After most of the day had passed in his usual stomping grounds, Arras finally found himself making his way to his actual room. Oddly enough, Illia still hadn't returned, but that was alright. Against his better judgment, he HAD gotten somewhat used to being inside. He still felt more at ease outside, but it was entirely bearable for him to be inside, likely, indefinitely.

Though, with extra sources of stress that might not hold so true, for the moment he was fine... Buuuut, he wouldn't lie and tell himself that knowing he had to pass some sort of test wasn't a source of... Zero stress, though he was also pretty good at dealing with that feeling by now. It really wasn't much of a problem for him. So instead of letting it weigh himself down, he just sort of shrugged it off for the most part. Not that much else to it.

Given he wasn't sure of the exact contents of what he was supposed to be demonstrating... Arras decided that the best use of his time would be more multi purposed practice. Or, more accurately, a review. Yes, his memory was good, but it couldn't hurt to double check everything, make sure that he hadn't misunderstood anything. It had happened... Maybe once or twice in his life so far, still though, better to err on the side of caution.

Thus, that's what he did all night. Even after Illia had gotten back some time later, he didn't stop on her account. He couldn't quite put his paw on it, but something about this whole thing felt somewhat more stressful than any other deadline would feel.

...Perhaps it was because this was something that he actually wanted to do...? Maybe... All the other deadlines that Arras had faced in this whole society experience so far were just things that he had to do to continue living. Nothing was really forcing him to try and get a "job", as it was called, this was on him. He could choose to quit at any time, but... He found himself really not wanting to do that. No, on the contrary, maybe he was feeling a little bit stressed out over the concept of failing. More so than he usually would.

Upon that realization... Perhaps it wasn't so odd that he had been focusing in on his self imposed review as much as he had been. Initially he'd been somewhat confused with himself, because, well, why should he be worried about it? It wasn't like he would fail, he did have confidence in himself... But after a bit more introspection... He figured that maybe it wasn't a bad thing to be worried about it. It showed that he cared, didn't it?

And even more than that... Maybe he wasn't exactly worried. He felt different, he didn't feel weak in the legs, he felt as if he could burst out of the very room he found himself lying down in at any moment, much like the way he would otherwise feel while in combat, but at the same time... Not quite, it was different, palpably different.

This was a rather new kind of feeling to Arras, it wasn't necessarily stress... Even if it did stem from it somewhat. And it wasn't necessarily a new feeling either, he'd felt similar before. It was because he could match it to something that he'd felt before, in fact, that he began to think it wasn't such a bad thing. The feeling he recognized that was most similar? The time that he'd been practically bouncing out of his den months back to go find his family, when he'd gone out on a hunt with his sister for the first and second time. When he'd been praised by his family, when Illia was fine after she'd been almost killed, when he saw her up and awake once more.

That's what this reminded him of, all of those feelings practically within swiping range of each other.

He was excited, genuinely expectant of what was to come. Sure, he had been trembling, but that wasn't just purely fear and anxiety. Sure, those two things played a part in it, but they were most definitely not the whole of it. So as both the night and his study session progressed, Arras slowly came to terms with that bubbling emotion, an uplifting sensation that he'd barely felt for most of his life. And instead of rejecting it, he allowed himself to acknowledge it.

So with trembling legs, he had spent the entirety of the night working, not through it, but with it. He realized that it wasn't something that he had to "shrug off" to begin with. When Illia had finally broken the somewhat awkward silence to speak with him, he dismissed her concerns with ready ease and continued at his own pace. He'd continued long after she fell asleep, perched quietly and lightly bobbing up and down. Perhaps a little too long, given he had to do things tomorrow, but the point still stood.

He was happy to be stressed in this way, odd as it sounded. Because it meant that he was working, for once, towards something that HE wanted. Even with the initial confusion regarding his own psyche, the experience was certainly a net positive, without any room for doubt either. It was wonderful, an experience that he likely wouldn't trade for much else. And well, he didn't need to trade it for anything else, because this time was wholly his. Spending time with Illia was nice, but there was something very deep inside him that found itself scratched with just a quiet night spent on his own working towards something that he wanted, a return to simpler times.

So, there he laid, the occasional sound of a page turning and a burst of magic echoing throughout the room. Study and practice, two things that he found himself thoroughly intertwined with, to absolutely no disdain from his person. And he wouldn't have it any other way. He wasn't certain, but he did hope that there was reason and opportunity for him to stay up later than he usually did when he got to the academy. He hadn't quite recognized what he'd been missing out on for the longest time, even though he knew it was something that he enjoyed.

Only when he finally felt his eyes growing somewhat heavier did he finally call it a night. As much as he wanted to continue on with no regard for the time, he was aware enough to know that it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Arras had never stayed up an entire night before, but something more internal warned him against it. It was also just a given that his control over magic did become slightly more... Forced, whenever he stayed up late like this. With this time being no different. He might also be grumpier, which would certainly coincide with past instances... And that wouldn't do anybody any good. Nobles didn't really like feeling like they were being disrespected.

So, with GREAT difficulty, Arras forced himself to use his transformation magic, and soon after found himself picking up all the books strewn across the floor. To anybody else, it would've looked like clutter, but to Arras, there was most certainly a method to the madness. Alas, it was still madness, and it had to be cleaned up. So, five, maybe ten minutes later, the floor was clear of the... Arras counted seventeen books that had formerly been strewn across it. He'd mostly been skimming through them, but he was getting faster and faster with his reading skills...

He quietly sighed after stacking them into three neat piles, and in a particularly daring maneuver, he leaned forward as if to collapse onto the ground before ceasing his metamorphosis spell and catching himself on a force platform, which, in his ever so slightly sleep deprived state, actually broke under his momentum.

Arras blinked as he hit the floor, his fur turning eeeeeveeeeeer so slightly redder. It was a good thing that nobody else was around to see that. Cause that had been... What, the first time he'd ever broken one of his own platforms? Perhaps he really was too tired for his own good. So a short moment and a leap later, he curled up on top of his bed and tried his very best to get to sleep.

...It took him at least half an hour, because despite his exhaustion, he just couldn't stop his own shaking. Perhaps being excited also came with its own host of problems.

...

In the morning after, Arras noted that he had most certainly stayed up too late. His body felt a little sluggish, as did his mind... But, hopefully it'd work itself out. Yet, despite his lethargy, he couldn't help but scoff at Illia still being asleep. His own internal clock was FIRMLY set, he couldn't sleep past his usual time unless he just quite literally barely slept at all. Like, full day of consciousness. To the point that he'd woken up just now on what he assumed was probably... Four, maybe five hours of rest? Somewhere inbetween? Regardless, he'd gotten less sleep than he normally would, yet was still awake regardless.

Illia, whom had probably gotten more than her usual amount of rest, was still very much asleep to Arras's own disbelief. He didn't exactly need her awake or anything, but he would LIKE her to be awake... But he also didn't really want to wake her up, she'd always been a little touchy about that. He was sort of between a rock, a hard place, and also a second rock.

He could just leave her and go look for Eric to get the ball rolling on whatever he had to do today... But she might also be a little upset about that. Oh, she'd certainly never directly bring it up or anything... But, he'd done similar things before, and there was always just a... So, so very quiet sadness in the back of her mind. Really nothing that awful, but... Just barely enough to make Arras feel bad about it, and she likely didn't even mean to do it. She was always very upfront about how she felt, at least as far as he was aware. So that just made it even worse to know that he'd genuinely saddened her.

He could... Wait until she woke up, but there was no way of knowing how long that would take. She could get up in the next few moments, or she could be asleep until...

Arras took a quick look at the clock in their room.

Until noon, for all he knew. Which would be another five hours. Sure he had no issue with spending that time doing his usual, practicing and what not, but like... Stuff! Stuff to do today! He couldn't do that! He wasn't sure if he would be able to sit STILL for five hours to begin with! That was probably a lost cause, he was already beginning to shake in anticipation.

And so... The last option would be waking her up. This wasn't always necessarily a "rock", but today it definitely was. There was no "nice" way to wake her up while she was on a perch. It was either magically worked, or he leaped up to give her a good whap over the head, which, he absolutely was not going to do. So... Given those were his options, and he couldn't think of anything else... He had to deliberate. What would be the best choice here?

There were... Somewhat gentle ways that he could wake Illia up via magic, but all of them likely involved the cold touch of force magic in some way or another. Physical presence was certainly more reassuring than a lifeless object threatening to knock you off of your perch, so that still wouldn't be particularly pleasant. It wasn't like he could use his metamorphosis spell and just pick her up either, both because he'd already done that once before and she most certainly hadn't appreciated it, and also because her perch was literally just too high up on the wall to reach.

He... Could give her an hour or so, it shouldn't be a problem to wait some amount of time. He wouldn't be able to get back to sleep himself without any outside interference, but it wouldn't be a problem to do some last minute reading, but if she took longer than that... He'd probably need to go with the magical option regardless, and then it would just be wasted time. Wasted time that he VERY MUCH did NOT want to waste! He wanted to be up and moving, right now! He wanted to get out and go!

And then... The final option was just leaving her to her rest. Now on the one paw, he could very well do that and be entirely justified in his actions. But, on the other three, he might be justified in it, but justification didn't exactly help with his consciousness. The fact remains that he did or did not do something. He was a firm believer of things having worth, and things of other worth taking precedence over those with less worth. So, had this been literally anybody else, he wouldn't care about it... But quite literally everything pertaining to Illia ranked very high on that list of things with worth in Arras's eyes.

So in other words, he couldn't well excuse leaving her on her own. Which left him with his two options. To wake, or not to wake... To wake... Or not to waaaaaake. He did respect her boundaries and her desire to sleep... However, she had best respect his desire to go through with all of his actions as well. So... He steeled himself, and in a particularly difficult use of magic, he magicked a single piece of force magic into existence.

He would do mental magic, if not for the fact that she had literally been conditioned to sleep through it. As had he, for that matter. So waking the other in that way was basically impossible. He inched the magic closer and closer, each gap more difficult than the last. And... At last...

She woke up.

Arras blinked twice in surprise, and, very quickly, he hid the evidence. Dismantling his magic and recycling as much of it as he could possibly manage from the distance it had been at. Leaving only the barest of traces that would find themselves dispersing into the natural magic of their surroundings in mere moments.

...How long had he been thinking about this...?

...It was 7:30.

Half an hour!? What in the world?

"...Good morning."

"I-good morning!"

"Is... Is everything alright?" She tilted her head ever so slightly. "You sound a little... Uh... Panicked?"

"I'm just fine, no problems at all."

...Smooth.

"Uh... Huh?" She continued to tilt her head even further, but didn't choose to press the issue. If he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to talk about it. "Well... Oh, right, you were taking a test today, weren't you? I know I got back pretty late, so I just left you to your studying..."

"...Yes. Yes. I was." He immediately took his opportunity to switch the topic.

"Wait so... Why are you still here?"

"I was waiting for you to wake up, I didn't want to just... Leave you here."

"...Oh, thank you. But uh... Aren't you gonna be late?"

"I wasn't told a time to begin with." Arras rolled his head and closed his eyes, a moment later, and he was standing upright. "How about we go figure it out together?"

"...Since when were you such a smooth talker?"

"I'm not quite sure I know what you mean, I'm just excited to do this." Arras smiled evenly as he an extended an arm up and towards Illia. "Won't you come along?"

"Well, if you're asking so nicely." She flapped her wings once or twice as she got her bearings, and a moment later, made her way over to Arras.

"Well? Let's get going."

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...

Arras made his way through the familiar halls, trudging ahead in his transformed state. He wasn't quite sure why he was doing that, but by this point he'd have to have Illia walk on her own if he stopped the spell, and she still sounded somewhat tired. He was sure she could deal with it, but once again, it was a matter of just being nice. He wanted to be nice.

So, he carried her. It wasn't really that much of an issue for him. He was comfortable in whichever form he took, he did prefer to be in his usual shape, but... It really didn't matter. Over time, he had managed to condition himself into not particularly minding most of the things that society required of him. Most of them... And, being indoors, taking a different shape, those very much fell within the confines of the things that he had found himself acclimating to.

It wasn't long until he made his way to the entrance hall. He usually didn't do much walking around on his own, so he didn't know too much of the mannor's layout... But he did know the way to the exit. And by extension, he also knew where to find the servants of the house. Or well, at least some of them.

"Excuse me, do you know where I might be able to find... Sir Erickson?" He respectfully approached a man... Doing something to the floor, it looked like they were collecting dust off of it, with some sort of tool? It scraped against the floor, and picked up the dirt and what not. Illia wasn't actually sure what he was doing either, but it was... Improper, for Arras to inquire about such things, apparently. He was only going to be able to take "it's improper" or "it's for appearances" as an answer to something so many more times... But he wasn't quite at his limit yet.

"...Apologies, Lord..." They paused for a moment, not daring to make eye contact, yet also not shriveling up before Arras. "Veile. But I would not know, I'm merely cleaning the estate."

"Okay, thank you regardless. Sorry to bother you." Arras turned around as he waved the man off, before looking up the stairs.

"So... They're probably upstairs?"

"If they're even in the building." Illia noted. Then paused for a second when Arras frowned. "...They probably are, it's not like they would just leave you in the dust or anything. Amakazi says most of his work is paperwork, like his dad... They've got a lot of that to do around this time of year, so... As the primary heir, it does make sense. He's probably doing that right now, might just want to wait and have breakfast?"

Arras didn't... Outright think anything... Buuuut...

"Okay, maybe not. I'm sure it won't be a problem if we just check out the place."

That sense of disappointment at being told he might have to wait was VISCERAL. Illia wasn't particularly enthusiastic about having to feel that level of just... Sadness, so she made concessions.

"Do you mean that? You've told me there's problems with just roaming around places in the past."

"...Yeah, it should be fine. I don't think there's anybody in the entire mannor who doesn't actually know you? If they want to keep their way of life they'd best know not to disrespect a noble like that... Though, not like you'd do something like that."

"...Who would? What???" Arras's head swiveled in bewilderment, that sounded a whole lot like "they'd die for it" to him

"To be fair... Probably not many people. It's a little absurd to have somebody's head over a little disrespect, but it could happen. It's just generally a good idea to pay your homage to those who rank higher than you in society. Like... What would you do if you saw a nine tailed spirit fox?"

"That's a fair point." Arras lightly shrugged as he made his way to the stairs. "I mean, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration though?"

"Okay, six tailed spirit fox." Illia conceded without struggle.

"Well... They're better at magic than I am. So, I'd pay my respects."

"Uh-huh, it's like that for nobles and what not. So, imagine that, to those people, you are to them what a six tailed spirit fox is to you."

"...I don't think I've done much to earn that respect."

"Well it doesn't really matter what you think, it's just a fact. Now, are you going to stand at the bottom of the stairs forever?"

"...No."

Arras shook his head, and finally made his way up.

...

He... Really hadn't been sure as to what he was expecting from the fabled "upstairs". A super glamorous environment? Great bounding halls of unending magic? No, it was just more of the same. It was just a somewhat tasteful room. A series of rooms, a series of halls. Literally just about the exact same as it had been downstairs.

...What had he been expecting?

Regardless, it didn't matter. Arras had a goal to accomplish. He would finish this test as soon as possible, and from there he would be good to go. He just had to... Find Eric first.

The thought occurred that he had literally absolutely no idea where in the world they could be, because he didn't know the layout of this place at all. It was... Going to be a b-

He stopped short when he picked up on a familiar presence. The magic in the air around him shifting ever so slightly.

"Arras? Is that you?"

Eric. Right there. Huh. Funny how things worked out like that.

Arras nodded, Illia mimicked him. "Yes, I was actually looking for you. Today was the day that I could finally get approved, was it? No?"

"...Yes, I was actually on my way to find you. So, I suppose you've saved me the trouble. Father has cleared the next hour, so do make sure to not disappoint."

"Of course I won't." Arras shook his head slightly and smiled. "Lead the way."

...

The inside of this building was apparently... Much bigger than what Arras had given it credit for. Especially what was upstairs, because after making their way through at least twice the amount of winding halls, they finally stepped into a room. And it was... Absolutely massive. Like, at least twice the size of the main entrance itself.

"So, this is the mage you've been telling me so much about?" A more imposing voice spoke out from within the center of the room. Arras didn't even need to look at them to make the conclusion of "Nobleman". It was obvious from their tone of voice alone. They sounded... Commanding, more so than any other voice that Arras had ever heard. It was honestly a little bit intimidating...

But, that wouldn't be nearly enough to throw off his cool. What had he come here to do? Buckle at the slightest sign of adversity? No.

"Yes, father. As you've heard, this is Sir Arras Veile. A spirit fox, who is competent in various fields of magic, and a member of the Veile family. Sir Veile, meet my father. Alexarius. E. Ephimarus. Head of the Ephimarus Barony."

Arras nodded his head slightly, proper etiquette and what not.

"Very well! You understand why a test of your aptitude is required, yes?"

"...To prove that I know what I'm doing, right?" Arras quickly asked Illia.

"Yeah, no duh." She responded just as fast.

"Yes." He nodded again.

"Now, Erickson informs me that your ability lies within the usage of a Mind Realm, as well as your skill in combat. The stories that I've heard through rumors also speak of a member of the Veile family who held their own against a not insignificant portion of Efimarus's military, can I assume that was you?"

Arras nodded once again, he wasn't sure if one person counted as a "not insignificant portion"... But who knew, maybe they actually did make up that said portion. They could've maybe been better in terms of combat when compared to most other magic users in the city, who knew?

"And you understand you need to prove this supposed mastery?"

Arras nodded, yet, again... This was getting a little redundant, could they not just get to the point already?

"Very well. Follow along closely with my instructions."

...

The first of many tests to come, was apparently that of his ability to use a Mind Realm properly. While he wasn't exactly being actively doubted... They did need evidence.

By now, Eric had stepped out of the room. Leaving only Arras, Alexarius, and Illia... She was given an appraising eye, however, as soon as she was deemed a familliar, instantly they were allowed to stay. Because apparently that just meant she was an extension of Arras instead of her own person... He'd really need to speak to her about that, but now wasn't the time!

"React to the usage of my magic, and counter appropriately. It shouldn't be an issue for you with your supposed arsenal of magic." Alexarius noted evenly as he raised a large wooden implement to the air from out of... Seemingly nowhere. Arras almost deigned to respond, however, when he felt magic moving through the air his response was rather instant. A pulse of magic to his right, a fireball manifested from Arras directly on top of the thing, off in the distance near Alexarius himself, a wall of force magic enveloped a blast of air.

For a single moment, Arras could've sworn he saw just the faintest amount of surprise on the mans face, but if it was, it was quickly doused. With another wave of his... Arras wanted to say staff, far more magic began to make itself known. Arras, for his part, simply narrowed his eyes and prepared himself. Earth magic was likely off the table, so he couldn't use that... But he did have plenty of other ways to defend himself.

He also supposed that now wasn't really the time for practice... So, his tails began to thrash wildly. Loosed from their week long restraints at last. And, despite not really having their own consciousness... Arras could've sworn he felt some physical relief at the lifting of the restriction.

Various forms of magic began to materialize, fire, some sort of energy, trace amounts of wind magic, actual physical objects besides force magic, it would be a lot... But nothing too difficult. Their skill with using multiple attacks was rather admirable actually, but Arras was certain he could rise to the occasion.

At least two dozen spells were being casted at once, Arras wasn't sure if he'd ever seen this much magic used at once by anybody other than himself... And with his relatively newfound information on how most other people casted magic, he had to wonder... How the hell were they doing it? They didn't feel like the same spell, they definitely weren't. Each instance of magic being casted was unique, so it couldn't just be one thing they were visualizing... Unless... Maybe they weren't using patterns? These spells were taking a relatively long time to form, not nearly as instant as what Arras had experienced so far from using a Casting Pattern.

Even though Arras could think fast, not even he was going to be able to puzzle all of that together in the four or so seconds that it took for the incoming barrage of magic to wind up. So, instead of thinking about it any longer, his own arsenal was quickly brought to arms. In one flowing motion, Arras began to wave his body side to side as he lobbed spell after spell at the origin points of his... He wasn't sure if they counted as an enemy at the moment, but his enemies spells. Illia also tightened her grip, to a somewhat uncomfortable degree, though Arras understood why and did not fault her.

As for the magic that Arras made use of, it was entirely fire magic. Which was perfectly reasonable, given that it was Arras's main source of offensive potential. However, he did specifically tone down the... Explosiveness of his magic. Didn't want to damage the room. Same principles as to why he wasn't using earth magic. Though he wasn't even sure if there was earth to be used on that front.

As the dozens and dozens of spells launched throughout the room, colliding into each other every other moment, one of Arras's tails drifted to the side, a part of his focus split on creating an entirely separate spell. If defending himself was the goal, Arras was quite certain of his ability to do as such. Spells kept coming from the front, but it wasn't difficult to hold those off with quick and targeted spells of his own. At any moment, his other spell would be complete, and any difficulties would be-

Arras paused again, a prickling sensation at the back of his mind. That was subtle, well disguised... But yet still it was so very clearly magic. A similar magic as to what had been coming at him from Alexarius's direction. Redirecting his focus would likely be a waste of effort, and given that it was only a single spell... Arras was confident in simply dodging the thing.

So... That was the plan of action that he committed to, it was slow going, fairly easy as well. When he'd heard "test" and what not with it having been hyped up he expected... More? You could say? This also might just not be all of it...

A few more movements later, a blocked spell, and finally that magic Arras felt off in the distance seemed about ready to burst. If he wasn't wrong, it was some of that... Odd energy that Alexarius had thrown around a few times, some purple-ish power, that certainly wasn't gravity magic. But, whatever it was, it behaved like a fireball as far as Arras was concerned. The explosions that he created were more than enough to disperse it.

And... It bursted, the magic came flying right for him, and Arras took a step to the si-

The magic... Curved?

Without hesitation, Arras instantly loosed the spell he had been working on, a bubble of force magic forming around him almost immediately. The spell had been half baked, not nearly enough magical power having been funneled into it yet, but it was still more than enough to ward off the oncoming attack.

He whipped around as the spell smashed into his barrier, splattering all over the invisible surface and putting a dent into his defenses. But, that was fine, he could start from scratch. It had only been fifteen or so seconds, not an issue at all.

"Excellent, you've demonstrated your mastery to a sufficient degree. Despite the distance, I put my best efforts into masking that spell. We may move on to discussing the terms of your contract."

...Wait, what?

Illia leaned into his neck ever so slightly.

"...That's it?"

"That was all I needed to see, you've proven your skill in a timely manner."

...So that really was it. That barely even counted for practice, as far as Arras was concerned. Maybe he really could've just not slept last night? It doesn't exactly seem like that would've negatively effected him if the only surprise he'd had was that a single spell was slightly more dangerous than what he'd given it credit for.

With a sigh, Arras dismantled his own barrier and stepped out. But, one other thing seemed pressing.

"...Our contract?"

Illia paused for a moment, before genuinely speaking up for the first time in awhile.

"You should probably let me handle that."