Chapter 78: Blue Powder

But if Lyle were to use a dagger, the situation would be completely reversed. After all, he had specifically trained in dagger combat and knew exactly how to maximize the weapon’s damage through angles, speed, and force.

Lake actually used to have a very good dagger—one far superior to this tusk dagger. But during a previous adventure, Lyle accidentally lost it in an extremely dangerous place while saving him.

Since it was such a perilous location, there was no way they’d risk their lives just to retrieve a single item.

So ever since then, Lyle hasn’t had a weapon that really suited him. He’s just been making do with whatever is available... In fact, the best weapon he’s used recently was probably the wooden spear Su You casually crafted for him out of wood.

“I’ve always wanted to get him a dagger, but Lyle keeps saying none of them are suitable... I think this one’s pretty good. Lord, would you be willing to name your price?”

Unexpectedly hearing yet another story, Su You glanced at Lake, who was looking at her with eager, nervous eyes, and she smiled and nodded.

“Sure, I wasn’t planning to sell both of them anyway.”

“Huh?” Lake was momentarily stunned, as if he hadn’t quite processed what she meant.

Su You shook the two tusks at him. “I’m planning to make two tusk daggers, but I’ll only sell one to the merchant.”

In other words, she had already decided to keep one dagger. As for who it would ultimately belong to, that was a matter for later.

In fact, Su You didn’t mind giving the dagger to Lyle for free—she’d even intended to do so from the start.

After all, equipping them would only strengthen the territory’s fighting power, and with the loyalty these two brothers had shown, there was little risk of them running off.

Not to mention, the territory still owed them for the Black-striped Tiger...

Even though they contributed unconditionally, as the lord and representative of the territory, she felt she should do something to make them feel their efforts were worthwhile.

It wasn’t just Lyle who would get a tusk dagger—Su You had also started preparing to find materials to make a bow for Doya.

Her previous bow had been completely broken during the fight against the Black-striped Tiger. To carry the white ermine, Doya had discarded the damaged bow, and now even its “remains” were lost somewhere in the forest.

That bow, unlike the Dragonbone Bow, didn’t have any special significance; it was just something Doya had casually bought from a weapons shop in her old village. So its loss didn’t really matter.

However, her father’s bow—before leaving the territory to rescue the white ermine, she’d buried it somewhere nearby...

Actually, when Su You first heard Doya mention this, she suspected Doya had already been thinking of staying. The Black-striped Tiger incident was just the final push.

...

In any case, when Lake heard that Su You had already intended to give the dagger to Lyle, he was clearly overjoyed.

Although he didn’t show it outwardly, Su You could see on Lake’s information panel that both his loyalty and affection values had shot up.

【Lake】

Loyalty: 89

Affection: 85

...

Su You knew exactly what those double-eighty stats meant.

While she had indeed hoped to boost both Lyle’s strength and their loyalty and affection, she hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly.

Since the numbers had risen so quickly, Su You decided not to dwell on whether to sell or gift the dagger—she just made her choice.

She placed the prepared wild boar tusks into the now-upgraded intermediate workbench. Then, as the tusk blade and dagger hilt fused together, she added some blue powder into the furnace.

This blue powder was actually the third type of ore she’d discovered in the chain mines earlier—Refined Magic Ore.

【Refined Magic Ore】

Category: Material

Quality: Blue

Description: Refined Magic Ore appears as a blue powder. When added during item crafting, it has a small chance to improve the item’s quality, and also increases the probability of special attributes appearing. Only copper or higher-tier pickaxes can mine Refined Magic Ore.

As the description indicated, unlike copper ore, Refined Magic Ore didn’t drop as a whole chunk, nor was it a standalone mineral like coal—it came as a blue powder.

This powder didn’t need further processing and could be directly added during crafting at the workbench, giving a small chance to improve quality or add special attributes.

Before returning, Su You had already planned to make the tusk daggers, so she’d specifically mined some Refined Magic Ore.

Although a copper pickaxe could mine Refined Magic Ore, since the pickaxe was only green quality and the ore was blue quality, the efficiency was greatly reduced.

It took Su You as much time as it would to mine seven or eight pieces of copper ore just to get three portions of Refined Magic Ore—two for the tusk daggers, and one for the bow she hadn’t yet gathered all the materials for.

While Su You was crafting the tusk daggers, Lake stayed nearby, watching the whole time. So he naturally saw her add the Refined Magic Ore to the workbench.

He didn’t know what the blue powder was, but that didn’t stop him from guessing that the tusk dagger would be an amazing weapon.

After the first dagger was finished, Lake was itching to take a look, but Su You casually put it away in her backpack.

Lake opened his mouth, about to say something, but when he saw Su You preparing another set of materials, he wisely kept quiet.

He really wanted the tusk dagger—or more accurately, he really wanted to help Lyle get it—but he wouldn’t interfere with Su You’s work.

Partly because he wasn’t the type to do that, and partly because he trusted the lord’s promise.

Since the lord had already said she’d give one to Lyle, she would. There was no reason for her to lie—otherwise, when he’d just offered to buy it, she could have just gone along with it...

Even though he’d promised not to interfere, Lake didn’t leave. He went back to submit the last bit of stone from the cart for the mission, then continued to wait by Su You’s side.

Then he saw Su You take the second dagger hilt from the furnace, retrieve the second tusk blade from the intermediate workbench, and assemble the two parts.

Just as before, when assembling, Su You also added some Refined Magic Ore to the workbench.

(End of chapter)"

"**79. Rewards from the Territory**

Just as the second Fang Dagger was about to be finished, Dory and Lyle happened to return together from outside the territory.

One of them was carrying a wooden basket filled to the brim with fibrous scraps, while the other was pushing a small wooden cart loaded with wood.

Both of them saw Su You by the workbench—and also saw Lake, who was staring longingly at Su You... or rather, at the workbench beside her.

Lyle instinctively frowned. He didn’t even bother to turn in his quest before heading straight over to Su You and Lake.

Just as Lyle was about to ask his big, somewhat clueless companion if he’d gotten himself into trouble again, a brand-new dagger appeared in front of him.

“Try it,” Su You said, tossing the Fang Dagger directly to Lyle. He hadn’t quite processed what was happening, but his reflexes kicked in and he caught the dagger.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but that didn’t stop him from noticing that this was a dagger of exceptional quality.

He spun the dagger skillfully in his hand, his satisfaction plain to see.

Because he was so pleased, when Su You asked how it felt and whether it suited him, his affirmative answer was almost instantaneous.

From the feel, to the weight, to the size, the curve of the blade, and the shape of the edge—there wasn’t a single thing Lyle was dissatisfied with.

If he didn’t know for a fact that Su You had never asked for his preferences, Lyle would have suspected this dagger was custom-made just for him.

“This dagger is great, it’s perfect for...” Lyle started to say something, but swallowed his words at the last moment and changed his phrasing: “It’s perfect for combat.”

Su You didn’t care what he’d originally wanted to say; she only cared whether the dagger was useful for Lyle.

“As long as you think it suits you,” Su You said, starting to tidy up the leftover materials.

...That’s it?

No follow-up questions or comments?

She was just giving him this dagger, just like that?

Her casual attitude, as if she were giving away a common weed or a wildflower from the roadside instead of a high-quality dagger, left Lyle at a bit of a loss.

...Even though he’d guessed Su You might be giving him the dagger, now that it was actually happening, Lyle found himself unsure how to react.

He couldn’t quite understand why Su You would suddenly give him a dagger.

Lyle tightened his grip, feeling how perfectly the Fang Dagger fit his hand... A weapon this handy and well-made was truly rare.

A weapon that fits is far rarer than a powerful one; after all, the latter can be crafted from countless rare materials, but the former is something you can only hope to come across.

“May I ask, my lord, what material is this dagger made from? I can feel a strange sort of...” Lyle paused, searching for the right words.

After a moment, he continued, “I feel a kind of indescribable... connection with it.”

“That’s the effect of refined magic ore. You could think of it as a kind of magic,” Su You explained. She wasn’t sure if Lyle knew what refined magic ore was, but that was about all she could say.

Anything else was either inconvenient to say to an NPC, or they wouldn’t understand it even if she did.

Lake didn’t know what refined magic ore was, but hearing the name and Su You’s explanation, he seemed to guess something and didn’t ask further.

“Thank you, my lord. So, about the price of this dagger...?”

“There is no price, because this is a reward from the territory to a resident who has contributed to it,” Su You refused his attempt to pay. If they were to actually discuss the price, this Fang Dagger was worth far more than Lyle could afford right now.

Even though the blade was made of simple copper, thanks to a stroke of luck, the refined magic ore Su You had added earlier gave the dagger a very special attribute.

Not only did this make the dagger much more effective, it also multiplied its value several times over.

“...” Su You’s answer was just what Lyle expected.

Since she’d said so, Lyle didn’t insist on paying. After thanking Su You, he dragged Lake away with him.

As he left, Su You could clearly see the loyalty and favorability values on Lyle’s info panel shoot up.

【Lyle】

Loyalty: 85

Favorability: 80

Though not as high as Lake’s, both values had reached the “double 80” standard.

...

After Lake and Lyle left, only Su You and Dory remained.

Dory had watched the whole dagger-gifting process in silence. When Lyle received the dagger, her eyes were filled with obvious envy.

But it was only envy—there were no other negative emotions.

And she wasn’t envious because Lyle got a handy weapon—she wasn’t a fighter, after all. Even if she got the dagger, it would be like using a legendary sword to chop vegetables—a total waste.

What she truly envied was that Lyle had received a gift from the lord on behalf of the territory.

Su You naturally noticed Dory’s feelings, but she didn’t say anything, acting as if she hadn’t seen a thing.

“Dory, I need your help with something,” Su You said as she opened Dory’s info panel.

Seeing the stats—an 81 and a 90—Su You felt a flicker of emotion, but quickly returned to her usual calm.

Throughout, her face showed no obvious emotion—at least, Dory didn’t notice anything.

“Yes, my lady?” Dory replied, looking quite happy to be asked for help. She didn’t hesitate, smiling as she answered.

“I need some tough, flexible wood to make something. If you see any such trees while gathering fiber in the forest, note their location and let me know.” The “something” here, of course, referred to the bow Su You planned to make for Doya.

Su You had already checked the nearby trees herself, but hadn’t found anything suitable.

To avoid wasting other materials, she decided to keep looking.

“Alright, no problem.” Dory nodded, then asked, “I remember willow, purple cedar, and walnut are all pretty tough and flexible... Is that what you’re looking for, my lady?”

(End of chapter)"

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