"Haha." Magnus and Carmilla laughed, neither of them surprised that their 5 year old children was able to comprehend and pay such attention to the story.
Truth be told, Julian and Isadora never acted like children and at first they were worried about this.
But the two of them knew that their children were special, and that coupled with the fact that they never met kids their age, could be the reason for their behavior.
"And the sword?" Julian asked.
"Not now," Carmilla said, "we have more important things to do first."
Julian didn't press, eager to see what the world and their parents had in store for them.
"First, you should take a look at our empire." Magnus announced.
The four of them made their way along the hallway, then turned left towards the atrium.
Carmilla opened the door that led to the balcony and the first thing that Julian heard was:
Kaaaa!!
The sound of a crow's call.
There were crows everywhere, flying in the airspace near the castle.
But these crows were not ordinary, they had pitch black feathers, with a pair of glowing red eyes. They had an eerie intelligence in them.
Julian focused his gaze on the environment.
The entire castle was standing on a high cliff that had a dark surface. They appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.
He could hear the tides of the raging ocean below hitting the base of the cliff, looking up, he saw a giant red moon.
It was so massive that it looked it was suspended right above the castle.
And strangely enough, he felt some sort of connection to the moon.
Shifting his gaze, Julian saw a long, stone paved road that led to and from the castle. He could make out a faint silhouette standing on a hill on the side of the road.
When he was finally able to make out the features of the silhouette, a chill ran down his spine.
'The Grim Reaper?' He thought.
The figure was draped in a long black, shredded robe with loose strands that swayed in the wind. It was all skeleton, with no flesh and no eyes.
It's mouth was wide open, and the bottom jaw looked like it could fall off at any moment.
In its boney hands it held onto a scythe, but the weapon has clearly seen better days. It was tied together with rope in several places, the blade was full of rust and it had several chips on its surface.
It appeared as if the weapon would break in a single swing.
(Image in discord channel)
But despite its appearance, Julian could feel that the skeleton was incredibly strong, the chill that ran down his spine was all convincing he needed.
"What is that, father?" He asked Magnus, his voice shaking slightly.
"Oh," Magnus said with a laugh, "that is the Immortal Guardian. He is tasked with protecting the castle from any intruders."
"But why does he look like that?"
"It has always looked like that, but don't underestimate it based on its outward appearance," Magnus warned, "it is very capable."
Julian could hear the seriousness in the voice of his father and couldn't help but gulp.
'This world is crazier than I thought.'
"Why is the moon red?" Isadora asked, her beautiful crimson eyes widening in awe.
"Every continent has been made to perfectly represent every race located on it, so the moons was made with the image of all the races of the continent in mind." Carmilla answered.
'Does that mean that continent has its own moon?' Julian repeated in shock. 'How big is this world?'
"I thought there would be more vampires out here." Julian said.
"It's just us here. The nearest vampire is in the capital city, Drucalis, just a few minutes away from here."
"Can we go there!?" Isadora asked, excited to meet new people.
"Not yet, there is still some things we need to do." Carmilla reminded, her voice carrying a hint of urgency. "But soon, I promise."
"Right," Manus said, mirroring Carmilla's urgency, "follow me."
He said that, but he was still carrying Julian and Isadora in his arms.
They moved through the hallway and up the stairs to the second floor, the decor here was the same as in the rest of the castle.
They arrived in front of a simple door, where Magnus finally put Julian and Isadora down. He reached out to the simple door and wisp of red light flowed from out of his hand.
"Wow!" Isadora exclaimed in awe. "What is that red light, father?"
Magnus froze, and look down at his daughter. A myriad of emotion was on the man's face, but shock was the most prominent one.
"Y-you can see that?" He asked, in a shakey voice.
"Yes!" Isadora said innocently.
"You too, Julian?" He asked.
"Yes." Julian answered, not understanding the severity of the situation. "Is something wrong, father?"
"No." Magnus denied, but he couldn't hide the look he shared with his wife from Julian, a look that spoke a thousand words.
"Ahem," Magnus cleared his throat and gained back his composure, "we should continue where we left off."
The red wisp moved from Magnus' hand towards the door, but instead of bouncing of, it moved through the door.
'No. The door absorbed it.' Julian noticed.
"That's so amazing, mother!" Isa said with excitement.
"I know right," Carmilla said, matching Isadora's excitement, "one day you'll be able to do it too. In fact, you'll be able to do more amazing things."
"Brother too?" Isadora asked.
"Yes, Julian too." Carmilla confirmed.
"Hehe, I can't wait!" Isadora's excitement was contagious, and effortlessly lifted the tension.
Click!
Once the door has absorbed enough of the red wisp, a click could be heard from it. But instead of sliding open, the door dissolved and was replaced by a red fog.
Magnus moved through the fog, followed by Julian, Isa and then Carmilla.
Julian's eyes widened in amazement and awe when he saw the contents the room held.
There were weapons everywhere and of every kind. They were encased in a glass box and were floating in it.
Julian saw spears, halberds, swords, daggers, bows and even a blade shaped like a 'U'.
No two weapons were the same.
But what they all had in common was their color: black and red.
Julian could feel immense pressure coming of from every weapon, their collective presence making it a little harder for him to breath.
But it was nothing he couldn't manage.
The weapons were placed in a circular motion, and in the center of the circle, was a round, glowing red stone with a smooth surface, resting on a crimson pillow.
Magnus completely ignored the weapons and moved towards the center, the rest followed behind.
"This is an awakening stone." Magnus gestured towards the stone.
Julian was captivated by it. He never seen something so round and smooth. No marble from his previous life could compare to it.
"Awakening stone?" Isa asked, confused.
"It will help you with awakening a portion of your of vampiric and draconic bloodline. And it will also allow you to choose a soul weapon."
'Soul weapon!' Julian recognized the words immediately.
It was used in a lot of novels and manhwa's he read back on earth and in all of them, the weapon was overpowered and so was its wielder.
It was a growth-type weapon that was bound to one's soul.
Meaning the stronger the wielder gets, the stronger and sharper the weapon got.
There were even some weapons that gave their wielders more techniques, spells or movements–based on the type of weapon–the stronger the wielder gets.
All-in-all, he was pretty excited to be getting one of his own.
'I guess I didn't die for nothing.'