MageCrafter - 6. Chapter 6

Kotik did not want to move a single inch when he had dreamily woken up from sleeping. That had been some of the best restful sleep he had ever had in his life. He refused to even contemplate opening his eyes or devote the energy necessary to figuring out where he was. Wherever it was he was draped in was so snug and warm and soft. It was so luxurious that he hoped in his hyper relaxed state to just slip right back into sleep where he had come from.

Yet his mind was slowly revving up its energy, heedless of Kotik’s mental protests to sleep a bit longer in this heavenly place. He could feel wafting of emotions coming from above him and to the side, those of appreciation of how his peacefully sleeping face had looked before he had woken up. The feeling he got told him this person had been watching him steadily breathing for some time this morning, and now was waiting for Kotik to stir.

Bright blue eyes fluttered open, his heavily lidded eyes having a hard time opening up fully from the fog of rest his mind was attempting to pull out of.

That difficulty to open his eyes went away the moment he lazily glanced over and saw Lord Baldric casually laying in bed beside him completely nude, casually looking down at the lynxian while propping himself up on his elbow. Kotik woke with a start, only to realize that he too was completely without a stitch of clothing underneath a truly luxurious layering of finely crafted blankets and comforters. He was only too eager to wriggle back beneath the covers after giving out a small squeak of surprise at finding himself in such a way.

Then the memories of the night before had begun to fill his mind, the recollections of which made his face grow ever darker shades of red. After that first time, when Baldric revealed to Kotik his plan while making him go half mad with pleasure, The Young Lord had not stopped there. Through the various positions, restraints, and things they did to make Kotik cry out with noises he didn’t even know he could make, Kotik at some point that he could not remember ended up passing out from one particularly powerful climax.

He had lost count of how many times Baldric had managed to make Kotik squeal like that. The Lynxian had gone from never kissing another being and refusing to touch himself to discovering new interests and fetishes inside of himself that he did not even know were there to begin with. Kotik could remember vividly having his face mashed into a pillow with a blindfold around his eyes and his arms tied behind his back, mewling and squirming in mind numbing bliss as Baldric did something to him from behind. The things the lord did with his mouth as well, trailing down his chest and stomach until he took his small shaft into his eager and hot mouth. He had milked the Lynxian dry several times over by the time he had passed out on his Lord.

He lost track of how many times he had ended up crying out Baldric’s name.

“Good Morning. You look like you slept very well.” Lord Baldric said, looking down at Kotik with a self satisfied smirk playing on his features.

The greeting had shocked Kotik into sitting bolt upright however. The dawning realization that it was morning made him remember something he had not done the night before. Ignoring his own nakedness as he admonished himself and tried to apologize.

“I’m sorry! I think I ended up falling asleep before I could do that dance at your party!”

He looked genuinely upset that he had fallen asleep without finishing something he was tasked to do. It pained the virtuous work ethic inside the lad that he had allowed himself to let someone down like that.

Baldric leaned down and kissed the top of Kotik’s head, “I saw those hips of your shimmying about plenty last night my sweet Kotik. Not to mention those skills of yours are not going anywhere. I’m sure I could arrange a more private event for you to show me the fruits of your labor for me.” The way he mentioned it being more private made Kotik’s member stiff as his cheeks flush.

Kotik let himself be lightly pulled over to sit on his knees in between Baldric’s much bigger and more toned legs. He smiled shyly up at the young Lord and leaned into Baldrics hand as he gently caressed his cheek and hair. He liked being touched by this person a whole lot. He stole glances between Baldric’s eyes and the large shaft between the young Lord's, chewing on his lip as he did so. While Kotik’s cock grew when he was aroused, Baldric’s own shaft seemed to hang around and go limp after the fact, and it was able to grow much larger still.

The Lynxian blushed as he thought about asking the older teen in front of him if he wanted to do more of what they did the night before. He found as much as he was embarrassed with how loud and wild his voice had become the night before in his overstimulated state, he wanted to do it all over again.

He was about to voice that thought before Shahnaz came in the room.

Kotik let out the girliest noise had ever uttered outside of the night before as he leaped and hid behind Baldric to cover his nakedness. For some reason, even though she had actively bathed the lad not that long ago, it felt different being seen naked by someone else now that he knew what it really felt like to have sex.

“Cutie, you are so far beyond being modest at this point I wouldn’t even bother trying to cover up.” The Tiefling quipped cryptically with a sly grin, and Kotik could feel she was more than a little excited to reveal some mortifying news to him.

“W-What do you mean?” Kotik asked with a slightly grumpy tone as he peered around Balric’s shoulder, not liking her tone of voice at all.

Her barely contained smirk quivered as she rolled her eyes at his suspicion filled stare at her.

“Honey, you do realize I stand guard outside of whatever room Lord Baldric resides in right? I was out there the ENTIRE time.”

“The entire time?!” Kotik let out in the highest pitched squeak of a voice he had ever uttered.

“Every. Single. Moment.” She paused at each moment for emphasis. “I have to admit Kotik, I did not imagine that you were a screamer. You learn something new every day.”

Kotik’s face erupted into a fierce blush as he tried to look petulant and grumpy at her. “W-Well I couldn’t help it all right. I’ve never done anything like that before okay?”

“Oooooh Sweetie, if It was just Me that heard you two that’d be one thing.” Again, She was grinning at the nude cat boy with a cryptic tone in her voice. She looked over at Baldric, “He knows what I’m talking about as well. Don’t you Lord Baldric.”

“Why Shahnaz I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to.” Kotik could tell even without reading his emotions that that was a bold face lie. Something had happened during their love making yesterday and it felt like it was going to be something really bad.

“I’m guessing Our fine Lord didn’t teach you how to disable your communication functions on your collar when you don’t need it, correct?”

Kotik felt like he was suffering vertigo he had felt such a drop in his stomach. “N-Noooo...should he have?” He did not like where this was going at all.

Shahnaz gave her lord an admonishing look and shook her head before she looked at Kotik. “It’s best that you hear this from me, but your er… well your collar activated its communication function during what had be the second or third time you guys came. And it stayed on… the rest of the time.”

“Wh-wh-what?”

“Everyone who has a Bertolde estate collar or Noble ring got a,” she cleared her throat, “Very intimate front row seat at what was going through your mind as well as what you were looking at. Until you ended up passing out… about 45 minutes later.”

Kotik stared at her with his mouth agape before turning to Lord Baldric.

“Could you do me a favor and shatter me into tiny shards of Ice please? I would like to die now thanks.”

“Oh and you shattered that window if you recall, so anyone outside heard you as well.” She added, pointing at the wall he had punched and the shattered window she mentioned. He groaned and buried his head in Baldric’s shoulder. This was the single most embarrassing thing he had ever dealt with in his life. Baldric was suppressing a chuckle at the mortifying revelations and decided to comfort the Lynxian. Lifting the boy’s face up by his chin, he kissed the boy’s cheeks even as his eyes welled up with tears of shame from having his cries of pleasure so publicly broadcast across the entire Estate.

“My dear sweet Kotik,” He spoke the next words in a soft sultry tone, “ there are worse things in life than having people know how good I had the privilege of making you feel yesterday. If anything, I am honored to have made you so passionately vocal with how you approved of my efforts.”

Kotik was blushing for an entirely different reason now. Shahnaz could practically see the heart shapes burgeoning in the little cutie’s eyes as he stared with awe and adoration into the Young Lord’s own. She had seen this look on many a boy at the hands of Baldric, but this felt different this time around. Baldric didn’t feel like he was feeding the lad a line, she had seen him do that so often she could practically recite his go too quotes. This felt genuine.

She was starting to wonder who had seduced who in this whole affair, and perhaps Kotik was better at playing Baldric’s own game without even realizing it. One thing was certain, she hadn’t seen Baldric in quite such a mood before.

“With that bit of news out of the way, What would you two like for breakfast this morning?”

“I’ll have whatever he’s having.” Kotik said, trying to make this go as quickly as possible so he could bury his head back under the covers in embarrassment.

“But my sweet, I don’t think we can both have Kotik for breakfast this morning.” Baldric quipped, flashing a devilish grin down at the lad. The lynxian groaned at the corny joke and buried himself deeper behind Baldric who only chuckled and gave his order for the both of them. It wasn’t until they had both eaten that Kotik’s pure mortified state of mind had subsided enough for them to really talk.

“Today is a special day you know.” Lord Baldric said as he stood up from the bed, proudly strutting further into the room without a stitch of clothing on his body. Kotik couldn’t help but admire how perfectly in shape he was, and he stole quite a few glances on those toned cheeks of his that still had slight scratches where Kotik had gripped him rather forcefully in his throws of passion at one point in their various positions.

“The day after your birthday is also special? How so?”

“It was the day I had started down the path of becoming the Lord Baldric you know today my sweet.” He looked over his shoulders and sensually stretched, posing his muscled body for the younger teen who took in the sight with much interest in his flushed gaze. Kotik’s tail was swishing about and his eyes were fixated like he might just pounce at any moment for The Young Lord.

“What do you mean? Weren’t you always like this? That’s what the Maids said.”

Baldric grinned and shook his head. “Well sit back and relax my sweet Kotik, for today I am going to regale you with the tale. However first, before I start my story I want to dash a certain illusion you have about me.”

“An illusion I have about you?” Kotik crinkled his brow in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Yesterday, during your personal story, you had told me that you believed that I was an all powerful MageCrafter and that I should have a collar because of that fact. Am I recalling that correctly?”

“Yeah? And you are. I’ve never seen anyone so powerful in my whole life.” Kotik spoke sincerely. He was in awe of the feats that Baldric had performed when he had effortlessly defeated Darzi and wielded such power with such casual effort.

Baldric grinned as he turned and gave a strangely theatrical bow to Kotik. “I am pleased my performance went so well then. I am certain the rest of the audience had much the same opinion as yourself about my abilities.”

“A-Audience? What are you talking about Lord Baldric?” He could feel something in the air. Baldric had pulled something off that he was quite proud of.

Baldric stood straight and waved his hands dramatically, “My dear sweet Kotik, I am going to tell you something that is going to radically shift your perspective on what happened that day, and you are not going to believe me at first. However after my tale is done, you not only will understand, you will see what this means for our greater plans going forward.”

Kotik shifted with some excitement. Lord Baldric was becoming more dramatic and animated, and he liked the way that looked on him. He could feel the older teens excitement and pleasure at being so in command of his audience's attention.

“My sweet Kotik…Darzi indeed was killed that day. Very brutally killed.” He paused as his grin grew wider. “However I’m not the one that killed him.”

Kotik balked at that and shook his head. “Bu-But I saw you do it Lord Baldric. You walked right through Darzi without even breaking a sweat. You made it look so effortless!”

Lord Baldric snapped his finger and pointed at Kotik with his smile growing even bigger. He looked so alive and excited right then. “You almost have it Kotik, say that last sentence one more time.”

Kotik paused and looked at Lord Baldric in total befuddlement. “You made it look so effortless?”

“Precisely my sweet. I made it LOOK that way.”

“I don’t understand.” Kotik said with genuine confusion in his voice.

He then let out a noise of alarm and fright as Lord Baldric seemed to gradually dissolve into smoke right before his eyes. He was almost about to call out for Shahnaz for help before Baldrics voice reverberated in the room.

“Remember my sweet Kotik. Before I was a True Dominion MageCrafter…”

Kotik’s whole world became blacked out. He couldn’t see anything, smell anything, hear anything, feel anything at all. He couldn’t even feel the bed he had been sitting on. He tried to stand up but he found himself floating in the air. He let out a noise of confusion and panic.

“...I was first and foremost, an Illusory Wizard.”

Kotik fell down onto the ground at his feet and found himself in the courtyard, looking at a perfect replication of the fight between Baldric and Darzi.

“You see, Kotik” Baldric spoke from the same place he had walked down before, and it all looked so real to Kotik that it was mind boggling to his senses. “I did not cast a single spell at Darzi that day. In fact I didn’t even draw on my reserves within my Lair to fill the sky with clouds.”

The world went black again, and Baldric walked towards Darzi, mimicking the same hand gestures he had done that day.

“The quite literal only thing I did that Day was step out of a door, walk down some steps, approach Darzi, and snap my fingers.” He grinned at Kotik. “That’s it. I didn’t cast a spell, I didn’t use a magic item, I didn’t even use an attunement against him. In fact, Darzi had access to six attunments while I only have three like everyone else.”

“What?!” Kotik was so confused, and he became even more so as Baldric dissolved and appeared right in front of him, giving him a swift, chaste kiss on his lips.

“My sweet, you did most of the damage to Darzi out of the two of us. And while yes, the attacks you saw take Darzi out were very real,” He leaned in and whispered in Kotik’s ear, “I wasn’t the one who cast them. I just made it LOOK like I was the one that cast them.”

“Wait WHAT?!” Kotik’s mind was racing. What did he mean he wasn’t the one who cast the magic? Who other than a True dominion MageCrafter could have possibly performed that feat.

“Think about it carefully Kotik.” He wrapped his arm around the younger boy and leaned down, pointing to Darzi dying again in front of the two of them in slow motion.

“Where were the attacks coming from my sweet? Where they coming from me?”

It took Kotik a second to get what Baldric was getting at, but watching the slowed down chain and shackle of ice crawling through the air towards Darzi’s slowed down wrists made him let out a shout of realization.

“OH MY GODS. THEY WERE COMING FROM THE FOG. THE FOG WAS CASTING THE SPELLS.”

Lord Baldric swiftly took Kotik’s head and deeply and passionately kissed his brilliant little Lynxian, enjoying the growing excitement out of the lad quite a lot.”

“You saw what I wanted you to see that day. What I wanted everyone to see that day. An all powerful MageCrafter who is seemingly unshackled from the rules of magic and is able to perform godlike feats of spellcasting the likes of which they have never seen before. In truth, my lovely assistants were the ones who performed the dispatching of Darzi, with my theatrical hand jestures giving them commands on how to do so.”

Something formed before Kotik, a creature that seemed to be made out of steam, another one that looked like it was made of stormclouds.

“My lovely assistants…” He spoke softly towards Kotik, “MageCrafted, highly trained, fiercely loyal, Quasi sentient life forms made of Vaporized water…” he whispered excitedly at the big reveal, “That have their own Attunements they can use independently.”

“Wow!” Kotik was practically shuddering with excitement at this reveal.

“And to top it off,” He gave Kotik a kiss on his forehead, “Some of them have even become MageCrafters themselves.”

“No way! How!? What?!”

“Yes my Brilliant little Lynxian, I own several Ice, steam, geyser, and several other varieties of MageCrafting entities, not to mention all the magic users that reside within my steam I have been storing within my Lair. This is a closely guarded and very precious secret, and I trust you can keep it, correct?”

Kotik nodded vigorously, “But, but, how did you even figure out how… wait.” Kotik had a flash of understanding, “Babica isn’t the only one who can make living magic items! You’re just doing what she does, but instead of turning people into Warlocks…”

“Yes Kotik, any MageCrafter is capable of making sentient magic items, though it is a very dangerous practice that should be handled with extreme care. However, we will get into that later. You don’t need to understand the inner workings of the trick itself just yet, only that it IS a trick. A Magic Trick. And Magic Tricks are exactly what made me into the Lord Baldric you know today.”

With a dramatic flourish, the nude older teen summoned forth the suit he had worn the day they had met, the suit made of that bright white material. Kotik looked down to see himself wearing pajamas and socks made of just that same material, and before he could even process that the world shifted around him till it became one of the halls in Lord Baldric’s estate.

Running towards them, with Maids hot on his heels, was a giggling cherubic youngster with bluish white hair and naked as the day he was born. Kotik’s heart warmed in delight at the sight! He knew instantaneously who that was without even needing to ask.

“Oh My Gods! It’s baby Baldric!” Kotik squeaked in delight. He was beside himself with how adorable mini Baldric was! Kotik had not understood the Maid's incessant desire to pinch his own cheeks until he saw the slightly chubby rosy colored pair speeding towards them. He wanted to hug the stuffing out of mini Baldric right this second!

“Technically Toddler Baldric, but yes.” The Young Lord said, thoroughly amused with the charmingly innocent delight Kotik had towards his illusions. “This was the day I had tested to find out what type of magic user I was to be.”

Another shift, this time in a room with a younger Duke Bertolde, the adorable mini Baldric now in clothes he clearly did not like wearing, and a Man with an assortment of magic items splayed out on a long table.

“The Kingdom of Silbel values the schools of magic based on Combat capabilities.” Lord Baldric explained as he let the scene play out before him. “They are always looking for more Evocation casters, which are the kinds that shoot balls of fire and bolts of lightning, because they provide an immediate and understandable boon to the Kingdoms military might.”

Baby Baldric tried one item after another, but they all didn’t seem to work for him. “However I was not an Evocation caster. Not one of any variety, be it wizard, sorcerer or otherwise.”

“Nor was I an abjurationist, or the types of magic users who generate shields and wards to safeguard the many Legions of Silbels military forces. Nor was I a divination user, who could scry on enemy forces or keep better management of our own. One school after another was tested and revealed I had not the gifting for them. My father feared I might even be completely mundane, which is considered an embarrassment among noble houses.”

He grinned down at the scene with pity in his eyes at how short sighted his homeland was.

“Then we discovered the truth, that I was an Illusory wizard.” He looked over at Kotik and grinned, “The most looked down upon and disregarded school of magic within this entire kingdom. There are more than a few noble houses who would rather their son be mundane than be an illusionist, because at least a mundane boy couldn’t help being what they are. An Illusory wizard HAD magic however, but they simply could not use any magic item that the country of Silbel deems ‘useful.’ “

The tester had the look of someone who was saying they were sorry for the loss of a loved one as he gravely told Baldric’s father that his son was nothing more than an illusion caster. The Duke seemed to accept it as well, as he was raised in Silbel and knew nothing but its customs.

Baby Baldric had other ideas though.

“My magic is not useless!” The tiny Baldric said with a stamp of his adorable little foot. “I’ll Prove it! I’ll be the best...” Baby Baldric stumbled over the word Illusion till he gave up and plowed through, “I’ll be the best ‘whatever you just said’ ever!”

Kotik would have scooped the boy up right then and squeezed the stuffing out of him if he didn’t know he was an illusion! So cute!

“You tell them Baby Baldric!” Kotik cheered with pure adoration playing on his features from the sidelines.

“And so I demanded my father find me a tutor as soon as possible.” Lord Baldric continued, trying to not laugh and lose his train of thought at his sweet Kotik’s antics next to him. “It was quite difficult even with my Father’s connections however. Silbel did not have a dedicated academy for Illusion casters, and the few people that did teach Illusory magic, well…”

A grimace played on Baldric’s face as he prepared the next scene. “Well my sweet Kotik, they all bought into the Silbel propaganda about there gifted field of magic as well. And none believed that more than the vile, thoroughly unpleasant woman who was to be my Tutor.”

A billowing cloud in a vaguely human shape formed in front of them as Baldric made the scene pure black.

“Kotik, I would like to introduce you to the most contemptible, reprehensible, miserable excuse of a tutor I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. A woman so thoroughly devoid of charm I am fairly certain she played a small part in why I cannot find women attractive at all. Meet…” He snarled the next words, “Ms. Addis.”

Kotik saw a woman before him that looked as if she were constantly smelling manure wherever she walked. Such was the ever present grimace that was on her face. She looked well put together and formal, but everything about her appearance screamed that she was a drain to be around from her far too tight bun to her thinned nearly white lips.

“I trained under Ms Addis for Six months, and to this day, not a single person who works on my estate that was around at that time would not hear the name Ms Addis and come away without grimacing. This Bitch, and I do not use that word lightly, had a problem with every conceivable thing you could possibly imagine.”

He stood next to the visage of Ms Addis and stood in her same stance and puppeted the illusion of her as he put on a mocking tone. “These halls are too big! My food is much too cold! Why did you make this tea so hot! Why do I have to travel all this way to teach him here! Your Orcish butler is looking at me funny again, I think he wants to rape me!”

Baldric looked at Kotik’s shocked expression at that last one.

“All real quotes by the way. She was VERY anti demi human. She was also the only Illusory Witch we could find on short notice, so we put up with her because I wanted to learn. Big mistake.”

He played through days in fast forward, and it showed the happy go lucky baby baldric gradually becoming more and more sullen.

“The thing about people like her Kotik, is that she not only is determined to be absolutely miserable in her own skin, but she is also not satisfied until everyone around her shares in her world view .She hated my passion for learning Illusions. She wanted to stamp out any drive I had to learn, while at the same time lining her pockets with my Fathers coin and berating our staff, Maids, slaves, and anyone else who happened to be in her vicinity that day.”

He knelt down next to Baby Baldric who was gradually looking more miserable. “It had a big effect on me. After months of hearing nothing but negativity about illusion work from both her and everyone else I talked about, I grew quite upset. Not because I didn’t think Illusions were nice, but because I was afraid I was going to end up being Just like Ms. Addis. She knew so much more about Illusions, I thought, so she must know what she’s talking about!”

He looked at Kotik, “I probably would have ended up believing her drone of pessimistic, vitriolic talk too if it hadn’t been for her.”

Kotik let out a surprised noise and almost lost his breakfast at the sight that came before him and Baby Baldric.

A Pink Tiefling child in filthy rags that barely covered her body stood on shaky legs in front of the smaller child. Her arms and legs looked like bones wrapped in a thin coating of flesh. Her stomach was slightly bulged in what Kotik knew only happened in pure starvation cases, and her ribs, by the gods here ribs were horrifying to look at. Her poor eyes were sunken into her face and her cheeks had none of the fat that a child that age should have. Her tail couldn’t even move save for little twitches.

“That sight will haunt me for the rest of my life.” Baldric stated gravely, looking at the painfully starved child before them. Kotik was crying silent tears just staring at the poor creature he knew to be the bubbly and vivacious Shahnaz.

“Yet this girl, who had every reason to be just as bitter and pessimistic as Ms Addis if not more so, was one of the nicest people I have ever met. She was grateful we saved her. Grateful we gave her food. Grateful we made sure she filled out her body and achieved a healthy weight again. Always thanking us, always apologizing for being an inconvenience even though we told her we would have none of that.”

He stood up and pointed at Ms. Addis, “And it is when this contemptible woman started to bad mouth this abused little girl that made my heart ache so badly, that I realized that she needed to go and go immediately.”

He grinned as the scene shifted.

“GO ON! GET OUT OF HERE. LEAVE! OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Baby Baldric roared with his cute little voice as he shook his fist at her for picking on Shahnaz. As he yelled at the woman he was flanked by the MaidStaff and his father, all of whom looked delighted to see this woman out of their lives forever. “OUT OF MY SIGHT. I’M SICK OF YOU! You are banished from this property forever! In fact, I’m making this an Estate holiday! Father! From this day forth, today shall be known as Addis Be Gone Day! Now Go! Get! Leave!”

“Well I never!” The woman huffed and stomped out of the estate for good.

Kotik clapped for Baby Baldric, thoroughly taken in by the scene before him. By the Gods he wanted to hug the little tyke so badly!

“For reference, Addis Be Gone day is the day after my Birthday, which is today, and is still an Estate Wide Holiday that all of my staff from the slaves up to the Butler Sargis observe to this day.” Baldric said with some amusement in his voice. “My father also made it a rule going forward that anyone hired to be on the property have at least ‘the makings of a decent sense of humor.’ or his way of saying no more hiring people like Ms. Addis.”

He stood up and cleared the scene with a flourish, leaving them in blackness again as he posed theatrically with a cane that materialized out of thin air. “Now! I know what you are thinking my sweet. If I kicked out the only illusionary tutor we could find on short notice, what did I do about my Magic training?”

Kotik was waiting on bated breath now. Every flourish, every scene that Baldric showed him was done in such an exciting and thrilling way, it made his heart thump with excitement just dying to know what happened next, hopping on the balls of his socked feet as he watched the young Lord with rapt attention.

“It wasn’t until a couple years later, after I had tried to learn on my own for awhile, that I found my answer in the most unexpected place.”

He twirled the cane in his hands with practiced ease before slamming dead center in front of him with both hands gripping the hilt, making the new scene erupt in an awe inspiring wave all around him. That wave coalesced and materialized into the chaotic din of one of the largest parades Kotik had ever seen in his life! A parade that they were standing right in the middle of as they passed by with bombastic instruments, enormous lumbering animals, fire breathing acrobatics, and what Kotik recognized instantaneously as Bavaram belly dancers who all proceeded down the road to the cheers of the crowd around them.

“WELCOME KOTIK, TO THE BAVARAM INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS!” Lord Baldric boomed with pride, his voice emitting powerfully over the din of the crowd around them. Kotik found his hips were swaying and shimmying to the music filling the air, and Baldric was more than happy to wave his hand and give his Sweet a change in wardrobe.

Swept up in the excitement of this latest illusion, Kotik eagerly followed in line with the other dancers, matching their dance moves with such practiced ease it made it look like he had been among them practicing these moves all his life. Joy filled the Lynxians face as he basked in the songs this dancing was meant for, and enjoyed the whooping and hollering of the crowd in a way that he hadn’t thought he would up till this moment. His dancing only became more confident and empowered with each passing moment enjoying this thrilling chaos that was this Circus Parade.

Lord Baldric let Kotik enjoy the moment while he finally got to see the fruits of his training with Shahnaz. He had never been more pleased with this bout of inspiration in getting her to teach that to him. The unbridled joy on his Kotik’s face as he followed the parade and effortlessly flowed along in perfect choreographed movements with the Dancers in front of and behind him was more than worth the wait.

By the time he moved to shift the scene, Kotik was grinning and slightly sweaty with how much he was enjoying himself. What was wrong with the Kingdom of Silbil that they thought Illusions were useless? Kotik thought this was the most breathtaking magic he had ever witnessed! The whole world seemed to be at Baldric’s command with these awe inspiring illusions, and he loved every second of it!

Suddenly they were in an impressively massive tent, and seated in an executive booth separated from the throngs of crowds below them was Duke Bertolde, his Son, and a far healthier and happier looking Shahnaz who was standing next to an older but still quite adorable child Baldric.

“It was here that I learned for the first time,” Lord Baldric paused for effect as he beamed down at Kotik, “About Magicians and the art of Prestidigitation, and bore witness to the great, the powerful…”
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,” An announcer’s voice roared into the excited crowd “, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HAS ARRIVED.”

The Lights grew dim within the Tent as all eyes transfixed on the stage before them that billowed impressively with fog and pyrotechnics. Kotik could see the hallmarks of this very display in way he had first laid eyes on Baldric. That same awe inspiring feeling. That same buildup of energy that shook a person to the core. All to build up to the reveal of one lone solitary figure that emitted a powerful aura that said not only did he deserve to be there, but he was born to be in that spot adored by the roaring crowds around him.

”PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME, TO THE ONE, THE ONLY, LORD TUGAST!”

“He was the most amazing man I had ever laid eyes on.” Lord Baldric said as he looked down at the man working the crowd into higher and higher pitches of excitement. “He did it all, he cut people in half and put them back together again, he swallowed swords, made people teleport from one place to the next, made massive animals the size of buildings vanish without a trace, commanded the most ferocious beasts alive to bend to his will…”

Everything Lord Baldric said played out below them, each one performed just as flawlessly as the next as Lord Tugast and his assistants thrilled and amazed with their confident displays of magic.

Baldric leaned down to Kotik and spoke with a barely controlled thrill in his voice, Kotik had never seen The Young Lord so enraptured, “And he did all of this while being entirely and completely mundane, without a speck of true magic to his name. No attunements, no items, no supernatural help or assistance of any kind. Just pure, unabashed showmanship, months of planning and preparation, obscenely long hours of practice, and an unflappable will to captivate his audience and leave them wanting more.”

With a flourish the scene faded. “I knew after attending that fateful day at the Bavaram Circus that I had to meet and apprentice under that great and powerful man, Lord Tugast. Immediately the invitation was made and within a day Lord Tugast was sitting in my Father’s private office Along with himself and Sargis…”

He grinned impishly at Kotik as he let the scene materialize, “And I proceeded to give those men a point by point presentation, for three and a half hours, about why I should join the Bavaram Circus for no less than Two Years as Lord Tugast’s apprentice Magician.”

Three deadpanned expressions of equally befuddled men for three entirely different reasons stared at the boy who had spent all night with Shahnaz setting up the presentation.

“It was safe to say, I had my work cut out for me.” Kotik giggled at the scene before him, “My Father did not want the future heir of a dukedom gallivanting around in a circus, Sargis was just generally concerned about how I was going to be safe, and Lord Tugast wondered if a boy of Noble Birth even had the fortitude and stamina necessary for the day to day life of a circus performer.”

“Young man,” Lord Tugast boomed while waving his hands, “I appreciate the drive and dedication it took to set all this up, however I must ask you. Are you fully prepared for the life that awaits you should you apprentice under me?” He leaned back and spoke in such a powerful and authoritative tone that he captivated child Baldric’s attention. “I will not have any dead weight in my Circus young man, you must understand. If animal cages need to be cleaned out, there is not a performer in my Troupe that will care that you are a Duke’s boy. Any unpleasant and arduous work that the audiences do not get to see behind the scene need to be taken care of by all hands, not just those without noble birth. If you want to learn how to be me, you need to live like I have.”

Child Baldric grinned broadly and proceeded to reveal that his presentation had taken those very things into account and that he was more than happy to take on such responsibilities.

“By the end of the three and a half hours,” Lord Baldric recounted with pride in his voice, “Even my Father who had been the most against the idea had been converted to my side. He could not deny his boy when he had put so much thought into this and had been so inspired.”

The scene faded to black.

“My only regret during that wonderful and magical time in my life is that I only asked for two years. Shahnaz would go on to become a headlining trapeze artist and Bavaram belly dancer, and within one year I had gone from the very bottom rung of the Circus’s hierarchy to headlining shows throughout the entire world.”

As he said this, It revealed that same tent from earlier with a different crowd than before, and the announcer was revving up the audience.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. HE IS THE YOUNGEST ARCH MAGICIAN TO EVER STAND BENEATH THESE TENTS, A CHILD PRODIGY OF MAGIC THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY HIS CUTE APPEARANCE FOLKS, HIS MAGIC IS THE REAL DEAL. GIVE A WARM WELCOME THE ARCH MAGICIAN, MASTER OF PRESTIDIGITATION, THE ANIMAL TAMER EXTRAORDINAIRE, TO THE ONE, THE ONLY…”

A miniature version of Lord Baldric appeared on the stage with all the theatrics and imposing aura of his Teacher Lord Tugast. A youthful face unfazed by the throngs of thousands that cheered down at him as he set about performing the tricks he had taken so long to learn, even with his knowledge of magic assisted education.

“LORD BALDRIC!”

With that Lord Baldric ended all illusions that were being cast with the aid of his near invisible assistants and looked down at his handiwork, an utterly enraptured and awe filled Kotik. His sweet present who was staring up at him with his sparkling blue eyes with pure excitement and delight.

The rehearsing he had done with his assistants in his Lair to make everything happen just right made it all worth it just to see his one cat boy audience so utterly enraptured by his feats of illusion.

“I am not a God Kotik, I have no more power than you, perhaps even less when it comes to magic. However,” He snapped his cane up and stuck it under his arm in a true showman’s pose, “The Kingdom Of Silbel, who thinks illusions and slight of hand are useless and not worth investing in, will never know the difference.”

He beamed at the Lynxian, “When I teach you the ways of magic, show you how to create and command your own assistants, build your own Lair, and finally join me in creating a Duel Lair with assistants made with our combined MageCrafting..."

His grin only broadened

“...we are going to give this country a show the likes of which they have never seen.”