EFB Chapter 1 The Anvil Adventure Team's Internship Logistics
Chapter 1 The Anvil Adventure Team's Internship Logistics
The mornings in Rupiah always have a sticky feel to them.
Mist rose from the stagnant pool of foul-smelling water, mingling with the lingering smell of engine oil and rust from the ancient shipwreck, clinging to the skin like an indelible film of oil.
Rhodes crouched in an abandoned storage room in the back alley of the Anvil Adventurers' camp, which now served as his temporary private workshop.
The dim, yellowish magic crystal lamps flickered on and off.
On the worktable in front of him, several tattered pieces of leather armor were piled up haphazardly.
Those were the spoils of war that the adventure team brought back yesterday after clearing out a ghoul's lair in an underground waterway. They should have been thrown into the incinerator or sold as junk to the gnome recyclers.
Rod casually picked up a piece of leather shoulder armor stained with dried black blood, his fingers tracing the rough cracks on it.
"In my past life, I worked overtime for my boss's Ferrari; in this life, I'm working for my own life... This is a blessing, it's good." He muttered self-deprecatingly.
It's been three months since I transmigrated to this world called Aethergard. From almost wetting my pants in fear when I first faced ghouls, to now being able to calmly rummage through piles of corpses for usable parts, human adaptability always exceeds one's own imagination.
Even in a civilized society where one could survive on a 996 work schedule, he was still considered a diligent and hardworking corporate slave.
In this world where the gods are dead, ruins and monsters abound, survival requires more than just diligence; it also demands some special methods.
Rhodes took a deep breath and stared intently at the leather armor in his hand.
As he focused his attention, the familiar semi-transparent characters in his field of vision began to flicker, like the garbled characters that appear when a cheap, old game console freezes, before quickly stabilizing into clear information labels.
[Torn standard leather armor (left shoulder)]
Status: Nearly scrapped
Entry:
[Fragile (Gray Inferior)]: The structural fibers are severely broken, reducing physical defense by 30%, and it is extremely easy to be completely crushed upon impact.
[Foul Odor (White, Normal)]: It is stained with ghoul bodily fluids and emits a nauseating odor.
……
"Trash," Rhodes defined in his mind, but this was exactly the kind of trash he needed.
He picked up another piece of leather armor—the remains of some kind of hard leather leggings, covered with teeth marks that looked like they had been gnawed by a wild beast.
[Fragments of a gnawed-on leather leg guard]
Status: Scrapped
Entry:
[Fragile (Gray Inferior)]: The material is severely aged, and the stress points are extremely unevenly distributed.
[Bulky (White, Ordinary)]: Outdated manufacturing process, exceeding weight limits.
……
Rhodes's gaze became focused, and his once clear and even somewhat naive eyes now became deep and sharp.
This is his secret, a trump card that prevented him from becoming cannon fodder in this ruthless world—the All Things Encyclopedia System.
Seeing the entries for all things, consuming mental energy to extract them, and then loading them onto oneself or equipment, is the special ability that Rhode gained after his transmigration.
In this world, what others see as garbage is seen as raw material by him.
"As long as the terms can be extracted, there is no such thing as a truly useless product."
Rhodes closed his eyes, his consciousness sank, and he touched the virtual interface called the All Things Encyclopedia System.
His mental energy was like an invisible hand, cautiously reaching out towards the two pieces of leather armor.
"Stripping".
That familiar feeling came over me again.
It felt like a tiny needle had gently pricked my mind; it wasn't painful, but it was enough to make my nerves tense.
Within the consciousness space, two hazy spheres of light were pulled out from the leather armor.
[fragile]
[Fragile]
The two pieces of leather armor made a slight cracking sound the moment they lost those two attributes, completely disintegrating into worthless powder and debris in his hands.
Rod didn't pay any attention and casually swept the powder onto the ground.
Then, with some effort, he peeled off the [bulky] part as well.
Now, three orbs of light are floating in his consciousness space, making his head throb slightly.
Two gray, low-quality entries, and one white, ordinary negative entry.
"System logic vulnerability test, 37th time."
Rod licked his slightly chapped lips.
This is a bold attempt.
The conventional synthesis method involves combining lower-level positive attributes into higher-level positive attributes, such as combining two [Sturdy] attributes into one [Tough].
However, Rhodes discovered that the system's judgment of "negative terms" has a peculiar "negative times negative equals positive" or "mutual cancellation" mechanism.
If an object is both "fragile" and "fragile," under certain logic, if it is reassembled, can its negative attributes be forcibly negated to obtain the opposite result?
Rhodes controlled the two gray orbs of light, representing [fragile] and [vulnerable], which converged within the consciousness space.
hum-
A deep rumble came from the depths of his brain, and Rhodes' vision went black for a brief moment before returning to normal.
A warm sensation welled up in his nasal cavity. Rod raised his hand and wiped it; it was blood from his nose.
"My mental strength is still too low, but this price is worth it."
Within the consciousness space, the two gray orbs of light disappeared, merging into a new entry that emitted a faint, eerie blue glow.
[Structural Reinforcement (Blue Excellent)]: Significantly improves the structural strength and durability of items through special stress distribution.
"It's done."
Rod looked at the blue orb of light and grinned.
This is much more substantial than the year-end bonuses given by that old boss who only made empty promises.
He casually grabbed a rough linen shirt that was the most common type of shirt in this world, worn by the lowest rungs of adventurers.
This thing offers no protection whatsoever; it's purely for covering up and absorbing sweat.
A rough linen shirt
Condition: In good condition
Entry:
[Sweat-wicking (white, regular)]
[Rough (Ordinary White)]
……
"load."
With a thought, the blue ball of light instantly merged into the shirt in his hand.
There were no dazzling special effects; the linen shirt, which was originally dull and even a little pilled, only had a fleeting flash of light on its surface.
Rhodes touched it and found that the texture hadn't changed much, but he could feel that the fibers of the garment had become unusually dense. Even if he tried to cut it with a blade, it would probably be difficult to leave a mark.
[Special Linen Combat Suit (Unnamed)]
Condition: In good condition
Entry:
[sweat absorbent]
[Rough]
[Structural Reinforcement (Blue Excellent)]: A seemingly ordinary shirt now possesses protective capabilities comparable to light chainmail.
……
"Now, at least we don't have to worry about being hit by stray bullets or some unknown arrows from the shadows."
Rod put the shirt over his already worn-out coat with satisfaction.
These days, survival is the most important thing.
He glanced at the time; the black market in Rusty Harbor should be opening soon.
He tidied up the remaining scraps on the table, packed the few truly valuable monster bones and the materials he had secretly processed earlier into the patched backpack.
"Today's goal is one guild, Orim. With my previous savings, I'm still more than 30 short of that 'Basic Rune Analysis' book."
Orim is a credit system issued by adventurers' guilds based on "guild ledger crystals." It has no physical currency, but its value is linked to strategic relic materials, with 1 point being equivalent to 10 standard trade silver ingots.
Learning magic and possessing combat abilities is another necessary prerequisite for surviving in this cannibalistic world.
Rod patted his cheeks and adjusted his expression.
In that instant, the sharp-eyed, calmly calculating Rhodes vanished, and he reverted to the familiar Iron Anvil Adventurer's trainee logistics officer with a simple, honest smile and slightly evasive eyes.