His first task was removing his metal expulsion spearhead from the broken shaft it was connected to. This was easier said then done, given that he used Empower Item to fuse the two together. The wood melded up into the spearhead itself without a seam and Andrew had to painstakingly shave it off with his chisel. The material was suprisingly resistant to the chisel, and it took a bit more force to dig into than he was expecting. Perhaps due to higher mana concentration? It was still trivial compared to his days of traditional chisel work, and all the runes were intact despite an odd grainy texture to the unearthed pieces of metal. Once he was finished he dug up an appropriate length piece of scrap wood for the shaft and shaved it down with quick confident motions. When he was done he held his palm over the middle of the shaft and activated Auto Inscription, carefully carving a fine metal accumulation circle around the shaft. He powered it up and left it to accumulate, turning his attention to his battered and broken shield instead.

The expulsion rune on the front was entirely destroyed deep nicks and cuts, several deep enough to expose the leather backing beneath. If he tried to charge mana into the light accumulation circle on the back it would likely explode. The base was wood, but infused with a bit of earth mana to seal the boards together. He could see faint fractures forming between those boards now as well. He would have to make a new one of these from scratch. It was lighter than the first thin metal shield he made, but not by much due to the earth mana within.

The next one should be metal mana instead. Heavier, but more durable. I might even be able to give it an edge, I use it as a weapon more consistently than anything else and bashing things with the rim is probably what's causing those fractures between the boards. Earth mana tends to make things more brittle. I can definitely handle a heavier shield, so long as the fight doesn't go on any longer than the camp defense did. I can always pump a bunch of my free attribute points into strength if I make it too heavy. I'll probably throw a few in there regardless, though I have to save a few for Vitality and intelligence.

Andrew gathered up a bunch of their smaller scarp wood boards and got to work lining them up, carving and rounding their ends such that they would fit together into a circular shield. He had to hop off the cart for a moment to pick through the one behind for spare ingots, and nearly collapsed as his feet hit the dirt. His stiff knee had no interest in supporting his weight but he managed to hobble around to the back of the rear cart, ignoring the raised eyebrow expressions of admonishment on the faces of the survivors around him. He found what he needed and returned to his cart, transferring the metal affinity of one full ingot into each of the five boards that he would use for the shield. They got marginally heavier and the grain melded together into a smoother, silver speckled surface.

…… Shit. I can't fuse the boards with an accumulation circle while we're moving. I could clear some space and try to carve one into the bottom of the wagon, but the cracks between boards are too wide and chances are I'd just end up fusing the boards to the bottom of the wagon anyways. I could use item empowerment to fuse them together, but the skill tends to be more effective the closer the project is to completion already. I could just set up a circle when we set up camp for the night, but I want to try something first.

Andrew lined two of the boards up atop a crate, pressing them firmly together, carving thin slices off with his chisel so the boards would be as flush as possible. Then he pressed his palm to the start of the seam between the two and activated mend. Nothing happened. The skill didn't even activate. He made a small scratch in one board and activated the skill over it. A flood of mana poured out of his palm and into the wood, filling in the scratch and seeming to pull the wood on either side as it fused them together. It felt nothing like the mana projection skill and he was sure it operated on entirely different principles, though he was far from understanding either. He pressed the two boards together again, then focused, trying to picture the two boards as broken halves of a whole. He pressed his palm against the seam and tried again.

Mana poured down his arm and into the boards, and with excitement he slowly moved it down the line. The skill absolutely devoured mana and by the time he was finished joining the two boards he was down a third of his total mana pool. Five hundered mana. Nearly as much as he used to blow up a boulder twice his height. He grabbed the fused board with one hand and with a little crick the board cracked along the fused seam and fell into two pieces again.

[Mend lvl 2 -> 3]

"Shit."

Looking carefully at the edges of the two boards, it looked like the material stretched and fused together barely along the surface of the boards, and no deeper.

Okay. One more try, then I'll have to move on to something else.

He shaved the stretched portions flush again, then pressed the boards together, pressed his palm to the center and activated Mana Projection. Pure mana flowed out from his hand in a cloud and he directed it down into the seam between the boards, continuing to push mana into the skill as it suffused the crack. He could sense it melting into the grain of the wood on either side as the density increased. It congealed into liquid, then jelly, compressed into the crack between boards. A powerful pulse of mana flowed into the mixture and it crystalized into what looked like a frosty lacquer. Seventy points of mana. Andrew gingerly lifted the fused boards, turning them over to confirm the effect passed all the way through the seam. He pulled gently, they remained stuck.

[Mana Projection lvl 1 -> 2]

Okay. That worked, though it's temporary. The knife I made earlier was brittle and barely lasted five minutes before crumbling. Not long enough for me to fuse all these together and carve an accumulation circle into. Let's see if part two works.

Andrew set the boards down again gently and waited. Just like the knife, tiny cracks began to spiderweb through the frosty crystal. He waited until they spread across the entire seam, then placed his palm against the seam and activated Mend one more time. Mana poured into the boards and as he gently slid his hand along the seam it seemed to grow colder somehow. The result was a smooth, seamless join. The frosty pure mana was gone entirely. Andrew checked his mana, three hundred points used. He gingerly picked the joined board up and turned it over. The other side was identical, smoothly joined together. Andrew gripped the board with two hands, thumbs pressing into the fused seam and pressed gently, then with more force. It held. Andrew sat back with a huff of satisfaction.

[Mend lvl 3 -> 5]

[Mend lvl 5 -> Mana Welding lvl 1]

[+1 Intelligence for the creation of a mana based skill]

[+1 Wisdom for sustaining constant mana control]

[+ 1 Intelligence for pushing the limits of your mana control]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

Well alright then. I guess that works. Time to do the rest.

For the first time in a while, Andrew had to take a break to let his mana recharge. The new skill consumed mana even faster than Mend did, though his failed first attempt to join the boards with it stood as an expensive outlier and he wasn't sure why. When his mana was about halfway full again he started inscribing a metal mana accumulation circle directly into the wood on the back of the shield. His high Wisdom granted him an impressive mana regeneration rate and his pool barely drained as he used the Auto Inscription skill. When he was finished he pumped some mana into the shield and set it aside to cook, picking the spear shaft back up again. It was a several pounds heavier now, cool to the touch and speckled with sparkling silver lines that filled in the wood grain to create a smooth layered surface. He used Mana Welding to erase the metal accumulation circle, then cut a slot at the end for the spearhead and fitted them together.

HP: 1,050/1,210

He carefully removed the kalam bandage around his wrist, exposing pink, pitted scar beneath. Then used the bloodied husk to secure the spearhead in place. For good measure he pricked his right forearm with the spear tip and spread some fresh blood across the face of the metal and along the spear's shaft. It was his first time using the skill in a long time, and he wasn't sure about the exact requirements. He sat down with the spear across his lap and closed his eyes, activating Empower Item and Blood Infusion at the same time as he focused.

You will become a spear. You will gather metal mana and expel it. You will pierce my enemies. You will not break. You will become a spear.

He focused on the feeling of mana pulsing through his body, trying to look for any differences in it's movement as the Blood Infusion skill went to work. When he was nearly finished he felt a different part of his mana dislodge. Or at least that's what it felt like. It was like he became aware of an entirely separate mana pool within him and an incredibly tiny stream of that energy began to flow into the spear. He frowned and was terrified when the stream tripled in size as soon as he even thought about increasing it. He tried to decrease the flow. It didn't work. The spear seemed to grow heavier in his lap as he focused, and it was clear why when the skill blessedly finished and he opened his eyes.

The surface appeared fully metal now, like twirling Damascus steel imitating wood grain. It melded smoothly into the speartip made from the same material, runes thankfully still intact. The kalam fused into a seamless crimson wrap joining the two and it felt slightly warm in his hands. He allowed a little mana to flow into the spear as he raised it from his lap and was surprised as it grew lighter in his hands. He continued to flow mana into it until it was lighter than his old spear and the tip was glowing with a deep crimson light. He could somehow sense the spear, like an extension of his body he could tell exactly where the tip and end were without thinking. He stopped the mana flow and the spear became heavier in his hands, the glow on the tip faded, but his awareness of it persisted until he set it down entirely.

HP: 900/1,060

SP: 950/1,060

MP: 800/1,380

[Empower Item lvl 10 -> 11]

[Blood Infusion lvl 1 -> 2]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

Holy shit. A hundred and fifty points down across the board. Brutal, but worth it I'm sure. I hope. I'll have to be more careful when I do the shield.