"And again, I ask, why not?" Caius said.

It was so clear that Delia didn't think she had the same level of connection to Caius as the other two gifted Ladies to warrant such a generous gift but she wasn't sure how out into words. Or to even put it into words at all.

So she tried a different way.

"Don't ask me why not if you can't tell me why you're giving it to me in the first place," she said.

Caius paused and then let out a breath.

"I just think no one should be deprived of the tools to be what they want to be," he said.

He meant that. It was because Delia had made mention of how no one in her family would support her enough to let her have a Mage-Knight weapon that gave Caius the idea of this moment of gift-giving and he liked to believe he didn't have any ulterior motives to do so.

Which was why he said,

"There's never a need for a reason to help a friend."

He let that simmer for a bit and then gestured with the arm he still held out, holding the warhammer.

"There's also no reason to reject the help of a friend," he said and then let a second pass before adding,

"Unless you don't trust them of course.

Do you trust me, Delia?"

Delia gave the question more thought than someone would probably expect and then she nodded, slowly by resolutely.

"Yes."

"Then take the hammer," Caius urged.

With one more look at his face, Delia reached out to grab the Hammer's handle and relieve Caius of its weight.

And boy, was it heavy.

Delia felt it was a testament to her training with the Von Helsing Regimen that she didn't drop the damn thing. But the heaviness only made the weapon more exciting. That front-loadedness was especially what gave it the foreboding might it needed to have.

She couldn't wait to bash in a few skulls with it.

She cradled the hammer then, with a hand on the head which she ran her fingers across while thumbing the leather-bound handle. She could feel magic in the handle, underneath the leather meant to bolster the overall sturdiness of the weapon.

"Fine workmanship," she said in a mumble. It didn't matter how little Mage-Knight weapons she had seen and could compare her new hammer to, Delia could recognize an expensively-made weapon all the same.

"This must have been very expensive to get," she said then, again struck by the generosity but was well past rejecting it.

"They all must have been," Kaya said running her hands all over her staff.

"Yeah. Your father really just let you have them all?" Eloise asked twirling her wands, "Seems like a lot for a student to be arming themselves with."

"My father had nothing to do with them," Caius said offhandedly only to close his eyes at how he had been reckless. He could just tell how much intrigue and questions his response would spark.

"Then who—?" Delia started.

"Let's just say, I have generous sponsors," Caius said.

The ladies shared looks thinking the same thing; They should question that more but what would they find if they dug deeper and would they have to give up gifts they had already begun to get attached to?

Caius noticed the looks.

"You can trust me," he said, "It's fine for you to have them."

Caius could see how this might be suspicious. There were dealings of his he had yet to reveal to any of them in this hall and while he could still tell it to Kaya and Eloise to ease whatever worries they had, Delia would still be exempt until he found the right avenue to tell her what he really was.

"Well, who cares where you got them," Aylin said, drawing the attention of everyone else to herself as she placed her hands on her hips so aggressively that her large tits wobbled as she raised a brow and asked,

"Where's mine?"

Her tone had the right mix of anger and jest but Caius could tell she was actually genuinely upset with the thought of being skipped and was just good at masking it.

Fortunately, he did have something for her.

"I wasn't done yet," he said and with a flick of his wrist, he made a pouch appear.

"Tell me there's a scepter in there," Aylin said.

"Better," Caius said, "Alchemical Ingredients and manuscripts."

"What?" Aylin asked and paused.

Caius smiled.

"I'd like to think you've learned even more from Professor Arlette since you met with her last week. If not; return to her when you can so she can guide you. Study the manuscript, and practice Refinement.

There's more than enough in the pouch for test runs and actual products. I'm sure you can do it."

"You're kidding," Aylin said.

"I'd never kid about this," Caius said and despite his smile, he was serious about that.

"They get cool weapons…"

"Arcane tools," Kaya corrected with a snigger.

Aylin ignored her and continued as if no one had said anything,

"… and I get homework?"

"Do you not want it?" Caius asked her, dangling the pouch from side to side.

Aylin watched it move and then snatched it out of his hand, opening it to let her consciousness flood into it. Her eyes widened when she realized she had underestimated just how many ingredients were in the pouch.

Caius had gotten them for himself to refine but the talk last week and learning how talented Aylin herself was at Alchemy had given him an idea to delegate. He could have handed this to Arlette to help with but besides the fact that she was busy with other stuff—some by his request—it wouldn't hurt to help Aylin develop as an Alchemist.

"These are very good quality ingredients. And these manuscripts…" Aylin started to say and stopped suddenly when she realized she was being far more appreciative than she had planned to be for this supposed lackluster present.

She closed the pouch quickly and then let out a breath as she brushed a lock of her grey-white hair off her face.

"Well, fine, I suppose."

"Splendid," Caius said, "Talk to Professor Louvene about a venue. Lochxen is chock full of those. As well as good quality Alchemical kits you can use."

That was true.

Caius using the one in Arlette's private residence and getting one for himself at the Von Helsing Estate was more about convenience and privacy rather than lack. There was nothing a student needed that the Academy could not provide. Yes, that included Arcane Tools and Weapons. Only those were for specific situations that the Mid-Semester Tests might not count for.

Also, the First years were just not at a level to have one issued to them to move with and use whenever they pleased. Especially not when they were only in the second month of school.

"Alright then, best get to it," Caius said.

"Get to what?" Kaya asked, confused, gripping her staff quite hard.

"To you using them, of course," Caius said, "I think it's wise to learn how to use them now. Cast a few spells. Bash a few Training dummies…"

"Hell yes!" Delia said and rejoiced.

There were training dummies all over the Mage-Knight Training classroom. They were just kept off the stage and hadn't seen much use since Professor Raoul Raoul preferred the students to fight against one another rather than inanimate objects.

Delia's body cracked with Electricity and she charged forward, as fast as Lightning, bringing the warhammer down on one of the dummies, sending it slamming into the ground.

The dummies were made to withstand powerful attacks without breaking so it didn't even have a crack on it. That only made Delia all the happier. When it sprang upright, she was practically beaming as she struck it down again.

"We won't just be wailing on dummies like that," Caius said to the other ladies while gesturing with his thumb at Delia who was now cackling.

"We'll be practicing strategies. The synergy codes especially. The Mid-Semester Tests will have us put in groups. We can't all be together for that so we'll be working with different groupings."

As he said this, Caius was looking at Aylin who looked surprised and pointed at herself,

"Wait, I'm part of this?" She asked.

"You're one of us, aren't you?" Caius asked with a smile.

Aylin's eyes went wide and she glanced at Kaya who rolled her eyes aggressively. And then she laughed.

"Yes," she answered, "Yes, I suppose I am."

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