“A c-cavalry lance...”

Are you insane?! Who brings a cavalry lance into a dungeon? You turned down a greatsword, so why would you want an even heavier cavalry lance?

The shop assistant fought back the urge to swear and did his best to maintain a professional smile.

Even so, Bai Ye could tell from the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth just how worked up he was.

“Are you sure you need a cavalry lance, miss? They might not be very effective against dungeon monsters.”

The shop assistant had already put it as tactfully as he could. To put it bluntly, taking a cavalry lance into a dungeon was just asking to die.

After all, this weapon was long and heavy, and it had no cutting edge anywhere along its length. Only the tip could thrust. It worked well enough on horseback, but on foot inside a dungeon, you’d be better off without a weapon at all.

But none of those drawbacks were drawbacks to Bai Ye. She had ways to make up for them, and what mattered more to her was the damage a cavalry lance could inflict on large monsters when enhanced with magic.

“Don’t worry. Just tell me whether you have any cavalry lances. Whether it’s any good once I’ve bought it is my problem.”

“All right. We don’t have many cavalry lances in stock, and they’re all in the warehouse. If you want to look through them, I’ll have to take you there.”

“That’s fine.”

The fact that the owner could run a fairly sizable weapons shop in a city like Maple City spoke to his considerable wealth. He had not only a finely decorated storefront, but also a warehouse stocked with plenty of weapons.

Even so, the shop had only eight or nine cavalry lances. It couldn’t compare to the swords, which were often stocked by the dozen—or even by the few dozen.

After all, who would order a weapon like a cavalry lance besides the Empire’s knights? It was awkward to carry and not particularly useful against monsters.

The shop assistant had worked there for several years, but this was the first time he’d ever met someone buying a cavalry lance. It was certainly an eye-opener.

“Ahem—cough, cough!”

The shop assistant waved away the dust. The cavalry lances were stored in the very back of the warehouse, and it took him quite a while to dig them out. Dust got in his eyes before he finally managed to bring them over.

“These are all we have, miss. See if any of them suit you.”

Bai Ye didn’t hurry to choose. Instead, she took out five silver coins and slipped them into the shop assistant’s hand.

“There. Thanks for your trouble.”

The shop assistant had gone to quite a bit of trouble to find those cavalry lances for her, so Bai Ye felt she should show her appreciation. The five silver coins she gave him would serve as a tip, rewarding him for his hard work.

“Oh, you’re too kind, miss! It’s just part of the job!”

The moment he saw the silver coins in his hand, the shop assistant broke into a beaming smile. He’d put in quite a bit of effort, but suddenly he didn’t feel tired at all.

“Go ahead and take a look, miss. If none of them suit you, we’ll see what else we can do.”

Bai Ye nodded without saying anything else and turned her attention to the cavalry lances in front of her.

Cavalry lances were plain-looking weapons. There wasn’t much you could do to dress them up. The only way to know if one felt right and suited you was to pick it up.

“This one...”

Bai Ye picked up one of the cavalry lances with one hand and gave it a casual swing.

“Too light, and the material’s nothing special...”

That one wouldn’t do, so Bai Ye picked up another.

“The weight’s about right, but the balance is off. It doesn’t feel right in my hands...”

Bai Ye had no idea how much the sight of her casually swinging a cavalry lance was shocking the shop assistant behind her. This was a heavy cavalry lance! He could barely lift one with both hands, yet the girl in front of him was swinging it around one-handed. How was that even possible?

To be fair, the shop assistant was in pretty good shape. Working in a weapons shop meant he often had to carry heavy weapons, so his arms were fairly strong.

Even so, when he picked up a heavy weapon like a cavalry lance with both hands, all he could manage was a few clumsy swings. Before long, he’d have to plant the tip on the ground.

But the silver-haired girl wielded the cavalry lance as easily as a one-handed sword. She didn’t look strained at all. Her arms looked so pale and delicate, yet they seemed to hold incredible strength.

No wonder the girl wanted to take a cavalry lance into a dungeon. To her, swinging one was no different from swinging a sword. Why would she care what weapon she was holding?

Bai Ye, of course, had no idea what was going through the shop assistant’s mind. She was still focused on choosing a cavalry lance, but after trying one after another, none of them felt quite right. There was only one left that she hadn’t tested. Hopefully, that one would suit her.

Bai Ye picked up the only cavalry lance she hadn’t tried. It was silver-white all over and plain in appearance, with no fancy decorations or exaggerated features. It looked like a perfectly ordinary cavalry lance.

But the moment Bai Ye took hold of it, she could tell there was something special about it.

First, its balance was excellent. It could deliver the full force of a thrust without putting too much strain on the wrist.

A poorly balanced cavalry lance could be tiring just to hold level with one hand. If you held it for a long time, you might even have to brace the end of the shaft against your elbow to ease the strain on your wrist.

Bai Ye’s lance didn’t need any of that. Its weight was distributed properly, and it felt comfortable to hold. Whoever had made it had clearly put real care into their work.

The second thing Bai Ye liked was its material. Whoever had made the lance seemed to understand how cavalry lances were used. They hadn’t added any fancy, expensive materials, but had instead chosen a single material with high base strength.

That made the finished lance strong, and also made it easier to engrave with magic runes or enchant. It was well suited to further modifications by its wielder, just the way Bai Ye liked.

“Whoever made this lance was a master... A master of simplicity.”

“Have you made your choice, miss?”

The shop assistant saw the satisfied look on Bai Ye’s face and guessed she’d probably made up her mind. It was time for him to continue helping her.

“Yes. I’ll take this one.”

Bai Ye gave the silver-white cavalry lance in her hand a casual swing. It felt just right—in terms of how it handled, it could even rival her Radiant Moon Spear.

“All right. I’ll check the inventory catalog and give you the exact price.”

Normally, a shop assistant didn’t need to check the inventory catalog for weapons on display. He could tell you the correct price off the top of his head.

But no one knew how long the cavalry lance Bai Ye had picked had been sitting in the warehouse. The shop assistant had never even seen it before, so it was better to check the catalog.

“Huh? It actually...”

“What is it?”

Bai Ye was puzzled to see the shop assistant staring at the catalog in surprise.

“Is something wrong?”

“This cavalry lance costs a whole gold coin. I’m not sure if you...”

The shop assistant had never expected this cavalry lance to be so expensive. Ordinary weapons were worth a dozen or even a few dozen silver coins, while lower-quality ones could cost just a few.

But the cavalry lance Bai Ye had chosen cost a whole gold coin. He hadn’t seen that coming at all.

“That’s fine.”

Bai Ye didn’t hesitate. She simply took out a gold coin and handed it to the shop assistant.

That was a considerable sum for most people, but it was nothing much to Bai Ye.

“Are you sure?”

The shop assistant accepted the gold coin cautiously.

“This cavalry lance might not be worth that much.”

The shop assistant was already being very polite. If he could say what he really thought, he’d tell her outright that the lance wasn’t worth the price.

“It’s fine. This lance is worth the price to me.”

......

When Bai Ye returned to Meijie’s home with the cavalry lance, Meijie was already gone. She’d probably gone to the banquet.

Bai Ye didn’t pay it much mind and got ready to work on her own things.

The cavalry lance felt pretty good in her hands, but she couldn’t just take it into the dungeon as it was. She’d need to make some improvements first.

There were generally two ways to enhance a weapon. The first was to use a special engraving tool to inscribe magic runes on it. The second was to enchant it directly with magic.

Enchanting was simpler. Put plainly, it just meant casting an enhancement spell on a weapon.

This kind of enhancement was temporary, not permanent. But it could be changed at any time, and if two enchantments didn’t conflict, they could be stacked.

Bai Ye knew quite a few enchantment spells, but there was no rush to enchant the cavalry lance now. She could do that once she was in the dungeon, depending on the situation.

What Bai Ye needed to prepare in advance was the other kind of enhancement: inscribing magic runes.

Put simply, magic runes were patterns carved into a weapon. When the wielder guided magic through those patterns, the weapon could produce effects far beyond what you’d expect!

This kind of enhancement had a fairly high barrier to entry. One important requirement was that the weapon itself had to be suitable.

Since magic runes were carved directly into a weapon with a special engraving tool, the larger the weapon, the more runes it could theoretically hold—and the more powerful their effects could be.

There was no need to go to so much trouble with something like a dagger. Small weapons like that couldn’t hold any runes with useful effects anyway.

Another requirement had to do with the wielder. While inscribing the runes, they had to keep channeling magic into the engraving tool, so anyone who couldn’t control magic couldn’t inscribe runes.

And even if someone else inscribed runes on their weapon, those runes would have no effect if the wielder couldn’t channel magic into them.

In that respect alone, enchantment had a clear advantage over magic runes.

After all, once someone enchanted a weapon for you, it would be enhanced whether or not you had any magic of your own. The wielder didn’t need any special ability at all.

But magic runes had one advantage that enchantments couldn’t match: they lasted permanently. They were carved into the weapon, after all, and couldn’t simply be swapped out. If they were looked after carefully, they wouldn’t wear down easily either, which was an added bonus.