Our next stop would have been Horas, but we were unable to find him. We did find Cassie though, who enthusiastically joined the project. We also informed Helena about the idea.

"This calls for a celebration!" Helena declared.

"We have classes tomorrow." I pointed out.

"Sure, but a drink won't hurt. How about the beer garden? We haven't been in a while and the weather is nice. We could have dinner there instead of the mess hall." She suggested.

"I liked the idea." Skadi replied.

"Meow!" The cats agreed enthusiastically. Maybe because we got chicken bones, and sometimes other bones from them. The cats had clearly manipulated the staff with their cuteness to get scraps.

"Oh? I have heard tales about this place. It will be interesting to see it myself." Kaito said.

I did not need much convincing and soon we were on our way. All the tier three undead were with us. I wanted to leave Frank at the academy but Kaito pointed out that he looked like a proper guard for a group of young ladies. I accepted it, although personally I thought a dullahan was a much more imposing presence and therefore a better guard.

Then there was Chariot. I saw no need for him but was convinced otherwise, by annoyed meowing. I looked at the cats. "You are ridiculous." I accused them.

On the back of Chariot was a larger box than usual. It was larger than Chariot's back. Ivy had helped with her blood magic to enlarge it. Still, the four cats were packed rather tightly. Yet they looked comfortable being squeezed together.

"Maybe you need to create more mounts." Helena mused.

"Or they simply walk." I replied.

Nyx' eyes narrowed, as she looked at me. Then a tiny frozen top hat formed on her head.

Cassie snickered. "I think her lordship has rejected your proposal."

Suddenly the other cats formed top hats as well, made out of their element.

I just shook my head and ignored them. Then we were on our way. Our party certainly drew some attention. Thankfully most of the guards knew of us by now. We were only stopped once, because of Kaito. After I showed them my licence they let us pass.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Once we arrived at the beer garden we were greeted by a friendly waiter. "Hello! It is nice to see you again. Table for five…? Six?" He blinked. "Is, uh, is the head supposed to be floating?"

"Greetings good sir. I am Kaito, a dullahan and the butler of Madame Koyuki." He greeted the man by tipping his head.

The waiter's eyes widened. "Wow. Uhm, hello. We can offer a table for staff…"

"No, he is sitting with us." I declared. Even though Hatsumi and Kaito insisted on being servants, they were friends as well.

"Of course, follow me!" He led us to a nice table under a tree. Since it was a weekday, the place was not too busy.

Soon we had our mugs and started filling them.

"Ahhh, I missed this place during the field trip." Helena said.

I nodded, taking a sip from my beer.

"It is a cosy place." Kaito commented.

"Sadly we don't have anything for you to drink. I only have special potions for Hatsumi." Cassie said.

"Do not worry, I am perfectly content just being here." He assured her.

"To Hatsumi, and our new project!" Skadi proposed a toast.

"To Hatsumi!" All agreed.

She smiled and took a sip of her blood potion. "Thank you."

"Hey, maybe Kaito can become a spellblade as well?" Helena wondered.

"While I appreciate the idea I have no such desires." Kaito replied. "My unique body uses a lot of my core. I do not think there would be much left for the spellblade runes and I do want to dabble in some simple magic as well. My main focus is mastering frostfire though."

"I wonder if Hatsumi will gain increased vampiric powers." I mused.

"Huh? Why?" Cassie asked.

"Well, the spellblade runes empower her body. All of the magic flows through the blood, right?" I asked Skadi.

She nodded. "In a way. Blood is used to transport the magic towards the skin, muscles and so on. It is quite interesting. The blood does not absorb all but it serves a good mana channel. It simply reaches all parts of your body, I think that is why."

"Vampires use blood a lot. Aren't your powers connected to it, Hatsumi?" I asked.

"Well, sort of. A free vampire feeds on blood. I can feed on the link to Koyuki, and on blood. Blood is central to a lot of our powers, sure. But I would say my fangs are pretty important too. They have the power to turn someone, paralyse them,..." She replied.

"They are a body part though. Spellblades enhance those. Maybe we can empower your fangs?" Helena mused.

"That is a good idea, actually. I was mostly thinking about her blood claws and such things." I replied.

"A part of making the runes work will be to figure out how my powers work, how my body works, and improving the right bits." Hatsumi said.

"Your fangs are pretty effective already. It might be better to focus on getting close in the first place. More speed, more durability…" Skadi suggested.

"I am hoping that enhancing her blood leads to that." I replied. "Vampires don't work like living people but so much centres on their blood. I suspect it could enhance her strength and durability. Actually, we should try some undead enhancement spells and see if the blood changes." I suggested.

"Great idea! I guess I will spend a lot of time analysing blood." Cassie said.

"Good, that means less explosions." Skadi commented.

"Nah, I can multitask!" Cassie replied, with a grin.

"Please don't explode Hatsumi." I teased.

We ordered some food and kept bantering, with a few serious suggestions mixed in. In the end we were not here to solve the issue, we were here to celebrate.

It was dark when we decided to return to the academy. I had made sure not to drink too much. I did not want to miss any classes tomorrow. But it had certainly been a fun evening.

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