Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

"What—what is this?" Baler asked, feeling his well-managed Mana reserves getting eaten away but the Dark Magic that was now spreading through his entire body.

And then he felt something swinging at him and looked to the side just in time to see Caius swinging his practice sword at his face.

Baler cast a defensive spell and could immediately tell that that only accelerated his Mana loss. Fortunately, the Frost Pill was still augmenting the chill of his magic so he only needed to do very little to defend properly against Caius's attempted attack.

Alas, he only then realized the practice sword swing was a feint.

The moment his attack was blocked, Caius was already pivoting on the spot to spin around and swing his left arm to strike at Baler's cheek with a wicked backhand.

Again, Baler reacted quickly enough. He encased his cheek with ice for defense but the moment the back of Caius's fist made contact, it became clear that he had formed a seal in preparation for such an attempt at protection from Baler.

Fire blazed from the spell circle that appeared and even though it couldn't completely melt the ice on Baler's cheek, it allowed Caius's hit to break past it and be effective still.

*BAM!*

Baler went spinning away. At the same time, Caius cast ~Hellsong Dash~ and put himself in the path Baler was spinning towards to leap and swing a kick at the grey-white haired boy's head and send him to the ground.

"Mmmph!" Baler groaned as he hit the ground and then he saw Caius's leg coming at him from above.

He swung his hand upward, seal already formed in an attempt to cast a spell only to then realize the Dark magic in his body had sapped him of every bit of Mana he had left. The Frost Pill still let him exude the augmented chill but it hardly mattered if he couldn't cast a spell to benefit from the augmentation.

"Shit!" He said out loud as his icy-blue eyes went wide and he rolled to the side then, just barely avoiding the strike Caius was coming down on him with.

Alas, once Caius's leg hit the ground, he was already swinging it to kick Baler in the ribs.

Caius called his muscles to action and made sure that kick utilized quite a bit of his true ability of Third Circle physicality.

*Bam!*

"Arrghhh!!!" Baler cried out but the sound had barely even left his lips when Caius delivered another kick to his ribs.

And then came a third that definitely broke something as Baler was convinced he heard a *crack* sound.

He allowed the force of Caius's third kick to push him away and scrambled to his feet.

"I won't… *groan* I won't go out like this," he struggled to say and held his arms up like a fighter wanting to 'square up'.

Caius just laughed and went dashing forward with a boost of ~Hellsong Dash~ to strike a punch into Baler's midsection before the boy's brain could even properly react.

Caius had tossed the Practice sword aside now. It was enchanted not to cause too much pain and that was exactly what Caius wanted to do.

*Pow* *Pow* *Pow*

As he delivered punch after punch with Baler hardly able to defend himself, Caius wondered if he should hold back a bit.

What if he hurt Baler so much that the boy no longer had to confidence to try a stunt like this again?

Baler might be annoying, but that only made beating him up so much more fun as Caius was starting to realize. Plus, if winning this secured him Winter's Tear, then what might the next win secure him? Assuming he left Baler with enough drive for a comeback and didn't absolutely decimate him, of course.

It took a while for Caius to come to a decision and when he eventually did, his fists were coated in frost from so much consistent contact with Baler's body which was still exuding the chill of the Frost Pill. And, it also turned out that, without even realizing it, he had been using his attacks to move Baler back inch by inch until he was at the edge of the stage.

Baler fell backward and Caius quickly reached out to grab the front of his shirt, holding him. Baler's arms were by his side and his fingers were splayed despite how hard he tried to get them to curl into fists.

"You— you bastard…" he said. His face was so swollen that only part of his lips could move so his voice came out quite distorted.

Caius smiled at that.

He saw there was still a fire in Baler's eyes.

That was good.

With that, he released the shirt and let Baler continue the fall so he hit the ground outside the stage with a *Thud* that announced the end of the duel.

"Winner, Caius Von Helsing!" Professor Raoul voiced then.

The entire class that had winced many times at the various punches Baler suffered, clapped their hands at what was certainly an entertaining show that ended in a frankly one-sided beatdown.

Caius didn't look at them though. He stepped off the stage and held out his hand to gesture at Baler who was weak but still conscious.

"Give it here," he said.

Baler said nothing at first and then he let out a laugh. He looked like it hurt him so much to make the sound but he managed.

"You have to be a moron to think—" he started to say, taking heavy breaths after every word.

"Oh, you won't give it?" Caius asked with a raised brow.

And then he reached down and grabbed Baler's wrist with his left hand before grabbing the Storage Ring on his index finger to slip it off.

"Hey!" Baler said then and let out multiple pained coughs.

Caius ignored him.

He just touched the ring to a drop of blood that had seeped out of one of Baler's many bruises.

Storage rings had a few ways of maintaining security. Sometimes they are so tightly bound and locked by their wielder that only the death of said wielder can allow them to be perused. But that was more of the high-end stuff used to secure government and family secrets. Not the type to be given to a student.

It was the type Caius had of course, but his father let him have that because, given what he was, he had serious things he needed to keep safe for his survival.

Anyway, Baler's storage ring only needed contact with his blood to have its security broken, at least temporarily. And as Caius let his consciousness sink into the ring to start searching for his prize, Baler groaned on the ground but was far too weak to do anything about it. He could only lie there glaring at Caius, but ultimately just watch it happen.

"Von Helsing, what are you doing?" Professor Raoul said then as he approached the two.

"Nothing, Professor," Caius answered, "Just taking what I'm owed."

While Baler was not the most treasured of his mother's children because he was Male, he still was a Khione Prince. His storage ring had things meant to show that. There were manuscripts and Spell scrolls. There was money. There were potions. Mostly the normal healing kind and not the cheating sort. There was also a copy of the Khione Family's interpretation of the Arcane Codex.

All in all, there were a few things Caius could maybe be tempted to get his hands on but he maintained focus on his goal and soon, with a small glint, the Storage Ring produced it.

It looked like a dagger. It was about five inches in length and its 'blade' was shaped like a teardrop. It had a very sharp point but no actual edges. The handle was made of crystal and the teardrop-shaped blade was etched with Arcane symbols that all glowed faint icy blue.

The Winter's Tear.

It was a Magic weapon armed with an Arcane tool (the crystal handle) and stored up with Fifth Circle Chilling Mana. Like most Arcane tools, the release of the energy within was a one-time trump card but Baler would never even think of using it.

It was too precious for him to do that.

In a family where his standing was shaky because he was Male, and with his mother's favor almost entirely on his sister, he had been gifted this Magic Weapon and he treasured it far too greatly.

Baler's eyes went bloodshot as he saw Caius looking the Winter's Tool over and he oh so greatly wished to reach out and snatch it back. He managed the strength to just barely raise his arm and that caught Caius's attention who glanced down at him.

"Oh, the ring?" He said acting oblivious to what Baler was actually straining so hard to get back,

"Here. You can have it."

With that, Caius tossed the Storage Ring back at Baler so it landed on his stomach and rolled a bit to his chest.

There was some good stuff in the ring but none matched up to what he now had in his hands. Especially with Caius knowing what was coming.

Yes.

The Winter's Tear was bound to come in handy.