Heading into the Mid-Semester Tests, Kaya had been making decisions regarding her future in the Academy. Or more precisely, regarding the classes she would take for the remainder of the semester and likely beyond.

She had already decided that Alchemy was out of schedule. She just never got the hang of experimentation and Refinement and wasn't all that interested in keeping at it when her time could be better spent with something else. Which was essentially everything else—besides Mage-Knight Training that she had never taken in the first place—because she had no issues with any other classes.

That said, there was one other reason Kaya strived to drop classes; Time with Caius.

She wanted time with him away from the classroom and preferably away from the others. She didn't know what chance she would have at that seeing as the two classes she now didn't take at Lochxen—Alchemy and Mage-Knight Training—were classes that Caius still seemed very interested in.

But then, this opportunity presented itself and she knew she had to seize it.

The decision hadn't been entirely easy to come about. She had to really think about it. She had to think about whether she could get by without Theory of Magic. And she decided that she could.

Over the past week, she had been using the Arcane Circle Caius in her head and, for some reason—maybe sheer curiosity—she looked deeper into the symbols. And what she decided was that they weren't as 'strange' as she had thought.

The symbols were certainly a person's creation but they hadn't come about from nothing. They were derivations. Kind of like someone taking letters of the Alphabet and either adding extra strokes to them or taking strokes out to create new letters just to create some secret code only they could decipher.

The only thing was that whoever created the symbols in the Arcane Circle had gone even further than just taking or adding strokes and had created entirely different intonations. Kaya knew this because when she mediated on the symbols, her Mana thrummed in vibrations that she could swear were reading the symbols as words in her head.

She confirmed this with Eloise who had a better understanding and reading of the vibrations and thus the intonations of the 'strange' symbols.

It didn't really mean much of course. The 'Strange' symbols didn't hold the same power as actual Arcane Symbols because they had been altered and had a whole different set of capabilities. But to Kaya, they were a sign that the Arcane Codex could be approached differently.

That a person could take out the Arcane symbols and alter them, not too much to create something new and different, but just enough to make them easier to assimilate. And through that, she realized one could still arrive at the real goal of 'Theory of Magic' which was to make meditating on the Arcane symbols within the Arcane Codex easier on the mind.

In short, she realized she could do it herself and didn't need to be taught.

Was it ludicrous and maybe even arrogant to assume and attempt? Maybe.

But Kaya knew she could do it. And the 'strange' symbols in the Arcane Circle would be her guide on how to do it.

Kaya had been on that path before today. She had found it to be an interesting idea but left it as just that; An interesting idea.

But hearing Caius announce he was dropping the class brought it flooding back because her mind, analytical and at times logical as it was, wanted to be sure she had a contingency in place if she were to follow him out.

She felt the eyes of the others on her when she stood up and announced that she was dropping the class just like Caius. She could practically see the dumbfounded look on Eloise's face even though her back was turned to her.

Eloise likely still understood that Caius didn't have a use for Theory of Magic being that he was a Vampire but Kaya didn't have the same excuse.

"So we have some time before the others are done," Caius said with a light smile, "Do we spend that preparing for tomorrow's Tests. Anatomy and Physiology could be a doozy."

Kaya rolled her eyes.

"Please," she said, "If that was what I had in mind, we'd be at the library."

"True," Caius said and he held up a finger to add, "Although the Library does have more uses than just study and research. We could go there anyway."

"Next time," Kaya said.

She had already made her Nature Motes appear to cast their nice green glow over the room and chase away the darkness. She was leaning against the door as she spoke but now she pushed off it and placed her hands on Caius's shoulder to pull herself closer to him and press their lips together.

They kissed passionately for a full minute before Kaya pulled away, her body already shaking in sheer anticipation. The last time had been great with Eloise present but oh gods, did she love when it was just them.

It just felt right.

It was how it had been the first time. Even before he revealed what he was to her and they crossed the line and reached a very welcome point of no return.

On the very first day of school and after their first meeting, she had pulled him away so they could be alone. Granted she had only been seeking a duel to test herself against his renowned genius.

"I didn't think you'd drop Theory of Magic," Caius said as Kaya pulled at his hair while nipping at his face with her lips in tender kisses.

Kaya shrugged.

"It's as I told Professor Melvin; My passions lie elsewhere," she said during the small window when she took her lips off Caius's body.

"I saw your Test," Caius said, "You were done with it. Judging by what I saw, you weren't going to fail."

"Of course, I wasn't," Kaya said with a bit of playful cockiness.

Caius couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Of course," he agreed, "Still… If you had done so well, why quit?"

"I'd like to think I'm already showing you why," Kaya said and stretched her hand down until she was cupping the bulge that was starting to press up against his pants.

"Ngh, I see," Caius said with a bit of a groan while burying his face in her neck and taking a long whiff of her scent.

For a moment, he was getting sucked into the moment and losing track of his thoughts—or just realizing how of little importance they were compared to what was happening right now—but he pulled himself back and managed to keep enough of a lucid mind to say,

"Still, if you had just handed in the Test, you could have gone with me still. Dropping the class entirely seems extreme, doesn't it?"

Kaya smiled.

"Well, maybe I'm not interested in a one-time thing," she said, "Maybe I want to establish that Theory of Magic class Period will always remain free for us both.

Maybe I want to secure time we get to spend together. Alone."

They pulled away from each other then so they could stare into each other's eyes.

"Will you be fine without it?" Caius asked.

"Without Theory of Magic?" Kaya said with a nod, "I think I'll make do."

She returned to kissing his body then and Caius raised a hand into the space between their bodies to begin to undo the buttons of her shirt until the two sides fell apart so he could grab her bra-covered breast and give it a squeeze or two.

Kaya chuckled then.

"You're lucky you didn't choose Magi History to drop," she said, "I can't even comprehend the thought of never getting to learn about the horn dogs of history."

"Don't worry," Caius said with a chuckle of his own, "Magi-History is a favorite."

"The Class or the Professor?" Kaya asked with a smirk.

"Both," Caius answered simply.

"Horny ass," Kaya said.

Caius smiled.

"Guilty as charged."

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