121 Arma Sanguis (1)
...
...
Hadrian's brows furrowed as he stared at the entrance to his grandfather's laboratory.
'What is he up to now…?' He wondered with a small thoughtful frown.
Before he could go deep in thought, however, a ball of white fluff careened towards him without his awareness.
Hadrian's instincts warned him to move, but it signaled him at the last second and he was struck at the back of his head.
*THWACK*
"Kyu!?"
Hadrian thought he heard a familiar sound, but the sharp annoying pain of being hit in the head caught his attention instead.
The force of the impact was enough for him to bow his head, almost near to his waistline.
"Ugh! Bloody hell?!" The young mage cursed, rubbing the spot of where he was hit.
With an irritated frown, Hadrian turned his head to look at the prime suspect.
"Kyu?"
…who had somehow landed on his lap, lying on its back with its stubby appendages in the air while it was staring up at him cutely with its small triangular ears flicking.
In response, Hadrian stared down at his familiar, Ryu, with a deadpan expression.
"Really, Ryu?" He asked, calm but blank in tone.
The little white fluff merely wiggled its arms and legs and cooed to him childishly.
"Kyuyu!"
"Well, you're playing too hard. You hit me with your rotund body, you know? And it hurt." Hadrian deadpanned, raising one brow for emphasis.
"Kyu!" The white fluff exclaimed, its face twisting in a protesting expression.
Hadrian smiled wryly, knowing that the response was its familiar's way of being offended to him calling it 'chubby'.
The white fluff might be childish for most of the time, but it can be surprisingly intelligent enough to understand what he meant.
It didn't help his case to hold on to his annoyance when Fou, his other familiar, jumped on the arm of his chair to help her playmate from its current predicament.
Relenting, Hadrian gently grabbed Ryu in his right hand and righted the little familiar's position so that the latter can levitate in the air again.
"Alright, you two can go play. Just be careful not to run ahead into the things displayed around here. Opa doesn't like it when some of his stuff breaks." Hadrian grumbled, adding the last part under his breath as he recalled the few times that it happened in the past.
"Fuuuu…"
"Kyuuuuu…"
The two familiars went away, a bit downtrodden by the mild scolding they both received from their master.
But, they did perked up almost immediately as soon as they went back to playing again.
The young mage simply shook his head at their antics.
Footsteps echoed from the laboratory, his hearing picking up his grandfather's return.
Hadrian turned his head, just in time to see the old magician entered back into the room.
The Lord of the Schweinorg house was smiling widely, to the point that said smile nearly reached his crimson eyes.
While peculiar and a little disturbing it was to see his grandfather being so joyful, it was the stuff that was gathered in the older man's arms that caught Hadrian's attention.
The young mage blinked.
"Opa… what are those?" He asked slowly.
The old magician tilted his head, looking a bit surprised by his question.
Then, he dropped the object in his arms unto his desk in a rather careless fashion.
Hadrian winced a little at the sight, considering as some of the stuff were delicate and seemingly easy to break.
Zelretch glanced down at the objects on his desk before looking back to his grandson.
"I thought it should be obvious by now." The old magician simply stated, as if discussing the weather.
Hadrian sighed.
"It is, but I know better than to assume things when it comes to the things to you make, opa." The young mage returned dryly.
Zelretch let out a booming laughter.
"Ahahaha, right you are there!" The old magician exclaimed, amused.
His grandfather then slapped his right hand on the desk, which was done on purpose to catch his grandson's attention.
"Okay, so here are the things I made." The old magician began, picking up one of the items on his desk.
Hadrian leaned in, blinking once before looking up to meet his grandfather's eyes.
"This is the same substance from the Blood Beads." Hadrian stated with a slight frown.
"Yes, but I tweaked it. Heavily." The old magician grinned.
"What does it do?" Hadrian asked, eyes narrowing in curiosity as he stared at the vial.
"I'll tell you later. I have something more important to show you." The old magician declared, looking a bit excited.
The older man gently returned the large vial of blood into its clear casing, closing it gently.
Then, he turned his attention to the small white briefcase, which he opened with a few clicks.
The briefcase opened, revealing two objects delicately cushioned in a red velvet interior.
Said objects were about two inches long and two centimeters wide. They were covered in a white pristine cloth with vine-like gold highlights.
Hadrian tilted his head as he stared at the two items, recognizing them immediately at a glance.
"Are these… sword handles?" The young mage asked, a bit unsure.
Zelretch beamed.
"Why yes, they are!" The old magician nodded.
Hadrian's countenance slowly morphed into a deadpan expression.
"So… you made sword handles… without hilts and blades on them?"
"Yes!"
"Why?" Hadrian asked next, wondering about his grandfather's intentions.
Noticing the skepticism on his face, Zelretch chuckled.
"Enkel, they might seem like ornate sword handles, but I assure you right now that they are not just that."
Hadrian frowned.
"Fine, what are these then?" Hadrian asked, exhaling through his nose as he suppressed the annoyance.
The grin on his grandfather's aging face widened, his fangs and crimson eyes glinting mischievously under the chandelier's lights.
"Hehe, I told you before. These are weapons." He said with a wave of his hand towards the objects.
"What kind of weapons then?" Hadrian asked, annoyed at the older man's dodging.
"So impatient." Zelretch teased, causing the young mage to glare at him.
The action merely caused the older man to chuckle before he relented, taking pity on his grandson.
"These are Arma Sanguis." Zelretch announced. "Translation… Blood Weapons."
...
...
