•••

Caius joined the rest of the First Years in the Anatomy and Physiology Classroom. The Professor gave him an almost flustered smile before she ushered him to his seat without a word about his being late.

Kaya had kept a seat for him by her side, and he sat there while she seemed to pay attention to the class, paying him no mind. For a moment, Caius thought she might be upset which boggled his mind because he didn't know what he may have done to cause that. Not being at breakfast could not be it.

And then Kaya looked at him and her eyes didn't really seem to be looking at him but more through him. The beautiful leaf-green hue was a bit knowing.

"You feel different," she said.

Caius smiled then. What he had sensed before wasn't dismissal or anger at him, just a moment of deep thought as Kaya picked up on the difference in the magical signature he gave out. Difference in the quality, of course. Not different in nature. Caius was still the same person after all. Just… Evolved.

It was interesting that Kaya picked up on his Evolution so quickly but not all that surprising. She could be very perceptive.

"Well, I suppose being at the Fourth Circle would do that," he said.

Kaya's eyes seemed to clear up then as her brows rose on her head.

"The Fourth Circle?" She said in a hushed whisper as though she and Caius were sharing a secret. Even though any Professor who heard this would more than likely look at Caius favorably for it. They might wonder how it happened so quickly but they would definitely see it as a good thing.

"The one and only," Caius said.

"Already?" Kaya asked.

Her advancement to the third Circle was recent. It only happened a few months before the start of the school year so Kaya knew the gulf that was ahead of her in terms of the next advancement. She knew just how wide the gap to the Fourth Circle was. Hence her intrigue.

And then her eyes went a bit wider.

"Is that part of…?" She started and trailed off.

"Part of what?" Caius asked confused.

Kaya rolled her eyes a bit.

"You know," she said and mouthed the word 'Vampire' before speaking with words to continue,

"Is that part of it?"

"Oh," Caius said, feeling a bit dumb that he hadn't caught on faster. And then he shrugged.

"Sort of. I had to cut a few corners to get there faster though. Waiting half a decade didn't seem all that appealing to me if I'm being honest."

"Wow," Kaya said, her pretty dark green painted lips parted slightly,

"Lucky you. We normal people have to wait those years."

"Maybe not," Caius said.

Kaya looked surprised and confused about what he meant by that but before she could even speak to ask, Caius told her in a gentle soothing voice,

"Relax your mind."

Kaya instantly obeyed. Not a single thought of dissonance in her head and she even became still as Caius placed his index and middle finger to her forehead and began the transfer of information.

As they usually did, both Caius and Kaya were seated at the back of the classroom, and although, despite how attention-grabbing Caius was, most of the class never bothered to take peeks at him, there were always the select few exceptions.

One of those was Aylin Khione who watched Caius and Kaya have that moment. She looked both jealous and curious about what was happening. Even though she was seated many feet away, once she focused even a bit, she could sense magic involved.

Oblivious to the fact that they were being watched, Kaya opened her eyes slowly and couldn't help but blink a few times. What Caius had put in her head was only one Arcane Circle inlaid with a few symbols—symbols she didn't recognize—but the way it seemed to feel in her head surpassed its supposed size.

For a few seconds after, her head felt heavy. She even raised a hand to her temple, leaning against it for support.

"Give it time," Caius said gently.

He felt it was expected she didn't take to it as easily as Arlette had considering the difference in their Magic Circles.

"What is it?" Kaya asked while pointing at her head to make it clear what she was asking about.

"Your way to cheat," Caius answered with a smirk, "Like me."

"I feel something…" Kaya said.

"It's a Divine seed," Caius explained, "I'd like you to nurture it by mediating on that Arcane Circle."

"Divine…" Kaya said in a mystified manner while looking down at her hands at the almost ludicrous idea that she currently had the power of the gods—or maybe just A god—inside her. Ludicrous but how could she possibly deny something she could so clearly feel?

And then she shook that off and focused on something else.

"How will this help in 'cheating' by the way?"

"How often do you meditate on the Arcane Codex?" Caius asked.

"Preferably every day," Kaya answered.

Caius nodded.

"Good," he said, "Mediate on that Arcane Circle before the Arcane Codex and your productivity will be increased at least 5-fold. Maybe even Ten."

"You're kidding," Kaya said.

"I wouldn't kid about this," Caius told her in a partly serious and partly joking tone but he was being sincere.

It's part of the power of the Divine.

Divine energy boost Magical Intellectualism. Of course it doesn't make one smarter—because being enlightened magically is not really about intelligence—it just makes the mind more resilient to the mind-reading effects of the Arcane Codex. Or at least, it makes it so a person can endure the mind-rending effects to a greater degree without breaking down mentally.

This then helps them in gaining Enlightenment faster.

It's a simple explanation but in practice, it is a lot more intricate but Caius was sure Kaya would be able to navigate it not only because she was intelligent but also because the process should be intuitive.

He needed her stronger.

Now that he was ahead of her by a Magic Circle, the effectiveness of her blood to his Evolution meter had dropped a bit. Of course, the Evolution-charge enhancement she would experience once she began to meditate on that Arcane Circle would bridge the gap somewhat, it only stands to reason that, however good her blood could be at the Third Circle through cheats and such, it would be even better at the Fourth Circle.

Caius could only imagine how great it would be if Kaya's advancement could arrive by the time of the Mid-Semester Tests but then he reined that thought in knowing he was getting a bit ahead of himself. HIS advancement to the Fourth Circle happening before the Tests was already a massive blessing and it'd be greedy to want more…

Although, what was he if not greedy?

Meanwhile, Kaya felt something more from the Arcane Circle than just Divine Energy. She felt Caius close to her in a way he had never been before today. She also saw him a bit differently by the Otherworldly quality of his being ingrained into the Arcane Circle.

She smiled to herself at that.

Cheesy as it may be, Otherworldly was exactly how she would describe Caius.

When the Anatomy and Physiology Class ended, the group gathered up. Eloise grabbed Caius's arm and Delia didn't walk as far away from the group as she usually did.

"Delia," Caius called to her gently, "Are you up for it?"

Delia looked at him and looked surprised.

"Today?" Delia asked.

"I'm free, if you are," Caius said.

"I am," Delia answered with a light smile.

"Really? You're not sore?" Caius asked.

"I'm perfect," Delia affirmed.

"Sure you are," Caius said in a tone dripping with double entendres, and then he looked to his sides at Kaya and Eloise,

"And of course, you're both welcome to watch."

Eloise and Kaya shared a look then. The events of last week were still on their mind. It was amazing how they had gone the whole weekend almost constantly in each other's company and never discussed it.

"What are we watching?" A voice asked then.

Aylin popped up behind Caius, her head over his shoulder as she turned her face to the side of his head, looking very close to planting a kiss on his cheek.

She smelled good as always and in that position, her large breasts were pressed up against Caius's back. Not that he would ever complain of course.

"Good morning Aylin," Caius said naturally, "It's a little training session after school. You're welcome to join."

Kaya frowned at that and Aylin couldn't even properly enjoy getting this 'win' over her rival when she was so taken by surprise.

"I am?" She asked and stopped walking for a bit, causing Caius and the others to walk well ahead of her.

"Of course," Caius said. He sounded amused because he couldn't think of one time he had ever told Aylin she could not join in any gathering so her being surprised as though he just did something so unexpected was a little hilarious.

"Oh," Aylin said and then began to gather herself, getting excited as she called out, "Oh alright then. I'll be there!"

Caius and the other ladies walked into the Theory of Magic classroom before Aylin remembered one very important question to ask.

"Wait, where is it that I'll be exactly?"

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