After helping Roy with a little electrical problem, Kaleb went back to his workbench. He had plenty of bones, skin, and sinew left. He needed to work out how he wanted to use the stuff. He was sure he wanted to add a lining of Ifrit skin to his lab coat and maybe his armor. But did his weapons need an upgrade?

He stared down at the workbench, finding the pieces of the revolver he bought. He hadn’t put it back together after making his second bone gun. He also still had the bone bullets laying out on the table. Kaleb felt the wheels in his mind whirring as he thought about his brand new gun and ammo.

“What you thinking, boss?” Daivor asked, following Kaleb’s eyes.

“I was thinking about putting different Runes on some bullets and seeing how they react. Like, would an Ice Rune freeze targets? Maybe an Electric Rune to stun people.” Kaleb explained.

Daivor waggled his head noncommittally. “Eh, it might work. But you are still shooting someone with a bullet. Making their wound cold wouldn’t change much.”

Kaleb nodded as he sewed Ifrit skin into his lab coat. He didn’t need the Ifrit skin to be stiff, so he skipped soaking the skin. As he worked, he asked Daivor.

“You have any ideas?”

“Maybe. Can I use a Mana stone and the glowing stuff from the other day?” Daivor asked.

Kaleb tilted his head. “Glowing stuff?”

“The blue vial I amped up the other day.” Daivor said.

Kaleb’s eyes widened as he remembered the vial of blue liquid he had gotten from the Jellyfish monster. “Oh yeah, what did you do to that thing, anyway?”

“I gave it a little jump to get the Magic going. The creature you got that from must have been a huge bastard. Its blood can hold a large amount of Magic.”

Kaleb had to get up and search around for the vial but he eventually found it. When he did, he studied the liquid. It still felt warm to the touch and almost seemed to bubble with power. He compared it to the large bin of Ifrit blood. While he could sense power in the blue vial the orange Ifrit blood seemed almost mundane.

“How is this different from the Ifrit blood?” Kaleb asked, shaking the blue vial as he handed it to Daivor.

Daivor froze in thought for a few seconds before responding. “This stuff is Magical, the Ifrit’s blood can merely channel Magic.”

“Doesn’t that make it Magical.” Kaleb asked sitting down and going back to his work.

“Not really.” Daivor said, seeming to struggle to find the right words. “Whatever you got this vial from was a Creature of Magic. The Ifrit was a creature from a Magical realm. Make sense?”

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“Not really.” Kaleb replied honestly.

Daivor grumbled. “They’re just different! This stuff can hold and channel magic better than the Ifrit blood.”

Kaleb finished one side of his lab coat and checked his work. “Well, why didn’t you say so before? Do your thing, master Gnome. Besides you don’t have to ask, build what you want, when you want to. Just let me know what you are using so I know what I need to replace.”

Kaleb started on the other side of his lab coat as he had a second thought. “Uh, you don’t need that whole vial, do you?”

Daivor didn’t answer so Kaleb glanced up seeing the Gnome looking at him strangely. Before Kaleb could snap him out of it though the Gnome seemed to gather himself.

“Ahem. No, I… I won’t need all of it. Just a small amount.” Daivor said, somewhat awkwardly.

Kaleb titled his head curiously at the Gnome before he decided not to ask. He continued to sew as he listened to both Roy and Daivor working on their separate projects. Kaleb’s mind fell into a kind of fugue state as his hands worked. The skin was soft enough for a needle and his hands quickly got into a rhythm. He occasionally would see Daivor walking across the table to get something, but he tried not to bother the small Gnome.

Kaleb had finished his lab coat and was working on his armor when Daivor spoke up.

“What do you think, Boss?”

Kaleb glanced up to see Daivor holding up the black revolver. The Gnome had removed the cylinder and replaced it with a strange frame contraption that held a horizontal hourglass. Inside the hourglass Kaleb could see a small amount of the blue liquid from the jellyfish. Daivor had also created a rudimentary setting for a Mana Stone in the gun's grip.

“Well, it looks… different. But what’s it for?” Kaleb asked.

“It’s for you. A proper Magic user needs something to channel their Magic. This will not only allow you to do that, but it will also increase the… potency of your Magic. Once you get used to it.” Daivor explained.

“Get used to it?”

Daivor nodded. “Yeah, normally with wands or Foci you channel your magic through the object. But with this you have to channel your Magic up through the blood of our little friend here and then out the barrel. It will take practice to get the Mana flow right.”

Kaleb picked up the revolver and looked it over. “So it will kind of act like another training tool. Helping me get better control of my Magic.”

“Yeah, I guess it could work that way. And with the Mana stone, you can store a little magic away for emergencies.”

Kaleb smiled at the revolver until he noticed the obvious. “Isn’t the hourglass thing too exposed? What happens if it breaks?”

“Then the Magical Amp won’t work and you must replace the liquid. But I recommend creating a strong shell for this frame from the Ifrit bones and Imprinting the best protection rune you can find. Both on the gun itself and the Magical Amp.” Daivor said.

Kaleb nodded as he went to work, forgetting all about his half-finished armor. The gun was a neat creation and, in Kaleb’s opinion, way cooler than a wand or necklace. He had to rework another piece of bone with his lathe but eventually he got two flat pieces to cover where the cylinder used to go. But as he lined them up on the gun’s frame Daivor stopped him.

“I forgot to mention. That hourglass part needs room to spin horizontally. Once you pour your Magic into it that things going to come alive.”

Kaleb sighed and went back to the drawing board. He eventually came up with a hollow cylinder that could attach to the crane and still had enough room inside for the Magical Amp to spin. It took some careful measuring, but he got the bone cylinder in place. In the end the gun didn’t look too different from what it originally looked like. Except now it had a bone white smooth cylinder.

“What about the hammer is that going to be a problem?” Kaleb asked.

“It shouldn’t. You don’t even really have to pull a trigger. Just point, channel your magic, and release. But, if you want, we can jam the hammer somehow.”

Kaleb shook his head. “No need, I don’t think it would be the same without the hammer.”

Kaleb sat his new Magic gun down before he smiled at Daivor. “Thanks for this Daivor. It’s really cool.”

“Aren’t you going to test it out?” Daivor asked.

Kaleb looked out his garage door to the evening sky. It was slowly growing darker outside. Farrah had warned him about test firing outside, But Daivor’s Magic made the noise a non-issue. But someone would probably report seeing fire and ice spells flying outside their windows. Kaleb tossed the idea around in his head a few times before he looked down at Daivor’s creation.

“Fuck it, lets give it a go.” Kaleb said grabbing the gun and the Gnome and heading to his backyard.