Shields

Once everything was settled and the woman's condition stabilized, there wasn't really much to be done from then on apart from constantly checking the child's umbilical cord for any sign of bleeding. Because if that happened, unless dealt with, it could end up being fatal.

Since I would basically have to do that for the next couple of hours, I gave up on any chance at getting some sleep. Instead, I opted for working on something else while I waited, and since I still wanted the dagger to be useful for attacking as losing all of that copper used to make them would be a pretty sad waste, I decided to make shields.

Only wooden, of course, as it was pretty clear that Although it was technically possible to use other more durable materials, it would be a way too wasteful, especially since I had no idea exactly how much tin the mine we had set up truly had thanks to the fact that we had still not finished using the first vein we found.

It wasn't possible to not use any bronze at all however, as although it was completely okay if a certain part of a shield broke off during combat as one could just change its position (which, despite being hard, was still possible), if the shield's handle were to break, the shield would become no better than a wooden frisbee or whatever shape it has.

Since I couldn't exactly just take a 1 hour trip to the new settlement and back at the moment though, I had to settle to testing it out only using a wooden handle for now. As for how the handle would be changed, both the wooden handle and the bronze one ould have four holes that either four wooden or bronze 'nails' could be put through to secure it on, making it so that both were interchangeable.

As for how the shields would be made specifically, it was just making a piece of wood in whatever shape I chose that was thick and stable enough to stay put for a while after being constantly attacked. After all, although it would most likely not be constantly hit by an ax, sword, or dagger as both parties would constantly be moving, its ability to do so would only be a testament to its durability.

As I worked, I gained people's attention as I was doing something weird again. They were interested in figuring out what I was trying to make, as yesterday I had basically created the wheelbarrow, which had proven to be a rather handy tool to have.

Eventually, after having put everything together and deciding to make a circular shield that was 3ft in diameter, I decided to try it out, putting the handle on a branch and letting it hang from there before shooting at it with as much power as I could to test its ability to deflect projectiles, right after checking up on the newborn as 15 minutes had passed since the last time I did (halfway through making the shield).

Surprisingly, the shield seemed to be completely unaffected by the arrows. It was almost as though it wasn't even being hit, only really chipping every once in a while whenever I got a perfectly lined up shot. I was not willing to allow my ability to use the bow to affect the results though, so I made Jose take a shot.

He seemed to understand that I wanted him to shoot the shield with ease, probably because he had been staring at me doing it for a while like most others around. Even with his incredible ability though, and the fact that he fired a perfect shot at the shield in a spot that I had gotten wood to chop off before, he was only able to get the arrow to stick for a small amount of time before falling leaving a small hole that didn't even go all the way through the shield.

Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed and only now realized how valuable shields truly were as before I had assumed that they would break in just a couple of hits from an arrow; with this knowledge though, I suddenly realized why they were so valued before the inventions of guns and explosives.

Once that was done, I finally moved on to the close combat durability test to see how well it could perform in the area that arguably mattered most for a shield user. First, I decided to try out the dagger as it was the least likely to break the shield. After setting the shield on a very tall branch with said shield being held in the middle by the start of another branch.

I chose Fransisco to help me with this one as he seemed to have improved significantly over the rest when it came to one's ability to use a dagger. And despite him trying his hardest to break the shield, he was only able to make pretty significant dents, which was actually excellent news since that meant that it would hold out quite well in a fight.

The shield was quite beat up by now, and I was aware that the results from an ax test would not be the most accurate at the moment. However, I decided to still try it out as it would still have some worth and making another shield would be a waste right now.

Omar was picked this time, as he had shown to have improved pretty well at using the ax (and he happened to already have one in hand, which I assume was to chop wood into pieced to add to the fireplace). It took the shield only two hits to be chopped through, yet I was still pretty satisfied with the result, as it was currently in its worst condition, guaranteeing better results for newly made ones.

From there, I decided just to stop testing as I had no more shield left and no more tests to be run, at least not at the moment. Plus, although I knew that the newborn, like every other child that was still a baby at the moment, could sleep in their mother's bed, I felt that it was about time that I made a crib, or at least a separate bed for them.