"Children would forever be children, no matter the race or status." - Old saying from Xandor Tir Alexandros, ancient philanthropist and founder of one of the first orphanages in history.

"Those kids are really good at this," commented Cal as she watched the twins proudly show off what they could do to her and Kino. As they were still young, and their capacity for mana was still growing, they were limited to creating illusions only in their immediate vicinity, or affecting themselves - which was how they made themselves appear to be of different races earlier -, at least for the time being. "Hard to believe they're not even ten yet."

Both twins had worked together - they were born with different major elements, so their cooperation had plenty of merit - and created the illusion of a small bird that flew around the room. The bird looked completely lifelike, and when it perched on her shoulder, Cal had almost sworn she had a real bird on her shoulders, as even the touch felt almost real.

How the twins worked as if they were of one mind like this, with one crafting the detailed image and the other giving the illusion of solidity, nobody knew. Cal was even tempted to ask if those kids had not snuck in a real bird instead when the bird chirped while on her shoulder.

Both kids turned out to have talents in ventriloquism as well, and they had thoroughly abused that talent to make their illusions even more realistic. Already, the only thing Cal felt gave away that it was a mere illusion and not the real thing was the smell, or rather, the lack of it.

A real living animal would have a scent to it, no matter how clean. While neither human nor elvish noses were that sharp, especially when compared to that of therians, an animal in close proximity would still have a scent they could detect, and Cal had detected none even when the bird had perched on her shoulders. She had pointed it out to the kids, before she gave the earlier praise.

"I know, right? That's why I felt like I had to teach these kids personally no matter what," replied Evrett from where he lounged at his seat, pride for his disciples evident on his features. "What you mentioned about the scent is something we're working on, though at least, it would not be much of an issue from a distance. To be honest, dealing with other therians is the hardest. They have the sharpest noses around, and usually notice an illusion from the lack of scent right away."

"But if those kids managed to fool even those noses…" said Cal, as she left her words hanging on purpose. She took another look at the kids. Kraze, the boy, was munching on the pieces of fruit Kino had used for her "demonstration" earlier, while Kode, the girl, was asking her with bright eyes how she did that.

"Indeed. If they managed to find a way to fool even therian noses one day, they would have achieved the feat of creating an illusion that is completely undetectable," nodded Evrett as he answered Cal calmly. "Us mist mages had learned to fool the eyes long ago, and simulating touch comes as a second nature to some of us. These kids however, have the potential to take it further… much further than anyone has ever managed in history."

"Big sister, can you show us what you do as well?" asked one of the twins at Cal. On hearing the voice, the other twin also came over to her and looked at her with bright, curious eyes filled with innocence. Cal had gone into the house with Kino, so they likely thought she was in the same field, a misconception she had not bothered to correct so far.

Cal just smiled at the two kids. She couldn't find it in her to refuse such innocent looks, so she picked a larger apple from the table and weighed it in her hand. After she felt the weight of the fruit in her hand, she gave it a couple of light tosses into the air to get a feel, then told the kids to back away a little bit.

The next thing the kids saw was that Cal had a large knife in her hand. One of her dwarven-made chopping knives she had made a few years ago, one so large it could pass for a small machete. Both twins looked at the knife with expressions of awe in their faces, which elicited another smile from Cal.

"Now, kids. Don't try this at home," said Cal before she tossed the apple higher up with her left hand. As the fruit begin to fall, she reinforced her right arm with her magic, and moved it so fast that all the others saw were barely visible blurs, as her hand played the knife skillfully on the falling fruit.

She caught and balanced the apple before it fell down on her extended index finger, and before the kids' eyes, the apple peel slid away from the fruit like a gown being shed, in a neat, unbroken spiral. Cal might not know a thing about performance arts, but just what she could do with her knives already counted as one.

Even while the kids looked in awe, Cal took a small plate from the table and sliced the apple with her knife. The blade looked comically large and thick compared to the fruit, yet it made no difference to her deft hands, as slices of fruit as thin as paper and nearly transparent fell into the plate in good order.

By the time she was done, only the stick-thin core of the apple was left, which she tossed accurately into a waste basket by the corner of the room. By then, the kids had taken some pieces she cut and munched on them, though one of the twins also put up a piece against the lights and looked through the nearly transparent piece.

"Hey… is it just me or are there more plates on the table? I don't remember there being cakes and cookies earlier?" Cal asked as she poured herself another cup of tea. The fruit and the tea she recalled being on the table by the time they were brought into the room, but there seemed to be a couple more plates on the table since, and she had not recalled anyone bringing them.

"Oh… those kids…" said Evrett as he covered his face with his hand again. Apparently, his disciples had often used their magic to sneak into the kitchen and steal some snacks, as with their skill, they found it easy to turn themselves and a few objects in their hands invisible.

True enough, a while later one of the older maids from the kitchen had come over and scolded the kids for exactly that, all while Evrett just shook his head at it. Cal and Kino just laughed at the spectacle, as it seems their fellow still had a long road ahead of him.