booktalesy Chapter 123 Charging
Chapter 123 Charging
Chapter 123 Charging
Xia Lin took it and focused his mind to activate his identification technique:
【High-grade leather leg warmers (green)】
Effect: Increases physical defense slightly, provides additional damage reduction against piercing attacks, and is lightweight so it does not affect movement speed.
Condition: Brand new, excellent craftsmanship.
Review: "Good leather paired with good craftsmanship can last you a long time."
Xia Lin nodded in satisfaction: "How much?"
"You're a regular customer, so I'll give you 8 gold coins," Sinda grinned. "Trust me, you won't find this price anywhere else."
Xia Lin didn't haggle and simply took out eight gold coins and placed them on the table.
He put on the new leg guards, looked them up and down, but felt like something was missing.
Xia Lin was taken aback and subconsciously touched his head.
Yeah, where's the helmet?
He then realized that he was fully armed from head to toe except for his head, which was completely bald and had no protection whatsoever.
This safety factor is way too low!
Do you have a suitable helmet?
Sinda shook his head, somewhat helplessly: "Nine out of ten adventurers in this town find helmets cumbersome, blocking their vision, stuffy, and affecting their ability to hear sounds."
So the shop has limited stock of good helmets, just a few metal caps, which you definitely won't be interested in.
He paused, then added, "If you really want a good helmet, you have to go to a big place like the Upper City. The blacksmiths and auction houses there have all sorts of strange and unusual equipment. Of course, the prices are also quite high."
He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for you. If I get some good materials, I'll try to make you one. Helmets are made with a lot of material and take a lot of time, so we have to take it slow."
Xia Lin nodded: "Okay, thank you for your help."
After dealing with the equipment, Xia Lin went to the Adventurers' Guild.
He walked into the "mineral valuation" shop with practiced ease, and behind the counter sat the same old man wearing a monocle.
Xia Lin placed the dark red magic core that he had dug out of the wolf-winged dragon's heart on the counter.
The old man took it, squinted at it for a moment, and then took out the crystal plate engraved with runes to test it. Several dark red lights flashed on the crystal plate, and the old man's eyebrows rose slightly.
"A magic core from a dragon-like creature," he said slowly, "of excellent quality, with a highly active energy response, and—very rare."
This thing could fetch a good price if used for enchanting by mages or for alchemists to experiment with.
He looked up: "The association's purchase price is ten gold coins. How about it?"
Xia Lin didn't hesitate: "Deal."
The old man deftly wrote out a voucher and counted out the corresponding gold coins.
Ten heavy gold coins fell into his palm with a crisp clinking sound.
Xia Lin carefully put them away along with the remaining money from before, silently doing some calculations in her mind:
The money from selling materials, plus these 10 gold coins, minus the 5 gold for repairing the breastplate, the 8 gold for buying leggings, and the cost of weapon maintenance —
He touched the purse in his pocket, which he had received as "emotional compensation" from the homeless—it still contained 5 gold coins.
There are 15 gold coins left.
With Kyle and his team's guide fees and extra rewards, they can scrape together about 55 gold coins.
Xia Lin nodded in satisfaction. Although this trip was fraught with danger, the gains were indeed substantial.
As we left the Adventurers' Guild, dusk was approaching.
Xia Lin first went to the restaurant on the first floor of the Adventurer's Inn and ordered two meals—one for herself and one for Woody.
Woody's portion was specially ordered by Jasmine to be extra spicy.
Woody's eyes lit up when the plate of bright red fries, sprinkled with chili powder, was served. He flapped his wings and landed on the table, eagerly pecking at a fry and chewing it—
"Coo!" Its feathers ruffled, then it squinted its eyes, revealing an expression of utter enjoyment. "Great! This is what humans—no, this is what crows should eat!"
Xia Lin's own dinner was much simpler—a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, a piece of toast, and a small dish of stew.
Although simple, it was piping hot, and eating it warmed you from your stomach to your whole body.
It pulled him out of the shadow of eating jerky in the forest.
After finishing our meal, we returned to our room on the second floor.
Xia Lin locked the door, sat on the wooden chair, and let out a long breath.
I can finally be alone.
He took out the Silver Flame Holy Emblem from his pocket; at that moment, it was still in the form of a simple ring.
Then he took out the scale that he had retrieved from the bottom of the lake, which belonged to the mad dragon Stark, from his bag.
He had placed two items on the table and was about to examine them closely—
suddenly.
His gaze froze.
That dragon scale—its color seems to have faded?
Previously, it was a dark brown color with an eerie purple sheen, and there were obvious burn marks on the edges.
But now, that scorch mark seems to have faded a bit? The color of the entire scale has also become much duller, as if it has lost some kind of luster.
Xia Lin frowned and reached out to pick up the dragon scale—
"Click."
A crisp sound.
He was stunned.
The incredibly hard dragon scale, which had previously only left a white mark when the veteran's longsword was used to cut it, was now easily crushed at the edge with a gentle pinch from him!
"This—" Xia Lin stared in disbelief at the brittle, rice-crust-like scale in her hand. "I didn't use any force!"
Woody had just finished the last bite of his fries and was contentedly licking his paws when he heard this. He looked up, stunned: "What's going on? When did you become so strong?"
"It's not that I'm strong." Xia Lin frowned, bringing the broken scale closer to his eyes for a closer look. "It's that it—has become brittle."
The cross-section of the scales has a grayish, lifeless texture.
The eerie magic that had once been contained within had vanished completely, leaving only a piece of ordinary, brittle keratin.
What's the problem?
Xia Lin's gaze fell on another item on the table—the Silver Flame Holy Emblem Ring.
He picked up the ring and used his identification technique again.
Several lines of text appeared in my field of vision:
[Silver Flame Holy Symbol (Charging - 1%)]
Status: Absorbed a small amount of monster energy, charging progress 1%, can release a weak silver flame after activation.
Xia Lin was stunned.
He looked at the brittle dragon scale.
Dragon scales—containing the eerie magic of the mad dragon Stark, are typical "items imbued with the aura of a demon."
So—it was the ring that absorbed the demonic energy from the dragon scales?
He took a deep breath, his mind stirred slightly, and he tried to activate the Holy Symbol Ring.
A slight warmth spread across my fingertips.
Then, wisps of silver flame quietly ignited from the simple ring on the ring finger of his right hand.
The flame was small, only as thick as a thumb, flickering like a candle flame in the wind.
But its color is extremely pure—neither the orange-red of ordinary flames nor the ghostly blue of will-o'-the-wisps, but a cold, moonlit, and holy silver-white.
It danced on my fingertips, yet there was no burning sensation.
Instead, a gentle, calming aura spreads softly with the flickering flames.
Xia Lin stared at the wisp of silver flame, his pupils contracting.