Father had an indispensable role as a guardian of the town, but with the patrol ship in repair, the town could manage with one less high-level warrior for the year it took to replace the ship. With that in mind, Father convinced his captain to wait on calling for his replacement until it was needed. With that, the family had at most a year until news of his condition reached anyone who would seek to profit from his condition.

  Master Gam was just as much a taskmaster as Master Yoren, but that let me progress quickly. Nine months after the incident I was finally ready to try making my first prototype. The prosthetic would be a wooden hand with inlaid metal for joints, plating, and inlaying my runes onto.

  I had learned in my research that mana can only reside in living or formerly living material. Meaning I had to add an organic component to serve both as a reserve of mana and as a foundation for the runes. Thus, I used magic wood for the majority of the arms and hands because it can serve as the reserve of mana and because it was cheaply available as wood from Master Gam’s forge. Then a special sap would be used to draw the runes themselves in an etched path on the metal plating. I could've used monster materials, and they are typically much stronger, but they usually require special treatment in which residual will has to be cleansed from the mana. Since this is a prototype, I figured a proof of concept was a better plan, and I can experiment with harder materials after I have experience working with them.

  I sat before the forge and decided to check my status for the first time since Dad had lost his hands.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The moment the ‘Reconfiguration’ began, I felt something embedded in me deeper than I have ever felt before shift. For a moment I feel exposed, more exposed than I have ever been in my life. I wheezed in shock like an invisible hand was squeezing me, but just as quickly as the feeling came, it passed, and I’m alone again. Panting, but I quickly recover and decide to check my status again.

  Looking over my status, I immediately notice everything is far more organized but shiver as I see my new skill and trait. Somehow knowing what happened doesn’t make me feel any better. One more stat per level is the kind of change that would make others cry in envy, but the fact that there is no recognized religion even in a world as desperate as this one suggests that this kind of attention is something dangerous.

  I shake my head clear of other thoughts. Whether this change is good or bad, I’ll have time to consult my family about it later. For now I have one task, and that is to shape the fittings and joints to mount the wooden hands onto. After all, my energetic and increasingly dangerous sister was willing to sit for hours every day with Dad to master wood carving.

  A deep breath and I’m in the zone. Meditation, Focus, and Instinct are all locked in as I pull heated metal from the furnace. Smithing, Hammer Strike, and Metal Shape are in harmony as Dual Concentration splits my focus between the smithing itself and my evaluation skills, Spot Inconsistency and Detail Eye.

  My work quickly takes form, and I quench my work in Master Yoren’s cooling field. With great care I take out a metal engraving tool and begin to etch my runes onto the inside of the metal. My plan had three limitations to the function of the runes to hopefully boost the runes' longevity.

  

  
1. 
   
     For all movements at or below a strength of 20, mana will be drawn from the magic wood mounted onto the metal fittings. (to prevent the runes from drawing on his mana, which will eventually exhaust the imbued power and ruin the runic object)
   
     


  
2. 
   
     For all movements above 20 strength, the runes will draw upon the mana of whoever is connected to reinforce their structure. (A means to make lesser materials last longer in high-stress use)
   
     


  
3. 
   
     When disconnected from magical wood, the runes will be dormant. (Makes replacing the connected wood an option so as not to collapse the runes)
   
     


  

  The prosthetic itself will use runes to alter the shape and form of the wood. It would take the shape intended by measuring the nerves' signal contained within the attached appendage. The transformations will remain within the limitations of a metal bracket. Shaping its form into an approximation of the intended shape.

  I get to work as Master Yoren provides me with a mana-rich sap to fill the engraved spaces. I assemble the prosthetic hand and channel my will and understanding of the function I desire into the runes. Hours later I slump onto the ground exhausted as it takes everything I have. The faint glow of my runes shines from the edges where the hand Callia carved meets the mounting brackets I had just finished etching runes onto.

  I give Master a nod in affirmation before we head outside to meet with my eager and anxious family. Seeing their looks, I simply hold out the prosthetic hands, presenting them to Dad. Everyone is silent in anticipation as Mom mounts the hands onto Dad's arms. A quiet click is heard, and in the next moment a finger twitches suddenly; every finger curls and releases. The next moment everything goes dark as a sudden high-speed hug sweeps around me with pressure that I know is testing the limits of my ability to survive.

  I reach to pat to signal for mercy but stop as I hear Father.

  “I have hands!” quietly sobbing again and again in disbelief but also joy. I decide to quietly bear the fruit of my efforts as I feel him hugging the life out of me.

  I suppose all that's left is to have Dad test the limits of his new hands, and if it works as intended, we can get a professional to shape Dad's hands from high-level wood and Master Gam to work higher-level metals into a new bracket.