"I do have to say though, I still haven't decided to have a sword be my preferred weapon," Caius said giving the sword another swing before holding it out in front of him,

"I thought we were going to wait till I made that decision before I got one."

Lucian smiled.

"'Preferred weapon' refers to your talent with any weapon at a time. You're not terrible with the sword so, for now, it will be your 'preferred weapon'. When we next try for a bit more range, it will be the spear. If we want to get even more close and personal, a dagger will come into play. Or maybe we just go at it with our fists. When we want something front-heavy, it shall be a Battle Ax. Or maybe Warhammer.

Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"I think so," Caius said.

Lucian nodded but still opted to explain further,

"Specialization is not really the Mage-Knight way. At least, it's not really the Von Helsing Way. So long as you have some level of aptitude with a weapon, you must endeavor to master it.

Versatility may be your greatest weapon.

So then, shall we begin?"

"Oh yeah, let me just put this away," Caius said ready to send his new sword into his storage ring.

"No, No," Lucian cautioned wagging a finger as he stretched a hand and summoned a bo-staff with a metallic sheen to it.

"Today is for weapons training."

"With real weapons?" Caius asked in disbelief and held up his new sword, "With this?"

"Well, of course," Lucian said, "You should try it out in combat, should you not?"

"Well—" Caius started, looking and sounding reluctant.

"Son, come on," Lucian said, "I can take it."

"Right," Caius said. He had momentarily forgotten who it was that was in front of him.

And so, with a smile and what appeared to be a wink above his glasses, Lucian dashed forward, swinging the Bo-staff at Caius's head. Caius reacted quickly enough to parry the strike with the blade of his sword which caused a metallic *clang* to ring all about the Arena.

Lucian pulled the staff back and quick as a flash, thrust it toward Caius's midsection.

It connected and, with a groan. Caius went sliding away. The spot ached terribly and he could only imagine how much worse it would have been if his rather wasn't so obviously and so massively holding back.

Lucian was on Caius before he even stopped sliding, bringing down the staff like he wanted to bash Caius on the top of the head. Caius leaned to the side avoiding it but as the staff went swinging toward the ground, Lucian changed its trajectory and swung it to slam at Caius's side, forcing him to catch it with his blade.

"Seriously, Caius, how are you going to possibly hit me from way over there?" Lucian asked lightly as though he wasn't keeping Caius at a stalemate. A stalemate Caius was straining quite hard to maintain.

"Ngh," Caius groaned in effort but he caught and properly registered his father's words, knowing it was urging him to stop being on the defensive.

And so, while still trying to keep the Bo-staff away so it didn't smack into his side and maybe crack a rib or two, Caius also slid the blade of his sword along the staff's length and was soon only a few inches away from slicing at his Father's fingers.

"Good," Lucian said calmly, "When faced with an opponent with a longer weapon, you must strive to close the distance."

While he was speaking, Lucian maneuvered Caius's weapon and smacked him in the side of the head before the blade could touch his fingers.

"Oomph!" Caius let out as he hit the ground.

But then his instincts alerted him and he rolled away, just in time to avoid the staff strike that was aimed at the spot he had been a mere second ago.

"Distance, Caius," Lucian said, "Always close the distance."

The way this was the opposite of the lesson he had been electrocuted into learning just yesterday with Cynthia quite ironically highlighted the difference between a Traditional Mage and a Mage-Knight.

With his duel with Cynthia, he had been penalized for being too close and here, he was being penalized for being too far away. Navigating when the one takes either approach seriously was important in Caius' goal to find the middle ground and succeed at both.

Back on his feet, Caius parried the staff, one… twice… three times. The third time carried more force than the first two and caused his sword arm to swing off to the side, exposing his chest to be poked.

"Ah!" Caius cried in pain but he grabbed the staff then and gripped it tight before calling on the muscles whose true potential he had so far been able to unlock in his arm so he could shove the staff aside and then go charging in.

He took a couple of fingers off his sword handle to form seals and they were enough to cast a movement spell.

~Hellsong Dash~

The red spell circles appeared and he was filled with warmth before the flames burst from his feet and he traveled even faster.

"I see you're making good use of that spell I taught you," Lucian said right before Caius stabbed his sword at him.

Lucian leaned to the side to avoid it and slammed a hand against Caius's chest to send him sliding away. It also forced Caius to release the staff. But Caius refused to get too far. ~Hellsong Dash~ was still active so he used its propulsion to stall his backslide and closed in to swing his sword at his father again.

This time though, Lucian's staff was free so the two went at it parry for parry. Jabs for jabs. Swings for swings. However, where Lucian dodged Caius's attacks with relative ease, Caius suffered for his survival.

At times he even sacrificed his well-being and allowed himself to be hit just to get a good crack at Lucian because every time he went out of his way to avoid getting struck, it always messed with his footing and/or caused him to move away and increase the distance between them which was exactly what he didn't want.

And so, on and on, they went with Caius now sporting a couple of bruises all over and an aching rib or three. The longer the duel went on though, the more attuned Caius felt he was with the situation. His brows were furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he sought an opening.

It never came.

And then he suffered a particularly nasty strike to the side of his head that caused his upper body to turn even though he kept his lower half as it was. Something about that strike seemed to have knocked something loose in Caius's head because one second his eyes were blank and he seemed almost sure to fall to the ground and the next, his eyes turned Vampire red as his fangs made an appearance.

His claws appeared as well and poked into his palm with how tightly he was now gripping his sword. He turned his upper body back the way it should be, essentially refusing to be knocked out as he went even harder in on the attack.

His reflexes were operating at peak performance probably for the first time ever. His senses were sharper and he seemed to be driven more by instinct as he became very aware of just how much blood was pumping through his father's veins and just how much quality that blood possessed.

There had never really been a difference for Caius between seeing through normal eyes and seeing through Vampire eyes but today, his vision was tinged with red. He felt more out of control of his body than he ever had and there was very little room for rational thought in his head.

Only a goal.

And he set out to accomplish that goal with a growl and his fanged teeth clenched as he went absolutely feral with his attacks. The reflexes he possessed worked smoothly now that he wasn't thinking as much and was driven more by a Vampiric primal instinct. Every muscle whose potential he had awakened showed that potential without him having to actively call on them.

And in a second, he must have made particularly effective attacks because he had sliced up the upper part of Father's robe and thrust his blade into his stomach as hard as he possibly could.

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