Andrew set the spear aside and picked up the shield, flipping it front side up on his lap. He pressed his palm against the center of the shield and started the inscription process. This one would take some time, but he had confidence it would be worth the effort. He started by inscribing a battery rune connected to an oversized twelve rune circle made up of bridge pair base runes, designed to equally distribute all the energy stored within the battery rune. He connected the eleven bridge pair runes up to a spiraling chain of two sequential expulsion runes, each configured to fire all the mana given out in a straight line. The spiral design distributed the twenty two expulsion runes and eleven end connectors evenly across the shield. Each bolt would be far weaker than usual, but he had a huge mana supply generally reserved for grenades. This would be easier to direct, in theory. The shield should have considerable durability from the metal mana saturation and Blood Infusion. He hoped it would be enough to prevent the runes from being too badly damaged, but his mana pool was only big enough to fire it off a couple times mid-fight anyways. As he worked, the wagon moved. The forest around them thinned and cleared as the day passed.

He took a brief break from his work to look around as they passed the tree line. He could hear the dull roar of a distant waterfall and he could see the river snaking out from the forest not far from them. It flowed out into the distant, rapidly darkening horizon and disappeared. The cliffside they were shooting for should be another day out at least in that direction. Once they arrived they would have to revisit their debate on the other group of survivors. Andrew was not looking forward to it. He returned to his work soon after, he wanted to have this thing done before the day was up. He barely managed it.

It was truly dark by the time he finished. Andrew had been working by torchlight for a couple hours now. It was easier to do with Auto Inscription. He was pushing his inscription speed so quick that he was hardly even looking at the shield, except to check his work and smooth over the occasional mistake. He could tell they were getting close to the cliffside, so he quickly pricked his arm, slathered each side of the shield with blood, closed his eyes, and began the Empowerment process. He didn't exactly want to advertise his blatant blood sacrifice and he wouldn't have time to continue quietly once they stopped. Only the giants could see clearly up into the cart where he sat and they were all ahead of him in the line of wagons.

You will become a shield. Metal mana will strengthen you. You will gather metal mana and expel it. Your edges will sharpen to blades. You will not break. You will become a spear.

He used Blood Infusion at the same time, focusing in on the tiny stream of what he now assumed to be his lifeforce or something, carefully imagining it increasing slightly, then stopping immediately. It grew quickly like last time, but it was less extreme this time, only doubling in size. It was costly, but he was comfortable spending a little more health. Weapons like these would make a huge difference, and their intimidating appearance could be helpful when he inevitably met these new survivors. Like before, the shield seemed to increase in weight in his lap as he worked and when he opened his eyes it was like he was looking the other piece in a matching set, which is exactly what it was. The Damascus woodgrain pattern did an excellent job of hiding the expulsion runes. There were enough of them to look like part of the material's texture to the untrained eye. Even Andrew needed to take a second to pick out their exact locations, though once he saw them they were easy to distinguish. He checked the rim of the shield and was satisfied to see that it tapered to a sharp edge all the way around. He wasn't sure how long the edge would last, blood infused or not, but hopefully he would be able to repair it between battles. He strapped it to one arm, it was a little heavy, and began infusing mana into it. A soft crimson glow suffused the shield's edge and it grew lighter just like the spear. He had a similar extra-limblike awareness of the shield as well, though it was more of a distraction than a tool for the shield.

HP: 910/1,010

SP: 1,028/1,010

MP: 696/1,330

[Blood Infusion lvl 2 -> 3]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

Another fifty down. Almost under a thousand now. I won't be making any more of these until I have a chance to verify their value in combat. Even then it'll probably be a while. Still, the free attributes from those Runic Artisan Levels even it out a little. I'm down two hundred across the board, but these two weapons earned me four Artisan levels which is sixteen attribute points. I'd need twenty each into intelligence and vitality to compensate, assuming it isn't having a hidden effect on any of my other attributes. I have quite a few banked up now so I'll have to-

Kalan called something out from the head of the line and Andrew's wagon slowed to a halt. He snapped out of his thoughts, setting down the shield and standing up to look around. They were stopped in the shallow crook of two small hills, barely higher than the giants at their top, it was time to stop for the night. Andrew hopped out of the wagon, wincing a little as he landed. The swelling in his knee had gone down throughout the day, and he was glad to discover he could stand normally on it again. The giants were quick to maneuver the wagons around into a rough triangle as other survivors unloaded the water barrels and began setting up a couple of small campfires. Andrew hobbled over to where Kalan and Shelby were standing, speaking quietly.

"Hey Andrew. We were just talking about tomorrow. Kalan agrees with me, we should go meet up with those other survivors." Shelby said by way of greeting.

"Yeah, for sure we should go meet them, the main problem is figuring out whether we join them, set up shop nearby, or book it in the opposite direction." Andrew said.

"I think we should have the discussion tonight then, the river is straightening out now and it would be faster to travel at an angle towards the cliff. Could save us a day of travel if we're going to head in that direction anyways." Kalan said.

"Yeah, that's fair point. We'll have to get everyone together then, and try not to shout too much haha. Never know what's lurking out in these hills."

"How'd your project go?" Shelby said, looking him over, eyes flicking to his exposed left wrist for a moment.

Andrew smiled, "Perfectly. I think. I'll show it off before we get going tomorrow, but it's late and we have to get this discussion going if we want to get some decent sleep tonight."

"Alright." Kalan said, letting out a sigh. "Lets get this started then."

Everyone gathered up quickly, finding seats among the wagons, unloaded ration crates and scattered stones. The giants volunteered to stand watch while they had the meeting. They didn't seem to show much interest in the human's politics, though Andrew suspected it was a way for them to maintain neutrality. They were suprisingly quiet creatures, but they paid attention. Their eyes were always roaming, observing the forest around them, the survivors, and often the sky above. In fact now that they were officially on watch, Andrew could see two of the three giants actively scanning the night sky before returning their attention to the hilly grasslands around them. Andrew reflexively looked up as well, but saw nothing. He kept forgetting to ask them what they were looking for.

The gathered crowd quieted down as Andrew joined them. "Alright everybody, you all know why were here. Lets get something out of the way first. Who thinks we should at least meet this new group of survivors?"

Every hand went up.

"Great. Then we'll start heading that way tomorrow morning. Who thinks we should try and join them once we get there?"

Eight hands went up, Tyler and Carter among them. "Alright, who thinks-" Carter's hand remained up as the rest went down, and Andrew paused and gestured for him to speak.

"I think we should meet them first, before we vote on that."

"That's reasonable, who agrees with Carter?"

Almost everyone's hand went back up.

"Alright. Great. That was easy. Uh, is there anything else we want to discuss before breaking for the night?"

"Yeah!" Shelby said with enthusiasm, "Who wants to see what those creepy blood weapons do?"

Scattered quiet cheers went up along with everyone else's hand.

"Wow, there's no privacy around here huh? Alright then." Andrew said with a smile, breaking from the group to jump up into the wagon and retrieve the spear and shield. He hopped down and headed back towards them. "Okay, everybody behind me, Kalan, can you toss my old shield up on that hill there?"

He did so, and the crowd gathered behind him as mana flowed into his spear and the tip began to glow with crimson light. The metal accumulation circle on the tip was already charged, but the trigger rune didn't go off as he flowed mana into the spear.

Okay spear, fire!

The spear kicked back as he had the thought, a bolt of metallic crimson light shot from the tip shattering the shield and blasting a hole in the hillside behind it. Thirty feet. Several times the power at twice the range. Definitely worth the literal sacrifice. A cheer went up from the crowd and Andrew brought his shield around in front of him. The rim glowed with crimson light as he flooded the shield with mana. He fired it off with a thought, bracing for the recoil this time. The glow around the rim dimmed as a shotgun blast of crimson metallic light exploded out of the shield and peppered the hill with tiny craters as the crowd let out another round of cheers. He let the mana fully fade from the two weapons as he turned back to face the enthusiastic crowd.

"Pretty cool huh? I'm sorry to say I can't make any more for a little while though." The crowd quieted at that.

"Yeah. It's a skill I've had for a while, but I've kept it to myself because it has a price. My HP and mana total were reduced by two hundred each, and it seems pretty permanent so far. My chisel is the only other thing I've made with this skill, and it was less effective for Tyler than it has been for me. I'll try to teach anyone who wants to learn, but you have to be careful. It's a dangerous skill, easy to lose control of and it has permanent repercussions." Andrew said, voice serious. "I don't want any of you to cripple yourselves preparing for a fight that hasn't happened yet. Alright?"

The survivors responded with subdued assent.

"Okay now who wants to try one out?"

The crowd cheered again and Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, loosening the straps on his shield and passing the spear off to Tyler who was practically frothing at the mouth as he rushed up to get a try in.