The Monster Inside: The First Vampire 148 A Truth Bomb

'Diamond amongst Coal' was probably to generous in describing The Ruin. At least in Falla's opinion. But that wasn't to say that it didn't have potential. It was the best-looking place on the street, though the street was for all intents and purposes, full of unsavoury folk who preferred the shadows. It was not until she got closer that Falla realised the place wasn't completely constructed. Still, it Rassa had only purchased the place recently, he'd done well to get it this far in such a short time, and it looked sturdy too.

Layn was not so optimistic, "Are you sure about this Miss Falla?"

"It's a bit late to be asking me that, Layn," Falla sighed, "We've already signed the contract, we must keep our word".

Layn sighed, "Yes, Miss Falla. Though please note I am not optimistic about this venture".

"I will do so," Falla smiled.

Layn had been her late husband's assistant before he became Falla's. Over the several months the three of them had spent together, Layn had grown to understand and respect Falla, as young as she was. He was a good decade older than Falla, older than her late husband by half that. Still, he'd been quick to reassess his judgements of her age when he'd seen the scale of the Evanine Crystal Mine she'd managed to come into possession of.

To put it simply, it was a good thing the mine was underground, or else it would have been difficult to hide it.

The carriage came to a halt, and Rassa walked out into the daylight right on time, his hood up to shield his eyes. Most would think of this as him lacking any decorum, but Falla was just used to it. She could hardly imagine what Rassa looked like without his hood during the day anymore.

Layn alighted from the carriage first, turning to help Falla down. Falla looked up to the Ruin, as Rassa had told her it was called, and then to Rassa.

"It's certainly new," she commented.

Rassa sighed, "Good morning".

"Morning," she replied, stepping forwards to greet him as he led her inside.

"I suppose a tour is in order first," Rassa said.

"That would be nice, yes," Falla replied.

Their conversation was quick and to the point. It was also somehow awkward and not at the same time. Layn had been thinking to make his own greeting as well, but seeing their interactions he'd simply snapped his mouth shut and kept quiet.

The three of them entered through the main doors, greeted by a large room with half-constructed shelves around. They appeared to be bookshelves, but their shelves were slanted down and they had glass panes blocking them from being touched.

"The store," Rassa stated, "The shelves have all been constructed to both display the charms and to keep them from the public. Each glass pane can only be unlocked be removed by a staff member, who are only to do so should a purchase be evident".

"How many charms are you selling?" asked Falla.

The room was quite large, to fill the entire thing with the Protection Charms seemed pretty boring.

"Six," Rassa replied, and he handed over a list, "They'll be arranged by size and I thought of selling accessories as well to compliment the Charms. Perhaps pouches and the like to hold them".

"Not Jewellery?" asked Falla, "After all that is what the crystals are currently used for".

"We could sell Jewellery, but I don't have anyone amongst my people who specialise in inlaying gems. Besides, the charms are most affective when they touch the skin of the person who wishes to invoke them. Putting a metal barrier in the way could inhibit them from working," Rassa replied.

"Then why the pouches?" asked Falla.

"You can take them out of the pouches," Rassa replied.

"And you can touch the gems inlaid in jewellery," Falla argued back.

Rassa sighed, "It would be better not to inlay charms that already have runes on them. "If you do the inlay before they hold a rune, it would be better".

Falla gave a very business-like nod, "I'll explore it and get back to you".

She didn't deal in jewellery either.

They moved through the rest of the first floor, stopping at the rear work area where Kit was working on drawing the runes on paper. He still hadn't been allowed to mark actual crystals. He was not bothered by that though, he'd watched Rassa draw the runes before, and knew that mistakes were not tolerated. He'd rather perfect his drawing before he started marking.

"I thought you said he was capable of marking the runes," said Falla, eyes narrowing.

"I said he'd be capable by the end of the festival," Rassa replied.

Falla surveyed Rassa for the moment, and his confident expression released a breath, "Are you not afraid that I'll reveal your training methods by seeing him".

"It'll be useless anyway," Rassa stated.

"Why is that?" asked Falla.

Rassa was silent for a moment, then spoke, knowing he could not hide the fact from her any longer, "Because an ordinary human can't draw runes. You need a Magician".

Falla was silent for a moment, "I see".

She seemed neither disappointed at his witholding of the truth, nor angry. Instead, she considered it as objectively as possible, and concluded that despite her surprise and this information being sprung on her after the contract was signed, she could not fault Rassa for it.

"Is magic required?" asked Falla.

Rassa shook his head, "Not to mark the Runes, you just need a specific tool for that. The reason you need a Magician is because they can read and understand the Mist".

Falla nodded, "So Kit is..."
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"A Shadow Magician, quite a skilled one at that," Rassa stated, "Especially at his age and being untrained. I was surprised no one had found him, but he had no desire to leave and jumped at the chance to learn the runes".

Falla nodded again, "I suppose it is a good thing that I have six months to find a candidate to train, isn't it?"

Rassa couldn't help the small smile on his lips, "I'm sure you'll find somebody. You seem apt at getting what you want".

"Clearly not with everything," Falla stated, "But then, you seem even better at getting what you want".

"After years of not getting what you want, you can go one of two ways," Rassa replied, "Either you accept that reality, or you completely reject it".

Falla sighed, "Shall we proceed with the tour? I saw a second floor".

Rassa nodded, "There is indeed".

Now that that was out of the way, hopefully the rest of their business would go smoothly.

Chapter end