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Delia asked Caius to meet her in the Mage-Knight Training classroom, where she had a practice weapon drawn and held in a fighting stance.

With a smile, Caius picked up a practice weapon as well and they spent half of the time they had together in a spar.

"Ah!" Delia cried when Caius sidestepped her and patted her lightly on the ass with his practice weapon. It was enchanted not to really hurt, so the cry was mostly exaggerated.

Sure enough, when she turned to look at him, Delia was smiling.

"Hey, try to keep the vampire strength-use to a minimum," she said with false indignation.

"I am," Caius answered lightly, "This was a matter of skill."

He wasn't wrong. They weren't really using actual physical might here because thanks to the enchantments of practice weapons, the strength put into attacks is mostly useless. Also, this wasn't a duel at all.

Delia rolled her eyes.

"You could have played along," she said with a smile, "You know, save me some embarrassment for getting my behind tapped by saying you are using your greatest advantage against me."

"Ah, of course. Next time," Caius said in seeming realization and they were back at it.

Delia was armed with a practice weapon specifically meant to mimic a heavy-headed weapon like a two-bladed axe or a war-hammer. And while it wouldn't hurt Caius no matter how much strength she put into her swings, it did help give her some kind of idea of the weight she'd always have to manage when using such heavy weapons. It also required a different kind of footwork for the lighter weapons like swords. Which was what Caius was using.

In fact, that was Caius's actual biggest advantage here. Armed with a practice sword, he was allowed to be lighter which helped him step out of her range and then lunge close to give her light taps that counted for 'points' if that was what they were after.

They had fun but the practice weapons were essentially harmless mimicry of the real thing. And while the one available to the First Years technically reacts to their Magic Circle, the truth is that it doesn't simulate the attributes of Four-star weapons all that well.

When they ended their spar, a quarter of the overall time they had together was then spent on Caius giving Delia pointers to further her understanding of the Von Helsing Regimen.

Now that she was at the Fourth Circle, she was essentially back at the start of a journey and would need to work to reach the peak of the Fourth Circle. Also, the series of exercises Caius had shown her was for the Third Circle and would have no actual effects for her new circle.

Fortunately, Caius was already on his Fourth Circle lessons as well. Granted he wasn't getting as many in-depth exercises because his exercises were not about building up muscles but rather about frustrations but it was enough to at least give Delia what was essentially the basics.

She didn't practice it all right now and rather had a book out to record it with as much descriptive detail as Caius could provide since their time together was so short.

"Here," Caius said and held out a Loqui-Link while they sat on the concrete stage in the classroom.

"Gods, you're just handing them out, aren't you?" Delia said in jest as she received the magical device and turned it over.

Caius laughed.

"Once I have the exercises you need, I'll relay them to you through this. There's a visual element that'll help get it across."

"I appreciate this. Gods know I do," Delia said as she closed her eyes, "But it's like the practice weapons; A poor substitute for the real thing."

"Do I take that as a compliment?" Caius asked with a smirk.

"You should because it was," Delia said and then leaned back as a brow flew up on her beautiful bronze face as she added, "Why, was that not clear?"

Caius just smiled as he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers gently. Delia placed her free hand onto his chest and moaned slightly into the kiss. It wasn't so deep to initiate such a response but every part of her longed for him. The separation hadn't happened yet but her mind was already preparing for and dreading it.

When Caius pulled away to take in her lips, Delia didn't lean in to recapture his lips instantly. She just stared as hard as she could as though she wanted the image of his face burned into her very memory.

"So how do you feel about the break?" Caius asked.

"Excited," Delia answered almost immediately, and then she saw Caius's brow raised and added,

"I mean I'm going to miss you so bad. But with my family, I've been vindicated and I really can't wait to rub their faces in it."

"Vindicated?" Caius said as though he needed clarification.

"Yeah," Delia said like it should be obvious, and when she saw Caius hadn't gotten it, she decided to clarify,

"I faced a Fiend from Hell with my 'uncultured Mage-Knight ways'. Who among them can boast of such a claim?"

"Ah," Caius said in seeming realization.

Delia nodded with excitement,

"Yeah. And as much as they swore sticking to this 'unrefined' way will stagnate my growth, I've achieved the Fourth Circle far ahead of schedule. Granted, there's more to it—what with the Arcane Circle and all—but they didn't need to know that. Hell, they shouldn't know that.

So as far as they are concerned, I have simply broken the mold of Mage-Knighthood they've adamantly created even when there's ample evidence to the contrary.

I can't wait to rub that in."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Caius said and he meant it.

If the high and mighty Kragstens, custodians of Magedom, could accept Delia as she was, it'd certainly be a departure from the original canon where they had been quite stubborn despite the incredible feats Delia performed as a Mage-Knight. Granted, she hadn't faced a Demonic threat this early in the original canon but Caius wasn't sure how much of a difference that would make.

He knew that despite them being against her chosen path, Delia was still very much loved at home. Hell, she was the little princess and the reason she could resist and stick to her ways was partially because of that. No other Kragsten had such luxury without being shunned by the family at large, leading eventually to some kind of banishment.

In any case, the fact that she had been in such proximity with a threat that could easily have killed her might have been enough of a shock.

The only reason the Kragsten Patriarch hadn't marshaled a mighty force to send over to Lochxen during those events—besides the distance that'd have to be crossed and would make the journey hardly instantaneous—was that Cynthia was there. While she had been teaching at Lochxen long before Delia's first year, Delia was Cynthia's charge and her duty was more than just trying to get her to be a Mage. It was about keeping her safe as well.

Delia let the moment pass, i.e a few seconds, and then looked at Caius, knowing already how she wished to use the rest of their limited time together.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and soon, she had her tongue inside his mouth mapping it out and locking every memory of this moment in her mind to be replayed on those days she would spend alone, separated from him by great distances.

When he worked his hand between their bodies to palm one of her breasts, Delia moaned into his mouth and rocked against his body.

When Caius went to kiss her throat and then her neck, Delia was reminded that even though she now knew what he was, he hadn't yet fed on her. She didn't ask for it though. Not because she dreaded it but rather because she actually anticipated it. And the little time they had left would not do justice to such a moment of profound and maybe even depraved connection.

For that, she was happy to wait for the time they would truly be able to dedicate their time to one another. When she'd present her body to him and have his to do with as she desired.

Yes, the wait was sure to make the moment all the sweeter.

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