Lucentyr Forest, Lucentyr Cave
Inside the cave of Lucentyr, Reynes meets up with the leader of the pack.
"Welcome. I've been waiting for you."
The Lucentyr Empress, who leads the negotiation between Mayor Hodges and the Lucentyrs, is inside the comfortable bed.
"I heard the tales about your sister's achievement. It intrigues me to go on a journey. But, with e as someone with a high reputation in this continent, I cannot go on a journey without a companion I deem trustworthy. I would like to become your companion."
"So you're going to journey is true. But, I have one question. Why did you pick me?"
"You're an interesting boy. I've met your mother and your sister as well. I've heard about the dispute between your mother and her homeland. Another thing that interests me is the armor you are currently wearing."
Reynes looks at his armor, as she may notice something is different with his armor.
"How can you tell?"
"I have a [Appraisal] Skill on a high degree. But, I cannot read your status, as you did a good job concealing it."
"I have [Appraisal Inhibitor] for it."
"Interesting."
She shows Reynes a stone imbued with magic. Interestingly, it has a water elemental around it, and Reynes recognize the stone immediately.
"Where did you get that?"
"On the other side of the water reservoir. Come."
The Lucentyr guides him to where the stone was discovered. Stopping at the edge of the reservoir, she points to the stone that was found.
"You need to swim and a light to get there."
"Alright. I'll be fine from here. [Light Ball] [Aqua Movement]."
Before the journey, Reynes augmented his boots with elemental attributes and a magic signature, which would allow him to use magic. She was interested in how Reynes began walking on top of the water.
"Hooo."
Reynes walks until he finds a path on the other side of the cave, and the Lucentyr is waiting for him.
"Oh, you use [Teleport] to get here."
"This place remains intriguing to me."
As Reynes pops more [Light Ball], what he sees further is astounding. Sage Ores imbued with water elements were all around the place.
"This is…. Sage Ore mine."
"What does it feature?"
"It's the ore known to be adaptive to its surroundings. My armor also adapts to the change when I enter here, as you can notice that I am barely sweating nor getting difficulty on breathing."
"That's true. Your armor is intriguing. What are you going to do with this mine?"
"I will report it to Scharlwarltz and have the Valkyrie guard it. I think it would be an interesting job for the protegee to negotiate with Scharlwarltz."
Reynes summons a Sage Pickaxe and mines some ore.
"How can you mine with that tool? I have to use some of my magic power to mine it."
"It's simple. I have the license. By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Reynes Lexington."
"People call me Lucentyr Empress. Other than that, I don't have a name. I would be grateful if you could give me a name to remember."
Reynes got some explanations about Lucentyr from the elves and another Lucentyr during negotiation days. The Blue Sapphire shines brightly under the moon, and when the Lucentyr bathes under the moonlight, it's where they would display their full power.
"Moon Sapphire is known as Mophire."
"Then I shall be Mophire from this day onward."
Transforming into a human form, Reynes can see her beautiful appearance. She kneels to him.
"I will follow your journey. I'm in your care."
Reynes then remembers that some of Lucentyr have saddles with them.
"How did some of Lucentyr have a saddle?"
"We choose them, not they choose us. Like myself, I choose you as my rider."
"I see…. I think I can put this ore to use."
Once he obtains what he needs, he heads to the workshop at the elf settlement. He writes a letter and sends it to the Kingdom of Scharlwarltz through special mail.
"First of all, I need leather, furs, and Blue Sapphire Gemstone as a base ingredient. If you want more attributes, then please hand the gemstone required."
One of the elves asked, "How are you going to make a saddle by melting it in a furnace?"
"I'm using Sage Ore. The Ore you discover deep inside Lucentyr cave is a Sage Ore mine. I've informed Scharlwarltz to send Valkyries to negotiate with you. Furthermore, if any of you wants to become a blacksmith, I will write a letter, so you can earn a license to mine and forge equipment from Sage Ore."
"Is it magic equipment?"
"Yes. But, as you were aware, this ore is adaptive. Meaning, it would adapt as the user also adapts."
"Allow us to observe your work, then."
Nodding, Reynes begins to work on creating a saddle.
A Week Later
"How on Yggdrasil did you find it?"
Shina arrives with ten Valkyries with her. They were ready to guard the mine.
"It's inside further the cave, but the first layer becomes a home for Lucentyrs."
At first, Mophire and the others were alerted. But, Reynes convinced them that their arrival is to guard Sage Ore mine.
Some elves recognize Shina as they bow to her.
"Madam Fortune Teller. It's an honor to see you."
"Likewise. I'm here to check if his information is correct."
Reynes guides them to the Lucentyr's home, which further ahead is a Sage Ore mine. Shina and the Valkyries verify it once they reach the mine. As Shina takes out the orb, she starts to scan for any records of the mine.
"So you're saying that this mine is imbued with water element?"
"Yes."
Shina speculated that since the ore was exposed to the water for a long time, it became synchronized with the water element. Therefore, it allows Sage Ore inside Lucentyr Cave to be materialized with water elements as a base.
"You got new abilities, huh?"
"Ever since you, Klendiana, and Frabela continue to hone power, why wouldn't I? [Memory Tracker]."
Shina begins to track its memories from when the mine was constructed. Every substance and event that transpire inside, she records every last of it. When she saw it, her eyes widened.
"This is…."
What Shina saw is something more than meets the eye. The cave was once housing magic stones, with water as the main attribute. But, the mine was abandoned due to some incidents, and Lucentyrs became the forest's guardian. Because of the mana accumulation after abandonment, the magic stone infused with the soil, transforming the magic stone into Sage Ore.
"This is interesting…. Who would've thought the water inside this cave comes from water leaked out from Hydro-infused Sage Ore."
"I'll take some of the ore and test it out on my armor. Furthermore, I'm already in the process of creating armor and saddle for Mophire."
"Who's Mophire?"
"That'll be me."
Shina looks at the large Lucentyr, and it seems that Reynes wants to make armor and saddle for his new companion.
"How's the trial and error going?"
"It went well. This is the third one, and I found something interesting."
"What would it be?"
"This ore rejects any Sage Ore wielder if the magic length didn't match."
"Oh, so what about it?"
"Can I ask someone to electrocute me?"
The Valkyries are surprised as Reynes requests a Valkyrie to electrocute him. They were reluctant, but one of them suddenly struck him with lighting.
"[Lightning!!]"
As the lightning strikes Reynes all of a sudden, the Valkyrie who attacks him gets scolded by Shina.
"Do warn me before you use it—eh? Is that?"
"Just as I expect."
The attack didn't damage him; rather, it had a layer of water surrounding him.
"When my armor was infused with Hydro Sage Ore, the attack absorbs the magic, which allows me to take the damage to a certain degree. This is the same as the nature of Hydro Sage Ore, as it has some layer of magic protecting it and preventing me from taking actual damage until the layer is broken."
Reynes electrocute himself, and the layer is broken. After two minutes, the layer of water slowly wraps around his body again.
"Though, you know what this means, right?"
"Yeah, I understand. Those who want to commission equipment like this must pour their magic power to register it as the owner. How are you going to absorb other elements, Reynes?"
"I don't know. I'll see what I can do about it."
"Alright. I'll take my leave for now, and I'll inform the palace to dispatch two Valkyries inside this cave."
"Perhaps you need to make a pendant to show them the identity, Reynes."
Mophire reminds Reynes that we may target the Valkyries since the tension has yet to subside after post-hunt abolishment.
"Is that so? Alright, I'll make three pendants, then."
As Shina leaves, Mophire transforms into a human form.
"You trust her?"
"She has been my teacher since I was born. Much to say, I do not know why she keeps an eye on me to this day."
"Perhaps you have something that makes her interested in you."
"Maybe. But, let's get this thing done."
Over the course of a month of experiment and testing Hydro Sage Ore, Reynes found several discoveries. First, Hydro Sage Ore would allow the user to channel their magic power to form a water-based attribute on default. On the other hand, if the user doesn't want to use the Hydro element, they have to isolate the Hydro magic layer when casting a spell. Second, Hydro Sage Ore features magic synchronization. As such, the recipient must pour their magic power to register as the owner.
Two Months later
Reynes receives training with Lucentyr and finishes creating armor and saddle for Mophire. She was satisfied wearing his armor, and as for the failed prototypes, Reynes reforge it and used it on Lucentyrs that had not received any saddle.
He also created weapons for the elves and issued five recommendation letters to enter Sage Ore Academy on Scharlwarltz. Reynes has the authority to do so since he's a Special License wielder.
The Lucentyrs and Elves were trained properly, and some began to awaken new potential. Some of the Elves possess [Hawk Eyes], [Night Vision], and [Presence Detection], which Reynes trains them enough to detect a person who was well-trained in [Concealment].
"Reynes. Thank you for everything. Since you train us, we've been able to defend this forest better than before."
One of the elves, Alais, appreciates Reynes' effort in training them. As he assists the elves in protecting the forest during the night, they become friends, and some refer to him as their teacher due to his knowledge of jungle warfare.
"That'll be my pleasure. I'm just glad that the hunting has been considerably reduced during my stay here over these two months."
"Feel free to return to this forest. Please take this brooch."
Alais hands a brooch to him, and Reynes looks at it.
"Is it the brooch that would allow me to visit your village?"
"Yes. With this, you can enter our village during daylight."
"I see…. Thank you."
"Hold it."
One of the Lucentyr walks toward him, and her size is almost the same as Mophire when in Lucentyr form.
"Before you go. Can you at least name me?"
Mophire stared at her, "Why would you ask to be named my protegee?"
"Because I want him to remember this forest, and perhaps, when he sends his mail to us, I know it would be for either me or this forest."
"I see…."
Mophire looks at Reynes as he thinks of something. But, he came up with a name.
"Then, I'll call you Bluephire. Make sure you treasure it since the name I give you is from the Blue Sapphire that becomes a valuable item for us."
"Thank you. I'll cherish that name."
"See you later!"
On Yggdrasil Year 1641, Month 12, Day 25, Reynes sets out to Lucentyr Town to resupply before proceeding on his journey. It coincides with the party, as people begin preparations to make an offering for Lucentyr.