It didn't take long for Kahala and Silah to understand what casting was. Hera did her best to explain what she knew about it and how people used heat-resistant metals to create the molds, but the blacksmiths knew better. Instead of having a mold made of another type of metal, it was better to make them out of clay or some specific types of stone to avoid deforming the product. After a few minutes, it became clear that even without doing something like that, Kahala and Silah were much better equipped to discuss the process than Hera.

The human was more of a sounding board, while Silah and Kahala talked about how to use this new method. At one point during the night, they headed to the forge behind the house and started preparing a mold for the scales. To do so, they had to take a couple of the scales off and use them as the base for the shapes they needed.

The blacksmiths spent around one hour trying different ideas and molds, but they would only be ready to use after some time. While the two talked, Hera dozed off in the corner. Naka's punishment was tiring her a lot. A while after she started her nap, Hera shifted in her seat and started falling. Waking up with the scare, Hera slammed her hands against some of the tools on the wall, making them fall to the ground.

"Careful with that, girl. I'm not in the mood to make new tools," Kahala said.

"Sorry. I'm just tired. Do you guys still need me for something?" Hera rubbed her eyes.

"You can go home, but come back in two days, and bring your blue-haired friend, just in case," Kahala replied.

"Why?"

"Just do what I say," Kahala huffed and went back to the molds she was making.

Hera got up and yawned as she left the forge. Silah rushed right behind her, "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired," Hera was still feeling woozy. She was more tired than she realized.

"Do you need me to take you home?"

"No, no, don't worry. Stay, you seem to be having the time of your life," Hera smiled.

"Is it that obvious?" Silah scratched her neck.

"A little bit. But don't worry, it's cute seeing you like that. Anyway, stay here. I can get home without a problem," Hera gave Silah a kiss on the cheek and left Kahala's forge.

If anyone was paying attention, they would notice Silah turning red, but that wasn't the case for Hera. In her tired state, she said goodbye to her friend the same way she would do it to Blue or Helena. Hera walked back home and, after a quick talk to Blue explaining what happened, she went to bed. The next day they returned to their training. However, their runs were now had an actual set amount of laps. Then, they had to focus on combat training with the captain, and late afternoon, after the rest of the guard went home, they would practice teamwork with the mages.

Hera tried to talk to Silah, but her friend kept rushing from one place to another. Figuring out she must be busy, she thought it was better to give her some space. Later that night, Hera and Blue took the time to review their new skills and spells, already thinking about how to fight the griffons.

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Flaming Poison Rain

Rank: Intermediate

Creates a series of piercing projectiles of burning poisonous mana. Creatures struck by the projectiles can become poisoned or start burning. The spell causes significant damage with the impact, and the poison will be diluted when comparing with a single target spell.

Range: 20 meters

Base area of effect: 7 meters

Base mana cost: 150 mana

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Close Wounds

Rank: Novice

Allows the user to assist in the regeneration of wounds. The spell utilizes residual mana from the attack to improve its effects. If the residual mana is no longer present, this spell has no effects.

Range: 5 meters

Base cost: 50 mana

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"So, the heal works for how long? After the attack lands, I mean," Blue asked.

"I haven't tested all the possibilities out, but if I use it more than a minute after the hit, it barely has any effect."

"Like, nothing? Or it just loses the boost?"

"Nothing, or at least so little that it doesn't even make a difference," Hera shrugged.

"And your all in thing? How does it work again?"

"I can give a massive buff to a single action. Like running or jumping, but it's a single move, and it has a cooldown of a day and a half."

"You still haven't ranked that one up?"

"it's kind of hard to level up a skill that I can only use once every other day. Besides, I save that one for emergencies."

"That's… not the best idea," Blue saw Hera's reaction and continued, "I'm not saying it's not good to have it available for big things, but how can you level that up if you don't use it?"

"Well… I guess you're right. The thing is, I always get worried that I might end up not having the skill when I really need it. Like when we first got here. If I had used the skill to fight that kobold commander, I couldn't use it to run away from the lava."

"Fair point, but what about when we are doing something predictable? Like doing dungeon runs or training. You can use the skill now to practice, and since it's a hidden skill, it might be something good when it ranks up."

Hera nodded, "That's a good point. I'll keep that in mind. Oh, and before I forget. Tomorrow we need to go to Kahala's place."

"The armorsmith? Silah took my armor to her too, but why do we have to go there?"

"I'm not sure. She has my armor and asked me to bring you, just in case. Maybe we'll get lucky, and she's actually making us some new gear," Hera wasn't much hopeful about that. Even Naka was denied an armor made by Kahala. She hoped that, at least, they got their armor fixed.

The next day was just the same. Training for most of the day and late afternoon, they trained with the mages again. After just two days, the new team was already starting to work well together. Since Hera and Blue were the ones who would be in the front line, they would fight each other while trying to hit the mages on the back. Sevaris and Ganek had to protect Totrak and Lija, respectively. At the same time, the humans had another objective. They had to steal a ball that Pyrrick was holding on the side of the arena. The mage would use various spells to avoid Hera and Blue. To make things worse, Naka would be protecting him as well. This training was to improve their decision-making skills and learn how to pay attention to several things at once. To evaluate things better, the captain had come up with a scorings system. Landing an attack against one of the guards would give them 1 point. Hitting one of the mages was 3 points. Blocking or evading one of Naka's attacks would give them 5 points, and getting the ball that Pyrrick was protecting would give them 10 points. Another possibility was to land an attack on Naka herself. If they managed to do that, they would get 30 points. That last option wouldn't be possible, and everyone knew that. It was just a way to show that chasing a treasure wasn't always a good idea.

Despite what they expected, the training was very helpful. Hera half expected to be a waste since it seemed like a lot, but it felt like playing something like dodgeball. So far, she and Blue focused on trying to beat each other and attack the mages. Dealing with Naka was not only challenging, but it would leave their mage open. Not that the guards would have any trouble to block the attacks, but it felt wrong to let themselves open like that. During the training, Blue ended up winning their 'match' by a large margin. Hera only got 8 points, all for hitting Sevaris, while Blue got 18 points. She not only managed to hit Ganek, the senior guard, but also Lija.

"You are only winning because of your grapple," Hera huffed as they walked towards Kahala's place.

"Stop whining. I won because I'm better," Blue puffed her chest.

"Better at tossing people around. I still can't believe you threw me at Naka!"

"That one was my bad. Sorry," Blue scratched her head.

"It's fine. It just didn't help," Hera sighed.

"At some point, she's going to treat you better. She has to, right?" Blue said.

"I don't know. She's not all buddy-buddy with you, but at least she doesn't give you crap all the time."

"It's not like she doesn't give me some harsh feedback."

"Yeah, but it feels different, you know. She always remembers your name. I'm always Heryn, Heka, Hebe, He anything but ra."

Blue didn't know what to say. It was odd how the captain treated them differently. They walked for some time until reaching the makeshift wooden cabin. Behind it, the forge was already puffing up smoke from the chimney. Hera guided them to the entrance and found Silah finishing up the last touches on Blue's armor.

"Oh hey, How was training?" Silah asked.

"It was fun," Blue smiled. Ever since she got an increase on her [Improved Stamina], she was always energetic.

"I bet. Sorry for not being around these past few days. I was busy working with Kahala."

"Don't worry. It must be great to work with someone you admire. How is it going?" Hera asked.

Silah turned her head back to the armor, avoiding Hera's gaze, "It's fun. Your armor is over there," she pointed to a basket on the side, "Give me ten-fifteen minutes that yours will be done, Blue."

Blue turned to Hera and mouthed, "Did something happen?"

"I don't know," Hera replied without making a sound. Before, she imagined that Silah was just busy, but now it seemed like she was avoiding her. Still, it wasn't the right moment to talk about that. The blacksmith was busy finishing Blue's armor.

Hera walked over to the basket on the side, where her armor was. Kahala was by the forge heating some metal until it turned liquid. Hera called her out, but the dwarf didn't even acknowledge her presence. With a shrug, she picked her repaired armor. It looked great, all the scales were in the right places, and the scratches on the leaf-shaped plates were all gone. However, after holding it, she felt something odd. The armor gave off a different feeling now. She used her [Inspect] on it just to make sure it was still her armor.

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Autumn's Pristine Reflection (Reflect Affinity)

Rarity: Rare

An armor created by an exemplary blacksmith and later improved by Kahala, the master armorsmith. The mix of materials used to craft something this resilient and flexible don't work well together. However, due to the knowledge and technique used during its repairs, the balance was fixed, creating a synergy between the materials.

Defense ratio: C+

Attribute Scaling:

Agility x 1.5

Intelligence x 1.6

Armor Skill: Repulsion

Triggers an energy burst as a response to impacts in the armor. This effect can be turned on or off by the user. The potency of the blast is based on the user's charisma. When the effect is turned off, the impact damage will be stored in the armor and later can be used as an attack. The accumulated damage lasts for up to 3 hours and cannot exceed a certain threshold.

Attribute Scaling

Charisma x 2

Mana cost: 300 mana

Cooldown: 5 seconds

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Bronze Leaf Armguards (Metal Affinity)

Rarity: Rare

Armguards created by an exemplary blacksmith and later improved by Kahala, the master armorsmith. By extracting impurities from the original material, the armguards became much more resilient and capable of strengthening the user.

Defense ratio: B

Attribute Scaling:

Intelligence x 2.4

Agility x 2.7

Armor Skill:

Autumn's Grip:

Improve the handling of weapons by sharing their weight with the armguards. The skill also improves any magical enchantment the user placed on the weapon.

Attribute scaling:

Intelligence x 3

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"What? This is my armor?" Hera gasped with wide eyes.

"Silah told me your level, so don't complain. This was the best I could do without putting any restrictions on the armor. I have to admit, the materials you humans have are something. I never imagined that metal could behave like wood after heating up," Kahala explained while removing a layer of melted silver from the furnace.

"I'm not complaining. This is amazing! It's more than two times stronger. I think I should've left the boots here too," Hera replied.

"Bah, stop being greedy. That is all you are getting from me. I have still have work to be done," Kahala replied as she continued shaping the heated metal.

"Hera, take a look at this!" Blue yelled over Silah's shoulder.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Look at my armor!"

Hera walked over. Blue's armor was also much better than before, even if the change wasn't as significant as the one Hera had. The shoulder guards now could cover her entire body in a mist, and her armor would be even stronger when electricity was coursing through it. With this new gear, they would have a much easier time fighting the griffons.

"Do you guys mind giving me some space? I'm still not done," Silah huffed.

"Oh, sorry," Blue took a few steps back.

"Our bad, but hey, can we talk after you're done?" Hera asked.

Silah kept avoiding her gaze but nodded in response.