The following morning, Jaune woke up refreshed. The pain he felt the night before after getting hit by the Beast of the Rift was gone, all thanks to his [High-Speed Regeneration]. Taking a shower as he woke up, he could not wait to learn from Hephaestus today. Sure, he was not much of a weapon nut like Ruby, but he did have much interest in magic weapons, which, when he found out was not a thing on Remnant, he lost interest. But, ever since gaining the Dreamscape, that spark he lost was back with a vengeance. He can make all the magic weapons and equipment in the palm of his hand!

With a skip in his step, Jaune dressed and headed to the living room, where he found his girls on the floor, unresponsive. This worried him went to check on them, and he asked, "Are you all okay? What happened?"

Nora crawled to him, saying, "Jaune~ I'm so hungry!"

Jaune was shocked. Surely, they aren't all hungry. Lei was capable of cooking. He said, "What happened? Didn't you eat dinner last night?"

Nora responded, "Lei made us something to eat, but…but…It did not taste as good as yours! Even Lei did not end up eating her own cooking!"

Jaune looked at Lei, who blushed. He said, "Really? I thought you loved Lei's cooking?"

Nora said, "I do! But I was craving your cooking last night. Even the others were the same."

Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Amber avoided eye contact with Jaune. They were embarrassed as they acted like children who did not get what they wanted and rebelled by not eating what was in front of them.

Jaune sighed. He placed everyone on the couch and headed to the kitchen. He couldn't stand seeing them like this. It hurt his heart. So, he buckled up and whipped up some fantastic soup since they hadn't eaten anything last night. If he were to make a hearty meal for them, it would cause an upset stomach.

The smell alone from his cooking awakened the energy within the girls' bodies. They quickly set up the table and sat in wait. As Jaune came out of the kitchen with the food, they didn't care about decency and started slurping the soup. It invigorated them. It gave them the energy to tackle the day with their utmost performance.

Nora licked the soup left on her lips and said, "By the way, what are the plans today?"

Jaune replied, "You girls would be heading to the dungeon in a group of four. Amber, you will lead Nora, Lei, and Pyrrha. I will not join you because I have an appointment with Hephaestus."

Amber dropped her spoon and said, "H-Hold on! I've never led a team before! I don't know how to be a leader!"

Jaune smiled, saying, "That would be the same as me a few months ago. When I became a leader for JNPR, I panicked, but with great people like them, you'll learn to lead in no time."

Lei said, "Do not worry. We are not like those who are picky about who leads us. Although, if the leader we were assigned were someone we found incompetent, we would voice our concern, and if it were brushed aside, we would deal with it in our own way."

Amber gave an awkward laugh. She has been traveling throughout Remnant on her own. This is the first time she would be leading a team, Jaune's team, no less. She said, "I'll do my best to ensure they are safe."

Ruby voiced her question, "What are you meeting with Hephaestus for? Didn't you already sell the weapons before?"

Jaune smirked at Ruby, saying, "Say, Ruby. Do you know what Goddess Hephaestus is?"

Ruby shook her head, making Jaune smirk even more. He said, "She is the Goddess of blacksmithing. I got her as my personal teacher in her specialty."

Ruby was shocked. She then pouted, saying, "No fair! I want to learn from a Goddess too! I'm the weapon nut in our group!"

Jaune pulled on the puffed cheeks of Ruby, saying, "Yes, you are, except you don't have time at the moment. However, I did say to Hephaestus that I knew someone that is quite amazing at crafting weaponry. She said she would love to meet you. But only after you gain enough stats."

This motivated Ruby to give it her all! She thought, 'Weak monsters? I will kill it in seconds! Strong monsters? I'll shred it in two seconds! Mu-ha-ha-ha! Nothing will stop me from being taught blacksmithing by a Goddess!'

Jaune shook his head as he accidentally heard what she thought telepathically. Curiosity at the thought of others causes the skill to be activated momentarily. He thought, 'I should be careful with that. I don't want to pry in people's minds unless for certain exceptions.'

Later, Jaune and the others separated. They headed to the dungeon while he headed to Hephaestus' manor. He could not calm the excitement he was feeling. Arriving at his destination, the guards allowed him entry immediately as they were instructed not to block him for any reason.

Heading inside, Jaune went to the study of Hephaestus. Upon knocking, he heard the Goddess say to come in. Inside, Jaune was greeted by the beautiful sight of Hephaestus and another individual with brown skin, long black hair, red eyes, and wearing an eyepatch. And she has a well-endowed chest that is kept in a sarashi and wears a red hakama and sandals.

The woman looked at Jaune with one eye, saying, "Hmm…So, you're the one that has made Hephaestus-sama giddy."

Hephaestus smacked her, saying frantically, "What are you talking about, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki said, "You are giddy. You've been hyperactive since you woke up. Something about teaching someone personally how to be a blacksmith."

Hephaestus sighed. She thought Tsubaki meant something else. She then heard the woman continue, "Also, you have this lovestruck look in your eyes, which happened to shine when you heard his voice."

Hephaestus stood from her seat and shut Tsubaki's mouth with her hands. She could not let Tsubaki say any more than she already had. She was embarrassed as it was.

Jaune laughed and said, "What would we start today?"

Hephaestus took out a book and gave it to Jaune, saying, "I need you to memorize this. It is essential as it would give you a solid foundation."

Looking at the book, Jaune took out simple-looking eyeglasses from his item box and put them on. This was the [Gale-Force Reading Glasses], a pair of enchanted reading glasses that allow the wearer to read at an extremely accelerated rate. The pages on the book started flipping on their own as Jaune read them at high speed. It did not take him more than a minute to read and memorize the book's entire content.

Jaune said, "Done."

Hephaestus was intrigued by the glasses Jaune wore. She asked, "Do you mind if I see that glasses?"

Jaune took off the glasses and handed them to Hephaestus. Who then said, "This is astonishing work of magic."

After she analyzed the inner workings of the glasses, she returned them to Jaune, whom she then questioned about the book's contents.

Hephaestus was laughing as she said, "You are amazing. I understand the glasses allowed you to read quickly, but you could memorize it with your skills. All right, follow me."

There was a hidden door in Hephaestus' office that she opened. It was her personal workshop. Seeing the furnace, Jaune said, "Whoa! Is that a Heavenly Flame?"

Hephaestus said, "Yes, it is one I have had all my life."

Jaune said, "Cool! Yours is orange in cool. Look at mine."

With his right hand, Jaune brought forth his [Flames of Transmogrification]. This was shocking not only to Tsubaki but to Hephaestus as well. That was a Heaven;y Flame!

Hephaestus said, "You have a Heavenly Flame? When and where did you get one?"

Jaune said, "I acquired not long ago. As for where I got, sorry, that is a secret."

Hephaestus dropped it, saying, "Now, for your first practical lesson, you'll be smelting and hammering metal all day. You will be hammering them in simple shapes for now. From there, depending on how fast you learn, I will make a personal regime for you to follow."

Jaune nodded and followed all of Hephaestus' instructions. His learning ability was unparalleled. Tsubaki was quite jealous of his rapid growth. One thing to note, Hephaestus said that she was hoping he would choose blacksmithing as a developmental ability, but Jaune told her he has something better, [Manacrafting]. Seeing what it could do made her excited about what Jaune would make in the future.