Chapter 28: 26- How to be Special

Marik took Sai to the entrance of the cave he had crawled out of what felt like forever ago.  Once there, he found a fallen boulder, likely from when his sister and her group had come through, that seemed about right and sat down on it.  He looked at Sai's puzzled yet cute face and indicated for her to do the same.  She looked over the area for a moment and chose a boulder to sit on as well.  After a few moments of silence Marik finally started talking.

"I guess we can call this a celebration reward?  Your master and mine both already know about this but you aren't allowed to talk to anyone about it, even you sister.  I'll probably tell Kiara about this myself someday.  I was born with a very weak soul in the cursed villages.  That's not too abnormal from what I hear.  What is abnormal is that I had an extra half soul that was far older attached to it.  The whim of a god somewhere had found the soul of a human from another world, sliced it in half, and stuck it in a poor wolfkin's body.  As the boy grew older he slowly started getting the memories and knowledge of that half soul."

Marik paused in his story and looked at Sai.  She was looking back at him while listening to his story with some interest.

"That knowledge and experience, as faded as it is, is still based on a completely different way of doing things from the other world, likely the same as where the human's summoned heroes come from, because there is no sorcery or magic there.  So when I started learning sorcery and magic I saw things in different ways and had different ideas about what could be done with it.  I also learned how dangerous my knowledge is.  For that alone I knew I could be hunted down if the wrong people ever found out.  That knowledge also led to what I decided to call arcane arts.  The third and latest mystical art that blends the previous two together with the potential to be stronger than either but with a tougher starting line and harder to learn.  With it being new it's even harder because everyone in my lifetime will essentially be making it up as they go.  That includes you."

He shifted a bit to turn more towards her and saw that she was trying to keep quiet about something so he made a motion with his hand to let her know he was taking a pause so she could talk.  She looked at him for a bit before nodding her head and saying what she wanted.

"I love you.  I loved you for years now.  I thought about it a lot after you and Master yelled at us.  Kiara loves you, too.  I know you don't really love us back like that.  I've been watching you constantly after all.  You at least look at me more than Kiara, though, so I think I have a chance even if Kiara doesn't.  I think she actually fell in love with you first, too.  You're the first one who ever seemed to understand us.  Even Master never seemed to really understand us.  I want to be next you and with you as much as possible and in any way possible.  I decided a long time ago that I wanted my future to be with you in whatever it is you do.  That's what I decided when you told us we should try and decide what futures we wanted.  I'll always do everything I can to be as close as I can to you."

"Well.  That's quite the confession even if I'm not really surprised.  I'll tell you this much at least, then.  My plan is to leave right after my next birthday when I turn fifteen.  It's legal adult age across most of the world and the sooner I start off the better I feel my chances at surviving will be.  I don't particularly mind if either you or Kiara want to come.  If you do come, though, you have to be ready.  I've spent a lot of time getting ready...almost my whole life..."

"I...I'll try.  This is only the next step for that as well.  I'm ready to do this."

"Okay.  I don't want you to do it the same way I did, though.  I almost died then, after all.  Hmm.  Let's try it this way.  You created your own spell like I told you to, right?  Do you like that spell?  Good.  Let's see it."

Sai weaved a simple spell and suddenly shot a small golden flame towards the nearest tree.  The flame drifted lazily until it hit the tree, where it stuck and stayed for a few moments before fading out.  Sai looked over at him with a smug expression.  He smiled at her lightly before speaking.

"So it's an illusion, right?  Does it do anything other than be a pretty golden flame and stick to the first surface it hits?"

"No.  Was I supposed to make it do more?"

"No.  That's fine.  Now.  Do that with sorcery."

"Huh?  Umm.  Wait.  Wouldn't that burn down the forest, though?"

"How would an illusion burn down the forest?  Was that flame in your spell actually hot?"

"Well, no.  Hmm.  So, light sorcery, then.  I'll try..."

She focused for a bit before creating a small ball of light on her palm.  After a while of intense concentration she finally managed to make it golden.  Then she threw it towards the tree and it disappeared as soon as it left her hand.  She looked back at him and pouted a little.

"I'll try again."

"No. that's okay.  That was good enough.  Let me ask you now.  What was the difference between using the two?"

"Umm.  One was magic and did what I wanted and the other was sorcery and didn't?"

"No.  They both did what you wanted within the realm of they could.  Let's try asking this way.  What is sorcery?"

"Using the soul to make things and force things."

"Are you sure?"

"Huh?  That's what Master said."

"That's what everyone thinks, yes.  I wasn't asking what everyone thought sorcery was.  I asked what it is."

"It's different?"

"Did you make that light out of nothing?  Did you make that golden color you added to it out of nothing?"

"Umm.  Yes?"

"Really.  Why does your soul feel a little tired then?  No.  What you did was form part of your soul into the material you needed and then tried to forcibly shape and use it from there.  That's what sorcery is.  Now.  What is magic?"

"Umm.  Casting spells?  Wait, I can get this.  Umm.  You use your soul.  You make it follow certain directions.  Then...things happen?"

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"Much closer.  Magic is using your soul as a tool to follow a set of rules that crafts certain materials into the form you want based on those rules.  Does that make sense?"

"Kind of?  Not really."

"Okay.  Hmm.  Let's say that a...hmm...blacksmith of sorts, I guess, wants to make a tea kettle.  He needs a forge and a hammer and tools like that right?  He can make the tea kettle fancy or plain, he could even just make a cup, or he could do all sorts of things and make a tea kettle with it's own mixing stick and heating plate.  The blacksmith is a mage, the tea kettle is the spell, and all the tools are the soul.  Does that make sense now?"

"Yes!  I think I understand."

"Great!  Now for the big question.  Where'd the metal to make the tea kettle come from?"

"Huh?  Wait.  Didn't he already have the metal?"

"I'm not asking if he did or didn't have it.  To make the tea kettle you need the metal, so obviously he had it.  Where did it come from?"

"Umm.  He got it from somewhere?"

"Yes, but where?"

"The store?  You won't take that as an answer, though.  Uh.  The ground, then?"

"Hmm.  I can accept that, I guess.  As long as you can explain your answer in terms of mystical arts.  No?  Let me ask that a different way and see if that helps.  If magic is a craftsmen using tools to form materials nearby into certain shapes using a design, then sorcery would be like having the ability to turn your hair into metal then trying and shape it into a knife shape using your bare hands.  With magic, the materials are pulled from all over and wherever you can, usually closest to you.  So, what happens if you try to make a kettle out of your hair?"

"Umm.  Huh?  Wait, you can't mix magic and sorcery, though.  Especially not like that.  People have tried before."

"*sigh* Did they try while using the right materials, though?  Making a metal kettle out of mud just doesn't work.  That illusion spell you made, for instance.  What sorcery materials did you pull from around you to make it?  Just light?  Light would dissipate instantly, though, just like when you tried to do it with sorcery.  Light also won't make it look like flames.  Flames have lines about them that make them distinctive.  When you draw lines on something the look darker, right.  So to make it flame-like you would probably have to put in some darkness materials.  Then you wanted it to travel in between here and there where there's a bunch of empty...space, right?  So you need a little space material.  It stuck on something, too.  So when it got there it was held in place in the same space.  You probably need a little more space material.  How may people do you think that that simple spell you made would need at least that much sorcery material just for that?"

"Wow.  Wait, so all spells actually use sorcery already?"

"Hmm.  I think it's better to say they all use soul material drawn from around you.  Arcane arts is using your own materials for your own crafts.  It's both that simple and that complicated.  Go ahead and try."

"Umm.  Hmm.  Hm?  It's a lot harder to do this for some reason."

"Don't rush.  Do it slowly and carefully.  Whenever it feels like the spell is, for lack of a better term, suffocating then just add some sorcery material to it.  Don't worry if you fail and mess it up a few times, we can keep trying until you get it.  This is why you had to learn to do multiple sorceries and spells at the same time.  Don't try to just shove the sorcery material in, either.  Let a little of one kind into whichever part of the spell your doing and if it start rejecting it try the nest kind you think makes the most sense."

"Hmm.  Like this?  I think?"

Marik smile as he watched her try and several times.  Each time she failed and had to start again he would try and give advice on what part he thought she might have messed up on.  At one point he finally made the suggestion to try altering the spell just a little.  He explained that adding or replacing some part from a spell of a different form that she thought would do something the same or similar, or sometimes taking a little something out if she added too much, might end up using slightly different materials or make it a little easier to work that part.  Finally, after at least an hour and maybe more had passed, she managed to make it all the way through and had a strange and very bright golden flame sitting on her palm.  It was only about half the size but twice the brightness of her original spell's version and seemed almost like it was only sitting on her palm out of choice as sometimes either it or her palm would move a little and be separated.

"Congrats.  Now see what you can do with that.  It's an arcanistry so it may end up working a little different than what your spell used to do."

"Uh. Okay.  Go, flame!  Fly!"

She started to throw it but her hand halfway passed through it.  Then, separate from the actions of her hand, it flew off in the direction she tried to throw it.  Mostly.  It seemed her aim was thrown off slightly by her confusion of the flame going partly into her hand and thus the flame was flying more towards the side of the tree than at the tree.  Then the flame seemed to readjust itself as she stared it.  Shock suddenly showed on her face and the flame faded out, more like a ghost than a dying flame.

"Hmm?  Oh I see.  That's what happened.  Ahem.  Remember how sorcery works?  You have some control of the materials, right?  So it seems like you can control the flame at will, now.  Well, its movements at least.  Again, congratulations.  You can never use magic or sorcery again."

"Huh?  Thanks.  Wait.  Nothing really happened to make me lose any of it, though?  I can still use it, watch.  Umm.  Hold on.  Urgh.  Why isn't it working?"

"Because you learned.  The deepest parts of your mind and even your soul now know that magic and sorcery can be used together so every time you try to use one without the other your mind and soul stop you.  It's just like...hmm...what's a good and safe example?  Ah.  When something hurts really quickly, like stepping on a thorn with bare feet, you don't think about it but you move your foot away.  Even Kiara moves her foot away a little before stepping in it more.  That initial reaction is kind of like what's happening with your magic and sorcery now.  They just won't let you use one without the other ever again.  And that's why just the knowledge of arcane arts is so dangerous.  I taught Master how to do it once.  After less than a day of having it he had to wipe out a week of memories and part of his soul just to be able to use magic and sorcery again.  That was just from knowing how it's done.  If they haven't learned all that stuff I made you learn before today and what to do with it then just having that 'how' knowledge could destroy the life of anyone who bases themselves on the mystical arts, like your master."

"Wow.  So never talk about it to anyone.  Got it.  So I'm like you now, right?  I'm special?"

"Yes.  Now you're special like me and will have to work even harder.  Come on.  Let's head back before everyone starts to worry too much."

"Okay!"

Marik stood up and started walking back with a very happy Sai hopping and skipping nest to him.  When they were only about halfway there she suddenly got close to his side and matched his pace.  With several sidelong glances she slowly slid her hand into his, and when he didn't try to make her let go she smiled even wider and gripped his hand tightly.  He thought about gripping her hand back but decided that it wasn't fair to do that quite yet since although she had made her intentions known, he had basically said 'not yet'.  Instead he just smiled wryly and let her do what made her happy as they went back.

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