***

The Week was headed to an end.

Besides Theory of Magic, Caius saw no more reason to drop any other classes but that was not the same for the others.

For example, Kaya, Eloise, and Delia dropped Alchemy.

Aylin kept at it though. She and Caius took that test together and spent a considerable amount of time after talking about it while the others at their table just stared blankly like everything they were saying was gibberish.

All in all, the Tests all went well.

Caius had hardly any real memory of any of it mostly because they were all just there to be done and gotten over with to make way for the actual real test of it all; The joint Three-Subject test coming up on the first of the two days of the weekend.

Heading into that, Caius had been hard at work, continuing what he had been at even before the start of the Mid-Semester Tests. But still, his mind was troubled.

Athenodora hadn't reached out after their little meeting in the mental space. Caius didn't really know what to make of that as he had no idea how that even worked.

Nowhere in the original story had a Vampire creator had the ability to invade its spawn's mind like that. To pull their consciousness inward for a conversation.

He knew they could sense their creations and give orders that had to be obeyed but what Athenodora had done twice now seemed largely unique. As such, Caius had no idea what the rules for it were. What triggers it? What are the requirements for it to happen?

The two times it had happened were while Caius was in a state of great change; Going from Vampire Spawn to True Vampire and going from a being without a Divine Seed into a being with one.

Both times the changes had been the reason the mental space meeting happened and had been the subject of the conversation. It was what Athenodora had sensed in his blood both times that caused her to come calling.

Still, she hadn't done it since the last time.

Was it because she couldn't?

Maybe he needed to experience another big change for her to return?

Or maybe—and this was somewhat unlikely—the meeting with Nyx had done something to the connection. Something that made it so that Athenodora could not just tap back in.

All in all, Caius had questions but no one to really answer them.

His go-to would likely be Samantha but she was still being silent.

On the matter of the Divine Seed, Caius was getting used to having it in his blood. It was a part of him now but was also an unnatural part of him. When he called upon the Divine energy, it didn't feel 'normal'. It felt alien. Like a foreign entity that shouldn't exist within him.

Caius was not surprised by this. Hell, it was expected.

Divine Energy is a power to be wielded only by gods with godly forms to contain and harness the power. Having it within a mortal body is against the norm and will never be natural.

In a sense, this is why when Divine Energy is granted by a God to its subject, it's not an everlasting boost and must be rescinded because the body can't quite handle it.

Of course, getting it integrated with one's very essence can lessen the load by a lot which is why using the Arcane Circle to 'plant the seed' is the right move and why none of the Ladies had experienced any ill effect. In fact, they took to it better than Caius because he didn't have the Arcane Circle to help him.

That being said, one can't discount the fact that the Divine Energy in its current state is weak. There's no backing for it and that's what makes it possible to integrate it with the essence of a human/humanoid's being in the first place.

Anyway, Caius had spent a considerable amount of time training himself to harness it. He was now able to draw out a thin vapor of the stuff, so… progress.

Seriously though, he could now afford to give out the entirety of the Sliver of Divine energy within the Arcane Circle in his head because he could just reinfuse the symbols with Divine energy from his Divine Seed. He was really proud of that because the supply in his head was always finite. Now that he could produce it in small portions within himself, he didn't have to worry about that limitation.

And so came the day.

Caius had been at the Academy during the weekends a couple of times but this was the first time it was so… lively.

It didn't look or feel like the weekend. It looked and felt like a school day proper.

The events of the Tests were going to be broadcast at various locations all over the Academy which meant the Professors could all tune in to watch—which they did—and the Students of the other Years i.e. the seniors could watch as well— likely pointing out errors they spotted and discussing them among themselves.

This of course meant that, in turn, the First Years would get to watch the other years have their Combative Mid-Semester Tests as well. They are never scheduled at the same time because this is kinda Lochxen's inter-student competition meant to be watched as entertainment.

Also, because of how vast Lochxen was and how separated by school years the students were, Organized combative tests such as this are technically the one time they all get to see students from years besides their own.

However, the other years though might not have joint Tests that involve the Study of Magical Beasts, Combat Magic, and Mage-Knight Training. That isn't a situation unique to the First Year but also doesn't happen as often as one might think.

In other words, this was somewhat of a treat for the spectators. Mixing Combat Magic and Mage-knight Training can especially lead to some interesting matchups. Especially if weapons and Arcane tools are allowed. And they certainly were.

Caius didn't see the students of the other years because they stayed where they always stayed but he could feel their attention. He was more aware of their existence today than he had ever been in his over one month at Lochxen thus far.

The First Years all gathered at the field they usually had the Study of Magical Beasts class and the three Professors responsible for the day all stood only about five feet away from the Lochxen Forest border.

Lea looked especially chirper and she was the one who waved the students closer.

"Come on over," she said, "I'd like to think we've had enough little trips into the Forest by now for you to not be so skittish."

The class stepped forward and soon, those at the forefront of the whole were only about two feet away from the Professors.

It was then that some things glinted from the shadow cast by the Lochxen Forest trees and soon, discs floated into view. The discs carried crystals and those were what had caught the light and glinted.

The discs spun around—the enchantment symbols on them glowing faintly—as they seemed to be turning the Crystals around as though trying to catch the light at various angles.

"Recording Crystals," Kaya said by Caius's side.

"Yeah," Caius said.

"I've seen them in the classrooms. They're always stuck in place. A bit strange to see them moving about though."

"You should smile for the camera," Caius said then with a smile as a disc turned a crystal at them, "We're on TV."

"Wha—? Camera? TV?" Kaya asked confused, "What are those?"

Caius chucked to himself.

"Just wave," he said and as though to lead by example, he gave a small wave as he added,

"Everyone's watching."

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