32 Advanced Illusions

After an early dinner, John made his way to the Defenders Club. He'd never been there before, so he was surprised to find it looked like a miniature castle complete with a moat. Several people walked in and out, all wearing full body armor. The newer members clanking with every step while the older members moved with surprising grace and deadly quiet.

Walking towards the door, someone wearing full body armor ran towards him clanking all the way and yelled, "Stop! You don't belong here!"

Looking at him for a moment, John glanced around and saw several of the other people in full armor shaking there heads and looking down as if embarrased about something. Looking at this phone he saw he was about to be late for class so he brushed the outstretched arm off his shoulder and slipped past the armored man moving too fast for him to catch up while talking to himself as if the event had never happened, "Room 218, thankfully class got canceled last week or I would've missed the first one."

"Wait, STOP!" The guy said, trying to run after John but he just walked over the moat and into the club without a second thought. "Why did they let him in?!?!" The man in the armor asked as he was thrown back by a barrier that'd appeared around the moat and kept him from entering.

"Because he's signed up for a class here, and anyway as a member of the Tamer's Club he has a standing invitation." A voice said, causing the armored guy to turn and see one of the upperclassmen walking up to him from behind. "You failed, and if you truly want to be a Defender then you'll stop making a fool of yourself and go train!"

Lowering his head in shame, the guy shuffled off, his eyes downcast in shame.

John failed to notice the entire interaction, too busy looking around at the ancient themed building. From the outside it looked like a miniature castle, but thanks to space expansion formations from the inside it looked far bigger than the real thing. Walls loomed several hundred feet in the air, with banners hanging down over them proclaiming the castle's allegiance to the Defender's Guild, the Confederacy, and Gallandwell High.

Walking into the main building, John slowly made his way to staircase and climbed it while taking the time to stop and look at several portraits on the walls. The most fascinating part of the decor was a burn mark that was constantly smoldering. It was as if something had attacked the building with an eternal flame. The formations holding the castle together would constantly heal the damage, and so the wall was constantly burning. Looking around, John was of the opinion that the flame had been burning on the wall for so long that no one here noticed it any longer. Wishing he'd arrived here earlier so he could explore some before class, John trudged up the stairs only glancing at some paintings but vowing to come back and examine them more closely in the future.

"Sir Caplin." A young man said from the top of the stairs, "Allow me to show you to the proper room."

Taking a closer look at him, he realized that the armor didn't have any markings or runes on it yet. It seemed to both weigh less and make more noise than the others around the building. "What's your name?" John asked.

Gasping in shock, the man said, "Forgive my rudeness, I'm still getting used to the rules of conduct. My name is Casper Jorgunson, newest initiate of the Order of Defenders."

"Order? I thought it was a club." John said in surprise.

"I thought so as well, but it turns out that the Defender's Guild is actually an ancient order of knights tasked with defending the world against monsters. They went into seclusion when the monster's disappeared and the mana died off, but the tradition lived on and they reemerged shortly after the fall. The club at the school is considered to be a training ground of the Order, meaning that I am currently a Squire. This is very similair to how the Tamer's Club is an off shoot of the Tamer's Guild responsible for training possible future members."

John was disappointed when they reached room 218, he'd been enjoying the conversation. "It was nice meeting you Casper, maybe we can grab some food sometime and talk. I've always been fascinated by the Order of Defenders. I'm too invested in Taming and Hunting to ever join but take my duty to aid the Order in time of need seriously."

"Of course, I'm in my training period so I cannot leave the premises for the time being. However, you are welcome to join me here for dinner at any time." Casper tried his best to bow while wearing full armor, and it was all John could do to hold back his laughter as Casper nearly fell over due to the extra unfamiliar weight before turning to clatter off.

Opening the door to room 218, John was surprised to find that he was the only one in the room despite arriving 30 seconds before class was supposed to start. "Welcome." A female voice said, and a gorgeous woman with long blonde hair wearing a sophisticated dark blue robe with gold trimming shimmered into existence in front of John. "My name is Dame Eleanor, and I'll be your tutor in illusions."

John was completely confused at this point, but figured when in Rome... "John Caplin." He bowed awkwardly in greeting trying to emulate Casper before straightening back up and saying, "I thought I was taking a class?"

"Yes, come in! This class is only available to those of us who pursue the Soul Wave, and everyone who has succeeded in cultivating it so far this year is already here." Dame Eleanor smiled gracefully, her every movement drawing John in, her very existence dominating his attention. The scenery changed to an incredible garden filled with sculptures of feminine beauty. Dame Eleanor quickly became even more beautiful and enticing, to the point that John almost forgot to breathe.

"Right now, I am using one of the most basic forms of illusions available to those who can control light and sound. My every movement is done in such a way that it attracts your attention and without you knowing it you have been drawn into my illusion."

The illusion snapped and John was once again standing in a room across from the still beautiful but no longer god-like Dame Eleanor. "What was that?" He asked, shakily.

"That, is the most basic technique that I will teach you. For those of us who choose the path of an illusionist, we need to be able to affect the perception of everyone around us without them even knowing it is happening. The most powerful illusionists are those who can convince you do do something without ever noticing you are under a spell. The first step to that is to remove the usage of instruments or flames to initiate an illusion. Instead, your every word, every movement, needs to be geared to induce illusions on anyone around you at a moments notice."

As she spoke, John realized something was wrong. "Wait, when did desks appear in the room?"

"Good." Dame Eleanor said, the desks disappearing into thin air. "The first and most important step to becoming an illusionist is to realize when you've been placed inside an illusion. Every time we meet I will place you under more complex and difficult to escape illusions. You'll be graded by how quickly you notice and escape from them."

"We'll start with how to defend yourself from an illusion." She flicked her hand, and John found that the room had lost an ethereal feel to it, coming more into focus. "The easiest way to defend yourself from an illusion is to place yourself under one. I like to make my hair change colors." Dame Eleanor's hair turned bright orange for a moment before turning back to normal. " or listen to my favorite band in the background." John heard a horrid racket, several guitars screaming and bass drums pounding while a man screamed!

"Fun right!" Dame Eleanor smiled evilly as she cut off the racket, "If you don't satisfy me with your progress I'll place you under an illusion that'll force you to listen to all of that band's albums for days on end!"

"Please, don't." John begged, nearly falling to his knees as his ears rang. "I'll be the best student you ever had!"

Chuckling, Dame Eleanor continued her lecture after handing John two manuals, "When someone places you under another illusion, your original one will break and your hair color will turn back to normal, or the music disappears. That way, you'll know that someone is attacking you and you can utilize the technique to break free from their illusion. We'll start with how to dispel an illusion, I want this to become second nature to you." Dame Eleanor pointed at the top book and motioned for John to take a seat.

Sitting down, John smiled as he read the title of the first manual. 'Escaping Illusions for idiots.' Opening it he flipped past the introduction to the technique page and read, 'For cultivator's, escaping all but the most complex illusions is simple. Gather your energy and force it through your nervous system using this pattern.' A picture was shown of where to start, what route to take, and where to end along with how much energy to use at each step. 'This resets your nervous system and removes all but the most complex illusions that affect the soul. In order to escape a soul illusion you'll have to seek help unless you are a high level illusionist yourself.'

Taking a deep breath, John went through the process of removing the illusion and found himself sitting on the floor of the room along with nearly 20 other students "What the?!?!" A note was left where Dame Eleanor sat just moments before.

'Congratulations, you just escaped your first illusion. Your first lesson, expect the unexpected. Memorize both books and do your best to complete the Basic Illusionist's training before next week. - Dame Eleanor.'