[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019f4251-dbdb-756b-a6b1-31ba426dbc1a.webp[/img][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019f4252-394b-74dd-8762-122b451201ee.webp[/img] [i][b]Deep within the bowels of Hizuru[/b][/i] Genbu tucked a stray lock of her raven hair off of the white, featureless mask covering her face and tucked it behind her ear. Department Head of the Empire's Research Team, along with a handful of other unrelated titles, she had personally come to oversee the retrieved object, as per Her Majesty's request. "Terra, could you place the crate with the weapon on the desk?" She asked her Head Assistant. Terra was a brilliant girl, the best assistant she'd had ever since she took over this post from the Judge Magister. And only in her teens. Truly her mother's daughter. "Right away." The girl, Terra said, the white coat over her a business dress and she immediately rushed to put a new toy upon the desk as ordered, black heels echoing each step across the room. The little Lab assistant had the kind of job someone of her mental caliber could only dream of. A Position she earned through her well-developed intellect, and a want for knowledge keeps her around. It is a shame her mother hadn't appointed [i]her[/i] head of the Research Team. But the teenaged researcher can't hold it against her; fortune seemed to have favored her when Genbu proved herself a most competent boss, and one with just as much a desire for knowledge as herself. If anyone has to give her orders, it's nice that it's someone who she can understand, and who understands her in kind. Moving the strands of her own violet hair away from her face, she opened the crate to get a good look upon the weapon extracted, her yellow eyes reflect the sparkle of what appears to be some oddly shaped stalagmite of red crystal. Unusually large, but from a first glance, nothing but a beautiful jewel. However, it was easy to see this was hardly anything as ordinary as a mere ruby. Obviously some kind of magic is involved, but... "...Fascinating. The formation's hardly natural, and it has a some kind of metallic smell to it...Yet, It doesn't seem to be frozen." She said, as she grabbed hold of it with gloves. Genbu huffed softly in amusement behind her mask, almost inaudible to the young woman holding the crimson spear. "That's the smell of blood, dear. You'll get more than used to it when you first go afield to your first forensic investigation." That was the shame of it. The girl's mother was adamant Terra do no field work. It was a crime against her intellectual gifts to deny her of empiric investigation. She flipped through the memo the field team had left them. "Found at the scene of what the boys called... a 'bloodbath'. I need to have a word with them about proper report lingo." She sighed and inspected the weapon for the first time with her own eyes. "And I suspect it's not the blood of others... Crystallized blood, would you look at that? I know a certain dark mage who'd be doing cartwheels if she discovered how to make these." The raven-haired woman chuckled. Maybe she'd pass along a sample through her network. The Fleshcraft user was ever a useful informant within her own guild. The more information her boss gave her, the more excited she was. The idea of it coming from a bloody scene was unsurprising, to say the least, if the was truly a case of being blood. Crystallized...Yes, it does seem to be more a crystaline structure. ...I've heard rumors of particularly powerful vampires being capable of Blood-make magecraft...But I must say, I've never heard of them being able to crystallize blood like this. She said, pricking her finger on its tip to see how sharp it was. While she put the wounded finger in her mouth to keep the bleeding from being in the way, she twirled around the spear until the pointy end was facing down, and stabbed it a few inches through the metal desk. "Sharper than expected, I can see how they'd find it amidst a slaughter. A spear like this could theoretically go right through people quite easily, may even be able to pierce right through armor like a knife through butter. I've seen Ice-make create weapons before, but this is...different. ...I don't recognize the Mana signature at all. It's obviously not Spiria, could be cursed or ether, but either it feels off from the typical Magecraft. ...I'll get this analyzed as soon as I can. Something as unique as this... we may be able to track down its owner quite easily once we figure out what its being drawn from." Terra said. (edited)Wednesday, June 24, 2026 9:54 PM "Worry not about the owner. My agents from my other job posting are tracking him." Genbu assuaged her assistant's concerns. "You are absolutely correct about the mana signature. Good senses, Terra." She congratulated the girl. "We'll put it through all the standard tests to see if it yields any clues for us to follow. If not, more rigorous testing. I want to know if any Blood Make mages in our ranks can learn to make weapons like this. It'd certainly be a boon." The masked woman listed their to-do list. However... something felt off. The longer she beheld the spear, it felt like there was a connection. To her, nonetheless. That shouldn't be possible. She knew for a fact the owner had never met her. So... "Let's dismiss safety protocol for a brief window. I'll have a brief examination with my magic to see if it responds. And don't fret, I have methods of purging myself of any Cursia with my magic." She reached out with one of her Magics, -Jagr-, and touched the spear with her gloved hand. Definitely not cursed. All in all, it was just an extremely durable and sharp spear made of blood. But... there was this tiniest trace of something unfamiliar energy. Not even magic. Some sort of particle. So minute she should've missed it under normal circumstances. She pressed deeper with Jagr, arcs of blue flickering between her fingers. And then... [i][b]"Cross it, cross it, cross the threshold and open the door. Open the door, you foolish girl, and receive my majesty."[/b][/i] The words pounded in her head and then both memory and thought of it were gone. Slipped from her mind like water. And the particles were no more. "Well, it's not cursed, at least. Put it through the standard ringer of tests, Terra. Let's see what our analysis comes up with." While she was wearing a mask, Terra could tell by the subtle body language that Genbu noticed something off. Whatever it was though, it seemed like the feeling faded as she gave her her orders. "Understood, Chief." She said, taking the spear further into the lab. It was then an alarm sounded. "Another arrival..." Genbu muttered under her breath, inspecting the screen that showed a red blip over the map of the world. "Terra, hold down the fort. Run those tests. And pray I can catch this new anomaly before they run off!" And like a bird escaping its cage, she was gone. ---- [b][i]In the Everlue Mansion[/i][/b] The ebony-skinned beauty clad in an ornate, navy blue kimono with white adornments took a long drag of her expensively decorated pipe as Everlue barked his orders to her. Maledight, one of Everlue's precious gaggle of competent women. She waited for her superior to grow impatient before she exhaled the smoke out of her lungs. "I'll find your brat, sire. But since you're sending me, I know you won't mind if I cut him up a little in the process. Already, I have an inkling where he might be." Maledight grabbed her sheated blade from the weapons rack on the wall of the room and set off, not hurrying in the least. ---- In Aki (and Yuna's) hiding place, time itself did seem to play more tricks on them. The flicker of candles seemed to halt in place, along with any specks of dust floating down. The horned girl they had spotted earlier in the courtroom was once more with them, looking as ominous as before. [b]"She comes. The woman of wicked bone and flesh. Everlue sends him to recover you. But she won't. She'll rend you apart into ribbons if she catches you. Run, boy, run."[/b] And with her foreboding warning delivered, the devil child was gone and time continued on as normal. ---- [b][i]At the inn, Night Side[/i][/b] Val wasn't sensitive to any time shenanigans like the others, but she was finely tuned enough to her own spellcraft she noticed her magic grow sluggish, then disappear entirely. To test her theory, she strummed a string of her Lyrebow once or twice. No effect whatsoever. She cursed under her breath and looked around. She knew why, though. She knew this was a border town, and from her geopgraphy lessons that Dragon Law rendered all magecraft useless without being a citizen of Dragnovia. Or gaining permit from nobles. Then the white tiger wereman busted out from the backroom. Val gulped, knowing this was supposed to be her chance to act like a team leader for once. Make that damn Mizore and the guild proud. Aiko, her ever faithful swordsman companion, thankfully took off her the pressure of being the first to speak. "Yes, hello, sir. For welcoming us into our local base, I thank you. You wouldn't happen to know any Dragnovian nobles lenient enough to lift the Dragon Law off of us? Perchance... in exchange for armed swords. ...or healing?" The redhead asked, in case her own specialty managed to find any purchase in this foreign land.