"Where did all this come from?"
"Someone lost it, and I found it."
William and his father, Uriel, were standing right in front of a large wooden table in the private study.
It was a large room with wooden floors, stained-glass windows overlooking the forest, and large bookcases filled with new books and some that looked old.
Paintings hung on the walls, and delicate little bonsai trees decorated the room, courtesy of his mother.
At the other end of the room was the state-of-the-art machinery his father used in his work: laminators, ovens, laser cutters, high-definition cameras for microscopic details, and smelting equipment.
The large workbench and hand tools, as well as the drawings, designs, and photos, contrasted with the technology.
"Aren't you going to tell me?"
"Preferably not."
"All right." (Sigh).
"That's it, you won't insist any more? You know I could have hurt several people to get all this."
"Were those people nice people?"
"No, they all deserved it."
"That's enough for me. At your age, I didn't like my father meddling in my affairs either. In Three years, you'll be an adult, and you've shown impressive maturity for your age. I trust you."
Uriel patted William on the shoulder to show his affection for his son.
"Do you know everyone's name, or do we have to trace their origins?"
Uriel put on a pair of white leather gloves before holding the long Chinese sword in his hands. The shiny silver double-edged blade rested on a red cloth on the large table.
The hilt was made of black wood with three grooves to make it more comfortable to grip. The guard had a delicate golden sculpture and the pommel was shaped like the tail of a golden carp.
"I don't know the name of any of them, only some of their capabilities. This sword was capable of projecting extremely sharp wind blades capable of easily splitting trees several metres thick."
"An interesting sword, a traditional Chinese Jian sword, estimated to date from 1050 or 256 BC. Lightweight and versatile, ideal for stabbing and cutting, the hexagrams look badly damaged, having been subjected to excessive stress to the point of damage."
The hexagrams, a form of symbol used to enchant artefacts of Chinese origin, are as powerful and complex as the runes used by the Stone family, composed of six continuous (Yang) or discontinuous (Yin) lines.
"The scabbard looks fine, with no apparent damage. If you wish to sell it, it will fetch a high price at an auction for specialised collectors. Repairing the damage to the symbols will increase its market value."
"With its name and origin, we may be able to obtain a higher sum."
Uriel returned the sword to its sheath, decorated with engravings of carp in pure gold on a black background.
"Oh! I'll give it to you as a gift. You can decide what to do with it."
William thought about it for a moment. The sword was beautiful, but not to his personal taste, and selling it sounded like a lot of work. Letting his father take care of the whole matter seemed easier.
Uriel just raised an eyebrow in surprise and then accepted it with a smile. He planned to repair the damage and then hang it on the wall or on some kind of stand.
"Next."
Uriel adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with his index finger. This could be considered father-son time.
William took the next object out of the large rectangular box with metal edges. He was extremely careful when handling each object he obtained from the members of the Artifact Collectors Society.
He did not know if any of them were cursed or had any restrictions or requirements for use. He still remembered how Cayous lost several parts of his body when using the Golden Spikes.
"I recognise these. They were stolen about ten years ago from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The 'Gants En Plumes Dorées'. A group of thieves killed 15 guards and stole a couple of objects."
"The Golden Feather Gloves."
Uriel nodded in agreement with his son's translation from French. The delicate brown leather gloves were decorated with ten feathers embedded in the knuckle section. The centre of the feather appeared to be made of light white bone, and the tufts or banners were made of pure gold thread.
"They have no other ability except to equal the weight of an object to that of a feather. According to rumours, the limit is approximately 1,000 pounds."
"No restrictions on use for the wearer?"
"Being an object for military use, its creator made it so that only women can wear it."
"Tsk, damn craftsmen and their restrictions."
William gritted his teeth. It was a good artefact for hand-to-hand combat. Using it, you would be able to throw a 180-pound person easily, that is, if you didn't pierce them on the first strike.
"I'll give them to Victoria, since I took the family heirloom."
Next, these are the Sacrificial Barbs of the Order of the Rose. Think of them as an ultra-compact crossbow embedded under the skin. Each projectile is fired at high speed, and once it hits its target, it shatters it.
Uriel took one of the golden needles out of its glass case. They were tiny and provided a powerful hidden weapon for the Knights of the Rose, designed to never be lost, forgotten, or taken away.
Once the three shots were exhausted, the spikes would return under your skin and you could fire again.
"It's useless to you without a Mark of Thorns, a brooch that the Order gave to any knight they considered worthy of being with them."
"Third item... useless."
At this point, William crouched down with his head resting on the edge of the table. Uriel laughed softly and stroked his hair.
"I'll try to find the brooch. There must be one in perfect condition somewhere."
"Finally, there is this sword, a Spanish light cavalry sabre, I would say from 1844 or 1855, nothing remarkable except that its blade is made of original Damascus steel and not that copy of layered folded steel, extremely sharp and durable but nothing compared to the Beskar of your sword."
"Can we extract Damascus steel and reforge it?"
William lurked from his position close to the ground.
Damascus steel, extracted from mines in India, forged and refined in Syria, dates back to 300 BC and was used in legendary swords in the Middle Ages due to its excellent qualities.
"Of course, in the main workshop, there won't be enough steel to forge a complete sword, but we can coat the blade of another weapon that interests you."
"I don't have another one for now."
"We'll wait until you find one."
Uriel tried to take off his glasses, having finished appraising his son's belongings.
"Wait, I got a couple more a few days ago."
William hurriedly placed a second briefcase on the table, inside were the necklaces of the Dire Wolves.
"These are the Necklaces of Jibrill, if I am not mistaken, made of Stellar Silver by a master armourer unknown, as is their date of manufacture. Ancient documents tell of a little-known hero who tamed five great Beasts to serve him."
"Currently, only one is preserved in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard. Nadia has managed to figure out how to activate them. A friend who worked with them theorised that a sixth magical object is needed to control the collars."
"They'll look nice on your wall, hahaha!!!....Eh?"
Uriel's laughter stopped abruptly when he saw the crown in his son's hands, composed of five diamond-shaped spikes with the central one higher than the other four on the sides.
"Did Damrock have it?"
"That's right, he controlled three dire wolves at once."
"Ah! Your mother killed a great wolf that tried to cross the property line."
"I just had to ask her where she buried the body, and voilà! I got the third collar."
"Now you have to make a contract with Jibril's crown. As an object left behind by a hero, it will react with your hero's blood."
William followed his father's instructions and summoned his spear from his room using one of the fairy's Triplet Rings.
After a small cut on the palm of his hand, a few drops of crimson red blood mixed with some golden blood fell onto the crown.
"The blood of heroes can only be extracted from a wound made by a weapon given by the gods."
William looked at Artemis' spear in his hands, which explained why he had never seen that colour in the multiple wounds he had sustained last year.
*Buzz!!!*
The crown shook on the table, then without warning levitated into the air and shot towards William's head. He remained calm as the crown settled on his head.
"It's light and comfortable. I thought it would be tighter."
William raised his hands and caressed the sharp, pointed edges of his new crown.
"Try giving the collars a command."
Uriel stepped aside and pointed to the three silver necklaces on the table.
William pointed and closed his fist in their direction, and the three necklaces shrank in size until they were practically rings.
"Fantastic, during next year's Walpurgis auction there will be a section with Unusual Beasts for sale, you can choose one to serve as your Hunting Hound and the family will pay for it."
"Eh? ... but I have two more collars."
William tried to look pitifully at his father, with puppy dog eyes.
"That might work on your mother, but not on me. You'd better start saving up, because they'll be ancient breeds and very expensive."
Uriel finally removed his delicate glasses, which immediately changed shape into a gem. Uriel placed it back on his bracelet. These glasses were a device that allowed him to observe the runic core of each object his son presented to him, as well as whether they were cursed or the price of their use.
"Let's have something sweet. Your mother baked brownies, and afterwards you can show me that unusual Adamantite coin."
"I think I should start charging you for every object I identify for you."
Uriel checked the time on his watch as he left the room.