I didn't get much sleep after my encounter with the guard. Bella was guarding the room but even then I woke up every hour or so, gripping my staff. When all was quiet I fell back asleep only to repeat this process. Eventually, I gave up on sleeping.

Instead, I read through the rest of the books I had been meaning to look at. I learned a few new runes, quite a bit about pagan designs and symbols. The system added them to my knowledge so they must be able to be used in my rune crafting as well.

I especially liked the book about Egyptian hieroglyphics. I had been meaning to spend more time with the book. The eye of Ra and Horus were of interest. I wanted to be able to make something that would allow me to always see through stealth or effects that hid people. This led me to an odd book I picked up on conspiracy theories and symbolism. Of course, the all-seeing eye was prominently displayed on the cover of said book. It was the main reason I grabbed it from the library in the first place.

The all-seeing eye fell under more occult symbolism than anything else, which made me wonder. The image wasn't ancient like the previous ones I had worked with, yet my skill seemed to accept it all the same. Giving it its own description, versus putting it with the eye of Ra or Horus. I was starting to think that the symbol itself didn't matter as much as the meaning placed on it by people.

I was tempted to carve the design into my flesh but that would be temporary, and who knew if it would work. I would wait until Fiona returned and maybe try it.

A few more hours passed while I read. Fiona finally appeared just as the sun was rising.

"You're up early."

"Yea, couldn't sleep. Anything interesting around town?"

"For the undead...no. I was more curious about the people and the architecture. The glass-walled buildings are truly something."

I forgot she hadn't really seen any impressive buildings while she was alive. The Fox Valley didn't have all that unique architecture, mostly old buildings made in the forties and fifties. It's too bad she missed out on Chicago.

"Since you're back I want to test something."

"No healing spells," she said adamantly.

"No, no, nothing like that. I want to carve a rune into my body and see if I can activate it to spot you while you're invisible."

"Seems painful, you sure you want to try this?"

"Yeah, a little pain like this is nothing."

She went silent at that, remembering the story I told her about my time in Chicago.

"Fine... but if I think it's causing too much pain, I will stop you."

I thanked her for her concern but assured her I would be fine. Now where to carve the symbol?

Eventually, I chose to carve it on the back of my hand. I figured if I needed to activate it by touch this might be the best way. If it didn't work or worked differently than I anticipated I would try some other location.

I exhaled and quickly carved the design into my hand, gritting my teeth at the pain. Blood welled up from the cuts, trickling down onto the table. I would make sure to clean it up after, who knew if there were blood magic users around, I sure as hell didn't want to find out. After I finished carving in the design I used rejuvenate to seal the wounds.

The cuts scarred over leaving an eye trapped in a pyramid on the back of my hand.

"Alright, you ready?"

"Yes," Fiona replied, fading from view.

I could feel the rune on my hand, it felt odd, not like a tattoo or a scar but like something foreign.

"Here goes nothing."

I willed a bit of mana into the area where the rune was, to see if it would activate that way. Nothing happened. I touched the rune with my other hand and willed the mana through my fingers. This got a response. The scars started to glow a dim blue color, emitting a light that cast the area it was pointed at in an odd color.

"Fiona, are you still in the same spot?"

"Yes."

I turned my hand so the light fell on the area Fiona occupied. When it passed her I could see a strange glowing outline, that seemed to stick to her form. It went away as soon as I pulled the rune away from her location.

"Well it seems to work, the resolution could be better but I'm guessing it has to do with the poor quality of the rune."

Fiona popped back into view. "So you're just going to carve yourself up for a minor advantage?"

I shook my head, "no, more a proof of concept. One of my healing spells will remove the scars anyway so it's pointless to do it. I think tattooing them on might work though. I probably need to use some magical ink though, similar to what they use for enchanting."

"Well, I guess if it helps I can't really raise too much concern. Just, try not to go overboard," she said sternly.

"Yes, mother," I said, rolling my eyes. "First some food, then we can head back to the Bazaar, the items I purchased should be ready."

Her face brightened at this news. "Did you know, there is a ghost area in the Bazaar?"

"Really, what for?"

"No clue, I just saw a bunch of ghosts congregating in one area. Maybe for spirits looking for masters, or for those who wish to commune with the dead. I was too chicken to go over and see."

"Well, if you do go over, stay safe, I won't be able to protect you."

"You won't need to, there are guardian spirits there that could turn a level 40 into swiss cheese in moments."

I swallowed at that statement, "Good to know... don't piss off the ghosts."

***

Martin and the boys rolled up to the outskirts of Arman an hour or so before sunrise. The town was quiet which was normal at this time of day. They slowed down as Clem held up a hand. They had come to trust the man's instincts, coming to a halt.

"What's up?"

"Not sure, something feels off."

"Joshua, get ready, we may have trouble."

Joshua got off the quad and starting changing his form. He could take on aspects of any creature he killed. He chose to go with a tusked boar, they were tough and mean. After his transformation, he resembled an eight-foot-tall pigman, with tusks, and wiry hair covering his body. He was still bipedal with normal hands. He produced a heavy axe and a large shield from his new storage ring. They weren't anything special, just much larger than normal, built for larger species.

He had basic weapon skills but his abilities improved natural weapons more. Since this form didn't really have anything other than tusks he felt this was a better option.

Martin started pulling some bones and dice from his ring, casting them on the ground in front of him. His skills were mostly random but extremely powerful. The dice landed on 666. The bones glowed and grew. A four-foot bone demon taking shape. That was a new one for him. After the creature took shape pale flames appeared around it. Martin could feel the connection to the creature, allowing him to control it.

Next, he pulled out three small bags, giving them shakes. He handed one to each of the guys to hang around their necks. Once worn a silver shimmer appeared around each of them. The shield would help ward off damage.

Martin pulled out one last item, a crow talon wand. He just finished preparing when Clem called out.

"Incoming," The man said, pulling out his crossbow. The man didn't hesitate, firing into one of the people running at them.

Martin could tell something was wrong with the people. They ran in a jerky, inconsistent way. The one Clem shot with his crossbow went down, trampled by the others.

Martin fired off a blue bolt from his wand, striking another of the creatures before Joshua bellowed and rushed towards the group. The entire group of what Martin thought of as zombies headed straight for Joshua.

***

I ate the food quickly and headed over to the Bazaar to pick up my order. Vorgot had my items ready.

"Ere ye go, ye got those plates for me?"

I handed him the four plates that I finished during the night. Less sleep gave me plenty of time to finish them.

"Gimme five minutes."

I nodded to the man as he headed into his workroom. Five minutes later he was back out, handing me the fully repaired armor. I thanked the man for his hard work and headed out. I had some carving to do and headed back to my hotel.

Fiona joined me about an hour later. "I see you got your new staff, I forgot to ask what abilities you were going to add to them."

"Give me twenty minutes and I can show you," I said with a mischievous smile.

"For shame, making a woman wait, it better be good."

"Oh, it is."

Ghastly Harvest

Quality: Excellent

Damage as Staff: 22-45 bludgeoning/piercing/spiritual siphoning x3 critical damage

Damage as Mace: 15-25 bludgeoning/piercing/spiritual siphoning x1.5 critical damage

This strider bone staff is capped with an Osmium Mithril alloy, engraved with runic enchantments to cause blindness, pain, and strike out at the ethereal. A separate enchantment allows the staff to shrink down to half its length to act like a mace.

I ignored the XP notice, instead, admiring the staff. Intricate rune work trailed down the staff. One of the capped ends held a few runes as well. A last-minute addition I tested the previous night. This would allow one of the capped ends to shrink, making it look more mace-like, instead of a stick with two metal balls on it.

Of course, the caped ends weren't round they were octagonal, made with slight scallops to allow for more force to be placed on a smaller point. Each end now sported a four-spoke triangular spike that jutted out around eight inches, made from the same dense material. Holding the staff by the middle caused each end to bow slightly from the weight. That was fine with me, the flexibility actually helped.

I noticed Fiona quickly floated away when the staff was complete. "What is that it feels... foul."

"Spiritual siphoning," I quickly added.

"Why would you make something like that?"

"Well, when I fought those specters and couldn't even harm them it was a wake-up call. Now I'm not certain about this next part but the effect may also be able to target people with abilities to hide or turn invisible."

"You mean like those shadow faction folks you told me about?"

"Exactly."

"Well keep it away from me, I thought becoming a specter would make me immune to feeling nauseous but that staff comes close."

"Sounds like a plan, now check this out."

I pressed my thumb to the triggering rune and fed some mana into the staff. I guess I wasn't prepared for the sound. The noise of cracking bones and tortured metal echoed in my hotel room as the staff shrank. The sound sent a shiver up my spine. The wooden test had not done this. When the transformation was complete I now held a three-foot-long mace. I gave it a few test swings. The weight had not changed, it had only been compressed.

"That sound could wake the dead," Fiona commented.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. Either way, it works."

I stopped the trickle of mana and the staff shot back to its full length, almost taking my arm out of its socket. "Ow, hell, going to have to get used to that," I said, rubbing my sore shoulder.

"Are you done playing?"

"Fine, ill put it away for now. I need to check on my armor anyway."

I pulled out my fully repaired Mage-Bane armor and inspected it.

Mage-Bane Brigandine

Quality: Superb

Armor: 35

Slashing resistance: 60%

Stabbing resistance: 75%

Blunt resistance: 25%

Magic resistance 90%

Elemental resistance 30%

Shield: Max Charge 400 mana

Made from Mithril and Wyvern, this armor has inherent magical and elemental resistance. The rune crafted Tree of Life design combines all of the elements of the armor together, strengthening them. The mana heart set into the tree's roots provides a shield of force that deflects .5 damage per mana spent to charge it.

Most of the stats saw an increase as well as the quality. And now with the larger mana heart, I could have an even more powerful shield.

Fiona floated over to take a closer look. "It's quite lovely."

I simply nodded, taking my Trubar armor off to put this set on. I forgot just how nice this armor had turned out. It fit me like a second skin. I quickly powered up the shield, watching the new gem glow. It lent a sinister red glow to the runes on the armor, matching much nicer than the previous green of the smaller gem.

"Attack me, I want to see if you can penetrate the shield."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup," I nodded.

She didn't have to be asked twice, her ethereal blade appearing in her hand as she stabbed out lightning fast.

'Ethereal blades hurt.'

"Owww," I said, reeling back from the unblocked blow. It had taken over a hundred health off of me, bypassing my armor and shield like it wasn't even there.

"Are you ok?" Fiona asked in concern.

"Yeah, just surprised is all," I said, casting Healing Touch. The creeping cold from her strike faded as my non-wound healed. It was weird to be injured by something that technically didn't exist.

"Well, at least we know I can't take a hit from you while you're incorporeal, Try it again, this time as a physical presence."

She slashed at me with her blade, having it rebound off my shield, draining it a hundred and forty points.

"Geez, I didn't say to put everything into it," I said, backing away from the crazy woman.

She just smiled, "How else will you learn it's limitations if I don't go all out? Plus this is a little payback for making that creepy staff."

Maybe I wouldn't tell her that I planned to copy the design onto my second staff. 'Yeah, probably best to keep that to myself for now.'