‘Did I ever… tell her my name…?’
Kael frowned.
“Are you wondering why I know your name?”
Reynara chuckled again.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“You do not have to be so wary. I am not going to harm you.”
“…”
Kael stayed silent.
“This is the World of Everveil, Kael. It’s a perfect world where negative emotions do not exist. Sadness, hunger, anger, envy, these concepts are foreign to the beings living here. We live in peace and have no reason to attack or harm anyone.
You can let your guard down here.”
“It sounds too good to be true.”
Kael commented in a low voice.
“It is true.”
Reynara chuckled.
Her purple eyes then shined brightly and,
“You will be staying here for a while, won’t you? Why not see for yourself?”
At those words, Kael frowned.
“What do you mean?”
He questioned as he tilted his head in confusion.
“Why did you come here, Kael Carter?”
Reynara questioned.
“Why did you truly come here?”
“To… learn your ways…?”
Kael answered, a little unsure.
“Is that truly what you want?”
“I…”
Kael was unsure.
Then suddenly,
“The power to shape what others see—to show what you wish them to see. Only then, through crafted lies, can the hidden truth begin to shine.”
Reynara said a few words, words Kael recognized in an instant.
Itwas the same words mentioned in his mission description.
He glanced at Reynara, surprised.
The Fox chuckled.
“What you wish to learn is the Illusion, the people here call it the Truth.”
“They call Illusion… the Truth?”
Kael frowned in confusion.
“They can’t be blamed. One is connected to the other, after all.”
“How is Illusion connected to Truth?”
“There are multiple connections, the very truth as you know it could be an illusion.”
“Huh…?”
Obviously, Kael had no clue what the Fox was talking about and the Fox just chuckled.
“What do you think the Truth is?”
Suddenly, Reynara questioned.
“…”
Kael didn’t answer.
He felt like staying silent and listening was a better option.
Reynara liked that attitude, he was willing to learn and that was all a teacher wanted from her student.
“Do you believe what you see?”
Reynara questioned.
“Do you think what you see is real? Do you believe what you see is… the Truth?”
“…yes?”
Kael nodded, a little unsure.
“Wrong.”
But suddenly, he heard a voice.
It was Reynara’s same, melodious voice, however, it didn’t come from her. It came from behind.
Kael turned around and saw another Reynara standing behind him. The second Reynara walked towards him with a smile,
“What you see can very well be a lie.”
The Fox began as she continued walking.
“What you believed in all this while, what gives you the guarantee that it was indeed the truth?”
She questioned as she walked towards the previous Reynara and touched her with her paw. The previous Reynara that Kael had been talking to turned into dust, surprising both Kael and Vitaria.
“And if what you see is not the truth, then what is?”
Reynara questioned and once again, Kael turned silent.
He did not know the answer to the Fox’s question.
And the Fox knew it,
So she answered the question for him.
“The Truth does not exist.”
“What…?”
“What we call the truth, is merely a stronger illusion.
An illusion that you believe is True.”
“I…”
Kael stuttered.
Honestly, it was all still too confusing for him.
“Don’t think too hard, Kael Carter.”
Reynara chuckled as she walked towards him.
“Be at ease, calm your mind, learn to observe.
You wish to learn the Power of Illusion, correct?
I will teach you.”
Kael stared at her, clearly interested.
“Can you teach her as well?”
He questioned as he pointed at Vitaria who was in his arms.
“Her…?”
Reynara momentarily paused as she stared at Vitaria. Soon, she looked back at Kael and chuckled,
“Do you truly believe she requires me to teach her?”
“…”
Once again, Kael turned silent.
“I told you, Kael. Learn to be patient, things will happen when they will happen. Your daughter will grow on her own, and she will grow splendidly.”
Vitaria smiled at those words.
“For now, you must focus on yourself.”
“I understand.”
Kael nodded with a determined look on his face.
“Please teach me.”
He requested formally.
“Show me what you know.”
Reynara questioned.
Kael nodded as he then closed his eyes and recalled everything Vitaria had taught him,
[Ancient Pulse]
He activated his ability to show her what he knew,
Or so he wanted to…
But…
Snap
Before he could do anything, Reynara snapped and in an instant, his Ancient Pulse was deactivated.
“!!!”
Kael widened his eyes in horror.
He stared at the Fox in front of him, Reynara, on the other hand, acted like it was no big deal and,
“That’s a borrowed power.
Show me what you know.”
“H-How did you…”
“Show me what you know, Kael Carter.”
Reynara repeated herself and Kael…
He decided to ignore what the Fox just did and decided to answer instead,
“I only know how to cast an illusion by using this Power.”
“Have you not tried to cast an illusion on your own?”
“I did, but without activating my ability, I cannot turn what I imagine into reality.”
Kael answered.
Casting illusion was comparatively easy when he activated Ancient Pulse, he just needed to have a clear enough imagination and the rest can be done all by itself.
After casting a few hundred illusions, Kael did try to understand its concept and cast an illusion without using Ancient Pulse, but it didn’t work.
Even Vitaria told him it was impossible to cast the illusion without tapping into her powers.
But…
“Of course you cannot turn your imagination into a reality, you are a Human, not a being with a power of illusion.
Your path to the Power of Illusion will obviously be more difficult than normal.
What you are currently doing is simply tapping into the powers of a being of Illusion and using them as your own.
It is not your power.”
Reynara began as she stared at Kael,
“And while you may find it extremely easy, in the end, a borrowed power is just that, a borrowed power.
It will never grow.”
“…then what do I do?”
Kael questioned.
He understood what Reynara was talking about. He had felt it.
After Tapping into Ancient Pulse, while at first, his powers felt almost limitless, now… Kael could feel his limits.
Unlike how the strength of his own spells continued to increase as he learned higher-level spells, the Ancient Pulse Magic was different.
It stayed… stagnant.
Yes, it was still superior to normal Magic, but it still couldn’t grow.
Kael felt like after training for few more weeks, he would reach a point where he wouldn’t be able to get better in using the Ancient Pulse Magic.
“You start learning on your own.”
Reynara answered.
“Create your own Magic System, a System that allows you to use your own Power of Illusion.”
“And how do I do that…?”
Kael questioned.
“That is what you are here for, aren’t you?”
Reynara laughed as suddenly, she tapped onto the ground and,
“Let’s start with the very basics.
Using Mana to refract light to create weaker reflections. This is done to fool your target’s perception. Of course, it isn’t as easy as it sounds, you need to consider the light you are affecting, the angle, the amount of Mana you will be using, your target’s position…”
And just like that,
The lecture began.
Kael listened to everything intently, what he was learning wasn’t exactly exciting, Vitaria had even started yawning because of how bored she was.
According to her, what Kael was learning couldn’t even be called an illusion, it was an insult to the Power of Illusion, but in the end, Vitaria stayed silent.
She stared at the beautiful surroundings and soon, her eyes fell on the Kitsune children who were playing with each other after finishing their meal.
Vitaria went to them, Kael didn’t stop her either. It was much better for his child to play with other children than to be bored here.
Yes, he was letting her go.
He was growing.
Just like that, around 14 hours passed.
The Sky became darker, Vitaria returned to Kael as well, while playing was fun, she was away from her father for far too long and she did not like that.
Kael himself had made quite a lot of progress. It still wasn’t something he could use in real battles, but it was still that could be considered his own.
He felt like if he continued at this pace, he would get somewhere eventually. So he was looking forward to learning more since he still had time.
But then,
“That will be it for today.”
Reynara spoke up.
“What…?”
Kael frowned.
“It is time to sleep.”
The Fox replied.
“Sleep?”
“Yes, follow me.”
“I do not wish to sleep.”
“Why is that?”
“I wish to learn more.”
At those words, Reynara shook her head.
“You have been working for 14 hours without stopping. It is time to rest.”
“I can handle it.”
“It is not about being able to handle it or not.
The connection between one’s emotions and sleep is strong, to keep the negative, dull thoughts away, sleep is essential.
Therefore, in Everveil, it is important to sleep when it is dark.
Now, follow me.”
Kael wanted to resist, Reynara however, flicked her paw and in an instant, Kael’s body floated in the air powerlessly.
The Fox then took him to a room where other Dreamveil Kitsune children seemed to be waiting for them,
“Lady Reynara!”
The children beamed with happiness the moment they saw Reynara and quickly surrounded her.
“Alright, children. It is time to sleep.”
Reynara smiled as she waved her hand and in an instant, all the children were tucked inside beds that appeared out of nowhere.
Kael and Vitaria were no exception either.
Reynara then glanced at Kael and Vitaria, and then,
“Now sleep.”
The moment she said those words, Kael fell asleep.
He was completely helpless against her.
Staring at the sleeping Kael and Vitaria, Reynara smiled, she then laid down and closed her eyes as well and,
“Dream well~”