Marik was feeling exhausted in his soul but he pushed anyways. He kept the sound-enhancing wind sorcery and smell-enhancing wind sorcery up as best he could. He held his fingers one both hands spread wide and prepared to activate his lightning sorcery again. Trying to keep his mind on the continuously active wind sorceries, he pushed with his soul and reached the ends of his fingers. So far, so good. Then he activated the lightning sorcery for only a split second and felt the wind sorcery falter.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath.
He had made some pretty amazing progress over the past year. Holding two of the same type of sorcery going was difficult but possible. It was only when he tried to make a completely different one activate that the first one always failed as if making way for the new one. There was something there that he was missing. He almost thought that it might be another roadblock that he should get taught except that he had felt the same sense of something missing a year ago as well. It was more of something parallel to that roadblock, or maybe it was more of an offshoot. Either way, it was something he was determined to figure out by himself and surprise his master with later.
He finally let out a sigh and stopped trying to use his sorcery for a while. Tomorrow he would turn 7 years old and go visit the foxkin lady again so it would probably behoove him to make sure the four spells he knew were all up to par. His master had taught him a third spell when Marik had asked for an easy spellweave magic, since both the mental spells he had gained from the old foxkin were also spellweave, in order to better understand the basics of spellweaving. His master admitted to not having any true mastery in spellweave but rather in spellform but had taught him one of the most basic spells that had a version for all spell forms: Magic Wave. It sent out a quick magic wave burst. That was all it did. It had a small variety of uses in just doing that, such as sending signals, but in general it was just a simple spell that didn't do much by itself.
The fourth spell he had learned came from his masters mastery, spellforming. It was called Create Water but two weeks after learning the spell Marik had a dream about some science class which linked up with a few of the fuzzier memories and caused him to start a small debate with his master about what the spell actually did. Marik theorized that since actually creating water was more in the domain of sorcery that the spell likely just got water from elsewhere. The three possibilities that he could come up with were that it either pulled water from the surrounding air, yanked water from the nearest source large enough, or transformed something else into water. By the end of the discussion his master had run off to test the theories in a variety of places and had only come back after five days had passed. The end result was that it did indeed just gather water from the surrounding air, which kind of made Marik feel disappointed since either of the other two options would have been a little more exciting.
He had even studied a few books on magic and the various forms to try and improve his skills. He had found that spellweave was mostly in the fingers, spellsculpt was mostly in the hands, spellcraft was mostly in the wrists, and spellform was mostly in the arms, at least as a general rule of thumb. Spellweave and spellcraft were typically the fastest and a true master of their arts could even cast spells at about the same speed or faster than most users of sorcery. He wasn't a master but he did feel that he had gotten reasonably fast at using the memory fuzz spell now that he understood he needed to focus more on using his fingers and actually weave the spell like a cloth. It turned out that the names of magic forms were fairly apt in how they were done.
He had gone around the forest finding various creatures to practice his memory fuzz spell with, aiming to try and make it do something close to the recognition inhibition that he originally wanted. It wasn't perfect but he felt that he had achieved some small degree of success. Actually, saying it wasn't perfect was a vast understatement as the problems were vast and obvious. The most obvious problem was that it only worked on one target at a time. The second problem was a little more complex and took a little ingenuity to get around, which was that the spell worked instantly. He could target the most recent memories of, say, a deer that saw him as soon he stepped in front of it but then the deer would still notice him clearly from that point on. The only work around he could come up with for now was to continuously keep weaving the spell from the moment we was first seen until he was out of sight again. The spare seconds in between each use still allowed him to be recognized, though. He hoped that some day he would figure out or be taught how to make his own spells so he could try his most recent idea of mixing Magic Wave and the memory fuzz to see if that improved things.
As for his mind sorcery and the temporary memory wipe spell, he had worked on it steadily and felt that it was at a decent enough point where he set up a small test for himself that he planned to ask the old foxkin lady to help him with tomorrow. It was a similar situation with his mind sorcery. He only ever had intentions to use it to defend his own mind so he wanted to make sure he could do just that. He had told his master his plans to get tested and how before asking for his help in altering the mind-blocking necklace slightly so that a very small part of his mind was left not blocked.
In order for everything to go smoothly, though, and the old foxkin to accept helping him more then he likely would need at least a little bit of something he could trade for it. After spending a month thinking about it, the only thing he could come up with was to give his theories and ideas for the new spells he wanted to make and explain how they could be used. He really didn't want to do that because he wanted to someday do those things himself but it was better to make sure he could defend himself than hold back out of pride.
Marik took a deep breath then sighed. Even though he was still wearing a blindfold at the moment he could smell and hear how the surroundings were changing as night rapidly approached. He had apparently gotten so caught up in his training and thoughts that he had missed lunch along with the whole afternoon. He smiled wryly to himself as he trudged back inside. Maybe he was picking up some of his master's bad habits, since he could hear his master in the other room writing furiously without realizing that he, too, had forgotten the time.
Marik removed his blindfold and tucked it away as he stepped into his master's bedroom. He noted briefly how nice his master's large bedroom was compared to his own converted storage room.
"Master, we seem to have both missed lunch. Should we have an early dinner before studying old fey tonight?"
"Hmm? Oh. Is it that late already? How time flies when you're focused. You go ahead and get everything set up while I finish up here."
"Will do. By the way, Master, if you don't come to eat before I'm done then I won't tell you about the idea I recently had."
"Wait what? Hold on now, boy. Where are you going? Argh. Fine! I'll be there in just moment."
Marik smiled at his and his master's usual antics. He had recently spent a little time coming up with a few random ideas based on his past life's memories that he had no particular interest in himself but thought his master might find interesting. Whenever he needed some bait to draw his master's attention he would pull one out. Of course he would normally not bother over something small like a missed meal or even day, but since they had plans for tomorrow he wanted them both in decent condition.
As Marik was just sitting down after placing the food on the table his master strode in and took a seat across from him.
"Is there a such spell that forms a shield of water, Master? If so please tell me what it does exactly."
"Ah, that failure, huh? It exists but was deemed useless in the end. It acts similar to Create Water but forms the water into a large disc shield in front of the mage. If that was your idea..."
"No, Master. That makes sense. That that kind of shield is useless, I mean. There were several things that would have to be done for a shield of water to actually be useful as a shield. I'm guessing the current spell just makes the water more like a thin sheet, right? It would have to be at least a little thick, maybe the same thickness as the average adult's hand, if that's all you're making the spell do in order to have effectiveness. But there is another way to make the shield incredibly effective against anything besides strong piercing, in theory at least. First make it bulge outward just a little then spin it. If it's spinning fast enough and bulging out just enough it should block or deflect most things."
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"Hmm? Hmm. I can kind of picture it working. It would make it a more advanced spell for sure. I don't think it would be as good as a normal shield, though. I'm sure most people would rather just use a shield than such a spell if they wanted to defend themselves."
"I don't think so, Master. First off, you don't have to carry a spell around. Secondly, if you can get the curve of the shield and the speed of the water right, then it should be equal to at least a wooden shield. If it can be done well enough then it might even be better than some of the softer metals."
"Are you sure?"
"Am I sure about it working or am I sure about the theory? The theory is sound. Think about a waterfall and how the water that falls fast enough feels almost like falling rocks. I'm sure there's more to it but I haven't gotten quite enough memories back to explain it all. I can't be sure that it really works until someone makes the spell and tries it, though. I was kind of hoping that you could do it, Master. I've been curious recently if some day I can start trying to make my own spells and I thought watching and helping you make one might give me some ideas on how to do it myself when I decide I'm ready to give it a try."
"You know, it's sometimes hard to figure out if I should treat you as someone who's young and ignorant or old and wise. Let's finish our dinner for now. I'll go make some quick notes after this while you prepare the materials for tonight's studies and we can start working on it after we get back from our trip."
Marik nodded assent and finished his meal.
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They arrived in the same hallway and same spot of the mansion as they had last year. Both of them had their arms full of tomes, the same as last year as well. Everything felt like déjà vu all the way until his master dropped the books on the old foxkin's desk. Before his master or the foxkin woman could say anything this time, though, Marik put his pile on the table, which made the scowl the old foxkin lady seemed to enjoy wearing lessen slightly.
"At least one of you has learned a little manners. How go your spells, boy?"
"I was hoping you would be willing to test me a little, actually. I set up two simple tests to see how far I've come and I thought you'd be a better judge of my skills due to your specialty."
"A wise thought. Normally I would ask what you have to offer but I can see you've brought tomes again and simply giving you my judgement is a fairly small matter. I do have one extra request for repayment, though. A small matter, really. There should be two little girls running around here somewhere. If you see them, treat them kindly and with respect regardless of their actions. If you can agree to that then we have a deal. Tell me these tests you've prepared."
"Well I recently had my necklace adjust slightly to allow part of mind to be outside of its effects."
"I know. Who do you think helped your master adjust it?"
"Right. Well I made an intentional memory and had that be the spot that wasn't covered. I wrote the memory down in as much detail as I could, then erased it with that one spell. I wanted to see if you could test how well I did that by having you try to get it out of me and compare whatever you do or don't get to what I wrote. Then I'll try putting it back and repeat the process to test both sides of the spell. After that I want to try and use sorcery to block that part of my mind while you test my defenses."
"Hmm. Simple yet complex. A good test that is quickly and easily evaluated. Very well. I will say that I began before you finished your explanation. There are a few minor traces and featureless details I can grasp. It was in the forest. Near a river, I believe. Other than that, it seems like you've done passably well. Let me see your note."
Marik handed her the note he pulled from his pants pocket while feeling a little startled. He knew she was a master but he hadn't even noticed her starting the spell. He was starting to realize why his master claimed that Mystic Masters were scary people that he should never anger.
"Have you finished putting the memory back yet, boy?"
Oops. He quickly weaved the spell to put his memory back and then nodded.
"The return was done quite well. Hmm. You are still young so it's to be expected, however your lock and key are still too simple. I might have had a small amount of trouble trying to forcibly return the memory so that I could rip it from you for myself but after seeing you cast the return I could now do it freely. Remember this, boy: showing some spells to those who understand them will point out your weaknesses. If you don't understand now, you will as you age. Now throw up your sorcery defenses and prepare yourself. I shall start with a spell as a service. Sorcery and magic cannot affect on another but they can detect one another. If your defenses are solid enough you should at least be able to feel that a spell was used. After that I will use some simple sorcery and slowly increase it until I break through. I will not be gentle. You wanted to be tested to use this as actual defense some day so I will let you feel the pain that can come from having your sorcery broken and mind invaded. If you wish to back out then now is your time."
Marik shook his head without speaking as he poured his concentration into his mind sorcery. There was a strange tingle feeling in his mind that made his soul reflexively twitch slightly causing him to almost drop his sorcery. It was kind of like having a small puff of air go across one ear or catching something moving out of the corner of your eye. He assumed that was the spell being used on him. Now he had an idea of what it felt like to sense a spell but not be able to do anything about it and it was actually somewhat unpleasant.
Soon enough he started to feel a little pressure against his defenses. It was like someone starting knocking against a wall in an attempt to find a weak spot. It was a gentle knocking at first, almost more of a push, but it started to rapidly accelerate into a feeling more like someone punch, then ramming, then actual blows with a sledgehammer. As it started to get more and more difficult to keep his wall from crumbling, he suddenly had an idea. Right as he could kind of feel the next blow coming he adjusted his defenses slightly. In his imagery of how everything was happening it was as if he suddenly turned the wall to an angle just before the blow landed, deflecting the blow away instead of blocking it outright.
"Interesting."
Marik thought he heard the old lady say something but decided to keep focusing on his defense against her offense instead. The blows were no longer following a rhythm and seemed to start coming from different directions at random. He held up his wall as strongly as he could while constantly shifting it to provide angles against the blows as quickly as possible. The blows continued to get stronger and some of them started to feel more like sharp spears. He really hoped that he could keep this up long enough to impress the old lady with his shield. The blows continued and the thought of his wall as a shield brought back the memory of his conversation at dinner last night. Spinning the shield-wall was definitely beyond his capabilities at the moment and since it wasn't an actual physical thing but just a mental image attached to what his real efforts were doing then there was no telling how effective such an action would actually be. He had already proven that deflecting the attacks could work, however. He started to immediately try and make flat wall into more of a curve so that he wouldn't have to keep moving the wall around as much to deflect the blows.
In the end it still wasn't enough to keep the master from breaking through. An extremely powerful and sharp attack flew at his shield-wall, shattering it and proceeding further to stab into his mind. Marik cried out in pain and the memory that he had just recently reinstated seemed to become like broken pieces of glass scattered around. It took a few moments to realize that his whole vision had turned white and was only now returning. He slowly got up off the ground where he had apparently fallen and lightly shook his head in an attempt to clear it along with his vision.
"Well done, boy. Those were some interesting tricks you pulled against my attacks. Figuring out how to do such things so young and in the midst of a battle was quite entertaining for me to see. If you continue to train yourself at the same rate then even advanced sorcery users would find it difficult to breach your defenses. That is, as long as you are only defending such a small part as you were. You also did well in taking my final blow. That should have kept you down for a few minutes instead of seconds. You're free to relax on the couch if you need to, or you may go out to the courtyard to do as wish there."
Marik didn't fully trust himself to speak yet since the headache that was still throbbing might make his mouth spit words he didn't intend to say. A past life's memory came to mind and he noted the similarities between them and his current state being as if he were both hungover and drunk at the same time. He turned and walked unsteadily to the door, which the bearkin maid was kind enough to open. She closed the door behind them both and led him again to the courtyard where she stood in the shade and waited, never speaking a word.
He closed his eyes and contemplated for a few minutes, giving his mind time to clear up. That had definitely been a new experience. Luckily the memory that got shattered part had been intentionally made and set up for today and was therefore not important in any way, but it made him realize just how bad it could have been if it were important memories that got hit like that. Unless he could find some way to heal his mind or find someone else trustworthy who could, then all of his secrets would need several layers of defense. At least that was his current thought process.
Once his mind was cleared he began working on his mind sorcery. He had at least come up with a short term goal to push his mind sorcery defense towards. He wanted to eventually create something like a spinning, rotating eggshell around his mind. Whether it would work or not would be seen when and if he ever succeeded but it was something to work on.
The evening soon came and his master showed up to take them home. Just before he stepped through the portal, he caught sight of someone peeking out of the now opened courtyard door. There wasn't enough time or light to notice many details other than their height and long hair that hung down from their sideways tilted head. He was fairly certain it was a little girl and wondered if it was one of the girls that the old lady had mentioned before his vision was blocked by the silver of the portal he had arrived on the other side of.