through his veins—fell right onto the thin shirt loosely draping the young man's torso. Xia Nan was an adventurer, yet he lacked any armor protection whatsoever.

"Long time no see. Did you just get back from your quest?" Barn greeted him, though his eyes remained fixed on Xia Nan's upper body, as if trying to visualize the Plate-Chain Composite Armor that should have been there.

"Yeah, I went pretty far this time, so the trip took a bit longer," Xia Nan nodded.

"So, your armor—" Barn hesitated, a bizarre expression twisting his face.

It was like knowing something terrible had already happened, yet clinging to a sliver of unrealistic hope, wishing to hear a different answer from someone else.

"It's busted," Xia Nan said decisively, not bothering to hide it.

Hearing this, Barn's face settled into a vivid expression of his worst fears being confirmed.

"It wasn't an issue with the quality. Don't worry, that Plate-Chain Composite Armor was top-notch." Knowing this was probably more important to Barn than how much the armor had sold for, Xia Nan added, "It's just that my circumstances were a bit special."

"And honestly, I'm already extremely satisfied that the armor held up as long as it did."

"The value it provided in combat far exceeded its price of over two hundred and fifty gold."

He wasn't lying.

Even though the two attacks that completely destroyed the armor—from Trevelyan and the snake-headed mummy—would have been just as devastating with or without it, its overall utility was crystal clear to Xia Nan.

That was exactly why he was willing to keep giving his business to the Rockhammer smithy.

If it had been gear from any other shop, it probably wouldn't have survived even half the escort mission before being utterly trashed in the fights against Lawson and Trevelyan.

Sensing that Xia Nan was trying to comfort him, Barn waved a hand dismissively, indicating it wasn't a big deal.

"Whenever you have enough gold coins, or if you get your hands on some suitable materials, just come straight to me for a custom enchanted set. I'll give you a good discount."

"I refuse to believe it. You're not some Transcendent Tier adventurer. If armor of this quality keeps getting destroyed in one go, I might as well pack up and go back to the dwarves—"

Xia Nan reached out and forced the burly man to cut his vow short. He himself found his own track record for ruining defensive gear a bit uncanny.

After all, this was a world where gods existed, so he didn't let Barn finish the curse.

"What about the Arm Shield? It should be done by now, right?"

"Of course!" The mention of gear instantly brought an excited look to Barn's face.

He casually tossed the forging hammer he had accidentally brought out onto the counter and rushed back into the rear room.

A short while later, he carefully brought out a simple metal box with both hands.

"It was finished last week, but I added a few more materials afterward. The 1,000 gold coins you deposited with me were used up perfectly. I'll give you the receipt later."

"Hurry up and open it. You'll definitely be satisfied!"

The usually steady middle-aged man now faced the gear he had poured his blood and sweat into forging, and as he prepared to hand it over to his customer, a childlike mix of anticipation and pride showed on his scruffy face above his braided beard.

He seemed to be eagerly waiting for the satisfied look that would soon appear on his client's face.

Xia Nan took the iron box with both hands, feeling its hefty weight. He set it on the counter and slowly opened it.

Immediately, a swath of pure, absolute black caught his eye.

Compared to the previous form of the [Snake-Scale Arm Shield (Temporary)], the rough structure of the finished product hadn't changed much. It still maintained the original "Arm Shield" equipment type.

But the difference was like comparing a newly built bare-bones house to a heavily funded luxury renovation.

Through countless discussions between Xia Nan and Barn, the originally crude details had been deeply refined and improved.

All the inconveniences and flaws in its usage had been perfectly and appropriately ironed out, culminating in the flawless piece of gear before him—something that would be considered an absolute masterpiece even among Class Holders:

The mysterious serpent scale from the Secret Realm cave was flawlessly embedded directly in the center of the arm shield in a near-fusion state, forming its main body.

It looked like a flawless piece of dark jade glass—pitch-black, deep, cold, and smooth. Its streamlined, slightly undulating surface refracted a sharp, gloomy light.

Beneath the scale was the reward from Xia Nan's Lycanthrope mission: Bone-Eroded Patterned Steel, a material usually only found in ancient battlefield ruins or deep mine shafts corrupted by necromantic energy.

This dark gray metal, whose surface was covered in complex, dim patterns resembling claw marks, had been forged and condensed to act as the base holding the serpent scale. It was hammered incredibly thin yet remained exceptionally tough. Both sides curled slightly upward, securing just beneath the exceedingly sharp edges of the scale, much like the crossguard of a sword.

The inner side of the arm shield, where it rested against the arm, was lined with dark brown, high-quality leather. It had been specially treated to be supple and wear-resistant. The grooves on the inner padding not only increased breathability but also helped disperse the force of any impacts.

Thanks to Xia Nan's feedback, the leather strap buckles had been optimized. With just a single pull and snap using one hand, the arm shield could be firmly secured onto his forearm, allowing for rapid equipping and removal.

The cold lethality of the serpent, the sturdy resilience of the steel, and the comprehensive comfort of the leather were perfectly fused together.

It was sleek and minimalist. While heavily prioritizing practicality, it also maintained a sharp aesthetic born from the combination of scales and steel.

As he focused his attention and locked his gaze on it, translucent text floated into his vision:

[Darkscale Coiled Guard]

Type: Arm Shield | Grade: Rare (Blue)

Effects:

1. Advanced Toughness;

2. Corrosion/Acid Damage Immunity (Non-Legendary sources);

3. Wielder's toxin resistance receives a minor boost;

4. Wielder gains advantage on Charisma (Intimidation/Persuasion) checks when interacting with serpents, nagas, snakemen, and similar creatures.

Description:

Precious materials from an otherworldly legendary creature, expertly crafted to give this arm shield its proper form. Bind it to your arm, and you can faintly feel the cold thrum of a living thing.

Note:

"I swim freely in seas of acid and breathe within toxic clouds, savoring the rot. My enemies, meanwhile—can only melt away in despair."

— Corrosion Sovereign · Parasitic Immortal · Kemalaza