Chapter 40: Going back to Brukleon

 The father and son duo left via another teleportation array. They were before their house in the blink of an eye. Darius looked up at his father, and then spoke. 

"Dad, I have to make more runes, to make sure I have pocket money for Orestria," Darius said, and then made to go back inside the house. 

"Wait, I can send you money. You don't have to worry about that," Andiel told him, but Darius just turned around, and gave him a wide grin. 

"I want to earn my own keep," the boy spoke, and then rushed back inside the house. 

Darius knew that his new kinds of runes were better than what the rune shop had in stock. With the cream rune, people wouldn't get given away as to which runes they had on them. Anastasios's skin had been clean of the cream for just five minutes after his bath, and then the cream had reapplied itself. 

The vampire had not liked the idea that now he was wearing make-up every day. Still, he liked not the idea of his mother discovering that he got a tattoo at the age of six even less.

So far, Andromeda kept their secret. By the time the three finished Orestria Academy, they would be old enough to tell Antoannete about the tattoos. Until then, they would keep mum. 

Darius was like a child possessed. He got out all of his pre-drawn runes, and exhausted his entire supply of Basilisk blood. He got just twenty runes out of the deal, and his head was beginning to spin.

Quickly, he took some Galtea stew from where he kept it on his desk, and ate a bowl. His blood replenished in an instant, yet, now he was missing the most vital ingredient: magical beast blood. 

Right, it has been two weeks. I have to go and see if Ulric and the rest came back with more blood. With that thought, Darius took the already made runes, five of which were the cream rune variant, and he placed them in a folder. He stopped by the office, and peeked inside. 

"Dad, I am going to Orc's eye," the boy said, and Andiel nodded from his place by the table, looking over their mail. 

"Be back by dinner," Andiel said, and then Darius was off. The boy all but skipped the distance to the tavern. Inside were the usual regulars. As soon as they saw him, a loud cheer spread through the tavern. 

"Well, if it isn't our little lifesaver," Ulric came towards Darius, a bottle with red liquid in his hand, and a bag over his shoulder. "I went by your house, but you weren't there." 

"I was at a birthday. My best friend let me have the same birthday date as him," Darius explained happily, and reached out for the bottle. "Dragon blood?"

"An extended bottle. I got a job done that saw me kill an Ancient. I have never killed something as big," Ulric said, and a line formed behind him. The demon boy recognized the people as the ones he had given runes to. 

"Thank you," Darius bowed to the crowd, and was given the bottle. One by one, the bounty hunters gave him the blood they had promised him, plus the body parts for medicine that they had managed to harvest.

Yet, when those he had prepaid to were done giving their bounties, there were still people waiting in line. 

"Uhm," Darius said, not sure if he had given runes to everyone who had blood for him. 

"We also want some of the runes you make," the nymph that was next in line said. "And we brought blood." 

"Thank you," Darius smiled, but then his smile wavered. "I have only twenty runes on me. If you wait, I can make you more runes on the spot. Does any of you have Galtea plant on them?"

"I do," a Fey from further down the line said, and Darius smiled at him. 

"Good, hand it over to Tom, and tell him to make it in a stew. I will need a lot of blood, to make you each a rune," Darius said, and the man moved from his spot, and headed to the bar. "So, we can start now." 

Darius worked the entire day, making slow progress. By the time that Tom came to him and asked him if Andiel wasn't waiting for him, Darius had outfitted everyone who had brought him blood, and a couple of others who had promised that they will bring him some, after their next job.  

Collecting all the bottles in a bottomless bag, he made a note to place cooling runes on them, tomorrow. Exiting the tavern, he went straight home. Sure, he hadn't made any money today, but he had gotten liters of beast blood. With some of that blood, he had outfitted the bounty hunters, but with the rest, he planned to make runes for the rune shop. 

The adamantine armor rune and the preservation rune alone were going to make him a fortune. Enough to connect to the delivery system between the realms, and get even more blood, during his time in Orestria.

The boy went in the kitchen, and set the table. Then, he took to placing the meal, soup, in bowls, and then went to the office of the clinic part of the house, to call his father. 

Andiel was writing something in a thick book, but he looked up when he heard the knock on the door. 

"Dad, the table is set," Darius said, and his father stood up. 

"You really are a good son, you know? Here I was, writing a report, and you took it up on yourself to set the table without me asking. I will miss you, son," Andiel said, and then sighed. 

 "For you, I will be gone for just a month," the boy said with a slight smile. "You won't even know I am gone." 

"I will know and wait for you every day," Andiel promised. "When you come back all grown up and wise, I will be the happiest father in the world." 

Darius's tail began to wag then. His smile turning into a blinding one.