Caius spent the rest of the day in his Alchemical Chamber, extracting the trait within the Blood Orland had brought to him that morning.

Having refined his process so much from all the time he had spent extracting the trait of Wyvern Blood, the process was smoother than ever. The chances of success were still stupidly low but that was an occupational hazard at this point. Unavoidable.

During the refining process, Caius learned quite a bit about the Beast that had shed that blood; first, it was a feral one, possessing fangs and claws. A member of the dog family—such as wolves, foxes, and the like—judging by the visage that kept rising from its 'aura'. Although what Beast it was exactly, Caius still didn't know.

He also learned that the Beast had an affinity with the Dark Element.

He felt a sort of affinity with that and it added to how much he didn't feel this blood was all that much of a downgrade from the Wyvern Blood.

It was a shame though that as much as he learned from his experiments with the blood, he ran out before he could successfully refine a Trait Acquisition Potion so he spent the rest of the night at the desk in his room, poring through the Arcane Codex and adding to his Self-composed Grimoire as he continued to create more spells.

Following his creation of ~Erratic Fireball~, Caius was on a spree of Elemental combinations with the other Basic Elements trying to perfect what he had started before he then tried combining Dark Element with other Elements.

There is a reason Light and Dark are the most universally accepted 'Unique' Elements despite there technically being others. And it's because both Light and Dark are too closely governed by the Divine of the two Goddesses that preside over them.

In other words, if it's already difficult and even dangerous to combine the Basic Elements, then it's all the more so for combining either Light or Dark with any other Elements.

Of course, it still can be done.

And Caius was determined to make it happen.

That night was not when he succeeded though. He worked until he fell asleep at the table and was awakened by a few rapt knocks to his bedroom door, causing him to bolt upright in his chair.

"Come in," he called in a groggy voice.

The door opened and Orland walked in.

"Morning, Master Caius," he said and just like the day before, he came with a tray that carried a canister balanced on his hand.

"Morning, Orland," Caius answered as the tray was placed on his table. He grabbed the canister immediately, opened it, and took a whiff of its scent, smiling when the Beast blood was the same as yesterday.

He took one gulp of the blood to sate his burgeoning thirst and closed it before sending it into his storage ring for later experiments. Probably the moment Orland left.

Speaking of which, Orland turned toward the door and then suddenly got a look in his eyes like he had just remembered something.

"Master Caius, your presence is requested at the Arena," he said.

Caius looked at him with his brows raised.

"What?"

"Lord Lucian is at the Arena," Orland said, "He asked me to call you down."

"He's back?" Caius asked.

"This morning," Orland answered and waited to see if Caius would say anything more. When Caius didn't, Orland walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Caius just sat there for a while. He was at least glad that the horrible alarm hadn't woken him up as it almost always did whenever it was time to train with his father. But there was something he was likely going to have to address and Caius wasn't sure he had his story straight in preparation for that.

He changed out of his clothes into a shirt and pants combo perfect for training as it left him free to move and was not at all restrictive. It also wouldn't feel uncomfortable when he began to sweat profusely from the intense workout to come.

Sending his copy of the Arcane Codex and his self-composed Grimoire into his storage ring, Caius walked out of his room and walked to the arena, greeting the guards stiffly.

Soon, he was at the large double doors and they were wide open so he could walk right through. Once he was in the Arena proper, the double doors swung and closed.

"Good morning, son," Lucian said causing Caius to turn his head in his direction as he said,

"Morning, Father— Oh!"

A sword getting tossed at him interrupted Caius's greeting but he was able to snatch it out of the air before its blade could injure him.

'Wait, blade?' Caius asked in his head, looking from the sword whose handle he was holding to see that it wasn't like the training swords that had featured in his and his father's training sessions together thus far.

And it didn't have an average or standard look. The material of the handle was made especially to feel comfortable to hold. A blue color with silver markings that thrummed with magic and showed that they were imbuing the weapon with an enchantment. Likely to boost its lethality.

The hilt followed the same well-made trend of the hand with a cross guard that was just the right size to offer some hand protection. The sword's blade was four feet long and gleamed like the most beautiful and stainless steel possible. Only, it was clearly made of a material far more sturdy and flexible than that. There were markings etched across the blade as well imbuing it with the same sort of enchantment in the handle. Further enhancing it.

"This is—" Caius started to say.

"A proper sword," Lucian completed for him, "I told you if the sword was to become your preferred weapon, we'd have to get one made especially for you.

Well, there you go."

"This is very generous," Caius said.

Lucian waved him off,

"Please, son," he said, "It's nothing."

While not the mercantile magnate that the Leopolds were, the Von Helsings were still a wealthy family. And even while being far from the family's Duchy, Lucian still had a share in that fortune. And even without that, his coffers were full by his own hard work and merit. Being a count—even one who had turned down the opportunity and right to govern a county—paid well.

But it wasn't the cost of the sword that made Caius so appreciative. He was well aware of how well-to-do his father was. Hell, he could have gotten a sword himself from his own acquired coven of Vampire Minions underneath the Leopold Estate.

It was the thought that went into getting him this sword that really made it significant. He had not mentioned he wanted one to his father and yet, Lucian had taken the care to study him during their training sessions and taken the steps to prepare this for him in a surprise.

"Thank you, Father," Caius said and he made sure his tone reflected how much this meant to him.

Lucian was about to wave it off as nothing again but he recognized his son's tone and decided to accept the gratitude as he should.

"You're welcome, son."

Caius swung the sword around and he was amazed at just how perfect it felt to him. The balance was just right. Not too light and certainly not too heavy. And when he called on his Mana, the enchantments etched on the sword reacted to it in what felt like a bonding moment between man and sword.

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