Issac considered what he wanted to build first. Luke had that really cool javelin attack, but he ruined his spear every time he used it. Sam was really cool with her bow, but her arrows were kind of worthless as they bounced off the guys who killed him. She didn't have anything for close range, and her guns were out of bullets. He had no idea how to do anything for someone like Travis. The lizard guy was just weird.
What about Gareth? What could he build for his brother … One of the things that seemed to come up a lot was injuries. No one had any armour, so they needed to dodge or block everything. That clinched it. He would make armour.
He grabbed the football gear and took it apart as he carefully examined it all.
DING!!
DING!!!
Issac blinked, and suddenly, he had the blueprints in his head. He understood how to make… no, remake—the football gear. This was great. The first thing he did was pull out the plastic from the football gear and start to make some moulds. Fortunately, the foundry had iPads—or maybe something that just looked like iPads. They were embedded in the walls, giving detailed instructions on where the stuff was located and how to do it.
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 2>
<[Scavenging] has Reached Level 2>
He wouldn't be able to recreate the shock absorption unless …
As soon as he set the moulds, Issac ran out of the foundry. The supply of iron and steel had come from melted-down cars, which meant that the tires, glass, and electronics had been removed and stored for later use.
The tires were initially stored next to the door. Since he was planning on making a dozen suits of armour, he figured he would grab a dozen tires.
When he was finished, the moulds were ready. He turned up the furnace and dumped the iron ingots inside. He accidentally tossed in two aluminum ingots. Oops. Hopefully, it wouldn't ruin the material.
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 9>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 10>
<...>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 12>
The foundry had a timer until the ingots finished smelting, so in the meantime, he got started on turning the hides into raw leather and leather straps.
<[Leatherworking] has Reached Level 5>
<[Leatherworking] has Reached Level 6>
<[Leatherworking] has Reached Level 7>
When the ingots finished melting, Issac got up and immediately poured the materials into the mould. That's when he got his second surprise of the day. The foundry could separate the different metals inside of it, allowing him to pour out the iron or aluminum without affecting the other. It took a while for Issac to figure out how this was possible. In the end, he decided it was because of Magic.
He left the material to cool and got to work on the tires. The first thing he discovered was that the tires didn't have the same shock absorption as the padding. That was disappointing. But he didn't have a better idea, so he was rolling with it. He cut up portions of the tire of the same rough shape as the padding, and then he rolled up the tire parts in order to increase their shock absorption. That's when he discovered there was metal inside when he cut his hand, dammit. Then he shaved down the metal and made a mental note to wrap his 'shock absorbers' in leather so people wouldn't get hurt.
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 3>
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 4>
<...>
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 6>
Once the metal cooled, Issac scratched the runes into the armour, wanting to recreate Duncan's design.
"Attack rune, body rune, blood rune, connection."
BANG!!!
"Gah," Issac swore as the plate he was working on exploded.
"What the fuck" Issac swore as he used his only healing ability on himself.
<[Runes] has Reached Level 12>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 13>
When his [Healing Hand] perk finished healing him, Issac tried it again and again and again. Each time, his experiments exploded. At this point, he had put his armour on the back burner and was focusing on trying to figure out why he kept failing with the runes. The only good news was the levels he was gaining in his rune skill.
<[Runes] has Reached Level 13>
<[Runes] has Reached Level 14>
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"Maybe I'm being too ambitious?" Issac wondered.
He picked up one of the last metal pieces. This time, he didn't even try to recreate Duncan's three-run thing. Instead, he just carved out a really big body rune.
"YES," Issac cheered.
<[Runes] has Reached Level 15>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 14>
Then he realized he didn't have enough to make his armour. He went back to the smelter, resmelted the broken scraps, and recast the armour. While he was at it, he assembled as much of his armour as he could. That's when he realized he needed to sew the material together.
DING!!!
<[Sewing] has Reached Level 2>
<[Sewing] has Reached Level 3>
<...>
<[Sewing] has Reached Level 6>
Then, he realized he could improve on the design. He found a case for some raw iron nails and dumped the two bars of aluminum into it.
When the armour was cooled again, he set aside the shoulder pauldrons and carved the protection rune into every other piece of metal.
<[Runes] has Reached Level 16>
<[Runes] has Reached Level 17>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 15>
Issac finished by taking the six aluminum nails and soldering three of them into each of the pauldrons, like Mad Max.
He took a step back to examine his work. It looked like it belonged to a raider from Fallout who was cosplaying as a Skyrim character. That's when the notification rushed in.
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 16>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 17>
<[Metalworking] has Reached Level 18>
<[Runes] has Reached Level 18>
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 7>
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 8>
<...>
<[Crafting] has Reached Level 14>
<...>
DING!!!
<...>
DING!!!
Issac paused as he stared at the notification. He was still slightly stunned as his rune skill level made him feel like his brain was crammed full of cotton candy. He felt amazing as he clicked yes.
Issac felt incredible, stronger, smarter. He could remember the runes in perfect clarity, and he had so much to do.
"Issac, what is this about you stealing supplies from the storage yard?!!" Duncan's voice cut through his fantasies.
Issac turned around, finding Duncan and Gareth at the entrance to the foundry.
"What did you do?" Duncan asked, horrified.
Issac grinned sheepishly. "I really got into crafting," he said with a shrug.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Base
Personal: +4 DEX +3 STR +3 INT +2 PER +2 WILL
Racial: +3 CON +2 END +2 SPIRIT +1 EGO
Mini-Character List
Issac Brown: Gareth’s brother
Duncan Coffeehouse: Original member of Awoken Myths and the Head craftsman
AN: