Chapter 52: Wooden Spear

After setting up the data, Su You casually posted a new quest related to sandstone.

[Collect Sandstone] (Repeatable)

Issuer: Lord

Quest Objective: Submit Sandstone (0/3)

Quest Reward: Copper Coin *1

Quest Tool: Stone Pickaxe (Requires a 20 copper coin deposit to borrow; deposit will be returned when the tool is returned)

……

Once the new quest was published, Su You turned around and saw Lyle standing right behind her.

This ghost-like behavior made Su You’s eyelid twitch involuntarily.

Lyle seemed to realize he’d startled her, so he quickly apologized and explained why he’d come over.

“We just discussed it, and both of us are willing to help Lord Su deal with the ghost skeletons. We’ll follow your arrangements, but we reserve the right to refuse any unreasonable orders.” Lyle was mainly worried that Su You would treat them as cannon fodder.

They had encountered and fought ghost skeletons before, so they knew these monsters weren’t particularly difficult to handle. As long as Su You didn’t recklessly send them to their deaths, they were willing to help.

Rather than just helping, this was also a chance for them to stay.

After barely escaping a near-wipeout with their previous adventurer team, the two brothers no longer wanted to continue the dangerous life of adventurers.

Adventuring was exciting, but also extremely risky, with the constant threat of death.

Now, all they wanted was to join a territory and live a stable life… and just as this thought took root, they arrived at Sunset Territory.

Though this was a brand new territory—so poor that calling it “poor” was an understatement—they didn’t mind. In fact, they were glad to have arrived at a newly established place.

Every territory holds limitless potential. Watching a territory grow from nothing is not just an opportunity, but a rare stroke of luck.

Everyone dreams of becoming a “founding hero,” and they were no exception.

So unless Lord Su made some utterly unreasonable decision they couldn’t accept, they would choose to stay.

And so far, Lyle had a good impression of Lord Su.

Tomorrow’s actions and their outcome would not only determine whether they could successfully join the territory, but also serve as a key observation for whether this place was worth joining.

“Alright. Any arrangements I make tomorrow, I’ll discuss with you both in advance.”

With that, both sides quickly reached an agreement to act together the next day.

“I need to know your real situation, otherwise I can’t make proper arrangements.” In fact, even if Su You hadn’t asked, Lyle was prepared to explain.

“We both specialize in close combat. Lake prefers fighting bare-handed, while I like weapons such as short daggers… though it seems there aren’t any here. But if there’s a spear, that works too.” Lyle first explained their combat styles, then highlighted their capabilities by mentioning their past achievements.

After hearing their exploits, Su You didn’t suspect Lyle of exaggerating, but she did feel something was a bit off.

She didn’t doubt him because Lyle was smart—he knew that boasting in front of her wouldn’t make her think they were stronger, it would only lead to her making poor decisions tomorrow, which would end up hurting them.

So it was unlikely he’d exaggerate just to brag. On the contrary, he’d probably downplay things to leave himself some leeway.

Even so, the brothers’ achievements were impressive.

After all, these two had cleared out wolf dens and captured tigers and leopards!

While these feats were accomplished as part of their former adventurer team, and others contributed as well, if they didn’t have real ability, they wouldn’t have survived until now.

“Alright, I get the gist.” Su You suppressed her lingering doubts and continued, “Tomorrow, I’ll try to avoid combat as much as possible. After all, our main goal is to open up a safe route to the mine…”

“But sometimes, fighting is unavoidable. So get some rest tonight—not just to kill ghost skeletons, but to keep yourselves alive.”

……

To prepare for tomorrow’s battle, Lyle and Lake went to the tavern to rest. Meanwhile, after Dolly finished making a set of reinforced beast hide armor, Su You asked if she could make anything else.

After hearing Su You’s request, Dolly rummaged through the wooden chest and then gave her answer.

“…This one shouldn’t be a problem. There are enough materials, but that’s all—we don’t have enough for more.” Making armor already consumed a lot of hide, and Su You wanted a double-reinforced version, which took twice as many materials or more.

With limited supplies, Dolly could only make one of the two items Su You requested.

“Let’s go with this one, since we’ll need it tomorrow. Sorry to trouble you tonight.”

“It’s fine, it’s my job. Otherwise, I’d feel bad eating and drinking here for free, wouldn’t I?” Dolly didn’t mind having to “work overtime.” Back in the merchant caravan, they often took turns on night watch anyway.

She joked, then measured out the materials and gave a time estimate.

“I’ll definitely have it finished tonight.” The item wasn’t hard to make, and as long as nothing went wrong, she’d finish it before her usual bedtime.

With Dolly’s assurance, Su You could focus on making Lyle’s weapon.

Since Lyle had mentioned he was good with short daggers, but could also use a spear, Su You decided to make a wooden spear.

It had been a long time since she’d worked with such low-level weapons, so Su You checked the workbench recipe list and found the materials and stats for the wooden spear.

[Wooden Spear] (Consumes: Wood *5, Rope *2)

Category: Weapon

Quality: Common (White)

Attributes: Attack Range (1.5), Attack Power (15), Block (5%), Armor Penetration (1%), Bleed (5%), Critical Hit (1%)

Description: A simple and easy-to-use wooden spear. It has a longer attack range than ordinary weapons, a slightly higher chance to block, and a certain chance to inflict bleeding on the enemy. Although the wooden spear has well-rounded stats, it requires significant strength to wield. Not recommended for those who don’t meet the strength requirement."