James may not have been the brightest guy in the room right now, but the way Caius said it made it sound like they were planning to beat the absolute shit out of him.
And honestly, he did not like the sound of that.
He would much rather learn the concepts properly than be forced to figure everything out while getting punched in the face.
Still...
He did recognize they were under a brutal time crunch.
They had to teach him the basics—something that usually took, on average, anywhere from several months to several years—in only two weeks.
"Brute force?" James asked cautiously, hoping it was not what he thought it meant.
His body was still sore...
Wait.
He paused, running a hand across his arms and shoulders.
...It wasn't.
Matter of fact, he felt lighter than he ever had before. There wasn't a single ache left in his body.
Had he healed from Mira's blows that quickly?
"Continuous, high-intensity combat," Caius reiterated, making sure James heard every word.
"Every single morning, Talia will instruct you on the theoretical framework of aura compression and inner core synchronization for precisely one hour. The remaining twenty-three hours of the day will be dedicated to practical application."
Caius looked less like a teacher and more like someone optimizing a system.
"So... what about sleep and all that?" James asked. He was quite protective over his sleep.
"We can go much longer without it. You will be fine," Caius replied with a dismissive wave, treating sleep as the least important concern.
Though vampires could technically remain awake twenty-four hours a day, they did not really require sleep the same way humans did. Well... the elders didn't.
Turned vampires still retained the old human habit of sleeping.
Last Caius checked, as long as they had blood, they functioned perfectly fine.
"But wouldn't the lack of sleep slow down my ability to learn?" James asked. Even he knew what sleep deprivation did to the brain.
Caius answered with complete ease.
"Healing spells."
"...Oh yeah."
James scratched the back of his head.
"I forgot those existed."
Healing magic probably dealt with the side effects of exhaustion.
"We also have natural potions for that," Caius added thoughtfully.
He paused for a moment.
"Speaking of which... you might need one."
James raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of potion?"
Rather than answer immediately, Caius calmly walked over to him.
"May I?"
James raised an eyebrow even higher.
"Do what exactly?"
Without saying a word, Caius pointed toward the small drop of James' blood resting on a nearby leaf.
"May I study it?"
James instinctively stiffened.
He had watched—and read—far too many supernatural stories.
By now, he knew the amount of ridiculous things people could do with someone else's blood was practically endless.
Caius easily caught the hesitation through James' scent.
"I am not going to do anything nefarious with it."
He carefully collected the blood inside a small glass vial.
"If you do not wish for it to be studied, I will destroy it immediately."
He gently swirled the vial, the crimson liquid rolling along the glass.
"I simply wish to examine it. Your transformation appears... unstable. It feels as though something within both your body and your soul has yet to fully synchronize with your newfound power."
James quietly watched the blood swirl inside the vial.
"I also wish to observe how strongly it reacts to moonlight, as well as how much ambient magic your body passively absorbs. Once I understand those variables, I can help you much more effectively."
That...
Was a lot of information someone could gather from a single drop of blood.
"If you still feel uneasy," Caius continued calmly, "I am willing to make a magical vow with you."
"You mean those contracts made with magic?" James blinked. "You can do those between people?"
This world was starting to look suspiciously like Nen contracts.
James took another sniff.
His enhanced senses picked up Caius' scent with surprising clarity.
The man genuinely did not smell malicious.
Granted...
James had also noticed Caius leaving every so often over the last few days.
Probably to report something.
James wasn't blind.
It was actually pretty difficult to be oblivious when your senses had become this absurdly advanced.
Somewhere in the back of his mind...
He heard a low growl.
...Oh.
"Maybe it's because I have Rh-null blood," James said with a shrug.
"...You have what blood?"
Talia's ears immediately perked up.
A split second later—
She was right in front of him.
James seriously needed to get used to her appearing out of nowhere.
"Let me see your neck."
She leaned closer.
"Let me, let me!"
She sounded less like a centuries-old werewolf and more like an excited child who had just discovered something fascinating.
"...Huh?"
James blinked.
Why did she suddenly look so excited?
"Hm..."
She carefully looked over his neck.
"No nibble marks."
Before James could even respond, she leaned in even closer.
Her nose gently brushed against his neck as she sniffed.
Her warm breathing tickled his skin.
She was...
Way.
Too.
Close.
"I smell no bloodsucker venom."
"Venom?" James asked.
Caius set the vial down on a nearby rock where James could clearly see it.
"They possess specialized venom glands within their fangs," Caius explained.
"When they bite someone, the venom is injected into the victim. It numbs the skin while producing a mild aphrodisiac effect."
He paused briefly.
"It is similar to a pleasant high... or the sensations experienced during intimacy. It can become quite addictive."
Another pause.
"Speaking of which..."
Caius looked directly at James.
"Have you ever had a wet dream?"
James froze.
His entire face immediately turned bright red.
It certainly did not help that Talia was still practically attached to him, resting against his shoulder after finishing her inspection.
"What...?"
"He is asking if your dick ever went off while you were sleeping."
James' face somehow became even redder at Mira's brutally blunt explanation.
That is not how someone asks that!
"So... did you?" Talia asked innocently.
Her head tilted to the side, genuinely curious.
To her, this seemed like the most normal question imaginable.
"You don't have to be embarrassed," she said with an encouraging smile.
"It's okay. You can tell me."
She even gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
Unfortunately...
Her attempt at comforting him somehow made the embarrassment ten times worse.
James wanted to disappear.
Mira watched the whole thing with barely restrained amusement.
"So?"
She smirked.
"There wasn't any hot girl you were dreaming about?"
James looked away so fast his neck nearly snapped.
"...N-No."
"Oh."
Talia nodded thoughtfully, looking completely serious.
"Maybe you like men."
James' eyes widened.
"W-What?!"
She immediately tried to reassure him again.
"That is okay too."
She smiled warmly.
"Split Antler likes men."
She spoke with complete sincerity, as though offering the most supportive statement imaginable.
"There is nothing wrong with that."
James somehow turned an even deeper shade of red.
"I DON'T LIKE MEN!"
"Oh."
Talia blinked once.
"...Then perhaps you simply have not found the right girl yet."
She gave him another comforting pat on the shoulder.
"There is still plenty of time."
James buried his face in his hands.
"...Please stop helping."
"I think I'm doing quite well," Talia replied proudly.
Mira completely lost it.
She burst into laughter so hard she had to hold her stomach, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.
"And no, I don't get wet dreams. Never have." Not once in his life had James experienced one of those.
"So, like... do you beat it?"
"What the hell are these questions supposed to find?" James asked, his face burning, embarrassed beyond belief.
"Well, for one, succubi love that shit," Mira added nonchalantly.
"They're usually the ones inside the wet dream, slowly draining some of your essence. And for two, if a vampire bites you while you're sleeping, it can cause you to have one."
So, basically, they were just checking him for symptoms.
James blinked. "Succubus… like, those sex demons?"
"Yup," Talia said, popping the 'p' with a cheerful smile.
"Last I checked, they basically have a monopoly on the hentai industry."
"What's that?" Talia asked, turning to look at Mira.
"I don't know—drawings of people having sex. I don't watch that shit, I just found it on Rowan's tab."
Meanwhile, somewhere far away, Rowan suddenly felt a chill, as if someone were actively destroying his reputation.
Back in the room, James's brain stalled. Wait. Rowan watches that stuff? "He watches that stuff?" James asked, thoroughly confused.
"He said some dumb shit about 'research.' Something to do with Vtubers and so on," Mira replied, rolling her eyes.
Caius noticed James looking increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of supernatural lore he had been bombarded with over the last few minutes.
With a small, patient sigh, the older man decided it was time to step in and explain things from the beginning.
"Perhaps I should start with how succubi actually function."
James nodded immediately, looking immensely relieved. "That would help... a lot."
"The stories humans tell about succubi are not entirely false," Caius began, folding his hands neatly behind his back.
"However, they are heavily exaggerated. Succubi are not mindless seductresses who spend every waking moment searching for their next victim."
That was definitely news to James.
"Like every species, they require sustenance to survive," Caius continued, his voice steady. "A werewolf requires meat. Vampires require blood. Succubi require essence."
"...Essence?" James frowned slightly.
"You know, like how your body and soul make up your essence? Your life energy," Mira chimed in.
James nodded slowly.
"They feed on that," Mira finished.
"To be more precise," Caius clarified, "they feed on the spiritual energy naturally produced through desire, intimacy, passion, and romantic affection."
James blinked. "So they feed on... emotions?"
"In part," Caius nodded. "Physical intimacy simply produces the greatest concentration of it. After all, during intercourse, emotions are at an all-time high, and it usually results in ejaculation or climax."
James winced. He really did not need to hear that last part detailed so clinically.
"To put it bluntly, one seed contains a lot of a person's essence. It can feed a succubus for quite a while," Mira explained.
"So they don't just..." James awkwardly gestured with his hands, trying to find the right words. "...sleep with random people every single day?"
Caius shook his head. "That would be incredibly inefficient."
James paused, digesting the word choice. "...Really?"
"Yes." Caius spoke with the exact same dry, matter-of-fact tone one would use when explaining a mathematics equation.
"A healthy, willing partner produces significantly more essence over time than dozens of strangers. Emotional bonds strengthen the quality of the essence produced, making it richer and far easier to absorb."
"So..." James slowly pieced the logic together. "If they can help it, they'd rather have one consistent partner over someone different every week?"
"Correct," Caius added. "It is a renewable resource."
James just stared at him. "...That is the least romantic way I have ever heard someone describe a relationship."
"I was explaining the biological aspect."
"...Fair enough."
Caius continued his lecture as they walked.
"This is why long-term partnerships are exceedingly common among succubi. Many marry. Others remain with the same companion for decades—sometimes centuries."
"They... get married?" James honestly hadn't expected that level of normalcy.
"Frequently."
"They also live for thousands of years, so a human partner doesn't exactly last that long to them," Mira pointed out.
Ah… right, that, James thought. So they can just switch mates after their human dies. Good to know.
"The human benefits as well," Caius noted.
"How?"
"A bonded succubus naturally shares traces of demonic mana with their partner. It strengthens the human body, improves resistance to disease, slightly increases longevity, and offers protection against certain supernatural influences."
"So both people gain something."
"Precisely. It is a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship."
James scratched his cheek, looking down. "...That honestly sounds... surprisingly wholesome."
"Most stable ecosystems are." Caius resumed walking, his stride measured.
"Contrary to popular belief, succubi do not spend their lives pursuing physical intimacy alone. They can sustain themselves on lesser forms of lust essence."
"Such as?"
"Romantic affection. Passionate emotions. Physical touch. Desire. Even mutual love. Physical intimacy simply produces the greatest quantity."
James looked genuinely relieved. "So they don't have to make everything sexual."
"No. However, they require a significantly larger amount of affection to survive on love alone."
James nodded. "That makes a lot more sense."
"It also explains another prominent aspect of their society." Caius stopped briefly to adjust his glasses.
"Because their species feeds upon desire itself, succubi have naturally come to dominate industries that generate it."
"You mean..."
"Adult entertainment."
James nearly choked on his own spit. "They... actually have a monopoly?"
"For the most part. They also produce romance literature, create erotic artwork, perform as entertainers, models, dancers, and countless other professions centered around attraction."
James slowly blinked, processing the sheer business savvy of an entire demon race. "...That's actually genius."
"One individual may only generate so much essence," Caius said, raising a single finger to emphasize his point. "But inspire desire in millions..."
"...and you have an enormous, renewable source of nourishment," James finished for him, rubbing his chin. "So it's less like hunting..."
"...and more like harvesting."
"Precisely. They have, in essence, industrialized their food supply."
James let out a low whistle. "Damn..."
"Not every succubus agrees on the best method, however. There are different philosophies."
James looked intrigued. "Like what?"
"Traditionalists prefer numerous short-lived partners, believing that freedom is inherent to their nature. Bondkeepers argue that lifelong companions produce the purest essence. Harvesters build careers as public entertainers, sustaining themselves entirely on the admiration and desire of thousands. And Researchers seek methods of creating artificial lust essence through alchemy and magic."
James blinked, thoroughly impressed. "...They really built an entire civilization around this."
"Naturally." Caius shrugged. "Every intelligent species builds its society around the resources it requires to survive. When viewed from that perspective, they are no different from us."
"Shit, doesn't change the fact that they get hunted to oblivion, though," Mira interjected gloomily.
James raised an eyebrow, the brief moment of awe vanishing. "Huh?"
"The Church views them as an abomination, and around the world, they're mostly hunted as monsters."
Ah. That. James frowned.
Why did it feel like this was going to be a recurring trend?
A perfectly cool, logical supernatural species getting completely ruined just because the Big C decided they were demons.
"They would really like you." Mira was all smiles.
Confusion was written all over James's face.
"I will not be explaining that." Caius was in no mood to explain why someone like James would be so highly sought after by them.
It wasn't just the fact that he lacked experience; it was a matter of simple biology.
The more partners someone had, the more desensitized they eventually became.
Things that used to cause immense excitement would no longer have the same effect, leading people to seek out increasingly extreme stimuli.
Basically, over time, it became much harder to draw high-quality essence from an experienced person.
But someone like James, who had absolutely no history of physical or even subconscious release, would be an untouched goldmine of pure, concentrated energy.
James did not need to know that, though.
As far as he was concerned, hunters and fae were the only threats he should be worrying about.
"Anyway, let us start your training," Caius said, abruptly destroying the vial.
He hadn't received permission to use it, so he wouldn't. It was as simple as that.
The next five days were an absolute blur of agony, dirt, and the distinct taste of copper.
The morning sessions with Talia were the only times James wasn't actively fearing for his skeletal integrity.
She would sit cross-legged in front of him, her voice surprisingly focused as she tried to help him map out the feeling of drawing his spirit outward.
"Stop trying to conceptualize it like a video game attribute, pup," she scolded on day three, poking him hard in the forehead.
"You keep trying to 'activate' it like a spell. It's not an external resource. It's your will. If Mira is about to break your ribs, your will shouldn't be thinking about mana points—it should be screaming, 'No, you don't!'"
Then, the theory hour would end, and the nightmare would begin.
Mira was relentless. She didn't use her flames anymore—Caius had explicitly forbidden lethal elemental magic during this regime—but her raw, aura-reinforced physical strength was more than enough.
James spent ninety percent of his time eating the dirt of the training grounds.
He would drop his guard for a fraction of a second, and BAM—a heavy left hook would send him spinning through the air.
He would try to slip into a shadow to escape, but Mira would violently yank him out by his ankle, slamming him right into the nearest un-cleaved tree.
"Again!" she would roar, her amber eyes flashing with fierce intensity. "Your core is leaking energy, pup! Tighten the seal!"
By nightfall, James would drag his bruised, aching body back to his bunk, his Alpha regeneration working overtime to knit his shredded muscles back together just in time for the next sunrise.
He was physically and mentally exhausted, but beneath the heavy fatigue, something shifted.
The warm, fluid current of his magic pool was finally beginning to mesh with the tighter, sharper vibration of his physical vitality. For the first time, he was actually starting to feel the boundaries of his own soul.
A/N 2.9 k words on this, decided to be a bit more creative with some creatures. Hopefully i have up to chapter 51 out before monday.
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