The dark elf walked back to his temporary workshop, spreading his cloak over it to seal it away from prying eyes. After casting the light wisp spell to create a light source for himself, Regis began to draw on the ground, the familiar transmutation circle responsible for recycling taking form. He used it to take apart the leather and bronze equipment he got from the corpse earlier, not even sparing a look at the fancily carved bronze sword. When he was only left with materials, he spent some time with meditation before replacing the current transmutation circle with the one meant for creating things.

The young spell weaver grabbed Quentin’s shield to take a better look at it, shaking his head as he did so. It really was cheap work. He knew from what he read before that kite shields, like many others, were laminated most of the time, but this one wasn’t. It was just a set of planks hammered close to each other, nailed to the two planks on the back with a pair of leather straps for the hands. It didn’t even have any wraps around the edges. Letting out a sigh, he cast charlatan’s wisdom on it, the vain hope of the shield not being as bad as he thought shattering in an instant.

{Lime-wood kite shield (Scratched)}

{Item rarity: common}

{Item quality: trash}

{Durability: 94/100}

{Armour type: medium}

{Armour Value: 11/12}

‘Yep, it’s trash.’ Regis agreed as he looked at the shield, wondering how it didn’t get shattered by the enemy before. Or maybe it was a replacement Quentin got after his previous crappy shields got destroyed. Either way; he had his work cut out for him, so he began to pile spare materials inside the transmutation circle. He put a couple of bronze ingots, fish glue, some leather, linen, the wooden shield and a few handfuls of dirt into the circle, clearing his mind with some meditation.

Regis imagined a kite shield that had a slight curve to it. The wood had a sheet of linen glued on it to create a primitive fibreglass-like effect. Then, instead of painting its surface, he decided to cover it with a thin sheet of bronze while creating a thick bronze cover for the shield’s edge. A pair of bronze strips ran along the shield’s back giving it a firm spine to which the entirety of the shield got riveted onto. A pair of adjustable straps were imagined onto the back of the shield with a long yet thin leather pillow filled with sand to cushion the wearer’s arm against the blunt force of the enemy’s attacks.

When the image of the shield was ready in his mind, the young spell weaver began to channel his arcana and his will into the transmutation circle, heavy nausea taking hold of him as he was almost completely drained of his mystical reserves. As the light of the magic circle died down, the glowing bubble in the middle popped, dropping a shield that was eerily similar to the one he imagined. Regis grabbed the shield, taking a good look at it before equipping it to see if it was comfortable. Once he was sure that it was indeed wearable, he began to meditate to restore his spent arcana. Sometime later, the dark elf let out a deep breath before he opened his eyes and cast charlatan’s wisdom on the new shield.

{Reinforced kite shield }

{Item rarity: common}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Durability: 100/100}

{Armour type: medium}

{Armour Value: 18/18}

‘Not bad. Not bad at all. It would have been better to create a solid bronze shield, but I’m not sure how heavy and unwieldy it would have become. I guess I’ll try to make one later if needed.’ He mused as he nodded with satisfaction, putting the shield aside. With that out of the way, he could now focus on creating a new one for Letty. Now that was going to be a challenge. Regis put the linden firewood into the circle, along with some fish glue, linen and leather, but he also picked a small piece of elk antler from the mill sack. Creating a shield without involving any metal parts would be a bit tricky, but not impossible.

Thinking about what kind of shield would fit Letty the best, he came up with a somewhat interesting design. It would be a Norman kite shield with the shape of a walnut leaf. Most of the base procedure of creating the shield was the same as it was with Quentin’s, but instead of covering the laminated wood with a sheet of bronze, he used leather as the cover. Remembering the videos he watched about how craftsmen would create motifs on their leather book covers by pressing the leather on small carved wood pieces beneath them gave a solid idea as well.

Instead of adding an underlying layer of surplus wood, he imagined a set of small grooves in the shield in which the leather would sink, creating a cover with the midrib and vein structure of a leaf. This leather cover would go over the edge of the shield, sinking into the wood on the other side. On the back, it would have a thick, braided strip to grasp and a larger one with a sturdy elk antler buckle which could be used to fasten it to the wearer’s arm. It would also have a small, yet long sand-filled pillow ready to absorb most of any approaching blunt force. It was a solid design in Regis’ opinion, but only making the real deal would prove whether he was right or wrong.

With the materials inside the transmutation circle and his arcana reserves full, he began the creation process that left him panting and dizzy by the end. When the glowing bubble popped, a light brown leather-covered shield greeted him, its shape and design exactly as he willed it to be. With his remaining arcana, he cast charlatan’s wisdom on it to see the results.

{Leather-bound kite shield }

{Item rarity: common}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Durability: 100/100}

{Armour type: medium}

{Armour Value: 16/16}

‘Nice, although the lack of bronze is obvious from the armour value.’ The spell weaver thought as his fingers ran along the small grooves that gave the shield’s leaf vein design. After another session of quiet meditation, he pulled his knapsack closer, searching for his pouches that held the elemental stones he still had. Sadly, his reserves were all but depleted.

He used some of the remaining earth stones to enchant Letty’s shield to have an ‘ordinary’ ranked durability and armour value increasing rune, but he had no other idea for it now since he lacked any shield-related enchantments. The dark elf thought about adding fire and ice resistance to the shield, but it was better to ask its owner first. Still, the result wasn’t bad, but it was still a far cry from what it could have been.

{Leather-bound kite shield }

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Armour type: medium}

{Armour Value: 22/22}

‘I guess twenty-two is pretty good for now.’ He sighed after he cast charlatan’s wisdom to see the result of his tinkering. Regis continued by returning to Quentin’s shield, using some additional bronze to create the ‘ordinary’ ranked durability rune and his last earth elemental stones to get the ‘ordinary’ ranked armour rune done. The results this time were a bit more apparent.

{Reinforced kite shield }

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Armour type: medium}

{Armour Value: 26/26}

‘Now this looks like a proper kite shield.’ The dark elf hummed as he put the piece of protective equipment aside. Sophie’s new bow was still waiting for its upgrades. Some bronze would take care of the durability upgrade, but what’s next? Regis sighed as he had to admit that he was sorely lacking in runes when it came to the different types of equipment his companions had. He knew that there was an all-purpose attack value rune out there, but he only had the one that would sharpen edged weapons.

There was also the issue of the elemental enchantments of which he only had the fire and ice ones. For now, he decided to make do with what he had, enchanting the bow with the durability rune. After placing the weapon on a pair of bronze ingots, he began to meditate with his right palm still on the bow. As the rune of durability took form in his mind-space, it slowly turned pure white from its dull grey beginnings. Regis knew that the work was done when the rune pulsed with power.

As he opened his eyes, the pleasant sight of a dark reddish brown bow greeted him that was slightly heavier than its former self. The one thing that made him examine the weapon with even greater scrutiny was the bowstring that now looked as if it was an actual metal wire. Still, it felt good enough for the touch when he tried to draw the bow, so he wasn’t worried about it. Casting charlatan’s wisdom also revealed a gratifying set of numbers for the spell weaver.

{Maple recurve bow}

{Rarity: uncommon}

{Quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 0}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Damage: 20/20}

‘Twenty points of damage is pretty good. With the bonus from the different arrows, it should serve Sophie well for now.’ Regis concluded as he turned to look at the skeletal wolf that stood right next to him the whole time. He had to admit; that thing was creepy as fuck. It just stared into nothingness with the pale teal flames in its hollow eye sockets, unmoving like a statue. Letting out a sigh, the dark elf went on a short meditation session before leaning a few bronze ingots against the puppet’s legs.

After clearing his thoughts, Regis placed his right hand on the puppet and began to meditate once more. First, he began shaping the familiar durability rune. The faint outline soon turned grey, slowly shifting into white as the spell weaver felt his arcana being sapped. When the runic parts fused into a single symbol, he knew it was over and so he finished his meditation. Upon opening his eyes, a brownish-red skeleton stared at back at him, a metallic lustre running across its bones beneath the light wisp. Casting charlatan’s wisdom on it, there was definite proof of his handiwork.

{Skeletal wolf puppet}

{Rarity: common}

{Quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 0}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Defence: 22/22}

{Damage: 18}

‘I guess that’s step one done.’ Regis nodded to himself as he began to replenish his arcana reserves before infusing the now metallic skeleton with an ‘ordinary’ quality fire rune. As the fire rune assembled in his inner mind, he had to pull back his hand from the puppet due to the scorching heat it emitted. Opening his eyes, he stared with slight awe at the bronze-hued wolf skeleton that now sported a set of bright red teeth and claws, the teal flame in its eyes changing into a real fire. It was as if its canines and claws were heated to an extreme temperature, making it quite eye-catching. A quick cast of charlatan’s wisdom proved him right on his assumptions regarding his achievements.

{Skeletal Hellhound puppet}

{Rarity: common}

{Quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Defence: 22/22}

{Damage: 18}

{Fire damage: 10}

‘This thing is straight-up terrifying.’ The young spell weaver admitted to himself as he finished the night’s work. He reached upwards, removing the cloak that hid the light show produced by his work before standing up to stretch his limbs. The popping sounds were loud enough to warrant a reaction from his still-awake companion.

“Are you done already?” Quentin asked as he watched the dark elf climb out of his temporary workshop.

“I am, although mostly because I didn’t have much work, to begin with.” Regis answered as he walked over to his friend, handing him the new and improved shield.

“Is this… wow,” The wannabe paladin tried to express his thoughts with little success. “I’ve figured there would be an improvement, but this is really something else.”

“Alright, quit fawning over it,” the spell weaver gave out a quiet laugh. “I know it turned out pretty well. For now, it only has some extra durability and armour value, but later on, I’ll fix it up with a few elemental resistance enchantments as well, if you decide to keep it in the long run.”

“Oh, sure. This is more than enough for the time being. Got to ask it though; how high its armour value really is?”

“Twenty-six.” The curt answer arrived as Regis stepped beside the wood elf sisters, spreading his cape over the two to cover them.

“That’s pretty high,” Quentin smiled as he watched the familiar act of his comrade. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Anyway; now that I’m done, it’s time I took over the guard duty. You should get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” the man nodded as he stretched his limbs. “That will be for the best. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Regis said as he sat close to the dirt wall, staring out at the forest through the hole they left for such a purpose.

His night vigil began in earnest, leaving him with his thoughts and the company of the campfire’s crackling sounds. The first hour went by with him staring out of his head as he tried to summarise what else he needed to do on their journey towards East Fork, but he found little to add to his emptied schedule. Training depended on the weather, which was against them that night. Whatever could be enchanted was already done, not to mention the new equipment he made for some of his companions. The next day would likely end at their destination, East Fork’s pier being the last stop.

His thoughts wandered about, thinking of where they would go once they arrived and in what order. He desperately wanted to get to the local spell weavers’ guild, hoping to loot whatever arcane resources were left there. That however was a challenge on its own as the place was on the other side of the inner part of the town. Should they go straight to the merchants’ guild to loot whatever was still around, or should they try to reach the mercenaries’ guild for the chance of finding higher quality equipment?

There were just too many unknowns to make a proper decision. In the end, he let out a troubled sigh as he tried to shove all the problematic thoughts in the back of his mind. By the time his guard duty was at its end, his eyes felt heavy as lead. He used the cleansing spell to get the dirt and sweat of the day off before heading over to the Mongol youth.