34 Invitation

After returning to the house, Lucius changed his clothes and fell asleep. He had planned to go to the store early the next day to craft the armour sets he had been thinking about. Morning came, and the sunlight streamed in through the window. Getting up and getting dressed, he walked out and met Lily on the way.

''Morning,'' he greeted her with a nod, and she returned the greeting.

''When are we going out?'' Lily asked, looking at him expectantly.

''Out?'' Lucius looked at her, feigning confusion.

''Outside the walls,'' she corrected herself quickly, a bit embarrassed.

Lucius knew what she meant, but he decided to play a little joke. ''Once I craft the armour pieces, tomorrow.''

With that settled, they headed towards the store. There were no other stores open yet, and a small crowd of around 100 people had gathered, waiting for him. Confused, he looked around, and a man with a bulky figure stepped in front of him.

''Are you Lucius?'' the man asked, though it was obvious he already knew the answer.

''No,'' Lucius shook his head and walked to the door, opening it and going behind the counter. The man and his companions looked confused, but one of them eventually realized that he was indeed Lucius.

Speechless and feeling a bit uneasy, the man walked into the shop and stared at Lucius. ''What do you want?'' Lucius asked casually as he put some swords on the walls.

''We have found a village and we are planning to raid it. I know you are level 5 already, judging by the 100 gold you had,'' the man explained, deducing that Lucius had gained a total of 1,000 exp, making him level 5.

''Go on,'' Lucius replied, paying a bit more attention now, as this person seemed to be a bit smarter than the rest.

''As I said before, we found a goblin village that has captured some of our allies. We, along with several other groups, are planning to attack it. Are you in?'' the man asked.

''How many people will be in the raid?'' Lucius inquired.

''A bit more than a thousand,'' he replied. ''We plan to leave tomorrow, if you wish to come, meet us at the Northern gate.'' With that, he left the store.

After a while, the rest of the group arrived, along with a new person, Emilia. Lucius introduced her, stating that she would join them and follow their orders. Emilia greeted everyone with a nod.

"Okay, let's go to the back of the store. Today, I won't sell anything anyway," Lucius said as he locked the door and led them to the back, where they all sat on stools.

"I received an offer to raid a village with some other groups," he informed them, briefly sharing the details the man had given him.

"Do we need help?" Lily asked, suggesting that they might not necessarily have to join the larger group.

"No, but it's good to have some people acting like small fish, baits if you may," Lucius added, thinking that the large group was likely to attract the sharks.

''We can follow, but we have to maintain a distance,'' Talon added, fully belonging to the group now.

''I second this. We can gain more information,'' Kevin also voted.

Emilia and Charlotte didn't have a choice to vote yet; only after they had experienced life-and-death situations with the group could they truly voice their opinions.

''Good, it's planned then. For now, I will make armours before I tell you about what I learned with Emilia.'' He gestured to her to explain what he was trying yesterday and let the others ponder on it. He also told them not to share it with anyone else.

Going over to the smelter, he created ingots of metal before activating the Steelwork Forge skill. This time, he planned to craft some plain steel armour that they could wear under their clothes to protect vital points.

Using the Steelwork Forge, he crafted enough metal vests to protect the torso, to be worn under their clothes. Next, he made an armband that could be used to block a sword attack for himself. Additionally, he repaired Kevin's shield and added some parts just before his mana reached 20/100.

Panting and sweating, he stopped and passed the items around for everyone to try out. They were uncomfortable, as he didn't have enough mana to stitch them with fur or leather to make them smoother, but wearing them would still protect against arrows and some attacks, making it worth it.

The armband was designed for Lucius to block an attack if needed, even though it might result in his hand breaking, it could still save his life in a critical situation. Meanwhile, he gave the repaired shield to Kevin, which may have looked patched together with metal parts, but it was stronger than before. It could now withstand attacks from even a level 6 goblin, with it having more durability with the repair.

After resting, Lucius asked Lily for a spar, requesting her to use the skill that twisted the blade, as he wanted to gain insights from it. During the spar, Lucius refrained from using any skills and focused on blocking her attacks.

To his surprise, he realized that this self-proclaimed sword master was indeed skilled enough to hold her ground and force him to rely solely on his blocking abilities, as she refrained from using any skills as well.

During the spar, Lucius got a few cuts here and there, and when Lily used the skill as he instructed, she pulled her sword back before the strikes hit any vital parts. Lily wasn't going easy on him, and the spar left him with more cuts until she eventually stopped. The fight repeated, again and again, every few seconds because Lily couldn't maintain the use of the skill continuously.

It was a valuable spar that honed their blades and techniques, and it also taught them about the importance of using skills effectively in a fight.

Feeling satisfied with the crafted items, Lucius sat cross-legged, getting used to the flow of mana through his body without using any skills. Tomorrow, they would follow the others from a distance and assess the situation.

They planned to approach the goblin village cautiously, and if everything went smoothly, they wouldn't initiate an attack. However, if the situation attracted stronger opponents, Lucius wouldn't mind trying to acquire some new skills. It was an opportunity for them to explore the outside world, gather information, and find out where the logs were being delivered.

As the day came to an end, they decided to relax and rest, preparing to meet at the Northern gate tomorrow to begin their journey.