After allowing himself some rest to recover the sleep that he needed direly, Edward dived into the tome he had brought back from Oshle Tirion. He was relieved to discover that this book was from a practical and not just a theoretical standpoint. If he had found another book, like the one discoursing about the nature of auras, the trip would have been in vain. Theoretical knowledge was important to progress in a field, but that wouldn`t help someone trying to solve an immediate problem.

　　The first part of the volume was describing the inner working of runes, and the difficulties involved in the creation of any rune formation. Runes were representing concepts more than anything else. Each rune was the expression of an individual concept. For example, the concept of fire was expressed by a rune while another expressed the concept of movement.

　　Although it seemed simple, things could become complicated very quickly. To create a magical artifact like a fire wand, enabling you to throw fire bolts at your enemies, different runes were needed. One would have to inscribe and link the runes together, and that was particularly tricky. Runes weren`t a real language, they were lacking coordinating conjunctions.

　　You couldn`t write something like move the fire from point A to the general direction of point B. Instead, you had to link the two runes together in a certain way to form a new rune expressing the concept of moving fire. And the meaning of this concept could vary from person to person, so according to what you really wanted to do, there was a multitude of ways to link the two runes together. The more runes you needed to use, the more difficult the schematic became, and the number of variations increased a lot as well.

　　All those variations meant an experienced rune crafter could achieve the exact effect he wanted, but in effect it was also very rare to find complete runes schematic with the effect you desired.

　　However, all those variations didn`t mean you could design the runes however you wanted. There were specific rules to follow for a rune to be functional. Basically, a rune was a way for the ambient mana to interact with reality, changing it in the process. The author of this tome didn`t know the specifics of why the mana was interacting with such shapes, he left that part to more experienced scholars, and instead focus on the more practical aspects of runes crafting. By trials and errors, the Damkinans had managed to isolate some general rules about runes designs.

　　The first part of the book was a general presentation of the runes, explaining the basics behind runes. The second part of the book, and the thickest part by far, was explaining the working of all those different rules and how to link runes together. And at last, the end of the book was describing common runes that could be used individually or together for the weaving of simple runes. Each rune was documented with the concept it represented. The tome also explained one of the most blatant weaknesses of runes.

　　Since runes were the expression of concepts through interacting with ambient mana, if that mana was removed, the runes simply became useless. Mana was acting like the battery powering the runes. A rune without mana was like a computer without electricity.

　　Paradoxically, that is also how the author was able to write those runes in the book without activating them. Some runes had been engraved on the book to dissipate nearby ambient mana. Those runes barely needed any mana to function and thus they were the first to activate. There was no mana left for the other runes to trigger.

　　That`s why the author advised not to base a defense on runes alone. A barrier made with runes and left unmanned and unprotected could be slowly drained of its power by anyone with a basic knowledge of runes. Moreover, if a rune was destroyed, its effect would stop as well. Runes had to be settled in secured or hidden areas.

　　One common aspect of runes crafting was to incorporate a part to gather and store the ambient mana. However, the strength of a rune wasn`t fully dependent on the amount of mana. Other factors had to be taken into account like the concentration and quality of the mana rather than its sole quantity. Another factor was the specific design pattern chosen for the runes crafting. Some patterns were more effective than others. The mana reliance of runes could also vary, some runes were able to work even with a low amount of mana, their strength varying with the amount of mana, and others needed a fixed amount of mana before being able to activate.

　　The tome outlined that runes could be made with almost any materials. However, rune activation was deteriorating the material on which the rune was made, slowly degrading it over time. This could lead to the destruction of said rune, rendering it unfunctional.

　　However, sometimes runes managed to continue working even with some degradation to their design. This was ironically worst, because when the shape of a rune changed, its effect changed with it, making it completely unpredictable. And nobody wanted to face unknown magic when activating runes. Runes were supposed to help you rather than explode on your face after all.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

　　Runes weren`t invincible either, the law of conservation of energy still applied. The energy provided by ambient mana wasn`t unlimited, and so was the effect of the runes. If more damage was done to a barrier made by runes that the ambient mana could sustain, the barrier would collapse, unless of course it was fed with other sources of mana. Edward frowned when he read that part.

　　With how complicated the rules are for linking runes together I won`t be able to design any complicated runes formation. However, I don`t know if a barrier made with a single rune will be able to hold against Bloodmaws. Those monsters certainly don`t lack in strength.

　　Edward skipped through the rest of the book, directly going at the end, to see what kind of runes were recorded inside.

　　Since they are mentioning barriers as an example, they should have a rune corresponding to that concept.

　　The runes record looked like a lexicon. In the preamble, a warning was informing the reader that this wasn`t a complete inventory of the different runes in existence, just the more common ones were present here. The runes were organized by types rather than by alphabetical order. However, it didn`t mean that runes classified in one section couldn`t be used in another.

　　Let`s see, elemental runes, support runes, environmental runes, barriers. Yes, this is it.

　　Wow, a whole section is dedicated to barriers, I was expecting to find a single rune for it instead.

　　The Block rune stops anything from passing through. Yes, that`s what I was thinking for a barrier.

　　The Durability rune can be used to reinforce a physical barrier.

　　The Filtration rune& Wait, what would this be something listed in the barrier section? Oh, for a selective barrier maybe. Yes, makes sense, a barrier that blocks both enemies and allies can be a double-edged sword.

　　The Protection rune, umm it sounds a bit redundant with the durability one, but there must be a reason for it to be listed here. I will have to experience with the different runes to better understand how they work.

　　Actually, now that I think about it, with the difficulty to reach Oshle Tirion increasing with time as more Bloodmaws are coming out, I should test the runes I want to implement before leaving.

　　I have to be sure my rune formation will work, otherwise, we would be going into enemy territory and taking risks for nothing.

　　As Edward was musing about the runes and their different implication, he heard a sudden ruckus outside, with several people shouting.

　　I should better check what this is all about, maybe Balin and Caspian need my help.

　　Edward barged out of his room, trying to find out the source of this commotion. The shouting was coming from the south section of the walls, facing Vipin Forest. Edward didn`t lose any time and run toward it, quickly climbing the ladder leading to the top of the wall. From there he had a good point of view to see Agripin`s defenses as well as Vipin Forest. The villagers had managed to reinforce the defenses, deepening the trenches in front of the walls and burying wooden pikes inside. Heavy rocks had also been placed at the base of the wooden walls to reinforce them.

　　However, even though the defenses were very good for a village, it wouldn`t be enough to stop a horde of Bloodmaws. For that, the defenses would have needed to be transformed completely instead of simply reinforced. The villagers had neither the time nor the means for such a project.

　　The main weakness of the defenses was the gates. Agripin didn`t have any drawbridge, without that, they couldn`t dig trenches in front of the entrances without sealing themselves inside. Some barricades had been installed in front of the gates, but that would only slow down the Bloodmaws without stopping them. No guards were positioned to man those barricades as that would have only led to their death. But every delay counted, the more time the Bloodmaws were contained outside, the more time it gave for Awakens to deal with them.

　　Edward was about to ask what was going on when he saw it by himself, the Bloodmaws had already found Agripin and a group of them was attacking. A group of five Bloodmaws had left the forest and were traveling toward the village.

　　Shit, they are here already. I didn`t even have the time to study the runes properly, otherwise, I would have been able to reinforce the gates. They won`t hold without Balin, Caspian, or me defending them. A Bloodmaw`s hide is too thick, the guards won`t be able to injure them without using aura.

　　Edward noticed that Balin was already there, and he quickly joined him. "Hi, what`s the plan? the defenses won`t be able to hold them for long if they attack the gates." He asked Balin.

　　"Seeing their size and speed, I agree with you. Right now, only the two of us stand a chance in a direct fight against them but we are outnumbered. Glad you are here by the way."

　　Balin greeted his teeth. "We will need the guards to distract their attention. If we manage to split the group, each of us can take down Bloodmaw. We will have to take them down quickly, to deal with the rest of the group before they realize the guards can`t harm them. But let`s wait for now, if we are lucky, they will only probe the village and leave us alone once they realize we can fight back."

　　Yet, despite Balin`s wishes, the Bloodmaws were more aggressive than curious and they charged straight at Agripin`s gates.

　　"Shit!! Well, we don`t have a choice now. Everybody, listen to me. You won`t be able to injure them, but we need you to get their attention. Don`t waste your ammo, you only need to kite them around the walls. Edward and I will take the two from the middle."

　　The guards gave a head nod with a stern look before getting in position. The preparations were over, everybody was ready, and it was time to fight.