Still, Vampirism remained the worst-case scenario.

It was an option Arlette placed on the back end to be used only during emergencies. Option one remained to break through the barrier that kept the Twelfth Circle from reach.

Not much was known about the Twelfth Circle. It was essentially a legendary level of strength and a mage of that level hadn't been seen in the Acheron Empire in tens of thousands of years. And any records of such an existence were shrouded in such mysticism, it might as well have been a myth.

Still, everyone knew it existed.

Once one steps onto the ladder of magical excellence, they can instantly sense/feel how many Magic Circles exist. The Twelfth Circle was real. It just couldn't be achieved, as far as anyone was concerned.

Hell, Mages at the Eleventh Circle were insanely rare as the Circle was difficult in its own right. Many expend their lifespan before they even achieve it and before they have the chance to attempt the Twelfth Circle.

Still, difficult/impossible as it was, advancing to the Twelfth Circle remained Arlette's first option to gaining the immortality needed to stand by Caius's side for all time.

While not much is known about the legendary Twelfth Circle, it is said that at that point, the Mage is relieved of all mortal bounds. Part of which is mortality. Essentially, a Twelfth Circle Mage is believed to be immortal. Just like the gods themselves.

This itself has been met with a lot of skepticism because if Twelfth Circle Mages are immortal and they are so rare and so equally classed that the few who do exist can't just kill each other, where the fuck were they?

If anyone had ever achieved the Twelfth Circle, they should still be around. Still roaming. Still exerting their superior influence. But ultimately, they should be proof that the Circle is achievable.

Of course, there are theories about the lack of Twelfth Circle Mage presence.

The most popular theory was that the power of the Twelfth Circle Mages was far too great to exist in a world like this. Once one achieves such a level of strength, they simply vanish to exist in a plane that can actually hold and contain such power.

There's no evidence to this—since there's no Twelfth Circle Mage to ask—and it's also a theory that reads as silly to many.

Another, not-so-popular theory is that the power of Twelfth Circle Mages is so great that the gods feel threatened and so they strike down anyone who they see come close to achieving such power.

This isn't all that popular because many believe it to be blasphemy. After all, gods are supposed to be so foundational to the very structure of existence so no power, no matter how 'great', should threaten them. To claim such was to mock the superiority of the gods.

Others refuse to let the theory deter them and so they push aside whatever panic it might cause so they can focus on achieving this so-called god-threatening power.

Arlette didn't put much stock in the less popular theory. It seemed like a conspiracy theory as far as she was concerned. She was a bit partial to the more popular theory though. Despite its silliness.

All in all, her goal was to advance to the Twelfth Circle. Preferably without turning into a Vampire first.

And thanks to Caius, it might just be possible.

The Arcane Circle in her head, as well as the Divine Seed she had cultivated thanks to it, granted her an insane boost to the speed of her Enlightenment. By her calculations, it was at least eight times faster than normal.

With it, she just might make it.

Still, she worried… What if it were truly impossible?

…

Caius and Arlette exited the bath hours after they entered together. Caius lifted her in a princess carry over to her bed where he lay her down and began to work his way up her body with kisses.

As he did, Arlette moaned, stroking her hand through his hair and down to his back until his head was right above hers. He didn't lean down to kiss her, he just stayed there, with about a foot of distance between them, taking in the sight of her face.

He remembered when she led him to her office after Orientation and the ridiculous thought that had dropped into his head at the time at the sheer glorious beauty smiling at him. Somehow, since that time, less than two months ago, Arlette had only gotten more beautiful.

Arlette looked at him as well. Neither said a word and yet their mind worked in synch. She remembered that day as well. The day she reached out to confirm a crazy theory that had developed in her mind that the son of the most famed Vampire Hunter in the Empire—Hell, the entire world—was a Vampire himself.

She remembered how impossibly handsome he had looked at the time. And now her eyes moved down from his face looking at his chest. Taking in how much his musculature had filled out since then.

Arlette touched her fingers to a few of the welts she had made on his body and they were already fading. Drinking her blood had accelerated his body's natural—yet limited—ability to mend. A couple more drops of her blood and all signs of her sadism would be gone.

She was a little sad about that. And then she remembered he'd feed on her for that last bit of mending and she was delighted again.

"So, what happened while I was out?" Caius asked while leaning down to kiss her neck.

He knew already that Arlette hadn't left his side since she brought him here to heal but he also knew she would have been getting updates.

He felt guilty at the sheer turmoil that must be happening all over Lochxen right now while he was loved up with his Alchemy Professor.

The fact that he could rationalize this moment as being part of his healing didn't help ease Caius's guilt. Still, the guilt couldn't quite win against raging horniness. And knowing he'd have to leave Arlette eventually and miss the taste and touch of her body for however long until they were together again encouraged him to enjoy this moment.

As she moaned to his kiss and lifted her body off the bed to cover the little distance between them and touch her body to his, Arlette tried to find her voice and answer.

It took a while but she got there.

"The students were ushered to the Infirmary. Those who were injured the worst have been admitted and are being tended to by Healers. I heard they'll all be fine.

As I said earlier, your girlfriends helped reduce the cases of injury. I was especially proud of Aylin…"

"Really?"

"Yes," Arlette said, suppressing a moan but shuddering hard. Still, she continued in a fairly clear voice,

"That girl performed emergency refinement more than once. Of course, she wouldn't have had to refine on the spot had she taken my advice and prepared properly beforehand. Still, she did well.

Oh, and Kaya too. Poor girl nearly burnt her own Life force to keep the corrupted Magical Beasts at bay."

Caius paused then. He had already heard of how bad things had been and his mind had already gone to various terrible places with his worry and that worry was only barely kept at bay by Arlette telling him everyone was fine.

But the fact that they were all well—if they even were—wasn't enough to alleviate the sheer danger of someone almost burning their very Life force. That was the very worst-case scenario that not even his worried mind had cooked up.

For that, Kaya would need to have used up all of her Mana reserves while still connected to a spell that continued to take all she had to give.

The thought that a threat he had caused had pushed Kaya to such a degree…

He had to see her.

He had to see all of them.

He had to see/face what he had done.

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