Chapter 230: It might have something to do with...
Delia stared for a long while at Caius after he said those words. He was right and she had no interest in showing any of what he had shown her to anyone. Part of the reason was that she didn’t really have anyone to show it to. Another was that she just didn’t feel any interest in letting anyone into this secret incredible technique she was only just starting to learn. She was a bit of a gatekeeper like that.
All in all, she knew she wasn’t going to reveal any of this to anyone but that was information Caius was not privy to. So to hear him proclaim his trust for her... well, it struck a chord within her.
Caius looked to the side at her then and they locked eyes.
Neither of the two said a word but Delia began to inch closer to him. It took her moving about two feet closer to him for her to realize what was happening but even though her eyes went wide, Delia didn’t stop herself.
When she realized what she was so dangerously close to doing, she remembered the two spectators she had invited as a failsafe in case something like this happened and she tried to loosen her tongue to call out to them. Only she couldn’t.
She just kept inching closer to Caius who just stayed right where he was with a smile.
Delia tried to make herself very aware that she—they—were being watched but while that usually worked when they were in the presence of their classmates, it didn’t work here. Her brain seemed to be especially aware that neither Eloise nor Kaya would care about what she was so close to doing. Hell, they might even cheer.
’Gods!" Delia exclaimed in her head hoping to still knock some sense into her own head and resist the temptation and when that didn’t work, she decided to throw one hand back and make signs with her fingers to grab the attention of the two spectators.
Kaya and Eloise saw her signs but neither made any move besides leaning forward in their seats and holding their breath in anticipation.
And then it happened. Delia’s face was an inch from Caius’s and with an angling of her neck, she connected their lips in a gentle kiss.
"There it is!" Eloise practically yelled, "Ha, vindication!"
Delia let out a breath as her face went red even as she deepened the kiss. The hand she had been using to signal flopped for about a second before she pulled it so she could place it against Caius’s chest, grabbing his shirt and pulling him into the kiss.
"Would you look at that?" Eloise said with a bit of snide before she mimicked Delia’s voice to add,
"’I think he’s average’ my ass!"
Delia shut her eyes feeling embarrassed to so quickly be eating her own words but that embarrassment could not really set in and remain for too long when Caius’s firm lips were pressed against her soft ones.
One of Caius’s arms went around her waist and pulled her closer until their lower halves were pressed up against one another as his tongue slipped out of his mouth and teased for an entry into Delia’s. She obliged.
As Caius’s tongue began to explore the inside of her mouth and she used her tongue to engage it in a bit of a tussle, Delia felt fatigue beginning to set in. This kiss should have gotten her adrenaline pumping and it tried to, but her adrenaline was what had held off the fatigue thus far and she just had to succumb.
When her lips separated from Caius’s, he understood.
"I-I should go," Delia said sounding breathless from the kiss, "If I don’t leave now, I might not be able to get up for the rest of the day."
As she spoke, Delia could already feel her muscles locking in place. She felt like she had pushed herself more than she ever had in all her years of exercising. Which was accurate.
"Go," Caius told her with a head gesture toward the door.
Delia stayed as she was then, risking the complete shutdown of her body catching up to her here and likely having to be carried off to the Dorms, just so she could stare into Caius’s eyes a bit more.
"You- You know I don’t actually think you’re average, right?" She said then.
Caius shrugged.
"If you did, I wouldn’t be mad," he said.
"But I don’t," Delia said rising off the ground a bit with her tone more vulnerable than it had ever been as she placed a hand against Caius’s chest and looked imploringly into his eyes.
Caius just smiled as he brushed a lock of her thick black hair behind her ear and rose off the ground to plant a kiss on her forehead.
"You’re shaking," he said when he pulled away, "You should get to the Dorms."
Delia raised a hand and confirmed he was right but still she couldn’t yet leave. She opened her mouth and it was clear there was something she wanted to say. Alas, the self-consciousness that had not been present in her when she had been inching forward to kiss Caius’s lips had returned to seal her lips and make her unable to reveal more vulnerable thoughts.
"You should practice the basics every single day," Caius instructed, "The fatigue should have lessened by morning but even if it hasn’t, you need to push past the pain."
Caius could afford to neglect Mage-Knight Training every day since he wasn’t building up to the peak of his Magic Circle as he was already there. But Delia had to as there was so much work to do.
Delia nodded and with a sigh, she finally managed to stand on her feet. Even if Caius hadn’t given her the instructions, she would have practiced the basics still. She looked over to Eloise and Kaya and was about to ask them if they’d be coming with her when she doubled over as her entire body ached.
"Fuck," she groaned.
"Delia—" Kaya called.
"I’ll see you both back at the Dormitory," Delia said then, and with that, she cast a movement spell that sped up her exit from the Mage-Knight classroom.
She shut the door behind her as she left and that cut off all sounds but Caius, Eloise, and Kaya could have sworn they could hear her hurried steps dashing through the Academy corridors and grounds.
"I could have healed her," Kaya said.
Caius sighed.
"You can’t, dear," he said as he lay back down on his back.
"Why not?" Kaya asked.
"Well, she’s not really injured," Caius said.
"I could at least soothe her ache," Kaya said with a shrug.
"Temporarily, yes. But it’ll pick back up almost immediately after. The soreness she’s feeling is not just because of how much she has stressed her muscles, it’s also quite literally just part of the regimen. Every ache she feels now is because her muscles are being built up... strengthened. It’s a bit like wear, tear, and repair which is essential for normal muscle growth but also... different. Very different.
In any case, you can soothe the pain of a current muscle build-up but unless you continue constant care, the next one will ripple through and the pain will set in again. And you can’t keep up the soothing for the hours of relief she’ll need. And there are just some pains that Healing spells can’t help with.
It will take even a specific kind of potion, of a very high grade, to truly soothe the ache. However, besides being a very expensive option, it’s also not needed because Delia will be fine. She must go through this. It’s part of the process," Caius explained.
"Oh," Kaya said and it was clear that not all Caius had said made sense to her.
She stood up from her seat then and stepped onto the stage to lie down beside Caius, staring up at the classroom ceiling.
"Did you?" She asked.
"Hmm?" Caius intoned, slightly confused.
Eloise came to lie down on Caius’s other side then joined him and Kaya in staring up at the ceiling.
"Did you go through this too?" Kaya asked.
To Eloise, that sounded like a question with a very obvious answer because of course, Caius must have gone through the same since he was a Von Helsing who had to have trained as Delia did.
It was why she was somewhat surprised when Caius answered Kaya’s question with;
"No. My experience has been different."
Eloise looked at the side at him then.
Caius kept his eyes on the ceiling as he continued.
"I had it easier than she does," he said and began to stroke his moonstone ring as he added with a light chuckle,
"I tend to have a couple of things easier than others, to be honest."
"And why is that, Caius?" Kaya asked and if it wasn’t clear before where she had been leading this conversation, it was clear now.
Caius looked at her in understanding and then he looked at Eloise whose eyes were glistening with attentiveness. And then he let out a sigh as he raised one hand to touch her cheek lightly. When he spoke, it was an answer to Kaya’s question but his eyes and attention were so much on Eloise that it was clearly meant for her.
"It might have something to do with the fact that I’m not human," he said,
"It might have something to do with me being a Vampire."