Although Shi Feng could afford the loss if he failed, nobody liked throwing money down the drain, so he still felt a touch of nervousness.
After Shi Feng clicked to view the data, the words "Analyzing" appeared on the armor's display screen.
The red progress bar gradually began to fill as the system evaluated the equipment's stats.
After three seconds, the system finished reading and displayed the armor's data.
Guardian Armor, Bronze-rank plate armor, requires 10 Strength to equip, Level 3 equipment, Defense +22, Strength +2, Endurance +3, HP +150, Durability 35/35, bonus ability: Power of Defense, reduces incoming damage by 3%, restricted to Shield Warrior and Guardian Knight classes.
System: Forging of Guardian Armor successful. Forging proficiency +2. Experience gained: 800.
"Nice, it even came with Power of Defense." Looking at the bonus ability, Shi Feng was delighted.
He hadn't expected his very first Bronze-rank equipment forge to succeed, and the experience gain was impressively high. No wonder many master blacksmiths in his previous life didn't bother grinding monsters and still had decent levels. This Guardian Armor not only met the baseline stat requirements but had also rolled a bonus ability.
Originally, the Guardian Armor didn't come with Power of Defense. However, when a blacksmith overperformed during forging and the Strange Fire was factored in, there was a chance for a bonus ability to appear, boosting the equipment's value even further.
Shi Feng examined the Guardian Armor closely. The silvery-gray metallic texture and the sleek design were far beyond what ordinary Bronze-rank equipment could offer. He was quite satisfied with his work.
Ordinary equipment was still the mainstream for players right now. Even later, when players reached Level 5 or 6, wearing a full set of ordinary gear wouldn't be unusual—Bronze-rank equipment was just too hard to come by. Even skilled players in elite teams felt lucky to have one or two Bronze pieces.
If he put the Guardian Armor up for sale—usable by both Shield Warriors and Guardians—it would definitely attract the attention of elite teams. After all, how well-equipped a main tank was made a huge difference in dungeon runs. Even at a price of 4 silver coins, those teams would pay without hesitation.
As for the Guardian Armor with Power of Defense, the boost it offered to a tank was self-evident. Shi Feng wouldn't sell it for anything less than 5 silver coins.
Buoyed by his first successful forge, Shi Feng continued crafting Guardian Armor.
This time, however, he pulled out Hundred-Refined Steel. He wanted to see what kind of equipment it would produce.
In less than ten minutes, the second Guardian Armor took shape.
But its color was different from the first—it came out dark black instead of silvery-gray.
After the three-second system analysis, the stats appeared once more.
Defensive Heavy Armor, Bronze-rank plate armor, requires 14 Strength to equip, Level 3 equipment, Defense +25, Strength +2, Endurance +4, HP +150, Durability 40/40, bonus ability: Power of Defense, reduces incoming damage by 5%, restricted to Shield Warrior and Guardian Knight classes.
System: Forging of Defensive Heavy Armor successful. Forging proficiency +2. Experience gained: 1,000.
System: Bonus +2 Forging proficiency from the Blacksmithing Genius talent.
Shi Feng had almost forgotten about the extra proficiency from his talent. He stared intently at the Defensive Heavy Armor—its stats were already comparable to Level 3 Iron-rank equipment. It would sell for at least 10 silver coins or more.
He hadn't expected that adding Hundred-Refined Steel would produce such a dramatic difference. He had to admit that the items from the master blacksmith were truly extraordinary. What a shame—he only had nine pieces of Hundred-Refined Steel left.
Now that he knew Hundred-Refined Steel had this kind of effect, Shi Feng wasn't about to waste it. He would save it for forging other high-quality equipment down the road.
Two hours flew by. Shi Feng forged Guardian Armor nonstop, producing a total of twenty-three pieces—four of which ended in failure.