CHAPTER 155: LET’S GO AGAIN

After performing the last pose in her set, Cynthia left her body in the arch she had put in it and held that position for a few minutes. When her body relaxed and she stepped back and away from Caius, her brows were furrowed, and her lips moved silently, like she was mumbling something to herself.

"Again," she told Caius then.

"Hmm?"

"Again," Cynthia said and cranked her neck a few times before she looked at Caius. Her brows were still furrowed and her expression looked serious as she continued,

"We’ll do it again. More intense this time. Can you handle that?"

"As long as you don’t move too fast for my eyes to follow," Caius said with a natural smile.

Cynthia paused at that and then she nodded.

"Of course," she said, then stepped closer to Caius so he could place his hands on her body again. Then, she set off into her poses.

Cynthia was serious about being more intense. Her gyrations and contortions were far more aggressive as she worked her Mana points and even let out slight groans at the effort.

Caius kept up well though. He had to step up his game as a ’dance partner’ as any slip in his rhythm could mess up her concentration. They came close to such a predicament though when Cynthia started to take more risks.

There had always been a limit to Cynthia’s gyrations and contortions with her poses but, ordinarily, breaking past those limitations would require spells or at least Mana harnessing which were things she was supposed to be avoiding while performing the Poses.

Performing the poses was supposed to be her way to acquire ’Focus’ and get her Mana to flow more uniformly and efficiently and that would be disrupted by an attempt to harness it.

In any case, she had accepted the limitations. Nothing is ever perfect and the poses worked well for what she created them for.

But now that she had support in the form of Caius and his hands as well as his body movements in synch with hers, she decided she just might push past those limitations. Now she arched harder than before. Keeping poses at awkward angles and sometimes letting all of her weight get supported by Caius’s hands while she focused on accentuating her Mana Points as intensely as she possibly could.

When they reached the last pose of the set, Cynthia stepped back once again and closed her eyes. There was a uniform flow of Mana around her, caused by her acquisition of ’Focus’ through performing her poses.

She raised her hands and moved them in the air, letting her Mana flow out of her fingertips and nodding in satisfaction at their uniformity. She kept that up for about five minutes before her Mana became disorderly again. Coming out of her body in a rowdy fashion but Cynthia didn’t look disappointed. She looked curious.

"Interesting," she said to herself, and then clenched her fist and raised her eyes to Caius’s face so it was clear her next words were for him,

"I’ve come up with Many poses over the years. This set was my first. Refined, yes, but rudimentary nonetheless. They give me a minute of ’Focus’ at most before slipping away. Barely enough time to really ponder the symbols within the Arcane Codex."

From the memories he had of his time before being a Vampire, Caius knew ’Focus’ wasn’t important for enlightenment as he had never really bothered with it and had advanced to the Third Circle still.

That said, although ’Focus’ wasn’t important for a human/humanoid attempting to comprehend the Arcane Codex, it does help. It makes the mind more receptive to improvement so he could understand why Cynthia seemed to be telling him she had been using her short minute of ’Focus’ to ponder the Arcane Codex.

And with her various Poses accentuating her Mana Points, the uniformity of her Mana and its efficiency would surpass what one would gain with normal Mediation.

Cynthia raised her clenched fist and waved it in the air for a bit before she said in a low and incredulous voice,

"The same set of poses that could only afford me a Minute, has now given me Five Minutes of ’Focus’. By working my Mana Points harder than should have been possible with these poses, my body stimulates and circulates Mana incredibly."

"Happy for you," Caius said.

Cynthia furrowed her brows. His words reminded her of why they were here and it was not about perfecting her Poses. It was about teaching him.

As impressive as this improvement to her Pose-performing routine was turning out to be, she still didn’t think Caius was getting the same benefits. His complementary poses just didn’t look to be having the required effect on his Mana Points.

’I should say something,’ she thought.

But when she opened her mouth, the words that came out were,

"Let’s go again."

"Of course," Caius said and held his hands out.

"Hold on," Cynthia said but rather than take the opportunity to address the potential deficiency in her student’s education, she stepped back a few steps.

"Can you come up with more complementary poses?" She asked.

"Of course," Caius answered with a shrug, looking more than eager.

Again, Cynthia’s conscience told her now would be a good time to address the issue but she brushed that aside with a smile as she said,

"Then watch closely."

With that, she began to perform a different set of poses. She performed them slowly with breaks between each to allow Caius to truly take them in.

Caius smiled lightly. She was capable of moving too fast for his eyes to follow but he didn’t need her to move *this* slowly. Still, he would never complain when she was holding provocative poses that would make any man salivate, and was allowing him to eye her from all angles.

"Have you got it?" Cynthia asked as she performed the last pose of this set.

Caius was tempted to say no and have her go at it again but that seemed silly when the alternative was a chance to be within inches of her body holding her as she went into those poses.

"I’ve got it," he said with a smile.

It took just as long to come up with the complementary poses—i.e Dance moves—as it had taken the first time and soon, Caius’s hands were on the Professor’s hips again as she let herself trust him right from the start, allowing all of her weight to rest on him.

She thrust her hips against Caius’s a few times but seemed so engrossed in the poses that, to a casual observer, she didn’t seem to quite comprehend what she was doing.

Caius knew better though. He felt the occasional spike in the energy of her blood and how it pulsed through her which told him she was very aware of the ways their bodies were touching.

He confirmed this when one of the poses caused Cynthia to thrust her arms and legs back while leaning her chest forward as hard as she possibly could. Her breasts were smooched against Caius’s chest so Caius could feel her heart skipping a few beats. He smiled at the Professor at first and then he let his eyelids close halfway so he looked like he was staring at her lips.

Cynthia’s mouth was opened and she let out her warm and sweet breath blow against Caius’s face. Her neck moved a few times, seeming to inch her lips closer to his. Her eyes widened at that strange urge to connect her lips with that of a student but it never even came to her mind to recoil.

Her body was locked in the rhythm of her Poses.

It was ridiculous.

She had had interruptions break her concentration before and this, not being a part of her set of poses, should have done the trick. But it didn’t. She felt she was distracted but her body seemed to disagree.

And then Caius moved her and she followed his lead to perform the next pose in the set as their faces turned away from each other. Her eyes looked confused but her concentration was intact. Her ’Focus’ acquisition is still on pace.

When she performed the final pose, her Mana was so uniform that her mind thrummed with impeccable serenity. She instantly went cross-legged and, with a flick of her wrist, a Grimoire fell from her storage ring onto the ground, opening to a specific page.

With a snap of Cynthia’s fingers, the Arcane Symbols on the page glowed and began to peel from the page to float in the air all around her beautiful form.