MageCrafter - 8. Chapter 8

Lord Baldric let his Lynxian settle down and helped clean him off after the rather frightful and unsettling illusion of Babica Preja had spooked the boy so thoroughly. Some of that alarm, which Baldric noted with some amusement, was also flavored with awe at how Baldric could stand in front of such a being without showing an ounce of fear.

While he had helped the lad settle his nerves, Kotik had even voiced the question as to how he could be so fearless.

Baldric beamed and ruffled the cat boy’s ears. “I see you are taken in by my performance again my sweet!” He knelt down at the desk Kotik was sitting on and smirked at the lad with that same playfully triumphant look he had when he had revealed what he had done in the courtyard.

“With enough rehearsals and convincing enough illusory representations of Babica, my sweet, anyone can train their nerves to not make their bladders betray themselves in her presence, or have your knees knocked about in fright. It also helps that I have had quite a lot of experience dealing with training enormous animals for the Bavaram Circus, and Learned from Lord Tugast himself how to handle the intimidating gazes of thousands while being more imposing than all of them put together.”

He stood in his showmanship pose as he beamed down at Kotik, tipping a hat he momentarily materialized on his head, “I don’t need to be fearless. I just need to make the audience think I’m fearless. With enough practice and research on your audience, such a feat is child's play in comparison to what our goals are.”

“Now, back to the lesson!” Professor Baldric resumed control of the classroom as he made his way back to the front of the room that had been forged inside of his lair.

“To give a small recap on what we have gone over so far; The first law of Magic says that magic items that are used to aid and support natural processes of this realm of existence are far more efficient than the use of Magic items that generate what one could describe as ‘supernatural’ phenomena. Should you seek to perform supernatural phenomena, collateral needs to be offered up in the form of at least one attunement. Attunments, which I mentioned, are considered something of value that one can barter with the Magic item for their services.”

He spun on his heel and pointed to Kotik with the wand-like object in his hand that he had been using to point at the blackboard with. “Now, the question is, What are Attunments and why are they considered valuable to magic items? Any guesses Kotik?”

Kotik pondered the question, leaning over onto the Desk and scratching his chin as he gave it serious thought. Baldric’s heart warmed a bit when he saw the Cat boy’s tail actually move of its own accord and scratch the boys head as his face scrunched up in confusion.

“The only thing I can think of is there are only three of them. Whenever The Old Man had a limited stock of something he’d end up having to raise the price of it to try and keep it from going away too quickly.”

“Partially, though not quite the full picture.” Baldric said, enjoying watching his brilliant little Lynxian attempting to sort out the answer. “In truth, I am one of the few surface dwelling people that actually know the answer to this question Kotik, so you are in the hands of a very capable teacher today.”

With a flourish Baldric rapped against the Blackboard with a flick of his wrist. An ornate pattern of circles and symbols grew out on the blackboard that Kotik recognized instantaneously. Almost anyone with even a passing understanding of religion would be able to recognize the image in front of him, for it was represented in many stained glass windows of temples devoted to some of the gods.

It was the iconic representation of the Greater Pantheon of Deities. The Gods and Goddesses. The vaunted higher beings that were always on the lips of the residents of Silbel, even Kotik who was not especially religious himself.

“The true nature of Attunments, Magic Users, and MageCrafters all find their origins in the same answer. They are an investiture from the gods and goddesses above, granted to either a person or bloodline for garnering a deity or deities favor in one way or another.”

“Investiture? What’s that?” Kotik’s head cocked to the side at the strange word. He had a feeling he knew something of what it meant in context but he still wanted to be sure.

“Think of it like how my family’s bloodline puts me in line to become the next Duke of this Dukedom.” He pointed to his family crest of Duke Bertolde, “Somewhere in my bloodline, an ancestor of mine garnered favor with the Kingdom of Silbel and was granted the title of Duke, as well as privileges that come associated with that title. Magic Users, MageCrafters, and their respective attunments are authority and privileges in that same refrain. The difference is these giftings of authority and privilege the person, or their bloodline, are granted comes from one or more gods within The Greater Pantheon, not the Silbel government.”

Kotik was deeply confused by this reveal. Some of it made sense, but other parts of it just raised more questions than it answered.

“I thought only Paladins, Clerics, and Priests got their powers from the gods?” Kotik said, his brow creasing in befuddlement as he tried to wrap his mind around this.

Baldric smiled at Kotik. “Let me put it this way Kotik. Are the Gods and Goddesses all the same? Do they have the same personalities?”

Kotik shook his head quickly at that. “Not at all. The gods even fight each other sometimes from what I heard from the bards that sang at The Old Man’s Tavern. Some like to watch us below and mess with people. Others party all day, or are super serious and run the laws of the Greater Pantheon. Some of the male gods even spot mortals they lust after so much, they create a representation of themselves to dwell among us below for a short time, simply to have sex with that mortal. ” Kotik said that last part with a giggle as he stole Baldric a glance,

“You might have more in common with gods than I first thought Lord Baldric.”

Baldric looked shocked before he let out the biggest laugh that Kotik had heard out of the lad. Up till that point most of Baldric’s amusement had been smirks and playful smiles, but his laugh was absolutely delightful on Kotiks ears. He wanted to hear more of it. A lot more of it.

“I do have something of a reputation like that I will admit.” Baldric said, amusement still in his voice even as he resumed control over his laughter. “However that should answer your question as to why only some of the gods have Temples with devout and highly religious Magic Users like Clerics and Paladins, while others have Wizards and the like which are not required to pay the same reverence to their patron deity or deities.”

Baldric beamed at Kotik, “At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, it largely depends on how much the particular deity wants their ego stroked that dictates what kind of Magic Users they field into this realm.” He grinned, acting as if he were looking up to see if he were going to be struck by a stray lightning bolt for his quip.

“The sub pantheon in charge of the realm of Illusions and dreams for example,” Lord Baldric continued, pointing to the circle where those gods were situated on the blackboard, “ are not ones to need the praises of their followers. They instead like to play with their audience's senses in the realms of sleep and visions and find enjoyment in that. Whichever god or goddess from that plane of existence that granted my investiture of Illusory Wizard must have seen something in me which they quite liked.”

He rapped the Blackboard, and this time there was a circle surrounded by three rings.

“Regardless of the reason behind the Investiture or what deity it comes from, the Greater Pantheon has decided some time in the past to standardize how many attunments their chosen representatives gain from their gifting, with only small variations. If you are a Magic User or a MageCrafter, it is almost guaranteed that you have garnered three attunements for attaining that Investiture. Those Attunments are the privileges granted by your title. They are also the currency of value that one can barter when interacting with a magic item and enlisting their aid to perform a supernatural task in this realm.”

Kotik’s hand shot up as he thought of something. Professor Baldric pointed to him to speak. “I have a question, Lord Baldric; If MageCrafters and Magic Users are given this stuff by gods, isn’t it really bad that Silbel is sticking slave collars on every Magic User then?”

A devilish grin played on Baldric’s face, enjoying how quickly Kotik caught on to the implications behind his words, “Skipping ahead in the lesson plan are we, my sweet? Hold that thought, my brilliant little Lynxian. I will be getting to that soon enough.”

He returned to the Blackboard, thoroughly enjoying his role as a Professor. It was especially fun when his classroom, the audience of the educator, was paying such rapt attention to his every word and showing that he was following along with his inquiries. If he had never become the Lord Baldric he was today through the trial by fire that was his two years as a circus Arch Magician, he could have easily seen himself taking up a position at one of the many universities or academies as an educational instructor. It had much the same thrill for him when it came to captivating his audience and bringing in the big reveals of his lesson plan’s secrets.

“Now, what do you think this diagram represents.” he said, pointing to the circle surrounded by three rings. Instead of the circle being in the center of the rings, it rested on the bottom, and each ring radiated out and over the circle and created an eye pleasing yet simple design.

Kotik cocked his head and looked at it for a moment, letting his tail swish about behind him curiously.

“I think the three rings are the attunments, but I’m not entirely sure what the circle is supposed to be. Maybe it’s representing the person with the attunments?”

“You almost have it Kotik, very close,” Baldric said in a praising tone of voice. Kotik felt a mix of mild frustration at not getting it right, but excitement in the challenge of trying to figure out the answer before Baldric gave it. He enjoyed learning from Baldric quite a lot! Professor Baldric looked fondly at his pupil as he continued, “ Really you were only off by a technicality more than anything, but it is a very important distinction to make. That circle in this case represents the soul of a Magic User or a MageCrafter. The attunments the investiture grants you are draped around your soul in three respective layers, though none of them are particularly larger than the other. Beyond that, you have this realms natural magic that you have access to based on certain environmental factors that we’ll get into in another lesson.”

He clicked his heels together and turned to the Lynxian, pointing dramatically with his professor’s wand. “Now Kotik. Pop quiz, why do items want the collateral known as Attunments?”

Kotik had to get over the shock of being put on the spot like that, but he quickly recovered and thought about what Baldric had said up to that point. His face brightened as he remembered the answer. “It’s because the item wants you to not let it get destroyed right?”

“Exactly! You, my good pupil, should see me after class,” His stoic professor voice took on a more sultry and rumbling tone to it “ Your professor would like to give you a reward for being such a fantastic listener.”

Kotik’s face flushed bright red as he squirmed in his seat at that. He liked the sound of Stoic professor Baldric giving him ‘rewards’ quite a lot if it was anything like he was thinking it was.
“Now, when The Old Man of your Tavern accepted collateral for tabs that had gone too high like you had brought up as an example, what happened when someone didn’t fulfill their end of the deal?”

“It made The Old Man real mad. Usually he’s just sorta grumpy, but in a nice way if that makes sense? When someone fails to pay a tab though, then he gets mad. Made the fur on my tail frizz with how mad he got at people sometimes over that. Especially when he gave them so much time to pay.” Kotik thought about it, “Not only would he keep whatever the person left, but they usually were barred from opening another tab with him until they had proven they were going to be good this time around, and sometimes even then he wouldn’t do it.”

“This Old Man sounds like a very smart individual. I may want to meet him sometime.” Baldric said with bemusement. Kotik’s face lit up with an enormous smile of excitement, “Oh?! Can I come if you do? Please!?”

Though they were normally referred to as puppy dog eyes, the Lynxian was able to perform them flawlessly despite his own eyes being feline in origin. For the first time in recent memory on the Bertolde estate, something occurred that only legends among the Maids spoke about. The sheer power of the pleading and adorable expression that Kotik unleashed had managed to perform a supernatural feat without requiring an attunement.

Lord Baldric blushed.

It was only for the briefest of moments, but he had to adjust his clothes and recenter himself before he let that flush get any more power over him. His Kotik had a devastatingly powerful ability with that expression! He was not to be underestimated at all!

Still, anything that could make his Lynxian give him that powerful of an adorable pleading look was worth putting some investment into.

“I will certainly see about arranging a meeting with this Old Man of The Old Man’s Tavern,” He paused and creased his brow, “Are you absolutely certain he doesn’t give out a name of some kind.”

Kotik nodded, still looking very excited at the prospect of seeing his old employer. “Yep The Old Man never gives out his name to anybody. Not even me. He’ll just insist you call him the Old Man until you drop the subject. I have no idea why he does that. I think it’s just because he’s weird.”

“Hmm…” Baldric made a mental note to do some investigating on this individual. There had to be a reason behind him not divulging his name. He is also someone that Kotik holds in very high regards, so that put him on a much bigger pedestal than most people in Baldric’s eyes. From the way Kotik told it, this person had been the one good thing to happen to him in an otherwise very traumatic and painful childhood. He had also wanted to throw him a birthday party before Baldric’s people had found Kotik and made their move.

Plans began to form in Baldric’s mind on how he’d arrange this meeting with The Old Man, this shouldn’t deviate them much off their ultimate goals anyway so he thought he’d allow for such a deviation. Plus, it might allow for him to see that truly devastatingly cute pleading look in Kotik eyes again.

“To return to the topic at hand,” Baldric said after clearing his throat and letting his plans stew in the back of his mind to formulate properly, “Magic Items behave very similarly to The Old Man. If you allow for the item to be destroyed while you have an attunement with it, that will translate into damage to that particular attunement slot, or ring depending on what diagram you are using.”

He tapped one of the rings on the diagram with his wand, which caused the representation of an attunement to animate and look cracked and damaged.

“This damage translates to a status condition known as Exhaustion, a cursed state that will slow you down both mentally and physically, hamper your ability to perform actions, and in more extreme cases paralyze your body until you’ve properly healed. If you allow a magic item you are attuned with to be destroyed, it will cause you problems for a week at the bare minimum. I’ve seen it take upwards of six months to recover from having three attunements be damaged at the same time from having their magic items blown up all at once.”

Kotik’s eyes grew wide at that. He then thought back to his fight with Darzi. “So when I destroyed Darzi’s Explosion Teleportation item…”

A big smile played on Baldric’s face. “Darzi was an exception, but yes you didn’t JUST hurt his body that day. Explosion Teleportation is a Fivefold attunement item. Destroying one of those would be normally enough to deal devastating damage to a person’s very soul as well as all three attunements. That kind of damage would take far longer to recover than a simple attunement would.”

Kotik’s eyes were wide at that. “Attuning to items sounds really dangerous.”

“It is.” Baldric nodded solemnly. “You do not want to be attuned to an Item for any longer than you absolutely have to, and if you do attune to an item you want to make sure that it is a task that you absolutely need to have performed. This also puts the incentive on you as a MageCrafter to not simply make your items in any old way you want. You want to make sure the attunement item you make is very difficult to destroy, or make it very difficult for your opponent to tell that it is a magic item, and preferably both if you can manage it.”

Baldric grinned at Kotik, “However if you are willing to accept the risks implicit in attunements, you can achieve some truly impressive feats of magic. Like that Thunderstorm I made on the night you met my MaidStaff and Sargis.”

Kotik’s eyes shot wide open in recognition at that. “I thought that storm was weird! It popped up out of nowhere and I didn’t see any signs of it forming earlier in the day! I thought I was losing my touch as a hunter and a lynxian on being able to read the weather. I would have worn more clothes if I knew it was going to pour like that.”

Kotik scrunched his face thinking back to that night. “Why DID you make that storm, and how much attunment did you need to do something like that? I remember it pretty clearly, and it was a crazy storm. I’ve only seen clouds that thick and dark on the shores of the ocean during hurricane season.” Kotik shuddered at the one time he had to stay the night near an ocean. Of all the truly vile and evil things in this world, the fact that so much of the world was covered in his worst nightmare stood at the top. He could handle rain and small puddles and such, but the second it can swallow up his body is the second it becomes a threat!

Baldric knew all too well that Kotik’s shudder was probably about himself mentioning the ocean. He grinned internally noting that he was going to have to personally get this Lynxian into a bath soon to have some truly enjoyable fun at his cat eared boy’s expense. He had replayed the footage of his Maids scrubbing the flailing and animated boy down with great delight at his reactions. He was waiting for the right time to do so. He was certain that he’d be more than up to the task of taming the flailing lad when the time came.

“The storm was imbued with a powerful anti divination spell that prevented anyone within several leagues to scry within a few leagues of that Tavern. It was such a powerful anti scrying incantation I’m sure that your Lynxian ears were probably having a rough time that night.”

“Wait what?” Kotik sat up much straighter as he looked at Baldric with some shock in his voice, “How did you know I was having a hard time hearing with those ears? I thought it was just cause the rain was flattening them.”

“It was doing that, in more ways than one.” He grinned at Kotik, “You’ve never expressly stated this to me, but you generally have a read on peoples emotions correct? You have something of a inner grasp on how someone is feeling even if you’re not sure where it comes from. Is that right?”

Kotik’s eyes were nearly bulging out of his sockets now. “HOW could you possibly know that?! I never tell anyone about that! I’ve even met other lynxians and they didn’t seem to be able to do it, so I thought I was just weird or something.”

Lord Baldric grinned at the Lynxian, “I did some pretty extensive research on Lynxians nearly the second I found out who you were, my Sweet Kotik. I can assure you you are not weird, at least not because of that particular ability. Certain Lynxian bloodlines were gifted such abilities by the Gods, sort of a minor gifting that is outside of the Magic Users and MageCrafters. Whoever your parents were, at least one of them had such power as well. It also explained why you gained such control over your MageCrafting so quickly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Although from what I read it doesn’t register as you ‘hearing’ the emotions, your ears can glean information on more than just other people. You can also use your ears to proverbially hear sentient magic items that are near you. In fact from what I've been told by Sargis, you’re probably so sensitive to magic you could tell just by having it touch your skin.”

Kotik nodded, remembering with a slight shiver how Darzi’s hand felt and the general sense that he felt like he had magic items on him when he couldn’t see any. He reached up and touched his cat ears with some curiosity. “My ears can do all that? I never knew.”

“I’m quite envious.” Baldric said with a sigh,” It would have made learning my MageCrafting abilities a whole lot easier. I know of accounts of a female lynxian MageCrafter in history who could proverbially ‘listen’ to her preferred material as well. From what Sargis told me, you can do the same. You claimed to even know things like the people who actually worked on the Cart, which is quite impressive.”

A look of anger slowly cropped up on Kotik’s face as the pieces started to come together in his mind. “If the gods are so interested in doling out these investiture things and giftings and stuff like that, why haven’t they stopped Silbel from collering us and making our lives a living hell? Why aren’t they doing anything about it?”

To Kotik’s surprise, Lord Baldric laughed.

“My sweet Kotik. It is the purest form of Irony that you are the one to ask that, cause I have never seen an investiture done quite so dramatically as yours was. Whatever those men said to you in that cart pissed off an entire Sub-Pantheon of deities all at the same time. You want to know how I know that?”

Kotik nodded, looking very confused.

“According to the King of the Undersea Kingdom of Triton,” Kotik shuddered at the thought of an entire kingdom residing beneath an ocean. What vile beings were these Tritons! Only true demons could dwell in such depths! “, A True Dominion MageCrafter can only be granted an investiture if the entire Sub-Pantheon of Gods in that particular realm of existence approves the motion to grant it. My sweet Kotik, it was not only approved with you, it was unanimously approved and forcefully pushed through in such a way that it made the hairs stand on the back of my neck.”

Kotik’s face grew into a knowing and almost menacing grin as the implications of what that meant really came to the forefront.

“You and I are not the only ones angry with the Kingdom of Silbel, are we.”

Lord Baldric chuckled, “No my sweet, there are at least two sub pantheons of deities, the Sub-Pantheon of Water and Wood respectively, in our Greater Pantheon that have thrown their backing into the overthrow of Silbel’s Government. They will not directly intervene,” He waved a finger at Kotik at that, “do not mistake Investiture for direct divine aid and become complacent. However, think of it like we are a business like your Old Man’s Tavern, and we have acquired some very powerful backers who would be pretty happy seeing us succeed.”

Kotik was floored, his brain was practically hurting by how complex and huge in scope all of this was. “Lord Baldric, where did you get all this information? You said the ‘surface dwelling’ nations don’t have this knowledge, and you mentioned an,” Kotik snarled and shuddered, “Undersea Kingdom of Triton, and you had spoke with their king. Is that where you learned it from?”

Lord Baldric grinned, time for another big reveal.

“I learned this information when I was among the Undersea Nations, yes.” His grin broadened, “That’s also where I learned being True Dominion MageCrafter of Water effectively makes me Emperor of all those nations, and subordinates their nations rulers under me. I was given the Investiture of Emperor by all three nations in a pretty ostentatious ceremony.”

“Wh-wh-WHAT?!”

“Yes my sweet, Technically speaking I’m already an Emperor. Though we need to keep that a secret for now. As far as Silbel knows, I’m merely a trade ambassador for the Undersea Nations. Should our overthrow of Silbel have to resort to war however, well,” He grinned at Kotik, mirth glinting in his eyes. "Let's just say we won’t have to worry about where the Naval forces will come from.”

“Don’t you want war?” Kotik asked, noting that he said in such a way to indicate there were ways around war. Kotik shamefully admitted to himself he had fantasized more than a few times of being a devastating whirlwind of death on a battlefield against people who had so thoroughly wronged him. Baldric had played that aspect up the night he revealed his plan, but he had a feeling this was part of the deceiving while trusting the intent behind it discussion that Baldric had had with him when he laid out his ground rules.

“I want retribution Kotik," Baldric intoned with a serious and somber tone, "that is not the same as war.”

The world went dark and silent around Kotik before they found themselves high in the sky among the clouds. It made Kotiks stomach lurch as he pounced from his desk that was still visible into Baldric’s arms in fright. Lord Baldric was more than happy to carry his lynxian in his arms like a princess while he pointed down to the nation of Silbel below them.

"I also want to replace the ruler-ship of Silbel with my own,” the nation became highlighted to indicate where the borders of the nation were, “however that is not a simple task by any stretch, even with my MageCrafting and the backing of a very powerful naval force from the Undersea Nations at my disposal. Silbel is a largely landlocked nation with only a few ports to speak of that they use for trade. They do not invest much in the navy, instead focusing their efforts on increasing their ground and air capabilities.”

As he said this he floated down into the continent at break neck speeds before hovering over a representation of Silbels military. Kotik had never seen so many people in his life, much less heavily armored ones. He recognized some of the types of soldiers that were present, like Maids and Butlers who were wearing more combat focused versions of their uniforms while still being unmistakably of the same design.

He could also see the highly polished and ornate legion of Paladins and Clerics, who were wearing the holy symbols of their deities and wielded weapons that seemed to shine with blinding light. They favored hammers and maces of immense size, MageCrafted to be usable only by the one attuned to it, otherwise they would be staggeringly heavy and unbalanced to the user.

Abjurationist forces could be seen near Carriages among all the ranks of Silbel soldiers. Kotik instantly recognized the Carriages and what they did because Baldric’s own Maids used one in the altercation with the Warlocks. Unlike Paladins and Clerics, schools of magic like Abjurationists were peppered among all the various squadrons and legions that stretched out as far as the eye could see, so they could lay down magical shields and wards to protect their combat focused units wherever fire was being concentrated. Kotik realized they probably could teleport so they could corral carriages together and strengthen shielding and wards in a particular spot, or strategically deploy forces that were in a disadvantageous spot initially. It was all so mind boggling looking at all these men and women standing in perfect formation for Baldric’s explanation.

“Silbel stands as a superpower with its centralized concentration of magic items, users, and MageCrafters all directly subordinate to the government. Its ground forces are brutally efficient at what they do. There is also the international politics of the surface nations to consider. Should the overthrow be done poorly, the other nations will merely see us as upstart warlords and not consider us a legitimate governing body, which would ultimately lead to a cascade effect of war that would encompass the world.”

He looked at the Lynxian in his arms and gave his forehead a chaste kiss, “No, a War with Silbel would be like trying to fight me within my Lair. Almost certainly suicide. No, my sweet Kotik, what we need is a performance that will strike right where the Kingdom is weakest, and where it has done itself no favors.”

He beamed and brought his face close to Kotik. “We do not engage them at their strength Kotik. Instead we will use our knowledge of this country to bring about its downfall from within, destroying the faith people have in Silbel’s government and shown through, shall we say, 'divine wonders’ that they are not fit to rule.”He grinned, so close to kissing Kotik who was more than willing to reciprocate, especially with the older teen being so tantalizingly close. “No Kotik, we aren’t going to wage war with Silbel. We are going to bring Divine Retribution that will leave in their mind no doubt as to who the rightful rulers of the nation are, and who the villains of the story are when the history books are finally written about what we’ve done. As the Undersea Nations put it, we will show that the Mandate Of Heaven has shifted, and it no longer backs their king, but us.”

***

“You wanted to see me after class, Professor Baldric?”

Kotik’s tail swished behind him, smiling shyly as he swayed back and forth. He was looking up at Baldric with his hands coyly behind his back, shifting from one foot to another as he stood behind The older teen professor's desk that he had his assistants make for the class. The young Lord, currently acting as a teacher, could hear the faint rumbling of a purr emitting from about Kotik’s chest and throat area as his big blue eyes looked up at him.

"Yes I certainly did young man," He leaned in and grinned a mere breath away from Kotik's mouth, "I did say I had a reward for you after all."

Baldric lightly gripped the lad by the waist and lifted him up, plopping him down onto the desk as he took Kotik’s mouth for his own. Kotik’s hands gripped the edge of the desk as he arched his neck and leaned into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of closeness with the teen quite a lot. When they broke the kiss, the Lynxian shimmied a bit on the desk and gave Baldric a coy smile with his eyes upturned towards him.

“You know professor,” oh Lord Baldric was really getting into how mischievously this lad was talking right now, “ I’m not sure if you should be doing that with one of your students.”

“Oh do you now? And where would you have heard such a thing hmm?” Even as he asked that he began to nibble on the younger teens neck and push his back down onto the table. The purring from Kotik rumbled even louder as he did so, lightly vibrating his mouth as he teased the boy’s flesh. Since he had generated the clothes Kotik was wearing, it was a mere pittance of magical energy to make his Lynxian’s trousers vanish into vapor, while leaving the boy’s shirt and socks where they were.

As his mouth worked Kotik’s neck and sensitive Lynxian ears, he moved the boy’s now bare legs up, bending them at the knee into the lads torso and made short work of binding each of Kotik's slender wrists and ankles together with ice restraints that resembled ropes and weren’t cold. He then had some additional ropes snake their way up from the desk and tie onto those restraints, while some others from behind Kotik and to the side pulled his knees more taut and made sure the limbs weren’t going to move around much.

Pulling back to look at his handiwork, his eyes thoroughly enjoyed the lewd display before him. Kotik’s bared rump was on full display and winking with anticipation, and his little hairless cock was harder than a diamond at the moment, poking up from just underneath his shirt. While he had been tying his wrists and ankles together, the tail that was hanging over the desk had its own bonds holding it against the drawers on the side, preventing Kotik from covering up his privates with it should the thought arise.

Kotik now had a ball inside of his mouth that was strapped around his head, and his face was on fire as his perfectly blue eyes stared at Baldric with need and desire in them. He wiggled his rump as best as he could on the table with him being held in such a compromised position as he was.

The Lynxian moaned into the gag and curled his socked toes as Lord Baldric went down and began to taste the boy’s rosebud with his tongue, eagerly lapping at the boy’s entrance and teasing it with his tongue that he made very cold with his MageCrafting abilities. Kotik had not expected to like the feeling of an icy tongue down there. However the new sensation, especially when it probed inside of the lad, made his back arch and his mouth moan in delight. He wanted to wrap his legs around Baldric’s head in appreciation of his efforts, but his lewd restraints kept him from moving. Such helplessness at the hands of Baldric was exhilarating in a way that made his heart pump wildly.

That delight only magnified as his Lord’s mouth moved upwards and took his entire boyhood, balls and all into his mouth and began to expertly tease the lynxian into a half mad state of lust right there on the desk. His head threw back and twisted about as he wriggled in his restraints, everything flexing and pleading for release. He’d been with Baldric enough times now however that he knew it wasn’t going to come easy. Baldric had complete control over when the boy had an orgasm. He could tease him right to the edge and leave him there for as long as he wanted until the Cat eared boy couldn’t even form a coherent thought in his overheated brain.

As his mouth tended to Kotik’s cock and balls inside the now much warmer chambers of his mouth, his fingers set to work at his entrance, not even building up to slipping three fingers into the quite tight hole and feeling for all the right places. His Hips were bucking of their own accord into Baldric, and his watering lust filled eyes begged desperately for release and permission to cum. .

Once Kotik’s face was right at the heat and level of desire that Baldric wanted, he wasted no time moving up and Kissing Kotik, making the gag vanish right as he shoved his shaft into his slicked and lubricated entrance. Baldric thoroughly enjoyed the mewling howl of pleasure that fired down his throat from Kotik being so completely filled with his shaft.

By the time he was done fucking that cat boy silly for being so brilliant in class, Shahnaz would notice when they walked out of the Lair hours later that Kotik’s legs were positively wobbly and unbalanced and he had the silliest flushed grin on his face. He was also rubbing his cheek against Lord Baldric’s side as he leaned against him for support, his tail swishing quite happily as he did so. The tiefling could only give a snort of a laugh and shake her head at her master and his lover’s antics.