Over the next month Ren would skip Mana Control and go to the practice field to try and perfect his control over [Static Blitz] without System Assist. Despite his early successes, learning how to cast a spell without the help of the game was very difficult. The only reason Ren kept at it was because he was because he was it stubborn to give up. He was getting closer but Ren still felt that he had long way to go. As for the rest of his classes, in Ancient Languages and Runes they were each given a book written in the language they chose to study and were expected to finish translating it by the end of the month. As for conjuration they started going over summoning and binding rituals as well as the pros and cons of beasts and spirits.

For beast summons, a beast strength was determined as the moment of summoning and would mostly stay at the level of strength. While it is possible to get them stronger, the summoner has to invest a lot of time and effort into training them and getting them experience. Beasts were called active summons because they would take part in the fight themselves. Beast summons could be any kind of magical beat, from a simple horned rabbit to a mighty elder dragon. For spirit summons, the spirit summoned would usually be weak but the spirit would grow stronger as the summoner grew stronger so there was no need to train a spirit. A spirit is a manifestation of some aspect of the world, this means there are spirits for basically anything, from the elements(elemental spirits aren't elementals) to weather to weapons and normal object, they could be anything. Spirits were called passive summons because they didn't take part in a fight or interact with the world in an active way. What they do is give their summoner some measure of control over something or boost their summoner in some way. Spirits were looked down on by most because they were viewed as weak and useless. Why have a fire spirit when you could summon a flame salamander?

Blacksmithing didn't change much, Ren still had to run and still had weapons training. Ren's smithing skills had all risen to intermediate rank and he was now learning how to craft swords and armor and beginning to work with steel.

About a week before the second break of the term Powell, followed by Lixiss and Azriel, burst into the smithing workshop were Ren was currently trying to repair some weapons and armor Master Yurbek had given to him to practice on.

"Krono guess what!" Powell excitedly cried out as he enter the workshop.

Startled by the sudden noise, Ren almost dropped what he was working on. Ren turned and glared at the armored intruder but Powell either didn't notice or ignored it.

"What?" Ren asks

"Because of the high number of Goblin attacks recently the city council has decided to put together a subjugation force to deal with them. The best part is that students have be given permission to join and will be excused from all classes to prepare. Registration is open now the force will leave in a week. We're all going and you should come with us. Even if you can't fight they're taking people with skills like healing and cooking and anybody that can help keep equipment in good repair. With your skills you would be a very valuable person to have." Powell said.

Ren opened his mouth to refuse but Master Yurbek, knowing what Ren would do, beat him to the punch.

"You should go lad," He said, "It'll be good for you to get some real-world experience."

Ren again opened his mouth to refuse but Master Yurbek cut him off

"If you really don't want to go than I suppose that means you don't think you’re ready," Master Yurbek said. "I guess that means I haven't been training you enough. I guess I’ll just have to make it harder then." Master Yurbek seemed to have a sinister glint in his eye as him pulled out his whip.

Ren glance at the whip and shivered before turning to his friends and accepting their invitation.

"Great!" said Powell, oblivious to what just happened, "I picked up a form for you to fill out since you’re busy, I'll bring it over when we go register."

Ren filled out the form and handed it back to Powell. The trio left and Ren got back to work, but this time he had a purpose.

Ren walked outside and fired up the smelter. It would take a while for it to heat up so Ren went back inside and started getting together the tools and materials he would need for what he had in mind. Ren paid a visit to the tailoring workshop to pick up some materials before returning and checking the smelter, which still had a while to go. Clearing off a workbench Ren activated [Extreme Focus] got to work. When his friends had showed up earlier he had noticed that they were still using the equipment they got at the beginner village and it was looking a little beat up. Since they were going on the subjugation mission they would need new equipment and he knew that they didn't have the fund to buy it nor would they be able to raise enough to get some.

Ren had been working on armor for Lixiss and Azriel while the smelter was heating up. He want the equipment to be the best he ever made so was going to use all of his skill and take his time while making it. Master Yurbek had noticed the change in Ren and knew not to disturb him. Instead of hovering over Ren, Master Yurbek tended to the smelter and prepared some things that he thought Ren would need and just stayed out of his way. When the smelter was ready he notified Ren. After finishing up his current piece, Ren went to the smelter and started throwing in iron ore and powdered coal. The coal would burn off because of the intense heat of in the crucible and leave behind carbon, producing steel.

Ren monitored the smelting process closely, removing as many impurities as possible. When the steel was ready Ren cleaned the ingot molds one last time and, with the help of Master Yurbek, poured the steel. As the ingots were cooling Ren and Master Yurbek went around and removed more impurities. After cooling what was left was some of the purest ingot Ren had ever made and even Master Yurbek was impressed by them. Back inside Ren started forging the three daggers he was making for Azriel. Two of the daggers were going to be single-edged and made for slicing an opponent to pieces* and the third was going to be a stiletto-type* knife made for stabbing that she could hide in a boot or something. The daggers only took a few hours to complete so Ren moved onto the sword he was going to make for Lixiss.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

While Lixiss was an archer she took up the sword as a way to defend herself if the enemy got to close. Since she was an AGL and DEX character Ren decide that a normal sword would only slow her down so he wanted to make her a rapier. A rapier would take advantage of her speed and precision while allowing her to keep an opponent further away. This was Ren's first time making a sword this thin so he took his time to make sure that the blade wasn't too weak. After a few hours Ren was happy with the blade and moved onto the most labor intensive part of his project, making gear for Powell.

Powell was a warrior that focused on defense so he wore metal plate armor and carried a shield and longsword. The sword was the easy part since he was used to making them. Ren didn't have the skill or time to make a full suit of armor so he stuck to the essentials. For Powell Ren was making a steel cuirass*, pauldrons*, vambrace*, greaves*, and a helmet*. These would take up most of his time so Ren wanted to make sure he got the weapons done first.

Ren worked for five days straight, only getting about 2 hours of sleep a night and he slept in the forge. Ren rested only when he was out of mana and only long enough to get his mana back. Ren was tired but he still had to finish the leather armor he was making Lixiss and Azriel.

It was the day before the subjugation force was scheduled to leave and Ren had called his friends over the workshop. Meeting them outside the workshop, Ren told them to close their eyes and he led them inside and in front of a table that had a cloth over it. Ren positioned each of them so they each stood in front of a certain part of the table then had them open their eyes and removed the cloth at the same time. On the table in front of each of them was a complete set of armor and some weapons. Lixiss, Powel, and Azriel were confused for a moment and then it hit them like a ton of bricks. They looked between the pile in front of them and Ren, who was ginning like a fool at them. Ren had told them not to come by the workshop during the week, saying that he need to prepare and he didn't want to be disturbed. The reality of what he was actually doing hit them. Powell had a large grin on his face and looked like he could start laughing at any moment. Lixiss covering her mouth with both hands and looked like she was about to start crying. Even Azriel had an expression of wonder and amazement on her normally expressionless face.

They each took off their old gear and put on the new equipment that Ren had made them, inspecting each piece as they did so. The lowest quality piece of gear was of good quality, though the average was of great quality, while the average rarity was uncommon, though some pieces were rare. While they were donning their new armor Ren took three bundles wrapped in cloth out of his inventory and handed them to his friends when they were done. When they saw what was in them Lixiss started crying, Powell had a look of shock on his face, and even Azriel had her eyes tear up. Inside each the package was a sturdy, light weight cloak Ren had made with the spare time he had after finishing their other gifts. It wasn't the extra piece of clothing that made them act this way though. The cloaks were folded in a way that showed the design embroidered on them as soon the bundled was opened. The design they had decided for their party. It was that of a chipped sword stabbed into a skull on top a pile of bodies. The sword had a helmet placed on top of it and a ripped piece of cloth flying in the wind behind it. Lixiss ran at Ren and gave him a big hug while Powell slapped him on the back and Azriel gave his arm a quick hug. The four of them put on their matching cloaks and headed off to the encampment that the subjugation force member were meeting at.

Master Yurbek had been watching from the shadows and had a large grin on his face from the heartwarming scene. He had been wondering what Ren was going to do with what he had been making and was pleasantly surprised when he saw that they were intended as gifts from his friends. Master Yurbek silently wished them luck and set about cleaning the workshop.