The beginning throes of puberty are a bitch. That was Marik's take on it this time around. He still didn't have full memories of his past life but he remembered just enough of his early and middle teenage years to know that he did and said a lot of stupid things. Knowing it was coming in this life didn't seem to help as much as he had hoped it would. He struggled harder than ever to keep focused on some things, usually the things that required more mind than body. His frustrations kept piling up and he would randomly feel like just yelling. His master tried to be patient and Marik was wise enough to use exercise as a coping method but it could only do so much for him.

Since they were both already having trouble and knew this was only the beginning only four months after the twins had visited, his master finally came up with a plan. They traveled to a small kingdom called Evanphur on the beast race's continent, Koshtir, and went to a rather rough looking place full of rough looking people. His master, wearing the typical illusion for going around in public, stopped him at the door before entering and warned him not to use mystical arts no matter what, unless he was absolutely sure that he would die otherwise and there were no other options. Then, without giving Marik a chance to respond, his master led him inside.

Once inside they went to the only counter near the entrance and Marik looked around and wondered if this was one of those adventurer guilds he read about in stories in his past life. Almost everything fit the description, including the bar off to the side, and he was almost ready for the cliché trope where a group of people harassed him for walking in. That last part didn't happen and they made it to the counter where a thin middle-aged tigerkin man with only one ear stood looking like he had seen hell and beyond.

"Welcome to the merc's guild round here. What you need?"

"I want to register this boy for the training course. I can bring him by one day a week and he'll need to learn the solo life. He'll be registering as a solo in a few years. He also hasn't been around many people in a long time mush less his own kind. He barely knows the ways of a man."

Although it felt kind of embarrassing to have all that said about him to a complete stranger, there wasn't much he could refute. The part about being a man may not be entirely accurate but he wasn't sure if there were special circumstances revolving around him being a wolfkin that might have changed something slightly. The thin man stared at him from behind the counter so Marik stared back. After the staring contest went on for a little while the man finally burst out laughing.

"Kid's got some guts, at least. No worries, elf buddy. We can take care of the lad here. Just so you know, as some of them parental types that ain't a beast race don't always understand, we'll probably get a bit rough with 'im on occasion here and there. You good with that?"

"Of course. Go on, boy. I'm sure you can make some friends. I have a few more details to discuss here."

Marik turned around and walked further into the room. Several of the people sitting at tables or leaning against the wall kept quiet and looked at him while others completely ignored him. One man finally left his position at the wall and walked up to him.

"So yer here ta learn, eh, lad? Want me ta teach ye the ways of what ye need ta know?"

Marik looked at him from top to bottom and back up again, making not of his clothes and weapons. He was a wolfkin dressed in a sleeveless leather vest for armor and leather pants covered in leather belts. He had loose and wavy hair at about shoulder length and his hair and fur were a brown so dark that it was almost black. His arms were definitely muscled but didn't make him look large and overbearing. There was a staff attached to his back somehow and a knife in each boot with what looked like a sling hanging from his belt on the other side from where two pouches were tied.

"Is there anything you even could teach me? No offense, I mean. It's just that I've killed bandits who were dressed better and you don't really sound very smart, you know."

Everyone who was watching the exchange laughed loudly at that with some even cheering. The man looked at him hard. Marik stared back in defiance. A dark-skinned pantherkin woman who was dressed similarly to the man, but with a large sword on her back, several throwing knives in her belt instead of a sling, and only one pouch on the side, walked up to stand off to their side while laughing loudly. He hair was a similar color but longer and her arms were only slightly more slender, but her breasts were definitely pronounced even through the leather of the vest.

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"What ye think, D? I say kids got spunk. More 'n what you had when you was 'bout that age, ya?"

"Shut it, Mer. I was thinkin' 'bout takin' 'im on even if ye had stayed where ye ought. I like ye, lad. Ye can ask 'bout any one o' dese idjits round: I'm bout the best ye can find here. Ye showed a good look on ye comin' in and I ain't trained no brat as yet, so I figgered ye'd be worth a shot. I could prolly teach ye more 'n anyone else, ta be honest, ya?"

"I'm Merilian. This is my sometimes partner, Davien, and he ain't lyin' to ye, kid. He's 'bout the damn best merc this guild seen. Maybe even this damn kingdom."

Marik looked around a little and saw nobody trying to gainsay their words, with some even nodding in approval. He glanced once at Merilian before turning back to Davien.

"Fine. I'm Marik, by the way."

"Nah. Yer jes 'lad' fer now. I'm D. That's Mer. And if ye wanna be able to call us or get called as diffrint, first is ye gotta earn it. Til then it is as it is, ya?"

At least Marik was used to not having his name called. It still kind of bugged him about how less civilized this duo seemed compared to him who lived in the middle of a forest, but if they really were the best the guild could offer then maybe he could pick something up. He sighed and prepared himself mentally for whatever kinds of things were about to happen. As long as he wasn't treated as some kind errand boy or baggage holder then it should be fine.

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Granny fox took one look at his face and actually burst out laughing. If he thought about it, this might be the first time he ever actually hear her laughing. Unfortunately, he didn't particularly find what she was laughing at nearly as funny. Embarrassing might have fit but painful was probably the closest word to describe how he felt about his face at the moment. He tried his best to keep his expression as neutral as possible until she was done. As her laughter finally subsided, he took the chance to speak.

"I'm glad you got some amusement for that. How about we use it as compensation? I need another test. Not the lots of fast ones, though. I'm still weak there and I don't need a test for that. I'm working on a few new things and I've been kind of busy as you obviously figured out."

"Well that's fine, boy. It's definitely worth the amusement."

The test went like it normally did and Marik found few new points to improve. He pretty much just needed to increase his proficiency with what he had and find some way to deal with multiple attacks at once. With the test over, he headed out to the courtyard. It was still a little before lunch and if the twins were out there then he could get all of the obvious questioning over before they ate and maybe actually enjoy the afternoon.

He had a little trouble opening the door since more than just his face was sore and his arms were full of the twins' presents. Once he got outside he saw Sai practicing with her rope weapon in the middle of the grass. She apparently hadn't noticed him yet as her back was still turned to him. He looked to the side and saw Kiara, who had probably been watching her sister a moment ago, looking intently at his face. He could kind of see a small wave of envy pass over her, so before she could say anything he tossed the pouch in his hand to her.

"There's at least one or two that have a near identical feeling to when I got this in there. Knock yourself out."

She immediately reached in the pouch and grabbed one. Before she brought it to her mouth, she paused for a moment as if in prayer, and then slowly set it on her outstretched tongue. After a few moments of enjoying the flavor she looked at him with a sour face.

"I don't think I'll ever need to heal frogs, so why would I need to know what a frog's insides are like?"

"You never know. Plus, it's a simplified version of some of what's inside people. Unless you have an easy way of going around and finding dead people that you can cut up and play around with their insides, frogs will have to do."

The sound of Sai's running approach reached his ears and he turned to face her smile, only to see her smile immediately drop.

"What happened? Who did this to you? Are you okay? Do I need to kill someone again?"

"Again, huh? This was just an accident from training. I missed and Mer didn't. It's happened a few times before, will probably happen again, and I don't really want to talk about it. I'll heal in a couple days, anyways."

Sai carefully and slowly started to reach towards the huge puffy bandage that practically covered half of his face. He backed away from her slightly, since even though it was bandaged it still hurt quite a bit. It wasn't even a full day ago that he had taken that particular hit from the broad side of Mer's sword, so he didn't want it being touched unnecessarily. In order to try and take her mind off of his problems, he held out the handwritten tome he held to her.

"I haven't had a lot of time, but here. It's some stuff on sorcery and some illusion spells starting from the easiest to learn and going to the hardest. I figured it could help you meet that first requirement a bit faster."

"Oh. Um. Thanks. So, you're okay, right?"

"I'm fine. Just in pain, much to the envy of Kiara. I can't really play tackle today because of it, but if you guys can think of something a little less physical this time around..."

"Umm. Do you want to dance with me? You said a long time ago that it might be a good idea for me to learn it a little, and Master finally said Matilda could teach me."

"I guess. I don't know if I'll be any good at it, though, so you'll have to teach me."

"Yay! Okay, so first is like this..."