Martin stuck around until the next morning, saying goodbye to Ska and apologizing to Fiona. Ska was confused as it was anathema for a grimalkin to leave its tribe. We explained that he wasn't leaving our tribe he was joining a bigger one. It didn't seem to help and he grew agitated and left to go hunt.

Fiona had recovered from her emotional outburst and only gave Martin a sad smile as he waved us off.

"You know we will see him again," I said quietly.

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be. Two of my best friends found solace in one another, nothing to be mad about."

"But what about us?"

I sighed, "that is in the past. I still care for you but more like a sister than a lover."

She smiled sadly, giving me a light pat on the shoulder. I ignored the cold that seeped into my body and wished I could hug her to lessen the pain she felt.

"What about Ska?"

"He will be back, it's not like we are leaving right this minute anyway."

"If you don't mind I am going to go be alone for a bit."

I nodded, watching Fiona float off quietly. I sighed again and headed toward the vehicle, I had work to do, and sitting here wallowing in my feelings wasn't going to accomplish anything.

Knowing the vehicle was for Martin I decided to do a bit extra as a going away gift. I installed the power crystal inside the glove box, after reinforcing it with runes. It also would meld with its surrounding, like the door to my fortress, so only someone with the tattoo or linked key could open it.

I then reinforced the entire outside of the truck, the same way I had the fortress. It wouldn't make it impenetrable but it was orders of magnitude stronger now. If I had to guess it would be comparable to a heavily armored tank.

Not that it would protect against magic. I couldn't shield or cloak the vehicle, there just wasn't the budget for that. Even if I spent my own credits, a shield wouldn't be nearly as effective as it was on my fortress. The shape was just too odd and I noticed that shields worked best as a dome. Plus you couldn't activate it while driving around.

Similar to how I built the bus, I left in the ability to drive. Unlike the bus, it could also fly. Not very high though, maybe fifty feet off the ground. It should be quicker than my fortress but it only had plates on the tailgate to push it forward and one in the grill to stop it. All-in-all it was much more mana efficient to just drive it around.

I decided to take my newest invention for a test drive. It bounced a bit more than a normal truck while I drove on the desolate outskirts of Houston. Probably because I had removed the engine and transmission. It still had power steering and AC though, thanks to a mana engine stuffed into the now empty engine compartment. I was actually thankful for electric power steering, it made hooking it up a breeze. Everything was tied into a charging circuit built into the steering wheel, thin filaments of mithril the only thing that gave away their presence.

The speedometer didn't work anymore as there wasn't a transmission but who cared. Not like a cop was going to pull you over for going too fast. Speaking of, I mashed the accelerator and tore down the old highway, swerving around broken-down and long-abandoned vehicles. I launched off the broken end of the elevated freeway and for a second enjoyed the feeling of freefall before I adjusted the levitators and zoomed off into the distance, just above the houses and buildings.

I returned an hour later, happy with the test. Even with the smaller mana heart, the truck could remain airborne for a good three hours. It was better than my fortress. Martin should have no issue providing mana to the control crystal, even someone half his level could keep the truck powered for ten or more hours.

I set the truck down in the parking lot, bouncing on the suspension. The landing was a bit rough as the flight control wasn't as fine as the fortress. I would let martin know to ease it on and off.

I powered off the vehicle and secured it, sticking the two control keys in my ring. Martin didn't need one but I figured a few backups couldn't hurt. While flying I also located the perfect vehicle for my second conversion.

The Mayor wanted something capable of ferrying five to ten people. A bus would work but they were so bulky. Instead, I came across one of those large conversion vans. I hopped on Bella and we rode across town to the dealership where I had spotted it.

As far as I knew, this part of the town was abandoned, just too much open space to wall off. That didn't mean there weren't survivors or desperate people in the area though, so I kept my eyes open.

As I rode past an alley, I spooked three people and they ran off in different directions. Well, I probably didn't spook them but a mini T-rex named Bella might have.

She snorted and cawed at the people as they fled but we moved on. She let out a low hiss as we neared an intersection and I pulled to a stop. I was wearing my armor so I didn't fear a surprise attack but I couldn't see what had her hackles up.

She let out a few chirping caws and in response got a deep angry growl in return.

In an alley behind a gas station, a large lumbering beast came out. It was followed by the screech of metal as its enormous spines tore chunks out of the walls.

It was a porcupine the size of an elephant.

Bella chuffed angrily and I had to hold her back. The creature puffed itself up, the spines penetrating walls and concrete as easily as soft clay. Its beady red eyes blazed in hatred as it turned toward us.

"Well... that's not something you see every day."

The creature was a good hundred feet away and I didn't feel like dealing with it today. Plus it looked like it was just defending its territory as it wasn't approaching us.

I pulled Bella around, keeping my eye on the creature as we backtracked and went in another direction.

It watched us but seemed content that we left. It would have been nice to know what it was but I didn't feel it was worth a closer look, not with those sharp spines. Maybe I would send Fiona over to ID it.

We made it to our destination after another twenty minutes. I wasn't in a hurry so we were taking it slow through the unfamiliar streets. The car dealership sold all kinds of work vehicles but I went around until I located a van with three rows of back seats. Crammed in, it could seat eleven people. Perfect for what I needed.

The place even had a shop attached. I scouted the area around to make sure nobody was near before I got to work. I pushed the van into one of the bays, this one having an in-floor service area for oil changes.

I cut out the engine and transmission, letting them clatter to the bottom with a racket. Then I removed the rest of the junk I didn't need.

With the tools in the shop and the easy access to the bottom of the van, it only took me two hours to attach all the plates, install the control lines, and add the mana engine. I had prepped everything before coming and the plates were the last remnants from the old house.

Bella was keeping an eye out for any trouble, it seemed like anyone that was still surviving out here was smart enough to stay away.

I reinforced the outside of the van the same way I did with the truck. I guess I didn't want them thinking I skimped out. That part took me five hours, mostly because the van was much larger than the truck. Once finished, I stuck Bella back in her enclosure and hopped into the van.

"I always wanted to do this," I said with a smile, stepping on the accelerator and a few seconds later, bursting through the thin garage door with a bang. The van was unhurt as I barreled down the road back towards home.

***

"It's a razor-spine dire porcupine," Fiona said, "and it's level fourteen."

"Hmm, good to know. I will notify the Marshall, maybe he has some men that can take care of it."

Fiona was still hiding her presence from any outsiders. It was probably for the best, we didn't need a repeat of the Psion incident.

I thanked her for the information and got back to my delicate work. The rings had been the most time-consuming product I had made, except for the fortress. I knew it would be difficult but I didn't realize how hard it would be to fit the runic design I had come up with on the rings.

I had my jewelry loupe and one of my most delicate inscribers. A tool that you fed a trickle of mana and it acted like a mini laser, vaporizing a minuscule portion of the metal. The issue wasn't my control but the number of runes and patterns I had to inscribe. The pattern I came up with had ten runic symbols and three separate functions all to trigger one effect. Plus I was making two of the damn things.

I finished the first ring, inspecting my workmanship quickly before the runes faded. I then used Inspect on the ring.

Bounce Back

Quality: Good

Description: A single-use ring crafted by an intermediate crafter. Converts the stored mana into hitpoints after death. Bound to Paul Fuller.

Both rings were completely useless for anyone else and they were single-use to boot. The tiny mana hearts contained in the gaudy rings only stored fifty mana. The conversion rate to HP was five to one, giving me ten additional health after my second chance kicked in. Testing the theory was not my favorite memory and I told Fiona to never mention it to anyone.

I would have made one for Ska but his paws didn't hold rings so well. I was making him a bracer but it wasn't the same enchantment. Not that I didn't want to but every time I had created the stupid runic design it would say it was bound to me. It seemed to be some limitation on this specific effect.

An extra twenty health in the grand scheme of things wasn't much but it could give me time to activate a healing spell or inject a much-needed health potion.

Once those were finished, I moved on to the bracer and the pendant. It was another design I had been tinkering with. Having a rechargeable shield was nice but it could only ever cover the armor it was inscribed on. So you needed a chest piece, helmet, pants, and boots to close off most of the vulnerable areas. That was if you wanted to move around. A static shield could form a dome but you would be stuck at that location unless you powered down the shield.

The vulnerabilities weren't an issue when wearing full kit but that just sucked. Plus it wouldn't help Ska at all, considering his meager armor. So, I came up with a runic combination that spread the impact of one attack across the entire body. It was also not a pleasant test. And when I say body, I mean the whole body. It felt like every nerve was rubbed raw. While not truly painful, it was debilitating the first time I experienced its effect.

With some practice, I managed to weather the effect without being debilitated. The whole point of the item was to defend against sneak attacks. I didn't know what effect it would have on magical attacks though so I added runes to reduce magical damage as well. It wouldn't do to have a fireball hit me unaware, on my pinky, only for my necklace to decide my entire body should feel the burn.

The necklace would recharge after a few hours after absorbing most attacks. But I suspected higher tier spells or spells that covered an area might burn out the enchantment, rendering the item useless. If it worked to save my life, then money well spent. Ska's bracer would perform the same function.

Necklace of Unbroken Pain

Quality: Good

Description: This necklace redirects the force of one attack to the whole body. 60% magic resistance. Ooh... can you feel it!

I'll be honest I was a bit creeped out by the description, even though I knew what it did. The bracer wasn't much better.

Bracer of Nettles

Quality: Good

Description: This bracer redirects the force of one attack to the whole body. 60% magic resistance. Yea I can feel it!

I knew that the system incorporated the crafter's state of mind when it named these things, but really. Was I that worried about the effect? After thinking about it, yeah it really did suck. Thankfully I had put Ska through the same rigorous testing as I had gone through. He hid from me for days after that. Even so, he would now be protected as well as I.