Gladius location: Balaur cave, Brencis's blood, and the quest hand-in
Reach the upper hideout in Mount Balaur's cave, collect the Gladius shortsword, check the blood phial's corruption cost, and finish the investigation with Ciprian.
Gladius is in the upper hideout inside the Balaur cave. Clearing the enemies below does not put the sword in your inventory. Plan this collection route for nighttime traversal; the same room also contains Brencis's blood, but collecting the sword and drinking the phial are separate choices.
Locate the cave at Mount Balaur
Find Parlita on the map, then look west and slightly north towards Mount Balaur. The associated quest is The Beast of Balaur. Follow the mountain path to the cave entrance and deal with the enemies in its lower section.
Both recorded routes use the vampire form to reach the upper room. Arriving at night lets you complete the climb and search in one visit.
Climb above the lower combat area
Look up along the cave wall for a reachable ledge above the fighting area. Use the nighttime traversal route to climb onto it and enter the furnished space beyond.
Tables, correspondence, and an altar-like central arrangement identify the old hideout. Start searching these furnishings when you arrive. Bare rock and the remains of the fight indicate that you are still below the useful room.
Check the blood phial before drinking
Facing the central altar, examine the table to its right. Check the correspondence and the nearby item separately. Reading the letter provides investigation context; confirm that you also collected the consumable if you want it.
The inventory calls the item Phial of Brencis's Blood. Its description states that drinking it grants access to Piercing Shriek in the Vampirism tree and significantly increases Corruption. Keep the phial for later if you want the sword without making that decision now; opening the other chest does not require consuming it.
The ability provides an enemy-debuffing option. Decide whether that benefit fits your current plans for Corruption; this phial should not be mistaken for an ordinary healing consumable.
Open the separate chest for Gladius
Search the wooden chest elsewhere in the room and confirm Gladius in its loot list. The panel identifies a legendary shortsword with a Fast attack-speed rating. Coins and other valuables may appear alongside it.
The recorded item's affixes favour damage against mortals, vampiric health, and weapon critical hits. Compare those benefits with the weapon you use. The level and damage figures in the screenshot belong to that character's item, so they should not be treated as universal values for every save.
Take the evidence back to Ciprian
After looting, reopen The Beast of Balaur in the journal. If the hideout investigation remains incomplete, finish examining its clues. Once the investigation advances, return to Ciprian in a house near the centre of Parlita and report what you found.
If you cannot find Gladius, check that you climbed into the furnished upper room. If you have the sword but the quest remains open, check the evidence and the conversation back in Parlita. Those two situations have different fixes.
Video sources: KhrazeGaming, 01:20–03:08 and LunarGaming, 00:14–01:10. Both demonstrate the cave location and nighttime climb; the blood cost and weapon classification were checked on the item panels.