Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 10: Kaya’s Duel

”Oof,” Kaya said and could not help but cringe when Caius didn’t just fall to the ground but hit it a few times, bouncing with every contact until he slammed against one of the training dummies in the Combat Magic Classroom.

”Are you alright?” She asked but Caius was already back to his feet.

”I’m fine,” he said while leaning with one arm against the training dummy. He winced but he had a smile on his face.

As Kevin, he had received quite a few beatings, and never would he have smiled after. And yet, there was something exciting about being slammed by the water spell. Something about the drops of water that had shattered against his body and were now dissolving into mana and leaving him quite dry.

It was all so... magical.

As Caius, he had never really been in any duels. He had practiced with every spell he was taught, yes, but never in a situation to actually use them in a fight. This was a first and he found himself liking it.

He took on a stance and gave Kaya a ’come on’ gesture to which she smiled with relief that she could continue before taking two graceful and quick steps forward to swing her arm as though to give a punch.

When her arm was fully extended, a spell circle appeared, and in that very second it transformed into yet another ball of water.

This time, Caius was prepared.

Wispy Feet.

A Second Circle wind spell that created two Spell circles beneath his feet and boosted his speed just enough to allow him to leap to the side and avoid the water ball that went on to slam against a training dummy.

Kaya turned her foot slightly. It seemed like a simple move but when she made a gesture to swing her arm upward and a green spell circle appeared, Caius knew she was casting and the result of the cast was almost instantaneous as a thick vine grew and wrapped around his foot before he could ride the Wispy Feet

spell to safety.
Cancelling his concentration on Wispy Feet, Caius recast ~Wind Blade~ and swung at the vine. It didn’t cut as easily as the last vines he cut and when he finally made it through, a large blue spell circle appeared and a gigantic fist made of water landed an uppercut that sent him into the air.

*BAM!*

”Nghh!” Caius groaned until his eyes went wide as he realized the fist hadn’t dematerialized. It just unfurled into a hand that wrapped around him. It was so large that it covered his entire upper body and slammed him into the ground.

*BANG!*

*SPLASH!*

The fist of water burst on impact and it had cushioned Caius’ fall and lessened the damage he would have sustained otherwise. Ruthless as Kaya was with her spell casting, she did care enough not to injure him. She still considered this a ’friendly duel’.

Kaya was already preparing her next spell and created seals before creating a Spell Circle that unleashed lances of Water at him.

Caius rolled away, got to his feet, and slammed a hand forward as he yelled out in his head;

Fireball.

The spell circle appeared and out of it fired a fireball that destroyed the lances before they could make contact with him and in the midst of that collision of elemental spells, he dashed forward toward Kaya.

Wispy Feet.

The spell circles appeared granting him the speed boost to help dodge the barrage of Water spells Kaya sent at him next but being a Second Circle Wind spell, there was only so fast Wispy Feet could help him travel.

Caius made a hard lean to the side and an orb of Water struck him in the shoulder but he managed to avoid getting sent flying for a second time as he thrust a hand forward pulling his concentration from the Wispy Feet spell to conjure a second spell circle in front of him and with a wide swing of his other arm he struck the spell circle, transforming it into a sharp gale of wind that sliced its way toward Kaya.

Cutting Gale.

Yet another third circle spell he had been taught before his descent into depression.

With wide eyes, Kaya conjured a large blue spell circle that became a water shield. The shield had to have been a Second Circle Spell because Cutting Gale cut right through it before striking against another magical construct that caused it to disperse as forceful wind.

The wind blasted Caius full in the face and he tried to look past it at the construct Kaya had created to defend herself only to sense a vine stabbing at him which forced him to make another hard lean to the side.

Alas, another vine was waiting for him on that side and wrapped around his midsection to begin pulling him toward Kaya.

Wind blade.

Caius sliced through the vine but many more were coming at him with the source of course being Kaya who was now sealed up in a protective chamber of Vines in the shape of an irregular sphere. That sphere was the construct that defended her from Caius’ ~Cutting Gale~ spell.

*Bam!*

A vine slapped Caius in the stomach and sent him sliding away. It was meant to distract him so he could be grabbed again but he grounded himself just in time to dodge the others coming at him.

Fireball.

The ball of flames destroyed a bunch of vines but more were still coming.

Cutting Gale.

The Gale sliced through a bunch but still, more persisted so he kept unleashing both types of spells as he tried to charge at Kaya who was protectively sealed within the chamber of vines.

Caius knew from the original story that Kaya couldn’t keep this particular spell up for too long but even a few minutes would be enough to beat him down if things continued like this.

He tossed Fireballs and Cutting Gales at Kaya’s protected self but the Vines were always there to receive the damage while others came at him.

’I’ll have to get close,’ Caius thought.

The weakness of the spell, besides waiting for it to end, was to attack the source i.e Kaya.

He was two feet away when he heard Kaya chuckle. Her voice seemed to be coming from the vines which made it an eerie chorus that was chilling but also beautiful.

”You know, I dueled a lot with my siblings. They said it was to toughen me up but I always suspected they were just a bunch of dicks,” she said and laughed a bit before she continued,

”Anyway, I was happy when I got this spell. It could keep me safe from their beatings and I’d get to beat them down instead. At least in theory. In reality, I never really stood a chance. They always won. They always beat me.

But I think I stand a chance here...”

Kaya’s voice trailed off and Caius began to feel a tremor in the ground. His eyes went wide when tens and tens of vines grew out of the ground and bound together like a boulder that struck from below and sent him into the air.

In the air, the Vines came at him separately and from various angles leaving no room to maneuver.

’I need a burst of power,’ Caius thought and a particular spell came to mind.

The last Third Circle Spell his father taught him before his Mother’s death. Probably the last ’happy’ moment he had because a day after that, everything changed.

Caius shook away the sad memories that came with the spell and brought the required spell circle to mind;

Circle of Lightning!

Yet another simply named spell because it did exactly as the name described. The spell circle conjured lightning in a widespread circle and it destroyed every single vine but that wasn’t the end.

With the coast clear and honestly running a bit low on Mana, Caius made to cast another spell, when Kaya’s protective Vine Sphere opened up and a vine struck out at him.

As he was in the air, he lacked any traction to move out of the vine’s range and he also didn’t have time to cast a spell. At least not before the vine wrapped around his waist and pulled him into Kaya’s protection that sealed up right after, trapping him inside with her.