“I’m sure you’ve had better days, but this is par for the course lately,” Julian sighed, looking at the pile of bones strewn across the clearing.

  “Well then, I’m done golfing,” Harvey groaned. “That thing was horrifying!” He furiously rubbed his legs, trying to wipe away the lingering pain of having his life force drained. Searing pain turned to pins and needles as he pushed himself to his feet.

  “What happened? We heard the bang but couldn’t see anything over the wall,” Hannah asked.

  “I was out here burying arc charges. Oh, by the way, I make lightning grenades now,” he interrupted himself, tone instantly warping as his new toys distracted him from the terror he’d just endured.

  “Grenades?” Hannah asked with a wicked grin.

  “Wait! Let him finish his story,” Julian scolded.

  “Yeah, they’re sick,” Harvey began.

  “Harvey,” Julian warned. “Why are there bones everywhere?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? I was just finishing hiding my traps when a Stonetusk stumbled out of the forest,” he explained, pointing at the washed-out corpse. “It was barely breathing, and its skin had lost almost all of its color. When I went to check it out, a bone spider from that vision ambushed me. Knocked me down and started wrapping me in silk that sucked the life right out of every piece of me it touched. I couldn’t snap it, so I used Booster to escape.”

  “And blew it up with a lightning grenade?” Hannah smiled.

  “Yup.”

  “Awesome,” she said.

  “No, definitely not awesome! Harvey just made first contact with the Undead,” Julian sighed.

  “He seems to have handled it,” Hannah argued.

  “Yeah, but it’s not a solitary bone spider I’m worried about. More have to be on their way,” Julian explained.

  “We’ve known they were coming since the day we got here,” Hannah replied.

  “But now it’s real,” Harvey said, his brief respite sharing his latest exploits with friends ending as he stared into the empty eye sockets of the skull near his feet. Looking at it sent a chill through his bones, and he hastily split the 20 free points he’d amassed over the past days between Vitality and Willpower. If the Undead were going to feed on his Vitality, he had to make sure there was enough in the tank to keep him going in a long fight.

  “Exactly, so what do we do next?” Julian asked.

  “I’m not sure what the best thing for you guys to do is, but I’ve got a few projects in mind,” Harvey began.

  “Like making me some grenades?” Hannah interrupted.

  “I probably can eventually, but right now, the only way to trigger them is using my Modular Array skill. I’m sure there’s some sort of delayed trigger rune I could add, but I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s a little tricky since even if I can inscribe a way for you to turn it on, we’d have to find a way to turn it off once the crystal depletes or it will…”

  “We don’t have time for experiments. What can we do this instant to finish setting the trap?” Julian shouted.

  “Right. I finished outside the walls, but I’m hoping to bury more within Veils End. The amount of arc charges I can make in a day depends on how many F Grade elementals we can find in the mines. If you guys can take over hunting for me, I can spend the extra time making a few more things that don’t need F Grade iron.” Harvey explained.

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

  “Good, that’s a start. What are you planning on making?” Julian encouraged.

  “I haven’t tested these out yet, but I have a few other ideas. I think I have the runes for a sort of shield array we can use to protect the watchtowers. The biggest risk to this plan is that the Undead assume Veils End is empty, so I’m hoping we can goad them into chasing us inside. I should be able to create a few plates that turn essence into smoke that blocks the view from above,” Harvey said.

  “Wouldn’t that make them think the Outpost is on fire?” Hannah asked.

  “Umm… no?” Harvey winced.

  “I agree with Hannah, the question is if they’re more likely to follow us into a burning outpost or an empty one,” Julian added.

  “That’s the problem. If they know it’s just the three of us, there’s a chance only a few get close enough for the trap to work,” Harvey fretted.

  “Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. What else were you thinking?” Julian asked.

  “To actually light the outpost on fire,” Harvey chuckled. “I can’t actually make the town explode, but I should be able to create a few firestarting arrays that we can put in the trees and buildings. I doubt it will kill a single skeleton, but hopefully it will create enough chaos for us to escape.”

  “I like it. Draw them in, detonate the lightning grenades, and burn it all down while we run like hell,” Julian smiled.

  “Exactly.”

  “Then let’s get to work. Hannah and I will keep the critters away so you have time to work. Just let us know what you need,” Julian said.

  “Yep, just let us know. It’s good to see you’re safe,” Hannah smiled. “It was all pretty chaotic when we left.”

  “Yeah, it was. It’s great to see you guys, too,” Harvey replied. “Everything go well with the move? Any sign of Gary?”

  “Yes to the first question, no to the second. We were one of the first groups to arrive, but a second group showed up just as Hannah and I were leaving. Nobody’s seen Gary since he ran, but they all know what to do if a one-armed man shows up. John didn’t believe me when I told him what happened, but a quick conversation with some of the others changed his mind real quick,” Julian sighed.

  “Good. Maybe one of these spiders will get him, and we’ll never see him again,” Harvey muttered.

  “A woman can dream,” Hannah added.

  “Before you guys go, I’ve been working on plans for new weapons for you. Let’s go over everything before you head out so I can get started,” Harvey suggested. They agreed, and he realized he didn’t have a good way to share the ideas in his head. It’s not like they had a bunch of pens and notebooks lying around. They’d never had this problem before because armor was sized to the body, but a weapon needed to match the user’s preference.

  Harvey stewed for a while until a brilliant idea bloomed. The answer was right in front of him. Artificer’s Toolbox wasn’t just for making molds or connecting to his inkwell. That’s all he’d ever used it for, but that didn’t mean it was all it could do. For the first time, Harvey took the formless essence putty and used it to sculpt a prototype.

  It was perfect, the putty remolding itself with a simple thought as Julian made a few minor adjustments to Harvey’s plan. The blade itself would be just over 3 feet, with the entire sword closer to 4. The biggest change Julian asked for was a handle long enough to be gripped with two hands. Superhuman strength would allow him to wield the heavy steel sword with one hand comfortably, but he wanted the option to swing with both. The blade would be double-edged and rounded to a point, with essence crystals embedded in the pommel and crossguard.

  Hannah’s was simpler. He’d initially planned on a shortsword, but she preferred a long hunting knife.

  “I don’t want to worry about it getting in the way while I’m riding Buttercup,” she explained. “If anything gets close enough for me to need a blade, I’ll just use my Surging Stampede skill.”

  The prototypes complete, Harvey turned the putty to stone and committed the measurements of each piece to memory.

  “The one part I can’t do is the handle. I could try and make the same arrays as the ones I used for my hammer, but that would mean fewer materials for the arc charges,” Harvey explained.

  “I can whittle some wooden ones,” Julian offered.

  “That works, but I won’t be able to add any inscriptions to the handles since they won’t be essence-infused.”

  “What if we made them out of Buttercup’s antlers?” Hannah suggested.

  Harvey hesitated, staring at the thick tangle of bone adorning the buck’s head. Buttercup stood patiently, loudly munching on a carrot. “I mean, it could work, but doesn’t he kind of need them?”

  “They shed their antlers. Normally, it would still be a few months until this set falls off, but he thinks that a new set’s gonna grow in once he evolves,” Hannah explained, gently massaging the deer’s neck.

  “Really? Is he close?” Harvey asked.

  “Painfully. He should step into F Grade any day now,” Hannah answered.

  “That’s perfect! Thanks, Buttercup,” Harvey crooned, patting the buck’s neck. “They’ll be carrying you into battle every time they fight.”

  “Maybe you can use them for some cool inscriptions, too,” she suggested. “I’ll bring them over as soon as he sheds.”

  “Alright. I think I’ve got everything I need,” Harvey announced. “I’ll clean up the bones and get to work on your weapons in between inscribing the firestarters.”

  “And we’ll go hunt down some more elementals for you. Don’t let your guard down. We know the Undead are close, and it’s only a matter of time before more find us,” Julian warned.