Synthesis-type adventurers

Chapter 35 Preparations

The blacksmith district of Rust Harbour is a territory permanently occupied by smoke and heat waves. Even the damp and cold monsoon brought by the Thunder Moon cannot wash away the layers of coal ash that have long been solidified on the bricks and stones.

"Ding-dong!"

The steady rhythm of forging hammers striking steel emanated from the weathered door of the ironworks workshop.

Rod reached out and pushed the door open.

A scorching stream of air, carrying the smells of sulfur, coal, and metal oxidation, lashed down on him.

Rhodes pulled the brim of his hood down, trying to bury his face in deeper shadows.

"How many times have I told you! No rush jobs without appointments!" The dwarven blacksmith Tolin muttered, his back to the door, without turning around. "Whether you're from any guild, organization, or noble family, you'd all get to the back of the line!"

He was shirtless, and the forging hammer in his hand rose and fell, smashing into a red-hot iron ingot, sparks flying everywhere.

Every muscle was knotted together from years of hard work, and beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his rough beard, dripping onto the scorching anvil and rising in wisps of white smoke.

"Master Torin, it is I," Rhodes said.

The hammer that Torin swung stopped in mid-air.

He turned to look, and saw those eyes, clouded by years of exposure to the fire but still sharp, locked on the silhouette shrouded in shadow at the doorway.

"Rhodes?" Torin frowned, tossed the forging hammer aside, grabbed a rag soaked in oil, and wiped his hands. "You... something's off about your smell, kid?"

The dwarf's broad nostrils twitched twice, and the scent of some apex predator of the wilderness entered his sense of smell, causing the muscles in his cheeks to involuntarily tighten and twitch slightly uncontrollably.

"Sulfur... and the acrid smell of burnt gunpowder. Did you fall into a volcano and take a bath?"

"The nature is similar," Rhodes said casually, "There was a small accident during the recent alchemy experiment."

He took a roll of parchment from his pocket and patted it onto the coal dust-covered table.

"Enough with the nonsense. I need you to build something for me. It's urgent, I need it within two days."

Tolin's eyes were full of doubt as he glanced back and forth between Rhodes and the parchment before finally grabbing the drawings and reading them.

"Alchemist's goggles? And the lenses have to be made of one-way transparent black crystal?" The dwarf's short, stubby fingers traced the lines on the drawing, the wrinkles between his brows deepening. "This sealed structure... is it to block out flashes, or is it simply because you don't want others to see your eyes? Polishing black crystal lenses is no easy task; it requires diamond grinding powder."

He made a casual remark, but he never expected it to hit the nail on the head.

"Both are possible. Money is not an issue."

Rod unslung a heavy leather bag from his back and tossed it onto the table. Inside, there was the sound of coins tumbling and materials clattering together.

"This is the deposit and the materials."

Tolin did not reach for his money pouch as usual.

His gaze pierced through the dimness of the workshop, trying to observe the eyes that were faintly visible beneath Rhodes' hood. An instinct ingrained in his blood made his body tense up completely.

As a dwarf who could sense the pulse of the earth, Torin could clearly perceive that the one standing before him had long transcended the realm of "humanity".

Beneath that layer of human skin, it seemed as if an ancient, ferocious beast was curled up and dozing.

A pressure emanating from the soul, an indescribable "dragon's might," caused Tolin's hands, which were tightly gripping the oilcloth, to tremble uncontrollably.

"...Are you really Rhodes?"

Tolin swallowed hard, his feet involuntarily shifting half an inch backward until his back hit the hard anvil, at which point he stopped.

"This is the only one of its kind." Rhodes took a step forward, and the invisible pressure intensified as the distance closed. "What, Master Torin, are you even giving up on doing business with your old customer and partner?"

"Damn it..." Tolin cursed, forcibly suppressing the fear rising in his throat. He reached for the leather bag, weighing it in his palm. "Alright, don't get so close. The strange heat radiating from you is making me nauseous!"

He turned and nailed the blueprints to the wall, his rude and hurried tone seeming to mask his unease.

"Two days. Come pick it up in two days," Tolin promised. "Now, get out of the workshop with your damned oppressive aura! Don't disturb my hearth spirits!"

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Rod didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Only when that seemingly much taller figure completely disappeared into the dust outside the door did Tolin finally dare to breathe heavily.

His body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, only then realizing that his entire back was soaked in cold sweat.

"That kid..." Torin looked down at his still trembling hands and muttered to himself, "What exactly did he turn himself into?"

-----------------

Two days later, in the underground safe house.

Under the dim yellow light of a kerosene lamp, Rod was intently setting up his worktable.

He wore specially made goggles that he had just retrieved, with rough brass frames riveted to deep black crystal lenses, completely concealing his inhuman eyes in darkness.

The dilapidated wooden table, its legs propped up with red bricks, was now covered with materials scavenged from every corner of the black market:

Several leg bones of the Windbird, grayish-white in color, had been dried by the wind;

A black fleshy pad that reeked of stale, bloody stench;

A small piece of keratinous skin peeled off from the basilisk;

And a glass bottle containing a green, viscous substance.

Avira stood to one side like a statue, wearing the heavy armor that completely covered her, her eyes filled with incomprehensible confusion.

"My lord, can these scraps of bone and flesh truly be used to enchant equipment?"

Her gaze fell on the bird bone in Rhodes' hand, which had been cleaned so thoroughly that even the edges were showing some mold. She simply couldn't associate it with the weaponry of a professional.

"In the alchemist's view, everything in the world is a material; the difference lies only in whether you know how to interpret and use them."

Rhodes did not look up, his eyes slightly narrowed.

In his view, the inner structure and essence of these ordinary materials are peeled away layer by layer, leaving nothing to hide.

He picked up the leg bones of the Windbird and poured his mental energy directly into them.

[Hollow skeleton of the Windbird]

Entry: [Hollow Structure (White)]: Special honeycomb-shaped bone that greatly reduces weight while maintaining a certain level of physical support.

……

"Stripping".

Driven by Rhodes's will, five white specks of light, invisible to others, were forcibly extracted from his bones and instantly merged into his brow.

The five leg bones, drained of their essence, quickly collapsed, turning into a small clump of worthless gray powder.

Rod straightened up and walked up to Avira.

"Stand still, I'm about to begin." He placed his palm on Avira's shoulder, a surge of energy gathering beneath his hand. "This is my new enchanting method, a structural-level power infiltration. It will directly alter the nature of the materials."

His spiritual power poured into the interior of the steel armor, forcibly fusing the newly extracted concepts with the armor's inherent physical properties.

"Synthesis: [Hollow Structure] × 5 + [Kinetic Energy Absorption]," Rhodes murmured to himself.

Driven by his will, the internal structure of the originally solid and heavy refined steel plate began to be reconstructed, with countless honeycomb-like cavities at the microscopic level being generated in the metal.

This transformation, though unobservable, fundamentally rewrote the physical properties of the armor.

[Acquired Attribute: [Lightweight Armor (Blue Excellent)]: Through special structural optimization, the weight of the equipment is reduced by 35% without significantly reducing physical defense.]