Chương 222: 219: A Plague of Phantoms III
"GRANDPA!" I cried out as I hugged him tightly. Grandpa Seamus chuckled loudly as he hugged me back, nearly lifting me off the ground despite his old age.
"My! You've gained some weight Starlight." Grandpa Seamus said. I let him go and blushed a little bit. I had been hitting the snacks a little .ore than usual. "Let me get a look at ya….why look at yer hair! The locks suit you!"
"Thanks…I had them done recently…" I said bashfully. "I can't believe you're here? What are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, that's a fine way ta greet yer grandpa after I flew halfway round the world ta see ya." Grandpa Seamus said, his Scottish accent coming out strongly. I shrieked and lowered my head a little.
"I didn't mean it like that! I'm just surprised you're here! It's not like you to make a trip for no reason." I said quickly. Grandpa Seamus arched a brow at me, then took a step back and placed his hands on his hips.
"Are you telling me you forgot what today is?" He asked.
My mind started racing as I tried to remember the date and then remember if there was anything important that happened today. His birthday or Grandma Lulu's birthday. The anniversary of her death was months away, so I knew it wasn't that. After a few minutes of me trying to remember Grandpa Seamus conked me on the head and frowned.
"My gods, laddie! It's ya birthday! How do you forget yer own birthday!" Grandpa Seamus exclaimed. As I rubbed my head where he conked me, it took a few moments for Grandpa's words to finally sink in.
"Oh shit…it is my birthday…." I muttered. Grandpa Seamus slapped his forehead and then shook his head.
"Just like yer mother, an ocean's worth of intelligence and a rice grains worth of common sense…" Grandpa Seamus sighed. I pouted and looked away.
"Hey, a lot has happened in the last few months…it's not like I forgot anything important." I muttered. That earned me another conk from my grandpa.
"Yer birthday is important, Starlight! It's the first day I held ya in me arms!" Grandpa exclaimed.
I heard snickering behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see Bo covering his mouth and laughing back at our table. Jane and Iris both looked stunned, while Nate seemed to be as amused as Bo. My eyes then scanned the rest of the room, and I saw Baset and Astrid looking just as surprised as the girls; while Damon and Alberto seemed to be struggling to hold in laughter. I paid Loki no mind.
"Well, it seems you know this gentleman Chase…" Dean Baxter said suddenly, reminding me that he was there. "…But what about her…"
Dean Baxter motioned towards the lobby of Baset's tower, and Grandpa Seamus suddenly became tense and jumped in front of me and spun me around, so I was facing the class.
"We'll worry about that later! Why don't you introduce me to your teacher and classmates?" Grandpa Seamus asked quickly. Dean Baxter looked confused as I did. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Who's with you, Grandpa?" I asked.
"A surprise for your birthday. You wouldn't want to ruin your surprise, would you?" Grandpa Seamus replied. I frowned but didn't say anything or do anything to try and see who was out in the lobby.
"If that woman out there came with Grandpa, then she's fine, Dean Baxter." I said with a sigh. Dean Baxter chuckled and then nodded.
"In that case, I'll give her a tour of the college while you introduce your grandfather to everyone." Dean Baxter said, then walked out of the auditorium, closing the doors behind himself.
That just left me and Grandpa Seamus in a classroom with my mostly confused or amused classmates. I let out an annoyed sigh and then looked at my classmates and Baset. Baset was the first one to get her shit together. She walked around her desk and walked up to Grandpa Seamus and held her hand out to shake his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Baset Paragon. I teach an advance course here at Andromeda College." Baset said respectfully.
"Pleasure to meet you too, Baset. Seamus MacClery. Pleasure's all mine." Grandpa Seamus responded, politely shaking her hand, then looking to me and stage whispering.
"What'd ya do to wind up with such a gorgeous professor?"
Baset chuckled, and I actually saw her blush a little bit. Grandma Lulu did use to say that Grandpa was a bit of a ladies' man when he was younger. Apparently, he hadn't lost his touch in his old age, not that he looked his age anyway. Despite being seventy-one Grandpa Seamus had very few wrinkles and only a little bit of grey in his hair and beard, you could easily be forgiven for thinking he was in his mid forties to early fifties.
Baset cleared her throat and composed herself rather quickly when she saw the slight smirk I had on my face.
"Well, Mr. MacClery…" Baset started only to be interrupted by Grandpa Seamus.
"Please deary, call me Seamus…" He said, flashing her a warm smile that made his deep green eyes sparkle. Baset blushed deeply this time and wasn't as quick with her recovery.
"…Seamus…um…what was I saying…?" Baset asked herself.
"Were you going to continue class and have me introduce my grandpa to everyone afterward?" I offered. Baset's eyes widened as realization hit.
"Yes! Thank you, Chase." Baset said. I motioned over to my group's table and then looked back at my grandpa.
"My group sits over there Grandpa, you can take my seat." I said, biting back the urge to chuckle at Baset. Grandpa Seamus looked over at the table and nodded.
"The table with the two beautiful lass'? Well, if you insist?" He said sarcastically and then walked over to my seat and sat down between Jane and Iris. I followed behind him and leaned against the edge of the table. Grandpa was already introducing himself to the girls.
"Seamus MacClery, pleasure to meet ya both." Grandpa Seamus said to the two of them. Iris smiled and waved at Grandpa while Jane chuckled.
"Iris Philari, nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you." Iris said.
"Yes! Chase talks about you all the time, I feel like I know you already. Oh, I'm Jane Solomon, by the way." Jane added. Bo poked his head around Jane and slapped his hand down on the table.
"Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?!" He whined at being overlooked. Grandpa Seamus arched a brow at seeing Bo, then saw his father standing just behind him.
"Well, aren't you a young'un?" Grandpa Seamus said, then looked back at me. "This another one of your classmates?"
"Yep, unfortunately…" I said, narrowing my eyes at Bo. Grandpa Seamus eyes widened, and then he turned to look at Bo.
"Well, I'll be! To be in college at such a young age! That's impressive!" Grandpa exclaimed. Nate smiled, then shook his head.
"Yeah, our son is gifted….too bad one of those gifts is getting in trouble…" Nate said. Grandpa Seamus extended his hand to Nate and smiled.
"Seamus MacClery, so this young'un is yours?" He said. Nate nodded, then shook Grandpa's hand.
"Yes, he is. I'm Nate Kestrel, and this is my son: Bo Kestrel. We're actually both employees of your grandson." Nate said. Grandpa's eyebrows shot up on hearing Nate say employees.
"What do ya mean, employees?" Grandpa Seamus asked.
"I own a shop in the city. Nate, his wife Jade, and Bo are some of my employees." I replied.
"Some! How many employees do ya have? A better question is how you managed to get a shop? You've only been gone for a few months!" Grandpa Seamus exclaimed.
"A lot had happened in the last few months…." I said with a sigh. I glanced down at the front of the class and saw that Baset had reached her desk and was waiting on me and Grandpa to finish talking. "…I'll tell you about it after class."
Grandpa Seamus looked in the same direction as me, then smiled sheepishly at Baset, looking oddly innocent.
"Sorry, I'll let you get on with your class." He said. Baset nodded and then looked each person in class before settling her sights on Loki.
"Now….back to what we were discussing before Chase's grandfather joined us…." Baset started. She paused for a brief moment and shot Loki a warning glare before continuing. "…As I stated before Chase, I would prefer that you choose either the runic language or Shaping as your field of study. Thought if I'm being completely honest. I believe you should choose Shaping."
"Then I guess I'm choosing Shaping then…" I said with a shrug and a sigh. A low growl could be heard coming from Loki's direction, but neither Baset nor I paid him any mind.
"Now, as for the rest of you, look at the packet I handed each of you. Inside, it is a breakdown of all the fields of study with in Splicing. While there are a lot of subdivisions, there are only five main categories: splicing, spell casting, genetic research, magical research, and ancient magical historical research. All splicers have a field of study that branches from one of those five." Baset explained.
"How many fields of study are there?" Bo asked.
"Officially? Thirty-seven. Unofficially, more than a hundred." Baset said. I frowned and scratched my head.
"What's the difference between an official field of study and an unofficial one?" I asked.
"General acceptance…" Jane spoke up. "…official fields of study are ones that the Splicing community as a whole recognizes as a valid part of Splicing. Unofficial ones are usually thought of as hobbies or busy work for the less talented."
"Correct. Usually, unofficial fields of study are looked down upon because they are not seen as helpful to Splicing. However, if significant strides are made with that field it can become official. My own field of study: reptilian and avian genetic correspondence was once an unofficial field. However, it is now the thirty-seventh official field." Baset said.
"I see…" I muttered, then glanced over at Bo and the girls. They were all looking at their packets and checking out the different fields they could specialize in.
"All of these seem boring!" Bo complained, then set the packet down. "Can I take Shaping as my field of study along with Chase?"
Baset seemed shocked by Bo's question, as did everyone else in the room. I somewhat expected it. While Bo basically had the run of any of my properties, he could normally be found in Moldworks watching Haws and Louie take care of the evos in the tanks.
"Why Shaping? You're a very talented splicer, especially for your age. I'm sure you'd do very well in the splicing field of study." Baset said.
"Because it's so cool! You should see some of the lysdale scripts Chase has made. Tier three and four evos that look absolutely sick!" Bo exclaimed. Loki curled his lip up at Bo for his remarks, as did Alberto.
"That's impossible! Not even my father can splice a tier four evo, and he's the foremost expert on splicing!" Alberto exclaimed, standing up from his seat and pointing a finger at Bo. Loki placed a hand on Alberto and forced him to sit back down. Alberto looked fearfully back at his father, who simply shot him a disapproving look, then looked back at Bo.
"Well, duh! He's not splicing at tier four. He's shaping one." Bo said in a matter of fact tone.
"Hmph! Nothing but low quality trash!" Loki huffed.
"My low quality trash has kicked the shit out of your evos before Loki, and he's gotten much stronger since then." I said in a low, gravely tone.
"That was only a prototype. My new and improved Lowell Titan would utterly decimate your Liger shark now." Loki huffed and looked down his nose at me.
"Oh really? Bone-lasher!" I exclaimed as I summoned my liger shark from my farm crystal. His crystalline structure landed on the stairs a few feet below us, and he emerged with a ferocious roar and slammed his armored claw down on the stairs.
Everyone on Loki's side of the auditorium jumped to their feet and recoiled when they saw Bone-lasher. I had forgotten that none of them had seen Bone-lasher in his new transcended form, which worked in my favor.
"You called Boss?" Bone-lasher asked, tilting his head towards me. Damon pointed a finger at Bone-lasher and then looked to me.
"That's Bone-lasher! What the hell did you do to it?!" Damon yelled.
"Boss blessed me with power!" Bone-lasher exclaimed proudly.
"More of that body modification, Chase?" Astrid asked. She was the first of her group to calm down. Bone-lasher snorted, then climbed the stairs and sat down beside me. I reached up and petted his head, then looked at Astrid.
"Of a kind. But if you think this form is a simple modification, then you're in for a surprise." I said with a smirk. Loki curled his lip up at me and Bone-lasher.
"Silly child! Do you want to play? Fine! Alberto!" Loki exclaimed, then looked towards his son.
"Yes, father!" Alberto answered, standing up so straight I was worried that his spine would snap.
"You know what you have to do." Loki ordered. Alberto looked tense but leveled me with a determined gaze, and he strode over to my side of the room.
"Chase Kingston, I challenge you to a duel!" Alberto exclaimed. I groaned and then looked over at Loki.
"Not man enough to fight me yourself, had to send your son to do it?" I jeered. Loki sneered at me.
"My son is more than your superior now. He has spliced a tier four Lowell Titan!" Loki exclaimed. I rolled my eyes while everyone else gasped. I looked back to Alberto and groaned.
"Fine, what are the terms?" I asked.
"One on one evo combat, each of us will summon one evo and fight to the death. When I win, you will leave Lady Baset's advance course." Alberto answered.
"Going for the jugular, huh?" I said. Grandpa Seamus tapped me on my shoulder, and I turned to look back at him.
"What's a duel Starlight?" He asked. Jane cleared her throat to answer his question.
"A duel is a fight between two splicers. One splicer challenges a splicer, with both splicers staking something on the duel based on the other's demands. For Chase, it would be him continuing to be in Lady Baset's class." Jane explained. Grandpa Seamus scratched his chin them smiled deviously.
"I see…then in that case, Starlight, when you win, why don't you make this…Albedo boy, learn. Shaping from you." Grandpa Seamus offered. I smiled deviously along with him and then looked back at Alberto.
"I like that idea. When you lose, you'll have to choose Shaping as your field of study along with me and learn how to shape!" I said. Loki bristled at Grandpa Seamus and mine's demand and looked at Alberto with a look that I could only describe as a silent ultimatum. Win or else you are dead to me. Alberto gulped upon seeing that look but kept a determined look on his face.
"I accept." He said with a slight tremor in his voice. Baset finally spoke up, though her voice was dripped heavily in annoyance.
"Alright, I'm guessing you two are unwilling to wait until after my class for this duel?" Baset said. Alberto shook his head, then started up the stairs to the lobby.
"Let's take this outside." He said as he reached the door. I frowned and crossed my arms.
"There is a floor in this tower specifically for dueling, Alberto. Why would we need to step outside." I said. Alberto curled his upper lip at me in the same fashion that his father had several times before.
"Because I want an audience to witness me defeat you, Chase!" He replied. Damon, Astrid, Jane, and Iris all groaned and shook their heads.
"That is a very bad idea." Damon said under his breath. I sighed, then looked to Bone-lasher and patted his shoulder.
"Fine, let's go, Bone. I'll need to borrow your strength again." I said. Bone-lasher stood and growled proudly.
"My power is yours, Boss! Point me at the enemy, and I'll destroy them!"
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn HUTEXA_THE_DJINN here! Sorry for the delay! Alot is going on this month with my birthday coming up, followed by partner's and mine's anniversary a few days later, plus setting up for a Halloween party I was told we're having. I'm a little swamped and haven't really had a lot of free time. So there will only be three Chapters next week...including this one. Sorry but not really because: ANNIVERSARY! 3 YEARS! YES!
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