It was almost Marik's birthday again.  There had been a bit of a last minute rush to get some more magic candy to give to the girls as a present which he added more health knowledge and pain to the ones for Kiara and some simple things about illusions or some more weapon usage stuff he remembered for Sai's.  He had also finished his basic martial arts training sessions and decided not to continue being taught any more.  He had only wanted a foundation for his own way of fighting to be built on and only enough that he could protect his own life, not become a master.

As far as his arcane arts went, he continued practicing and improving them as much as he could.  He could now use them a little more quickly and naturally now and had discovered a way to adjust their output slightly.  Other than just general improvements across the board with his arcane arts he had also created one more arcanistry.  He had found a surprising amount of spells dealing with small blades and making things sharp and had decided that he could and should use that to make air claws.  They were made of space and wind from the sorcery side, added about the length of his claws again in reach, were invisible, and made his claws sharper all around.  It was basically like temporarily tying small invisible knives onto each of his fingers and was awesome, but not exactly the most useful thing he had ever accomplished.

He had come up with some new theories on how to do the recognition inhibition he had wanted for so long.  He thought that now he had arcane arts that maybe he would actually do something about it and was anxious to start experimenting with it after his birthday.  There were a few other spells that he found interesting and wanted to add to his arcanistry repertoire but they all seemed to be missing something that he didn't have or know about.  Some of them were even considered simple spells, like Magic Wave, but no matter what he did or used they just wouldn't seem to quite work.  He finally decided that he would have to put such things on hold until he could figure out what was missing.

After many discussions with his master about curses and alchemy, with a little research into the basics, he had decided that there was a link between them and mystical arts that was so glaringly obvious that everyone including him was missing it.  It was like knowing the answer to a question that you hadn't heard in so long that you couldn't quite remember it.  He knew he had the answer to the missing link but he just couldn't remember what it was or where he would have known it from.  Once the answer came to him he would probably be smacking his head in shame.

In other news, his sister and the group she had shown up with were no longer at the mansion, so he wouldn't see them when he went there tomorrow.  He probably wouldn't see them again for a long time, to be honest.  They had all given in and decided to accept training and education in return for their future services before being sent off to whatever people the old lady had sent them to.  

Strangely he didn't feel like he had accomplished as much this past year.  That wasn't necessarily the case as he had been busy enough that his daily schedule had to be readjusted multiple times but the feeling was there.  Figuring he should have his mental defenses tested for the first time in a while he had also decided to write down the Fuzz Flash spell he had made along with how and why and a full explanation of what recognition inhibition was supposed to do and be used for.  The old lady had rebutted him immediately a few years ago when he had mentioned it without giving him a chance to explain.  Maybe this time, since she knew his secrets now, she would be willing to look over it and get some interest in it.  He hoped so, if for no other reason than to make a good trade for some practical testing of his mind arcanistries.

---

The old lady was actually interested in his recognition inhibition this time.  Once he explained that part of the idea was as an alternate to illusions in some ways while having its own role, she decided to actually listen to him and read what he had written on it.  She admitted that it was actually a likely worthwhile study topic and seemed intrigued by how it had led to his creation of Fuzz Flash.  Fuzz Flash had already been put in the official archives, apparently, so she had access to the spell itself but knowing the history of the spell and how the direction of its intended use had changed seemed to give her some ideas of her own.

She agreed that it was good enough to thoroughly test him even to the point of risking some mind reading techniques.  After ensuring that his defenses were good enough to block almost any kind of non-forceful mind reading she proceeded with her mental attacks.  She alternated between using both magic and sorcery, starting with the lightest probing attacks first.  Similar to the last time, Marik soon noticed points to be improved upon, but since he was using arcanistry now there was no way to do it in the moment like he had done with sorcery.  

The attacks started to come faster and from more directions before they became stronger or sharper.  As two sets of three attacks hit him without hardly any time in between he finally felt the sting in his mind from his shield being unable to block all of it.  He stumbled for a moment from the dizziness that followed before giving the old crone a glare.

"That wasn't exactly fair.  Using multiple sorceries at once isn't something I'll face and is something I taught you."

"Don't be so sure, boy.  You could face multiple opponents.  This knowledge of multiple sorceries isn't something that will stay secret forever, either.  Facing it now with me is better than later when you aren't ready.  Isn't that what you're having me test you for?"

"Fine.  So I need to improve on my defenses against a lot of quick attacks.  I'm ready to try the normal harder ones now."

"Right now?  I think you should rest some first."

"No.  During the real thing my enemies won't just let me relax and recover after a light jab."

With no further words or warning his mind was attacked again.  This time was less focused on speed and more on hitting hard or piercing.  He could feel which ones were magic and which were sorcery.  He was just barely able to move his shield around to cover the broken barrier cloth but felt the strain from having to concentrate on it so much.  The harder hitting attacks damaged the shield slightly and rattled it, while the better piercing attacks constantly pierced it but never made it all the way through.  Finally the attacks stopped.

"That's enough.  I know now I could break through it if I went any further but that's in the realm that only a master such as I could accomplish.  Against simply strong attacks and all weak attacks you have quite the amazing defense.  If you you improve your defenses too much more then even I would have to wonder if I could actually break through them."

"Thanks.  Ah.  That reminds me.  Would you be interested in my last iteration of mind sorcery before I lost it as well as what I was intending to work towards for it?  I think as far as pure sorcery goes it was a pretty good defense."

"Hmm?  Certainly.  I might be able to use it in my own way.  I'm not sure how much this may mean for your arcane arts but I also have an old tome, quite outdated at this point, about counterattacking magic and sorcery.  Usually when one reaches a certain level of mastery they get taught that having a spell or sorcery use forcefully canceled before completion can have some intense consequences.  You're treading on new grounds, so I thought getting such a thing early might help."

"That might help a lot, thanks."

"I'll make sure you have it when you leave.  Go on now, boy.  I'm certain the girls are waiting for you."

Marik bowed and left to go to the courtyard.  Matilda was just inside the door holding a sandwich which she silently held out and offered to him.  As he took the sandwich and nodded his head in a quiet yet polite thanks, she opened the door to let him outside.  He looked over to the side and side both of the girls sleeping against the wall while leaning on each other.  He sat quietly sat down next to Sai and ate his sandwich.  They were still asleep after he was done eating, so he gently placed the pouches of candy into each respective girls lap before leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes himself.

He awoke to the sounds of of someone crying out in pain and the feeling of someone's shoulder under his head.  As he opened his eyes, he saw Sai out in the courtyard crouched down and rubbing her leg.  He sat up fully and looked next to him to see Kiara looking back at him and smiling.  He gave a light smile back and yawned.  Glancing at the sky briefly he could tell that it hadn't been too long that he had been asleep.

"Thanks for the candy."

"Hm?  Oh.  No problem.  Thanks for the shoulder pillow."

The sounds of Sai approaching at a full sprint caught his ears.  He looked her way and saw her charging at him with her training weapon in trailing behind the hand clutching it.  She had a full smile as if she hadn't just hurt herself that stretched across her whole face.

"Marik, you're awake!  Hi!"

She practically landed in on all fours right in front of him.

"Hello, Sai?  Having fun?  Did you get your candy?  You're both looking extra pretty today, you know."

"Oh?  Thanks.  We've been learning magic and sorcery and you know what?  I don't get it!"

"I see."

"So.  I was thinking, right?  What if you showed me an illusion?  What do you think?  I think it's a great idea!"

"Umm.  I have a slight problem with using magic.  You won't be able to do it like I do, you know.  I can give advice or explanations, but showing it is..."

"Oh.  That's weird.  Master said you're really smart and good with magic and sorcery and stuff."

"Well.  I can try and show you one thing but like I said you won't be able to do it like I do.  You might be able to get kind of an idea, though.  That fine?"

"Sure!"

Marik stood up and started to walk toward the middle of the courtyard doing his best to hide the arcanistry movements as he put his latest blur on himself.  He timed it so that as the arcanistry took hold and formed around him he was facing the twins and stopped moving. 

"So?  What do you think?"

"Umm.  I don't see anything?"

"How about when i move my arms like this?"

"Wow!  You have like a bunch of arms or something!"

"If you look near me instead of straight at me you can see that my outline is kind of blurry, too.  It's not very exciting, sure, but this is about all I can show you right now."

"That's still kind of cool.  I wanna be able to do that, too."

"Sorry.  Like I said, my stuff is kind of...different.  I'm kind of...special?"

"I wanna be special, too.  Then I can do that, right?"

"Uh.  Probably not.  Sorry.  But you may be able to do something even more awesome that I can't?  If you work hard you can maybe make another you that moves around and stuff."

"That sounds really fun!  You can't do that?"

"Nope.  I kind of wish I could, though."

Marik let his blur fade away and walked over to rejoin the twins.  Sai leapt back up to meet him with her hands behind her back and her eyes doing their sparkling thing again.

"Maybe if I learn it I can teach you."

"Maybe.  I doubt it, though.  Like I said, I'm kind of special.  It makes some things kind of hard."

"Hmm.  Then can I special with you?  Hard things are easier with more people, you know."

"That's...true?  I suppose?  It's not a lot of fun and takes a lot of hard work, though.  I thought you wanted to have fun more as your goal?"

"Hmm.  I want to have fun but that's not the most important goal.  I wanna be special with you.  How do I become special like you?"

"Umm.  Well first you have to learn several forms of magic really well.  Then you have to design a spell yourself.  Then you have to know all those types of sorcery I told you before well enough to do at least two things with each.  Not all necessarily in that order."

"That does sound hard..."

"That's step one, anyways."

"There's more?"

"Yep.  If you can't do step one then it's not good to know the other steps, though."

Sai pouted which made Marik smile and Kiara giggle.

"Fine.  I can do it.  I'll show you and then become special, too.  Oh.  I bet I can beat you at one thing.  Master says we'll learn to transform soon.  I bet I'll be first.  If I'm first then I get to hold your tail and play with it and brush it for a full day."

"Okay, but what if I'm first?"

"Hmm.  Then you get to pet me in fox form as much as you want for a day and before anyone else.  Even Kiara."

"What if I'm first," Kiara chimed in.

"I'll break your toe.  Marik will break one, too.  We have a bet!"

It seemed he was stuck in this bet without really agreeing.  Whether he or Sai won didn't seem to be a really big deal, though.  Kiara definitely should not be allowed to win.  That was the only thing that made him suddenly have a desire to try and be the first to learn how to transform.  He really hoped he even could since generations of not being able to transform from cursed restrictions could have taken that away.  

They played around some more after that, not really talking as much as tackling, until evening came.  His master showed up holding an old tome which he handed to Marik before opening the portal home.  Marik waved his goodbyes to the twins and stepped through, ready for his eleventh year of life in this world.