Van and Zariel were on the ground not far from each other. It just so happened to work that way with the place where they landed.

“What… Even was that attack…” Zariel asked, now laying on her back to rest and taking deep breaths.

Van figured she must be referring to his dark nova bomb. “It’s just an attack I came up with myself after some trial and error.” Sitting down not far from where she was and also taking a few breaths of his own.

After a moment of silence she suddenly spoke out. “Damn… Now I really wish I could have made you my husband. Just imagine the powerful children we could have…” Lamenting a little at her loss.

Van was silent for a bit before replying. “The future isn’t set. Who knows what will happen next. After all, you are my subordinate now. That’s going to give us a lot of time together…”

Zariel looked up at him surprised. But then gave him a surprisingly innocent and kind smile. “Huh… I’ve never dated before… I think I’m going to look forward to this. Perhaps losing wasn’t such a bad thing.”

“I certainly will make sure you don’t regret it.” Van replied, giving her a wink.

Zariel blinked in shock. And perhaps for the first time ever in her life. Blushed.

It was then that the match was concluded. The time limit was up, with Clan Black Sun being the losers.

“Huh… I wonder how that happened?” Zariel asked.

It turned out, during the fighting, the two armies were still battling it out and a few more of Van’s fellow students were killed. Which deducted a lot of points from their team. Not to mention, he was disqualified for not registering Azra, making them lose a lot more points since he was also the commander of the army.

“Well… That’s kinda unfair…” Zariel laughed. “Lost the battle but won the war! What are the odds!?” She exclaimed happily.

Slowly she got up and hobbled over to him, stretching out her hand. Van stared at it before also getting up and taking it.

“Good match.” Zariel said.

“Good match.” Van replied.

Zariel grinned. “But I’m still expecting that twenty-five percent…”

Van paled.

“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! THE AMAZING CONCLUSION BETWEEN CLAN BLACK SUN AND CLAN BLACK FOG!” The announcer suddenly yelled out.

Unbeknownst to them, the shielding across the arena had lifted and the sounds of thousands of people cheering could be heard.

“As per the rules. Clan Black Sun will now lose twenty five percent of their stipend to Clan Black Fog. Though it seems, it was at the cost of black fog’s commander becoming a subordinate to black sun’s male leader! And what a dual it was! Surely this might be the birth of something new! A new contender in the clan battle arena! I hope all of you are just as excited as I am for what the future might bring with these new challengers! Let's give it up for clan black sun and clan black fog!”

The crowd went wild.

Van winced a little though at the thought of having to fight more of these battles. It would mean that he would have to try and recruit other dorms to his clan. Though perhaps after this match there might be a few who were interested. He thought about asking Zariel’s dorm to join his clan, but felt like that may be a bit rude.

He surveyed the students around them, many of them looking tired and haggard. Also depressed at their loss. He would have to figure out how to bring back some of the morale they had previously. They may have lost the battle, but it was only their first one, he was sure if they could bring another dorm or two in, perhaps practice a bit more, that they wouldn’t have lost like they did here today.

“I probably should throw a party or something, maybe make a speech…” He thought, but his thoughts were taken away when Luna and the others rushed up to him, Luna in particular hugging him close to her.

“Are you okay!” She asked worriedly, looking over his body at how it was damaged and how he was clearly very tired.

“I’m fine, my love. Just exhausted.” He replied.

“Is this one of your wives?” Zariel asked, walking up to them.

“Yes. Luna, Zariel, Zariel, Luna.” Van introduced them tiredly.

“Nice to meet you Luna. I’ll be your hubby’s subordinate for the foreseeable future.” Zariel said with a smile.

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“Boss!” dozens of imps and students from clan black fog rushed over and began to crowd around her. “Boss, are you okay? Why didn’t you go all out! You could have hurt yourself!” They exclaimed.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if I did it wouldn’t change the position I was in. Maybe if I had done it sooner, but at that moment, it was too late. Not to mention I might have been disqualified as well… Besides, the important thing is that we won the battle. So don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine.” Zariel said, trying to calm her girls down.

Van wondered what that was about. Perhaps she really did go easy on him. He couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was true though, even if it was, it was clear she did fight him with everything she had, so it was his win, no matter what.

After that, both clans picked up the pieces and were given contributions and merit points determined by how well they fought and battled. With the winner getting the most of it and then some.

Once that was all over Zariel came looking for him.

“Hey Van, thanks for the great fight. Let’s do it again sometime.” She asked with her smile.

“Sure, it will be fun to test myself against someone as strong as you.” Van responded.

Zariel’s smile widened and the two shared contacts with each other.

“If you ever need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask. Oh, and don’t wait too long to ask me out on a date, I’m raring to go…” Her smile turned a bit more lewd.

“We’ll see.” Van replied.

The two shook hands one last time and went their separate ways.

---Malon---

In his private booth Malon stared down into the arena where his daughter’s clan had just lost. At first he was annoyed that some male had taken charge of the clan and seemed to be wooing his precious baby girl. That perhaps Cerina’s judgment had been compromised.

But after watching the fight, his opinion began to change…

“He has potential… And some fight in him… But is it enough?” He then scanned the documents about Van he had at his disposal. “Hmm… Avalyn as well…” Looking at the paper showing who Van was associated with and who he was married to and who he was close to.

“Perhaps I could make use of this…” He pondered his thoughts, wondering how he could make this work. “Perhaps I can actually make a vampire lord with this boy alone… WIth a bit more push…”

He shook his head. “No… I’ve tried too long and too hard to get where I am now… I can’t just abandon all my plans for some vague hope…”

He turned to his maid. “Cali. I want everything you can get me on Vanris Vransolis. Everything. Everything about his wives, to his concubines, to his lovers. From his assets to his land and his titles. To his rank and bloodlines and his classes. Do not leave a single thing out. I will determine for myself if he is a good match for my daughter.”

The maid bowed her head and left the room to do just that.

Malon turned back to watch as the students began to leave the arena.

“Soon… Soon I’ll have everything I need to become or at least create the next vampire lord… Soon all of Alcray will be united… Soon my dreams and hopes will be fulfilled… I just have to wait a little longer… Just a little longer…”

---Van---

A few days later, Van, Cerina, and Avalyn were walking in the park, enjoying their time together.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be contacting Zariel? I think she was genuinely interested in you.” Avalyn said as they walked around to inspect the unique flowers.

“It’s fine.” Cerina spoke up. “Van has plenty of time to get around to her. Right now you should be more concerned about yourself. This is our date after all.”

“Yes but…” Avalyn looked unsure. “Sometimes I can’t help but feel like… Maybe we are taking this too fast? Or that we are not taking into consideration all the implications that our relationship could imply? I don’t mind dating, or even practicing to date, but I’m worried that maybe we should-”

“It’s going to be fine.” Cerina interjected. “You really do worry too much. Just like you said, just think about it as just practice. It’s not like we're forcing you to have sex or anything. Besides, where here for you because you were interested in the flowers and plants. If you don’t want to think of it as a date, then just think of it as some friends just hanging out. Arlight?”

“Yeah… I suppose so…” Avalyn said after some thought. “Perhaps I’m just overthinking it… What do you think Van?”

“I think I’m just happy to spend some time with the both of you. It’s fun checking out flora around here, it makes me wonder what kind of plants are in Fandor.” Van responded.

“Don’t remind me…” Cerina rolled her eyes. “Who knew you two were such geeks for plants?” Though she said it in a teasing way so as not to sound rude.

Van and Avalyn blushed a little.

“Yes, I also enjoy talking about plants with you Van,” Avalyn said. “I’m really happy that you know so much about them. And I would love to tell you more about the plants in Fandor if you have the time.”

“I would love to hear about the plants from your home, Avalyn. I’ve been interested in herbs and things of that nature since I was a kid and started to learn herbology and alchemy.” Van responded.

“Well I don’t know much about alchemy… But I got into plants because of my mother. She really loved taking care of her garden. And while I don’t have a green thumb myself, I did learn a bit about how to take care of flowers and raise them healthy, as well as a few other things.”

“Do you think you can teach me a little of what you know about raising plants?” Van asked.

Avalyn smiled. “Sure, I’ll be happy to.”

Cerina wanted to roll her eyes again. “Come on guys, let’s just get to the greenhouse and explore a little. You can talk about plants after our date.”

“Sorry Cerina. We’ll make sure to get around to your play at the theater. Don’t worry.” Van said.

Cerina sighed. “No, it’s fine. It’s I who asked that we all go on a date at the same time. I have to admit, I just wanted an excuse to get to know Avalyn better. I hope I didn’t make things awkward between us by doing so.” Asking for Avalyn’s forgiveness.

“Oh you don’t have to apologize, I’m actually happy I came along. I too am interested in learning more about you.” Avalyn said. “What is it you wanted to know about me?”

“Well… I just thought that we share a lot of commonalities…” Cerina said.

“Such as?” Avalyn asked, now genuinely curious.

“We are both heirs to a large swath of land and people. I was just wondering if we could share tips about what it may be like for when we finally begin our rule…” Cerina asked. “And I’m also interested in if we can be friends…” She mumbled that last part.

Avalyn felt her heart melt a little. Cerina could really be cute when she wanted to be. “Of course, we can be friends. And I also would like to talk to you about suggestions on how we can improve our rule when the time comes.” Giving a happy smile.

“Geez, is this a date between me and them? Or just between them?” Van thought amusedly.