Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

It stepped out of from between the shadows. From a deeper part of the Lochxen Forest than Lea had led the class through. It was oozing a hierarchical and threatening aura that had been the reason for the Wind-Puffing Rabbits all getting skittish.

The first part of its body that was visible was its long head which was large and so menacing with a snout that looked like that of a crocodile, only a lot wider. Its entire head was very much larger than that of a croc. It had visible rows of teeth—all sharp and glinting like steel—all around its snout.

It continued to step out as the entire class stood frozen in fear. Continuing the reptilian imagery that had been started by its wide snouted head, the Beast moved with a sort of waddle. It was massive. Easily 12 meters long and even as it waddled with its front so close to the ground, it was five feet high.

Its body was covered in black scales that were interlocked and looked thick like Armor.

A growl was rolling out of what one could only assume was its throat and saliva dripped from its still-closed snout as it took more steps closer.

The Wind Puffing Rabbit finally got free from Aylin's hold only because the perfect beauty's eyes were wide and she could not even bring herself to keep a tight grip on the cute little thing. By the time the Bunny had hopped out of sight, Aylin was taking steps back along with most of the class.

"Professor," Eloise called and she and a few others who dared to turn their eyes away from the beast ahead of them, glanced back at Lea Gilligan who was smiling and perfectly at ease.

"It's as I said, Dear students," She said, "You can never accurately predict what you will face in the wild. One must always be prepared to face any situation that might come. One must be ready to pacify any Beast… No matter how fearsome it might appear."

"Pa-pa-pacify? That thing?" Marcus Arognite asked then. He was part of the many who could not dare look away from the Beast. Or move any part of their bodies for that matter.

"Yes, Marcus," Lea answered, "Pacify. Had it been a greater threat, I would advise retreat, but the Bullcroc, despite its size, is still only a Four-Star threat-level-rated Beast. There are so many of you that it would be so pointless that you're learning the Study of Magical Beast if you can't even handle it."

"Professor!" Marcus yelled.

"No one is allowed to run," Lea said easily, "You don't want to see how mad I'll get to see you turn away from a challenge."

"Professor," Eloise called, adopting a softer tone than Marcus had used. But that could have been due to fear and not an actual desire to appeal to Lea's sensibility.

"Everything you need for this task, you already have with you," Lea said, "If you've been paying attention, of course."

"Professor!" Eloise cried then and her voice sounded so shrill, it rang in sonic circles that caused everyone in class to wince at the sound.

It also seemed to have caught the attention of the Bullcroc who shook its head once and then turned its threatening eyes at her before charging.

For something with such a massive size, the Bullcroc was quick on its feet, and in seconds, it was within reach to swing its tail at Eloise.

Before the tail made contact however, Caius was there, his hands thrust forward and a spell circle appeared. The spell circle transformed into a Dark Magic defensive spell.

~Galleon's Gate~

The spell absorbed the impact of the tail attack. Or so it should have done. Except it broke past the defense of the spell and slammed into Caius's stomach, sending him tumbling away with a sickening whipping sound.

The situation felt so grave that Baler Khione couldn't even enjoy seeing Caius get struck. Also, Caius's move spurred the others to action. Everyone took the opportunity to put as much distance as they possibly could between themselves and the Magical Beast but they didn't run.

Despite the feeling of self-preservation, they were all from Prominent Mage Families or at least wished to go on and establish one of their own (as was the case with Doran) so, with some distance and hopefully safe from attack, they all began casting attacking spells that they struck toward the Bullcroc as one.

Meanwhile, Caius coughed. He tasted metal in his mouth from his blood but the injury was not as bad as it could be. There was some sprain but no terrible fracture. He went from staring at his midsection to looking over at Lea. But she wasn't looking at him. She seemed to be trying her hardest not to pay attention to him.

Maybe she felt seeing him in pain would spur her to put an end to this very difficult exercise of hers. Or maybe she just wanted to keep an eye on what was happening between the rest of the students and the Bullcroc. Either way, it was clear that Lea was determined to be professional.

She refused to let personal feelings and moments of bonding she couldn't stop thinking about, affect her job which she enjoyed a lot. It was a job that involved tormenting a bunch of teens on the verge of adulthood and 'teaching' them in the process. What was there not to enjoy?

Caius didn't mind that she was being professional. He had no interest in special favors while in class. At the end of the day, Lea and the rest of the Lochxen Professors had superiors they answered to. There were parts of the education system that they could do nothing but uphold.

Also, this was actually an important exercise. Probably no one knew that better than he did. Not even Lea herself in all her exercise-crafting knowledge.

"Caius, are you alright?"

He heard the words of concern then and suddenly, Eloise was by his side. She had a hand on his chest and helped him not fall over and even though Caius didn't think he was really at risk of that, he appreciated the thought.

"I'm fine," he said and looked to the side at her to see that she was teary-eyed,

"Are- Are you crying?"

Eloise threw her arms around him then.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I don't know what happened. I just spaced out."

"I- It's really alright," Caius said, "Seriously, why are you apologizing?"

"I put you in danger," Eloise said, sounding choked up.

"No, you didn't," Caius said and patted her on the back.

Eloise just hugged his neck even tighter and kept that position for about two minutes after.

Caius had to tap her on the back to indicate they were wasting time.

"Eloise, we have something to get to," he said.

"What? You're going to fight that thing?" Eloise asked, "Everyone else has it covered."

It seemed to her that that was a natural conclusion to arrive at. Once the class had gotten their act together and were bombarding the creature, how long could it still stand?

Caius almost laughed at how sweetly optimistic she was.

"No, Eloise," he said gently, "They definitely do not have it all covered. Look."

Eloise pulled her face away from his neck then and looked at the battle between her classmates and the Bullcroc which caused her eyes to widen.

More than half the class had been slammed aside and groaned on the ground, not at all enthusiastic to get back up and try again. And who could blame them?

As she ran toward Caius, Eloise had felt the outburst of so much mana all aimed at the Beast but there was not even a single scratch on its scales. It might as well have never been attacked.

"Did-Did they miss?" Eloise asked, incredulous.

"No, no, they didn't," Caius answered,

"That thing's just that tough."