CHAPTER 105: I HATE HER ENOUGH

Spell creation works with a couple of steps;

You bring together the Arcane symbols that are meant to be composed within your soon-to-be-created spell circle, you add in the ’Binding Factor’—which could be unique or it could be a copy of someone else’s as Caius had been trying to do when he wasn’t having success discovering his own—and then you ’force’ them to cooperate.

The steps are simple enough. It’s the execution that’s incredibly difficult, especially if you’re working with components that are violently against mixing together.

In the days he had spent researching the Arcane Codex in preparation for spell creation, Caius had picked out multiple Arcane symbols and gauged how well they could work together. The problem was that there was no way to actually know if his gauges and analysis were accurate until it came to the point of trying for a mix. He was discovering now that he had been way off.

So many of his selected Arcane symbols were refusing to come together and his ’Binding Factor’ seemed just as opposed which was especially strange. For hours, he worked to no success. He mismatched the symbols in so many different ways and always came up empty.

There were so many times when some symbols would be violent against each other but still be holding on and then, Caius would add one more and the whole thing would implode. Fortunately, the implosions were never enough to cause him great pain but with every failure, his handsome face was becoming more and more contorted and he looked close to losing it.

Spell creation was a delicate thing but it’s difficult to keep that in mind when you’re on your 50th failure in two short hours.

Samantha watched him by the side looking to be torn between pity at his struggles and hilarity at the look on his face. He still looked cute though.

And then, well past the Third hour of work, close to the halfway mark of the Fourth, Caius finally had his first success.

"I did it!" he said in a breathless voice. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead but his smile was a bright and proud one as he raised the hand where a Spell circle of the same hue of purple as his eyes, was levitating about two inches above his palm.

A Dark Magic spell.

Caius had felt it was only right to start with that.

As he watched that spell, the product of so much annoyingly frustrating hard work, he seemed to only now truly understand why Spells were so treasured by their creators.

"I have to test it out!" He said as the spell circle faded before the effect of the spell could descend and destroy something in his room.

He closed the book that contained the Von Helsing Interpretation of the Arcane Codex and sent it into his Storage Ring. He did the same to his Grimoire after documenting his newly created spell.

He got out of his chair then and left his room, hurrying down the corridor and down a flight of stairs into the Arena he had spent most of the past weekend working on his muscles. The place was built for Magic and Physical practice and was just right for this.

"Alright," Caius said as he stood with his feet planted apart and formed the seals associated with his new spell and infused Mana into them to create a spell circle that revolved in accordance with his will.

~Black Hand!~

A spell circle identical to the one Caius had cast but about 20 times larger, appeared in the air two feet away from him, and from it, Black smoke billowed before it took the shape of a massive hand.

The energy that came from that Black Hand was oppressive and tyrannical. When it descended, it did so with the intent to crush all that was beneath it to dust.

*BANG!!!*

*DUUUM!!!*

A force reverberated from the point where the Hand made powerful contact with the ground and caused a tremor so deep that the ground beneath Caius’s feet shook. His look of concentration transformed into a look of delight complete with a gigantic grin.

The Spell had turned out even better than he had hoped for. For this point in his life anyway. A Third circle spell with that good of an after-effect and one that, while taxing on his Mana reserves, could still be cast about two or three more times, was a massive win as far as he was concerned.

Of course, there was still more to do. Not just with creating other spells but with this spell precisely. When he created it and now that he had cast it, he felt it was still missing something. It could still be improved on.

Caius had been very focused on the Tyrannical, Authoritarian aspects of Dark Magic when he was bringing the required symbols together to create it and there was so far he could still take that. So much deep knowledge of the nature of Dark Magic he could still delve into to improve on his creation.

He nodded to himself. This was just the beginning.

"Well done."

Caius knew that voice and turned around to see his father leaning against the doorway to the Arena with a proud smile on his face.

"Good morning, Father," he greeted with a smile of his own.

"Morning. That spell. You created it, yes?" Lucian asked.

"I did," Caius admitted.

Lucian nodded,

"Well done," he said again.

"Thank you," Caius said with a little bow.

"I was waiting for an indication that you had woken up. I wouldn’t want to wake you after your ordeal yesterday."

’Not all that much of an ordeal, really,’ Caius thought but didn’t say out loud.

Lucian continued without interruption,

"When I learned you were out of your room and came right here, I came to see. I’m glad you’re taking your Magic seriously..."

"I’m certainly trying to," Caius said but Lucian wasn’t done.

"... But we need to talk about yesterday," he said to complete his sentence.

Caius paused and then nodded.

"Of course."

"What happened?"

So Caius recounted. Not really the details, just the core facts. Athenodora’s ploy to use him as bait so she could enter Anton Orlock’s Black Castle and slaughter him and all his Spawns and consorts.

And of course, finally learning what Athenodora’s part in all of it was did not exactly fill Lucian Von Helsing with warm, fuzzy thoughts.

"By gods, when I finally find that bitch..." Lucian said in a seething tone that caused his Killing intent to flare.

Caius considered what would happen if he chose this moment to try and mend bridges between his Father and Athenodora and start them down the path of avoiding that fateful clash in their future and his mouth twitched at how ridiculous it was for him to even be entertaining that thought. Now was certainly not the time. But then again, when was?

And then he felt Lucian’s eyes on him.

"You don’t hate her, do you?" Lucian asked and because he was seething, his voice struck Caius so hard, his heart stopped beating for a second.

"Well..." Caius started ready to lie and then he sighed, "No."

"Why wouldn’t you?" Lucian asked in a voice equally as shocked as it was angry.

"Father, I think it’s been clear for a while now that I’ve begun to accept what I am. What she turned me into. There’s little anger in my heart for her after that," Caius said.

Lucian glared at him and then shook his head,

"Acceptance is all the more reason to hate her. That she left you with no choice besides either sinking forever into depression or accepting what you have become is all the more reason to detest her," He said and studied his son’s face to realize there wasn’t a change in expression so he frowned even harder as he nodded,

"I see now it was never OUR fight against her. It’s mine. It’s always been MY fight. It’s always been for me to hate her for the five years of your life she took away.

I understand it now. It’s fine if you’re accepting and you don’t hate her. It’s ludicrous but it’s fine. You don’t have to.

I hate her enough for both of us."