Elara's Leather Crafts

The player population of Torana Town had increased at a snail's pace in the past few days. Even among them, the number of Adept Life Professionals could be counted on one's fingers.

Most of the Life Professionals capable of advancing to the Adept level had reached there with their Guild's support. The rare few independent Adept Life Professionals were also lured over by some Guild or the other with high salary offers.

As for the Life Professionals of the Grandeur Guild, they had an Adept Herbalist and an Adept Blacksmith but not a single Adept Leatherworker. Moreover, all the Life Professionals were operating from Panjal City.

This situation put Samar in a conundrum. Where to find a Leatherworker in Torana Town whom he could trust to craft the Forest Prowler Set?

Since Players were out of the question, he could only look for NPCs.

There were hundreds of skilled craftsmen who operated the workshops in Torana Town. Amongst them, three of the Leatherworking Shops were most frequented by NPCs and Players alike - Elara's Leather Crafts, Tista's Tannery, and Kivan's Leatherworks.

All three establishments were three-star shops and their reputation was backed by the quality of their goods. However, only one of them fit Samar's requirements.

While Tista's Tannery and Kivan's Leatherworks sold the mass-produced Leather Armors, Elara's Leather Crafts operated solely through accepting commissions.

This was the reason why only Elara had reached the level of Quasi-Master, someone who had created an original design at Adept Level, of the three Adept Leatherworkers.

The leaves of the tree rustled as Samar climbed up the branches to reach Elara's Leather Crafts. The doorbell tinkled and a head of blonde silvery hair looked up at the visitor from behind the counter.

As soon as he stepped into the shop, Elara's pair of tranquil green eyes met his. She motioned him to take a seat in the waiting area and then went back to completing the task at hand.

The silence in the shop was deafening. Unlike the lively and cheerful atmosphere of most shops, the air in this shop was heavy and somber.

Chief cause of this was lack of customers. The decor of the shop did not help with alleviating the mood but instead aggravated it.

Most shops would line the walls with their best products to sell as much of them as possible. Elara's Shop displayed tattered and worn-out Armors and Equipment.

Each of them was covered in dried blood and had one or more holes and cuts. The blood splotches and holes were so glaring that it took Samar a while to recognize the grades of these pieces of equipment.

Metallic Grade! Every single one of the 12 pieces of equipment on display was of Bronze-Copper Grade or higher!

The transparent shield prevented him from checking their attributes but it did not prevent him from recognizing the glow reminiscent of Metallic grade equipment.

He did not know the significance of displaying this equipment but the fact that each of them was made by Elara made his breath quicken.

Even if the Set Design could create the Forest Prowler Set of Bronze-Copper Grade, it was the maximum potential, not a guaranteed outcome.

If created by an unskilled and inexperienced Craftsman, it could end up as a mere Black-Stone Grade Set of low quality. However, since Elara could craft equipment of such high quality, she could definitely realize the full potential of the design and may even surpass it!

His heart began to flutter at the mere thought of it.

In the meanwhile, Elara had completed the task in her hand. Seeing him stand in front of the display cabinet for so long, Elara emerged from behind the counter and stood by his side, gazing at the displayed equipment with complicated emotions.

"These pieces were once my pride," Elara said, breaking the silence in the room, "Now I regard them as my failures."

"This Cloud Leopard Vest was the first Bronze-Copper Grade equipment I had created. A long time customer of mine purchased it for a high price, hoping it would protect him."

Elara took a long pause and Samar saw emotions like guilt and sadness flash through her eyes. 

He did not need to guess the fate of the adventurer wearing the Cloud Leopard Vest; the huge bloody gap at the center of the leather vest vividly told of the misfortune that had befallen him.

Suddenly, a thought hit him. Did each of these 12 Pieces represent a tale of tragedy?

He was not kept in suspense for long as Elara started to speak again.

"After these 12 tragedies, I realized that not every person is fit to wear a piece of equipment even if they fulfill the Equip requirements."

"If a piece of Equipment is paired with an incompatible owner, it may not even display 50% of its effectiveness and may even actively hinder the owner. The same equipment, in the hands of a compatible owner, can display power surpassing its stats."

Elara then turned and looked at him directly before saying, "Since I learned of this, I wanted every piece of equipment I create to be fit for its owner; I want it to work with them and not against them. This is why I started this shop that only accepts custom commissions."

[You have discovered the Hidden Piece, Elara's Conviction. You have gained the knowledge of Equipment Compatibility.]

[You can now check the Compatibility of a piece of equipment with yourself.]

The notification combined with Elara's explanation helped him understand quite a few anomalies he had discovered.

For example, the discomfort he had felt while using the Black-Stone grade Hunter's Pride Bow.

The attack power range of the Bow was 9-11 but whenever he used the bow, the attack power had never exceeded 9 points. He had also missed a few shots when fighting against the Tier 1 Boss- Vormi that should have hit the mark according to his calculations.

There were also Stivi's Ebony War Boots that had made her trip multiple times even though they were light in weight. Now that he thought about it he found many cases of equipment incompatible with their owners.

HardBro's Chanter Gloves which were supposed to deal extra 1% damage but never did, BigSoftie's Old Chest Plate with 5 defense but provided effective defense of only 3-4 points etc.

Discovery of the 'Equipment Compatibility' feature helped him make sense of these discrepancies.

When he opened his eyes, he met the unblinking eyes of Elara, focused on himself.

"I have fulfilled your curiosity, Deathless Being. Now tell me, what brings you to my shop?" She asked in a cold neutral voice as if the Elara who showed intense emotions just a few seconds ago was not her but a completely different person.

This mood switch was too abrupt but he kept up with her pace. He took out the Forest Prowler Set Design. Placing it on the counter, he said,

"Miss Elara, I want you to customize and craft this Forest Prowler Set for me."

The blonde-haired elf picked up the design and tallied the materials he had placed on the counter.

"Hmm… Lv 20 Set Design… All the materials are in place." She muttered to herself then she looked at him. "I can make the Set according to your requirements. It will cost you 20 Gold."

Hearing the price she quoted, breath caught in his throat. Who knew the commission cost would be so high?

His heart sank as he looked at the 3 Gold and 83 Silver in his inventory. These were his earnings for the last two days from selling Rune Arrows and hunting with Stivi.

He took a deep breath, trying to conceal his surprise at the steep cost. With a confident smile, he responded to Miss Elara, "Ah, 20 Gold? That's a bit steeper than I anticipated, but quality comes at a price, right?"

She nodded, her keen elf eyes assessing his every reaction. Despite his confident facade, she had already seen through the nervousness in his heart and understood the cause of it.

"Indeed, crafting a custom Lv 20 set is no small feat. But worry not; I understand that not everyone walks around with a fortune in their pockets. There's an alternative, if you're interested."

Relieved at the prospect of an alternative, he leaned in, eager to hear her suggestion.

Elara's voice took on a mysterious tone as she spoke, "Instead of Gold, I could accept materials as payment."

Samar was all ears at this point, paying rapt attention to her every word. Not even her milky white globes could distract him as she leaned forward on the counter and whispered, 

"Specifically, I'm in need of Pristine Shadow Cocoons from the nest of Arachnos, one of the Three Ferocities of the Virident Forest. Bring me four of those, and I'll consider it a fair price for the commissioned Forest Prowler Set."

Samar found her proposition tempting. 

A few materials from a Boss and he could save a whopping 20 Gold! There was no need to think too much and he quickly accepted the quest.