It seems that I have made the right choice, it only took three generations for the quality to improve. I gave out orders to give a certain number of them supervised living… Meaning they could be as free as they wanted except for certain limits until it was time for slaughter. However, do not think that I did not do anything during that time.
Kai’s figure rushed through the forest. He andOnyx became two blurry streaks kicking up a storm whenever they went. He had a countdown now. Knowing that there was no time to waste, and happy with the progress he’d made so far, he decided that there would be enough time to test the magic. For now, he had a lot of work.
He and Onyx came to a halt as they approached the gate, and gave the guard a nod as they stepped in. Like usual, people filled the paved streets, for one reason or another. Merchants with backpacks full of items roamed the stalls. Trying to find a suitable spot to settle down, despite there being no space, lest he wanted to climb on top of one of them.
At the same time, a multitude of people, the majority men, roamed the streets. They took a look at one stall, then the other, deciding to buy something then haggling for it. Women were on and about as well. Though they were not the classy lasses with stuffed dresses, but instead rough, sometimes even torn clothing. With a dagger in their boot and another at the waist, then two others hidden in their sleeves. Such men were also not few and far between, and in stark contrast to them were the knights.
They wore leather armor, patted with iron and steel. Their clothes rattlled with each step they took. By their waist, a grandiose longsword tucked inside a scabbard, at the ready for any and all events. They walked around the area, surveying the stalls, shops, and other people. At the ready to intervene in case of anything happening. Where were they when I needed them? Kai scoffed at their useless patrolling, staring at them with scorn. Onyx also bared his fangs, if only for a moment, to imitate his partner’s displeasure.
He marched forward and scanned the area, wary of the dark corners or shady-looking people. Of course, besides humans, there were also dwarves, looking to buy materials otherwise inaccessible in their mountains. Then the elves doing who knows what. Demi-Humans, or ‘Munich’, as they called themselves, also covered the streets. This made Kai raise an eyebrow, not because he wasn’t used to them, but because their territory was so far away from here. Were there this many when I first arrived?
Regardless, it wasn’t his problem, and he hoped to not get involved in any of it. He walked through the bustling street, a cacophony of voices swarming his ears with chatter. Laughter, snickering, and haggling surrounded him. You’d think I’d get used to this by now… He thought in passing as his eyes glanced over the stalls. Onyx followed in silence behind him, earning the stares of quite a few people.
As usual, a myriad of items stood on display, from food, pastries, and writing instruments, albeit pricey, to even weapons and magic crystals. He stopped in front of one such stall and took a closer look at them. Thy were in no particular order, scattered about on a tablecloth. The majority of them were fire and water crystals, followed by wind and earth. Yet, there were no light or dark crystals in sight. Could they be rare? Kai’s pupils constricted and picked a random crystal up.
The vendor didn’t seem to be nervous or care, acting nonchalant with a slight hint of pride decorating his pursed lips. Kai brought it to eye level and inspected it carefully. It was a fire crystal, much like the ones illuminating houses and streets. Its shape was rough, with random spikes and holes throughout. Fog filled its insides, although its surface shone with a beautiful orange.
After putting it down, Kai looked at a couple of others, most of them resmembling one another, except for the colors. They varied from a greenish, transparent hue for the wind crystals to a dirty, muddy color for the earth ones. As for the water crystals, they seemed to shine with a deep, dark blue, however, if one took a closer look at it they’d see countless impurities.
Kai took a second glance and saw a rather peculiar earth crystal. It was the only one with a slightly more refined shape, and it stood close to the merchant. Upon reaching for it, a sudden pain covered his hand, and his gaze quickly flew to the merchant.
“No touching, only looking.” The man said with a nasty expression decorating his face. Kai took back his hand and rubbed it, then left after giving the man an ugly glare in return. What an asshole…
He sighed and rubbed his mask, then hurried his footsteps. Luckily, his small frame allowed him to sneak through the crowd quickly, and he took quick, detailed glances at every stall he passed by. As he walked past one, he quickly stopped and took a step back. Pressing forward, he looked with slightly widened pupils at the items before him.
Neatly arranged on the table before him were a couple of swords, which numbered no more than four, each of them identical to the other, except for one thing. Their shiny blades were made of the same material - a combination of iron and steel, attached to a brown hilt etched with leather, attached to which was a circular guard. In the middle of each guard was a crystal corresponding to the four basic elements.
Kai had never seen such a thing before, not at the elves and definitely not at the dwarves. He reached for one of them, his curiosity peaking, however, a sudden voice startled him. “If you touch it, you buy it.” A young-looking boy walked out from within the shadows. His yellow eyes shone with a soft light, unlike any other creature had ever seen besides monsters that were out for his life. He wore a white scarf, dark shirt, and pants, which melted perfectly with his brownish, tanned skin. The look on his face made Kai take a step back, bumping into a man who reeked of alcohol.
“Is that a new policy around her?” He inquired, the drunken man ignoring him completely.
“It’s my policy.” The young man, who looked to be no older than twenty-five replied.
Kai frowned at the statement, and was almost ready to leave, however, something deep inside him didn’t allow him to. Damn it Rodney, how dare mere memories have such an effect on me! He raged internally, however truthfully he also wanted to know more. “How much for one?”
“Twenty Platinum Coins.”
“Twen-Twenty?!” Kai gasped as he heard the price, unable to believe his ears. Twenty platinum is equivalent to two thousand gold… as much as it costs to rank up to Master Rank! What the hell, most people don’t even see twenty golds in their entire lifetime! Even… I only had enough to sign up because of my parents, and now I’m broke!
“Yes, do these look like cheap cans to you?” The young vendor said, however, that Kai still hadn’t recovered from the shock. Twenty Platinum…
Onyx nudged his companion with his snout, at which point he finally woke up. “What’s so special about these swords anyway?”
Hearing Kai’s question, the young man let out a frustrated sigh. “Can’t you see the crystal in the middle? These are not just any swords, they’re magic swords.”
“Magic Swords? Aren’t all swords magical?”
As Kai asked, not only did the vendor’s face turn into an ugly frown, but even a small crowd stopped, staring at him with widened eyes. Finally, one of the spectators broke out into laughter, “This kid is funny, hahaha… all swords are magic swords… ha!”
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The boy’s face flushed red, and he immediately made himself as small as possible and ran away from the crackling crowd. What, what did I say? He asked himself, taking a sharp corner and stopping near the edge. Damned bullies.
Onyx caught up soon enough, his tail wagging, and he looked at Kai with a weird expression. “What, even you think my question was stupid?”
“Arf!”
“Well, how was I supposed to know? Dad’s sword doesn’t even reply to me and this silver one has some kind of spirit inside it. I thought anyone could imbue their swords with magic.”
“Woof…”
“Huh?”
“Woof!”
“Argh, fine… so much for a so-called ‘Mana Beast’”
Kai sighed, unable to believe that even his own lifelong companion agreed with the mocking ground. Then again he could have just talked to himself, as he didn’t fully understand Onyx just from a few barks. Maybe I’m genuinely going insane… Regardless, after tidying up his clothes, he walked back into the market, this time with purpose. He skipped past every stall, even those that seemed interesting, up until he finally saw what he was looking for.
It was a small wandering stall, whose creaking wheels were deafened by the huge crowd passing it by. Kai reached it fairly quickly, then stopped it in his tracks. The vendor stopped, startled by the boy’s sudden appearance, however, didn’t say a word as Kai took a look at the contents. Amidst a variety of toys and miscellaneous items, were masks, much like the one he was wearing. Glancing at the designs, however, it quickly became clear that they were of much higher quality. The wood seemed to be more polished, with little to no errors and the paint job was clean, with sharp lines and an expressive art style.
Immediately, a fox-style mask grabbed his attention. Unlike the one he had before, which had a fairly simplistic design of all white with red whiskers on the cheeks and highlights around the eyes and ears, this mask was much more…ostentatious. It held a similar shape, with two ears and almost identically formed eye holes. Instead of the flat snout, though, this one protruded outwards, much like a fox’s. Its surface was covered in a glossy, dark red color, and the whisker-like stripes were painted with gold.
A shiny golden line, embraced by a black stroke ran from the top of the nose to the bridge. On the forehead, a black circle filled with golden intertwining symbols gave it a layer of beauty that could not be described in words. Its ears had a similar golden pattern running along the lines and center.
Kai’s eyes shone as he reached for it. He quickly glanced at the vendor as he hesitated, remembering the last two times he tried to look at something precious. However, much to his delight, the vendor didn’t stop him or slap him away, so he picked up the mask. It had an unexpected heaviness to it, however, contrasted to the smooth surface, its interior had a rough texture to it, much like tree bark.
This is good… even if it’s showy, I like it! He didn’t have the gal to test it right there and then, of course, however, he addressed the merchant. “How much is it?”
“Ten silvers.” Kai had expected an unreasonably high price even before asking, as such craftsmanship was hard to come by. Even though I’ve only been in a few places…
His ring shone with a faint light as he pulled out a bag and handed it to the vendor, thanking the man with a nod. Kai then disappeared into the crowd, followed by Onyx, both of their figures mending with the large crowd.
…
The boy immediately knew where to go after finding what he was looking for, and the path was much too familiar to both him and the Obborik. He quickly pulled out a dark stone from his ring and stopped in front of a wall, then gently placed it against the solid structure. It quickly turned transparent, at which point he passed through it, followed by Onyx.
As the wall turned back into a solid, a gentle warmth enveloped Kai, and an annoyed voice greeted him. “So you didn’t die, did you?”
“Barhm, of course not. I got pretty close though.” Kai chuckled and took off the destroyed mask, storing it in a storage ring. His pale face contrasted heavily with his crimson eyes and black hair. The dye covering its true color slowly began wearing off, revealing silver spots toward the roots and a few, minuscule strands at the center.
More than that, his face, which once had reddened, plump cheeks and a healthy amount of fat, now resembled a dying man, or as clone to one as he could get. His flesh began sticking to his skin, the fat having disappeared, and his sunken crimson eyes made for a ghastly sight. His dry lips were cracked, ever so slightly, making for a worrisome, unfamiliar sight for anyone that knew him.
“Well you look dead, that’s for sure,” Barhm commented, glancing briefly at Onyx, who bared his fangs at him. “Hurt a dog once and they’ll hate you for life…”
“Onyx is not a dog, and the amount of force you used was exaggerated.”
Rolling his eyes, Barhm dismissed Kai’s comment and walked toward his research room. “Feel free to find out what I discovered or lounge on the couch like you usually do.”
“Aren’t you even remotely interested in what I’ve been doing these past few days?”
“Not at all…” The weird boy’s voice echoed from the other room, accompanied by the scraping of a chair. Kai sighed, then kneeled in front of Onyx, giving him a few pats and a kiss on the forehead. “Come with me or stay here, whichever you want, alright?”
“Arf!”
After saying that, Kai got up and rushed over to the other room. His eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the stacks upon stacks of paper piled up on his desk. After taking a glance at the ever more detailed information, he inhaled sharply. “How do you have enough data to write all this? Do you discover something new every day?”
“Every day?” Barhm repeated. “More like every five hours or so, then it takes me about an hour to write a report. Why do you ask?”
Rodney’s memories flashed before Kai, similar imagery as the one before him appearing in his mind's eye. “You’re going to work yourself to death.” He said with a sigh and walked over to Darky’s cage. However, the sight of a giant, void-like being that had no form or shape, that he expected didn’t quite come into reality. Instead, what stood before him was an Obborik, seemingly a perfect replica of Onyx, except instead of his snow-white fur he was black like the ebony tree.
“Uh…”
“Quite peculiar, isn’t it? After you didn’t show up for a few days it took this form. I’m not quite sure why but it hasn't changed since.”
“Dude this is freaking me out. Ah!” Suddenly, Kai’s mind went into full gear and he momentarily ignored the copycat. “This reminds me, I got attacked, rather, I attacked a beast that could turn invisible! Not only that, it looked like a bipedal wolf but its mouth stretched so much it could swallow me without chewing.”
Barhm’s facial expression changed for the first time since they started talking, his pupils constricting. “What? That… that’s quite likely.”
“Huh?” Kai took a metaphorical step back at the boy’s reaction. “Why do you say that?”
“Well… that’s quite simple. Actually, it’s not and it’s about things you’re not privy to.”
“Since when did you care about such things?”
Hearing Kai’s remark, Barhm looked at him with a half-angry, half-annoyed side glare. “F-Fine…” Didn’t know you were so sensitive, damn. He gulped and dropped the subject, not wanting to anger him any further.
Deciding to turn his attention toward Darky, he approached the cage and crouched in front of it, reaching just below his eye level. Even from looking closer, besides the black fur, Kai could not see any difference between him and Onyx. “Don’t you find this… creepy?”
“Well, I did at first,” Barhm replied without even looking at Kai. “But then I thought it could turn invisible and that sensation quickly faded away.”
“That’s… a fair point.” Kai sighed and stood up, unable to look at the thing anymore. “I guess it’s time for me to study… Right, I have a favor to ask.”
“Ugh, what is it?” Barhm’s annoyed voice rang out as he turned around, staring at Kai with a tired look on his face.
“Well… I am…”
“Just spit it out already!”
“I am struggling to advance because of my core and I was wondering if you could help me find out another way to”
“I’ve heard enough, no.” Barhm cut his speech sharply and turned back to his scribbling.
His sudden, blunt, and outright refusal surprised Kai, as this had never happened before. “You didn’t even let me finish.”
“I’m not going to help you create another technique to gather and refine mana. Do you understand how insane that is? I couldn’t do it in my original world, where I was a master of the Arcana.”
Master? That’s new… Similarly, that was also the first time Barhm had willingly divulged information about himself. Up to that point, Kai had to nag him about it otherwise he wouldn’t even explain some basic concepts that Kai had no idea about.
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try…”
“It seems like a waste of time. I’d rather be doing research.”
That’s… actually reasonable. Kai sighed after coming to that conclusion, and sat on his chair, slouching on his desk. However, as he sat in thought, a wild idea passed through his mind. Well… it’s either that or… He sighed and raised his head, gulping as he asked an insane question.
“Hey, Barhm… have you ever experimented on a vampire?”