Synthesis-type adventurers

Chapter 12: Brand New Attribute Equipment

Half a month is enough time for mold in the basement to climb up two inches along the corner of the wall, and enough time for a scavenger to complete the initial accumulation of capital.

Rod sat cross-legged on the earthy-smelling grass mat.

Before him lay the spoils he had scavenged over the past three months from various garbage dumps, recycling centers, and other places in Rusty Harbor:

A broken clockwork mechanism with misaligned teeth, cracked monster shells, shriveled slime skin, and a pile of broken weapons discarded by adventurers.

[Analysis Perspective] He constructs a world woven from various colored light clusters in his eyes.

"Stripping".

Rod stared at a spring steel plate that had been salvaged from a shock absorber on a scrapped carriage.

Mental energy penetrates into the metal.

With a crisp sound, the steel plate instantly lost its original luster, its surface cracked with dense patterns, turning into a pile of rotten wood weathered for hundreds of years.

A shimmering white orb floated in Rhodes' palm.

[Elastic Energy Storage (White Ordinary)].

Next came another piece of dried, hardened slime skin.

"Stripping".

The slime disintegrated into dust in sight, and the [Physical Buffer (White Normal)] attribute was removed.

A few minutes later, all the materials and equipment in front of them were rendered useless.

Rhodes skillfully pushed these orbs of light into the synthesis slot in his consciousness space, exhausting his mental energy.

Countless failures led Rhodes to discover the rules of synthesis—adding elements of the same attribute or fusing complementary attributes.

Three [Physical Buffer (White)] and two [Elastic Energy Storage (White)] undergo a qualitative change under the pressure of mental energy.

The light faded, and a deep blue entry took its place.

[Kinetic Energy Absorption (Blue Excellent)]: It can absorb and disperse 30% of physical impact force, converting it into heat energy and dissipating it.

Rod exhaled a long breath, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

He turned his head to look at a corner of the room.

Avira was ready, sitting on a wooden bench with her back to him, her back bare.

Over the past two weeks, through continuous medication, the charred, dead flesh on her body has sloughed off.

Large patches of pink new skin covered the wound. Although there was a color difference between the wound and the surrounding healthy wheat-colored skin, the vibrant granulation tissue proved her strong vitality.

Because the extensive burns affected her scalp, her once brilliant blonde hair was completely gone.

Now her head is bald, and with the scars that haven't healed yet, she looks like an ascetic who has crawled back from hell.

Rhodes couldn't do anything about his hair problem; he could only wait for it to grow naturally or use an alchemical potion, since it wasn't exactly a separate negative attribute.

"Drink this for the final treatment." Rod picked up a bowl of a paste made from flour and soot that had already been prepared. "This time, the medicine will penetrate deep into your bone marrow and completely clear away the residual fire toxins in your body."

Avira didn't ask about the source of the potion. She silently took the earthenware bowl, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp. Only the muscle spasms in her throat as she swallowed revealed how difficult the liquid was to swallow.

"Let's begin." Her voice was calm, her hands gripping the fabric of her trousers tightly around her knees.

Rod stepped forward and placed his palm on a dark red spot on her spine.

Under the [Analysis View], the last remaining [Fire Poison Accumulation] entry is stuck there like a tattered mortar.

peel off.

"—Ugh!"

Avira's body tensed instantly, every muscle in her back visibly spasming and twitching, sweat pouring from her smooth head and sliding down her cheeks to the ground.

The tearing sensation that acts directly on the senses is far more intense than being cut by a knife.

Rhodes did not stop; instead, he increased his mental energy output.

In situations like this, a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

In Avira's perception, time seemed to be stretched infinitely, each second feeling like an eternity.

It is unknown how much time passed before Rhodes's hand finally left.

Avira seemed to have lost her spine, collapsing onto the wooden bench, gasping for breath, her chest heaving rapidly.

"The treatment is over."

Rod took out the ledger filled with numbers and added a stroke to it with a charcoal pencil.

"The cost of potent medicine, emotional distress, and nursing care... totals two hundred Orim. Your current total debt is 2400 Orim."

Avira did not refute.

She slowly straightened up, raised her hand to touch her now smooth skin, and it was hard to imagine that just half a month ago, it was covered with hideous scars that brought her unforgettable burning pain.

"This money isn't enough, even if you sold all my bones." Avira raised her head, her eyes clear, and grabbed a coarse cloth robe from the side, putting it on. "But Avira Griffin never reneges on debts. As long as I can still wield a sword, I will pay you back every penny with the blood of my enemies or my own life."

now it's right.

This attitude is befitting of a knight who values ​​honor more than life itself.

"Put on your shoes. Torin should be finished by now." Rhodes put away the ledger and gestured towards the door. "Let's go get your 'new skin'."

……

The fine rain pressed the coal ash from Black Iron Alley onto the ground, forming a layer of sticky black mud.

The doors to the iron furnace workshop were wide open, and even through the rain, one could feel the heat emanating from within.

"Ha! You've finally arrived!"

Torrin Ironforge stood in the center of the workshop, holding a large iron hammer in his hand. His face was shiny with oil, but he couldn't hide his excitement.

On the display shelf stood a set of awe-inspiring steel creations.

It was a metal fortress made of thickened iron plates riveted together, without any decorative patterns or any streamlined design for aesthetic purposes.

The shoulder armor extends almost half a body length laterally, the breastplate is a single piece of thick steel plate forged into an arc, strong enough to withstand the direct fire of siege crossbows, the leg armor is as thick as iron pillars, and the knees are fitted with spiked anti-collision blocks.

Accompanying it is a rectangular tower shield as tall as a person, with a shield surface thickness of more than three fingers and edges polished as sharp as a knife.

This is the "absolute defense" that Rhodes demanded.

Or, to put it another way, a mobile iron coffin.

"Using the high-purity refined iron you provided, I forged it for seven days straight without sleep!" Torin slammed his hand on the tower shield, producing a deep, resonant hum. "This thing's physical defense is such that even if a troll lord's club hits it, it'll just make a noise. The downside is... it's heavy, extremely heavy."

Rod turned to Avira: "Put it on."

Avira stepped forward, her fingers tracing the cold, rough surface of the steel.

As someone who had received orthodox knightly training, she instinctively rejected such cumbersome equipment.

But when she thought of the chainmail that had been corroded in the Spider Queen's lair, and her body that had been as fragile as paper under the dragon's breath, the hesitation in her eyes vanished.

She began to get dressed.

With Torin's help, the heavy armor was fastened to her body piece by piece.

When the last visor fell, leaving only a slit for observation, Avira disappeared.

Standing still was a fully armed steel golem monster.

"How are you feeling?" Rhodes asked.

"It's heavy," Avira's muffled voice came from inside the helmet, "but it makes me feel safe."

"It's not over yet."

Rhodes stepped forward and placed his hand on the cold breastplate.

The consciousness space opened, and [Kinetic Energy Absorption (Blue Excellent)] was activated. Guided by mental power, the inscription was injected into this set of plate armor.

A faint blue luster flowed across the originally dull metallic surface before quickly disappearing.

The texture of the metal has undergone a change that is imperceptible to the naked eye, becoming more profound.

Immediately afterwards, Rhodes loaded a [Dense Structure (Excellent Blue)] onto the tower shield.

"Let's test its defenses." Rhodes took a step back. "I just enchanted it using a family secret technique."

Thorin understood immediately, grabbed his long-handled hammer, swung it around, and brought it down on Ivira, who was holding up her shield.

"when--"

The impact sound was unusually heavy.

Whether it was due to their confidence in their own work or not, the dwarfs used their strength without hesitation.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be blasted away along with their shield.

However, the massive tower shield only trembled slightly.

The sledgehammer seemed to have struck a thick, water-soaked cowhide, and the recoil was strangely largely neutralized.

Avira didn't even take a step back; her boots gripped the ground firmly.

"What kind of witchcraft is this?" Torin's eyes widened. "Something's not right! Why is the reaction force so weak?"

Rod smiled but remained silent.

This is a rewriting of the rules, which is beyond human comprehension.

Since any equipment he assigns affixes to will be bound to him and the affixes can be revoked at any time, Rhodes is not worried about the affixed equipment being lost or falling into the hands of others.

After dealing with Avira's equipment, Rhode looked to the other side of the workbench.

His equipment was laid out there:

A hard leather trench coat lined with chainmail, lightweight and not restrictive of movement.

A small, round, stainless steel shield, about the size of a pot lid.

There was also a longsword sheathed.

Rhodes walked over and picked up the sword.

The scabbard is wrapped in the hide of some kind of magical beast; it has an understated appearance and a non-slip feel.

"Clang—"

The longsword was drawn.

The sword is three feet and three inches long, and its blade is designed for thrusting and slicing.

After being forged and refined by Tolin, the blade developed a cold-forged texture resembling water ripples.

Rhodes gripped the sword hilt, and the muscle memory brought by [Basic Swordsmanship Mastery] was instantly activated.

He flicked his wrist, and the sword's edge drew a deadly line through the air before suddenly hovering motionless in mid-air at a certain angle.

Fine sword.

The center of gravity is perfect and the weight distribution is reasonable.

But this is not enough.

Rhodes' consciousness sank into the system, where a term he had specially prepared for himself was stored.

[Rending Edge (Blue Excellent)]: The wounds it creates are difficult to heal and have a level 2 bleeding effect.

This is a product of fusion and upgrading, obtained by combining several poisoned daggers purchased from the black market with the inscription on the previous boning knife.

Rhodes' fingers traced the spine of the sword, a fleeting glint of light disappearing in the air.

A row of extremely fine, almost invisible serrations appeared on the edge of the blade.

This is precisely the attribute that his school of thought, which avoids direct confrontation and attacks from the flanks, favors.

"This is the money I promised to invest. Hurry up and upgrade your blacksmith shop according to our plan."

Rhodes tossed a small cloth bag to Torin, which contained the remaining thirty-odd gold six-cent coins. He kept only a few for himself in case of emergency.

"The remaining materials are yours too." Rhodes sheathed his sword. "I'll send another batch of this fine iron over next week. Our business is just getting started."

Tolin caught the money bag, grinned, and revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"If I had that kind of iron, I'd even have it made from pure gold! Hahahaha!"

Rod adjusted his new arm guards and turned to walk into the rain.

Behind her, the steel fortress of Ivy followed closely with heavy steps, each step leaving a deep imprint on the ground.

Now, it's time to go to the guild and take on some real work.