Cray and K

K: Cray, Cray! I've got something to say...

K just finished his martial arts training with Alex and went immediately to find Cray, also doing self-training. Cray just learned a new magic spell from Margaret and he is practicing it.

K: Woah! How come that there are two of you, Cray?

CRAY: We'll, Margaret just taught us how to use illusion magic.

K, noticed that Cray was very focused on the spell and struggled to maintain it. He decided to wait for Cray to finish. He squat down to the floor and just observed Cray with no sound.

K: (How long should I wait? Cray looks so cool. The grass is so green too. Would it be possible that he creates an illusion of me as well?)

K: Can you create an illusion of me?

CRAY: Huh?... Hmm... I'm not sure.

K: Can you do it? Can you try it?

CRAY: I suppose, probably.

Cray canceled his current spell and cast a new one. He picked some grass and then imbued his mana into it. The grass started to glow and he placed it back on the ground.

CRAY: Form... K!

Just above the grass, somewhat transparent light bubbles appeared and combined. From thin air, an image of K appeared!

K: Wow! You did it! But....why is my right ear missing?

CRAY: Huh?! Ohhhh... Oops! my bad.

After noticing the missing ear, Cray released a small amount of mana to complete the missing ear.

K: How did you do that?! I thought that you could no longer change spells when they are no longer attached to you!

CRAY: Well, although the medium of the spell is no longer attached to me physically, my mana is still attached to it.

K: So, that means you have to continue using mana so that the illusion won't vanish. Right?

CRAY: No, I'm just doing this because Grandpa told me that this would help me master the spell faster.

K: Does that mean you can remove or disconnect your mana?

CRAY: Yes, that's right, but it won't last long because my mana is not enough.

K: Cray, is it possible that you make an illusion of anything? Even an illusion of us?

CRAY: Yeah, I guess I can.

K then stands up, reached toward Cray's ears, and whispers.

K: How about we go outside?

CRAY: Huh!? We're already outside!

K: Ssshhhhh! Not too loud. What I meant is, that we go outside the house.

Cray now understood what K wants but he thinks this is a bad idea.

CRAY: Grandpa and Margaret will yell at us

K: Yeah, I know. That's why you'll create an illusion spell that will make it look like we're playing with the ants.

K pointed to the anthill at the back end of the backyard.

CRAY: What if they'll notice that...

K: Don't worry, your illusion is the best. They won't be able to notice and we will come back right away.

The two kids, Cray and K, have been stuck at home since the blood goblin incident. Asakit has been very strict and didn't allow the kids to leave the house even for a little while. They can only go out if Asakit says so. They already tried a few times to escape but they were always caught by Mary. The farthest that they had gone was 25 meters away from the house.

Deep in his heart, Cray is more confident that they will get caught right away. However, he and K will do everything just to explore the outside. That's why he never loses that sliver of hope that someday they can escape.

Cray immediately picks a handful of grass. Meanwhile, K is standing as a lookout. Cray then placed a small amount of grass that was imbued with mana, and he repeated it until he created a small circle. He casts "Conceal" and then an illusion of K and Cray beside the anthill is created.

"Yay!"

Both Cray and K sprinted away from the house, going to god know where. They counted their steps together like saying a prayer or a ritual.

CRAY AND K: 1 meter, 2 meters, 3 meters... And 25! We made a new record!"

Cray and K jumped into the air to celebrate. They were excited and happy but feeling a bit unusual.

CRAY: It feels weird.

K: What do you mean, Cray?

CRAY: I mean, we're already past 24 meters and Mary still hasn't caught us.

K: That's how good your illusion is, Cray!

Hearing K's compliment Cray shrank and bit his lips to hide his embarrassment.

K: Let's go before it gets dark, Cray!

Cray nods in reply.

...

In the scavenger house, Asakit, together with Ben and Alex, was already home and was watching the boys trying to escape from the 2nd floor.

ALEX: Grandpa, aren't you going to stop them? Mary is already outside and ready to jump after them.

BEN: Come on Alex, Anna was younger than them when she joined our expedition and knowing K, he won't miss dinner.

ASAKIT: Leave them for now. I'm sure they'll return before nightfall. Alex, could you keep an eye on them just in case?

Even though Alex is tired from the expedition, he is still willing to go and look for the kids. He nods and left in an answer to Asakit's request.

-End of Chapter-