Surprisingly, Callie was back from college, although with the current situation that was expected. 

"Hi Callie, how was college?" Callie spun her head around to see Brennan. 

"Aw come on, your sis is back and the first thing you ask is how college was?" 

Callie stood up and brought Brennan into a hug. Since Brennan had practically lived in the shop since he was little, Callie was always like a big sister to him. She rubbed him on the head like she used to when he was little, making Brennan give a disapproving look. 

"I'm not a child anymore, you know. You can't keep treating me like this." Brennan said with pout. 

"You'll always be a child to me." Callie replied with a loving smile as she tidied her dirty blond hair and sat back down on her chair. 

After greeting old man Jake, Brennan sat down and ate with the 2 of them, just as he had done for his entire life. It wasn't that strange since he had seen them just a few weeks ago, but it was still nice to relax after everything that had happened.

He went into the storehouse, picking up 3 of his old projects, which he would be taking with him to fight. 

One was a light armor set made of bluetin, an alloy made from melting the scales of a rare intermediate level beast known as the Blue-Scaled Tiger. Brennan had spent all his allowance on it once he was confident in his blacksmithing skills. The set was made of a chestplate that covered only his chest and not his stomach, which made it easy to move around when wearing it. There was a set of shin guards and forearm guards, all of which provided basic protection while still being lightweight

The second was a one-handed sword, made of steel. It was still slightly big for Brennan to use, but very well made. 

And last but not least, was a dagger made of silver, from a Silver-Horned Bull. Brennan had spent the longest on this project, and it was his best despite it being his first good quality project. It was such good quality, Jake hired a runist to inscribe 2 runes on it. There was a rune pattern on each side of the dagger, making the silver color a perfect backdrop for the bright and glowing elemental colors. The handle was covered in a layer of special leather, which made holding it for long periods of time very comfortable.

Brennan said his goodbyes, and gave his hugs, for what might be the last time. He put his sword in a sheath on his left side, put his dagger in another sheath on his right, and put his armor in a bag. He walked past the old shack once again, but when he went inside nothing had changed, and the podium was still on the floor with nothing beneath it.

He arrived back at the plaza, where everyone was splitting up into the groups. There were about 200 hundred people in each group, so it would normally be hard to organize. But with a common goal, most people were able to understand that this was not the time to fight each other, because everything was on the line. Of course there were still the few people that tried to stand out, but they were quickly flushed out by the urgency that everyone else had.

Most people had their own equipment, and the people that did not have any equipment were given basic ones. People all throughout the enormous plaza practiced using their new or old equipment, lightly sparring or doing drills. The tension was high, so except for the occasional troublemaker, it was completely silent.

Lawrence led Brennan through basic sword techniques and drills, acting as he always did. Brennan did notice that Lawrence's movements were a bit stiff, though he didn't take much notice because anyone would be nervous in a situation like this. 

Brennan also asked Levi to teach him how to fight with a dagger, since the Smith family was known for being experts in using shadow magic as well as dagger techniques. Of course Levi would not teach him any family secrets, but anything would help at this point. 

At around 10, everyone was told to get some rest, since they would need it for the next day. They went back to the dorms, silently, with only nervous shuffles along the way. Without a word, everybody went to bed. 

Almost everyone was asleep, but Brennan was wide awake, taking in the reality he was currently in. As the moon reflected off of his golden ring, a white smoke started to embrace him. He sat up, using the moonlight to gaze at what was happening. He rolled to the side of his bed, looking down at the bed below him, where Levi was sleeping soundly on his side. Squinting his eyes, Brennan glanced around the room and saw that everyone was asleep as well. 

Leaning against the headboard of his bed, he studied the white gem on his ring that was spreading the misty white air. The white smoke increased in density, until it was barely see-through. Brennan waved his arms around, but it didn't do anything to the smoke. 

Eventually, he found himself surrounded by nothing but white. He could only see his own body, and everything else dissapated as if nothing was ever there. He stood up, with no resistance from the white air that had been his blanket. There was absolutely nothing in any direction, except...Brennan jogged in the direction of what he thought had been a golden dot. With nothing else to witness, he ran in silence.

Out of nowhere, a fancy golden structure lined with white appeared. The outside was completely blocked, with no windows or entrances except for a yellow lined door.