Chapter 228: Strain is Truth

Eloise looked reluctant to put things to bed as she and Kaya left Caius’s side to sit in two of the spectating seats in the Mage-Knight Training classroom.

Caius and Delia stood atop the stage opposite each other and Delia began to stretch while her brows were furrowed and she was looking Caius over with most of her attention on his face. More precisely, his expression.

"What is it?" Delia asked, "Don’t tell me your feelings are hurt?"

"Hmm?" Caius asked, surprised, "Why would my feelings be hurt?"

Delia opened her mouth to speak but she felt a vibration all over her form and it pulled her eyes toward Eloise whom she raised a brow at.

Caius noticed the exchange and understood why Delia was asking him if his feelings were hurt. He couldn’t help but laugh.

"Because you said I look average?" He said and Delia’s eyes were on him just as he waved his hand nonchalantly,

"Please, I’ve heard worse."

"You’ve heard worse," Delia said in disbelief.

"Why does that seem to surprise you?" Caius asked with a little teasing smile, "You were so confident when you said it earlier that I would have sworn you believed my supposed averageness should be the consensus."

"I— Well, of course. Yes!" Delia said and cleared her throat, refusing to back down under his intense stare that was already making her knees weak.

"Good," Caius said with a nod.

"But just out of curiosity, where have you heard worse?" Delia asked then.

"Wouldn’t you like to know," Caius said with a little laughter and again waved his hand to brush aside that topic of conversation,

"But that’s not why we’re here."

"Right, right," Delia said with a few nods and resumed her stretches to loosen up her muscles and joints for a workout but it was clear the topic was far from dropped in her head.

Delia knew she had lied when she said Caius was average. She didn’t think that to be true. She’d have to be blind to think so. So it was a wonder how anyone else would say the same or, even more unbelievably, say worse.

Of course, Caius wasn’t talking about this life—this reality—when he was talking about having heard worse. As has been expressed quite enough, back in his old life and reality as Kevin, he hadn’t had any of the advantages—looks and talent—with ladies that he did in this reality as Caius Von Helsing.

His looks had been staunchly average and most of the time, when a person looks as such, it is not uncommon to be called flat-out ugly.

All in all, in his past life, Caius had been called a lot of terrible things because of his looks and he liked to think he had built up a thick skin because of it. And although he hardly ever had to use it in this world due to being widely accepted as good-looking, it did help temper narcissistic tendencies that may cause him to fly off the handle when someone—in this case, Delia—decided to say he was average or totally unattractive.

Being good-looking and knowing it doesn’t make a person immune to getting their pride hurt when their looks are insulted. And how one reacts to it can be due to various factors that mostly boil down to personality and character flaws.

Caius was hardly perfect in character but he appreciated all he had gained and understood his benefits too much to let it go to his head and let it breed a level of narcissism in him that he hadn’t had in his past life when he had been ’forced’ to be more humble.

Of course, there are times when one must take pride in their looks and maybe not stand for disrespect. But now, here with Delia, was certainly not such a time or place.

"Let’s start with the basics. Obviously," Caius said and directed Delia on the exercise pose to take as the training of the Von Helsing Regimen began.

"No tools? No equipment?" Delia asked and she sounded a bit disappointed.

She had done exercises many times. Hell, sometimes it was all they did during Mage-Knight Training class. It’s important to work one’s muscles to be an efficient Mage-Knight. That was very well known.

But for all it was touted to be and all Delia believed it was just due to how renowned the Von Helsing Mage-Knights were, she expected more and for her, that translated to the use of some special tools and equipment that accounted for the different, abundant results.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment thing and Caius had had the time to prepare for it and for him to not have done so...

"Nope," Caius answered, "None. We don’t need them. Not yet anyway."

Puffing air out of her lips and accepting this would likely not match up to her expectations and would be the same as the exercises she had performed for years already, Delia got on the ground and into the pose as the exercise began.

In a minute, Delia confirmed Caius’s words and her eyes bugged out as every part of her body began to scream under strain.

Veins popped out of the back of her hands and her arms shook with the effort it took to keep the pose and at the same time do as Caius was directing her. Like how to breathe right and all sorts.

It was while the strain was getting far too great for her to suffer in silence that Delia heard Caius’s voice speaking to her in a soothing tone. It didn’t alleviate the strain she was under but as the one who put her in that strain, she was attentive to him despite her pain.

"I can see you struggle. You must endure. It’s only going to get more difficult and you must grow accustomed to it if you’re to get results. If you’re ever to defeat me in a duel..."

Caius said the last sentence with a little smile on his lips. Even though Delia’s eyes were staring at the ground beneath her and she couldn’t see Calus’s face, she could sense his smile and she found herself thinking that this Regimen was only so difficult and painful because Caius wanted it to be. Like he was trying to discourage her.

’Well, good luck with that,’ she thought then and stifled the groan of pain that was about to escape her lips to redouble her effort and focus.

Caius sensed Delia’s renewed desire to persevere and he had no idea it was because of him and his smile whose intentions had been misunderstood. He just gave Delia a thumbs-up she couldn’t actually see since she still wasn’t looking at him and didn’t seem capable of sensing encouragement as she could sense supposed teasing.

After a few more minutes, Caius began to speak again and as much as Delia was now doing the regimen to ’stick it to him’, she was still very attentive,

"The Strain you’re feeling is essential. It’s Truth. It calls your body to order. Accept it and you’ll feel every individual muscle in your body under strain. You’ll feel them all pulled to the forefront and their duties become more obvious. They are the secret workers within you. They bear the brunt of the effort and never get thanked for it.

Thank them now..."

Delia looked to the side and because Caius was standing, she couldn’t actually look into his face. Caius still saw her expression and he chuckled.

"Not with words, of course. Thank them with recognition. Thank them by seizing control of them and aiding them to work to their true potential.

That, is the basics of the Von Helsing Regimen."