Chapter 13: Not too far off *

It was dawning on Caius just how little he knew about Arlette.

Her role in the original story was so little that she was mostly just a plot point to reveal to the readers that Caius was a Vampire after which she was killed off because of her insistence on getting him to admit it.

She was even killed off-screen.

As he looked into her face, Caius knew she was strong, but that was the extent of his knowledge. He had no idea what her Elemental Affinities were, which was why he asked his question.

Arlette blinked,

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Like what?" Caius asked.

"Like it’s some big secret thing," Arlette said with a little smile,

"It’s just Dark Magic. It’s an element just like any other. A bit more special but an element nonetheless."

"What do you know of it?" Caius asked.

"A bit," Arlette admitted, "Why? You want to learn?"

Caius smiled and the Professor’s eyes got a bit wide.

"Seriously?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course," Caius answered.

"Why from me?" She asked.

"You’re cheap."

Arlette blinked and then she showed off her white teeth,

"You little—"

Caius was kidding of course but there was some truth in what he said. Lochxen’s curriculum of teaching does not involve handing out spells to students and merely teaches the utilization of already learned spells.

The reason for this is that Mages are taught to treasure their spells. No Mage hands out his or her spell randomly without some sort of relationship with the receiver. Also, most students learn spells from their parents/guardians anyway so the Academy thinks ’why bother?’.

Apart from learning from parents/guardians, Spells can be purchased from Merchants and Auction houses, acquired from experts with some to spare, and acquired from obscure regions all over the world usually as part of some dead Mage’s legacy.

Thanks to the original story, Caius knew of the locations of a lot of these obscure legacies and he did have plans to acquire them but now was certainly not the time. He wasn’t nearly capable enough to seek them out and most, at least the best of the bunch, would remain safe for a while still.

Anyway, the easiest and most accessible option for his Dark Magic needs was Arlette.

Her face still twitched in annoyance at being called ’cheap’ but she swallowed the vile that was about to coat her words to say in a forcibly sweet voice,

"I doubt money is an issue for you. Why not spend it?"

"Why spend it when I have you?" Caius said.

Arlette’s grey eyes flashed at what was clearly the second ’cheap’ joke of the conversation but then she let out a sigh,

"Fine. I’ll teach you one."

"For a start," Caius amended.

Arlette ignored him and flicked her finger at him. Caius saw a small purple spell circle appear for a split second before everything went dark.

He pulled away from Arlette’s desk with his eyes wide,

"What—?"

"~Blindness~" Arlette said before he devolved into an agitated state,

"A Third Circle Dark Magic Spell."

As the Mana in his body rose to his eyes to counter the effect of the spell, Caius frowned. He didn’t remember ever reading about a ’Blindness’ spell.

He felt Arlette’s finger tap his forehead and every information of the spell entered his mind and even after the Blindness effect was gone, it was like he still couldn’t see as every facet of his attention was directed to deciphering the spell circle.

Spells are formulaic. Think Mathematical diagrams except with spell circles inlaid with Arcane Symbols. There’s a sort of science to it and Caius knew it would not have made sense to him as ’Kevin’. It would have been a bunch of nonsense if he weren’t Caius Von Helsing. If his entire being had not become a part of this world and a part of the nonsensical but fantastical aspects of it.

Anyway, learning the ~Blindness~ spell was not at all difficult. Caius had memories of learning spells just as easily but again, having memories of doing something is never really quite the same as doing it in real time.

"You got it?" Arlette asked.

"Yeah," Caius answered and she nodded like she wasn’t surprised.

"Cast it on me," she said.

"Really?"

"It works regardless of the difference in Circles between you and your target. The stronger they are though, the faster they’ll get rid of the effects or be able to avoid the cast completely.

So cast it on me. I won’t avoid it. You should get a feel of using it against an opponent."

Caius brought the spell circle to mind, infused Mana into the metaphysical structure, and caused it to materialize. He couldn’t just flick it as easily as Arlette did so he made a more obvious shooting motion.

This time, he saw the spell better. The spell circle transformed into a veil that slammed into Arlette’s face highlighting her eyes in a dark purplish hue.

"Hmm. Impressive spell casting form," Arlette said in a musing tone,

"Under the right conditions, the effect lasts a maximum of 10 seconds. This can be cut short depending on the alertness of your opponent and their ability to nullify magical effects."

Arlette ended the spell’s effect duration to see Caius nodding appreciatively,

"A good utility spell. You created it?" He asked Arlette.

The Professor nodded,

"A long time ago."

That probably explained why he never heard of the spell in the original story though it was interesting no one else thought to create it besides her. Speaking of which, no one creates a spell in an element they have low Affinity. Her talent with Dark Magic had to be at least Mid. It could even be High.

Just then, the storage ring on Caius’ left ring finger flashed in an alert.

"Huh," he said knowing what it meant.

"What’s that?" Arlette asked.

"I’ve been summoned. It’s time to go home," Caius said.

"So one for the road then?" Arlette said and at first, Caius thought she was talking about teaching him another spell until he saw her tap a finger lightly on her neck.

She was presenting herself in a readiness to uphold her side of the deal she and Caius had struck earlier that day.

Caius smiled as he walked around the desk,

"Of course," he said, "They can wait a few more minutes, I’m sure."

"I’m sure," Arlette said as Caius lowered his head closer to her neck.

Caius took a long sniff that set his entire psyche awash with the flowery scent of her body and the scent of the blood pulsing through the veins in her neck.

He puckered his lips and kissed Arlette’s neck. When he opened his mouth and let the warmth roll over her skin, Arlette expected the bite when her hands were suddenly gripped and then she remembered there was a bit more involved with this moment than simple bloodsucking.

She complied with the pull until she was on her feet and felt his hands leave hers to grab her hips and pull her against his body. One of Caius’ hands went down to the arch of Arlette’s ass and as he grabbed one of the supple cheeks, she let out a moan. At the same time, Caius’ mouth on her neck tightened as he sucked on her skin.

Barely able to control himself, Caius’ eyes turned red and his fangs began to appear but he waited. He couldn’t take too long with it but just a little arousal would do. Just enough for this feeding to progress his evolution.

And then he smelled the aroused charge in her blood and his grip on her ass became tighter with one of Arlette’s arms around his neck.

Caius’ lips moved and Arlette could just barely feel the tip of his fangs grazing her skin as he made his way down to her cleavage. His other hand left her hip and pulled down the front of her gown enough to expose even more of her milky heaps for Caius to press his face into. To press his barely covered fangs against.

He felt Arlette’s heartbeat spike. Somehow, this had more of a significance to her than other bites so far and Caius truly wanted to explore it but he knew now was the time. He just had to plant a seed. A seed whose fruits he’d be reaping soon.

He grabbed one of her breasts firmly and kneaded sensually to spike her arousal a bit more. He suckled the smooth and delicious skin of her other breast as best he could without biting into it and when he felt that spike get even more intense...

... When he could feel the frustration that was building inside Arlette—frustration that she might not even be fully aware of yet—, he returned to her neck and bit into it.

The blood spilled into his mouth and he gulped it down.

Arlette grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face closer, as though his feeding on her would help ease some of that frustration. It didn’t and her moans just became more guttural as she pulled him almost as hard against her body as he pulled her.

Caius felt the charge in Arlette’s blood continue what was started today and he smiled against her neck.

He was close.

True Vampirism was not too far off.