Illusion (1)

As soon as he heard the sound, Drogo knew it was Elaine. She must have woken up and realized he wasn't by her side, so she came looking for him.

"Hehe, can't sleep, so I came out for some fresh air," he said, turning around to see Elaine's big eyes sparkling. She seemed to be saying that they were already camping, so why did they need to come here for fresh air? But Elaine was very well-behaved, and since Drogo had said it, she wouldn't dwell on such irrelevant matters.

"Well... I'll come with you," Elaine said, moving closer and sitting beside Drogo. They both fell silent and looked at the misty sky together.

They could only see a small patch of sky, about the size of a palm, and it was still foggy and unclear. Most of the other areas were obscured by dense foliage, and the trees in the Forest of Kings were mostly strange-looking. On this windy night, they looked like countless ghosts showing off their claws, appearing especially eerie.

Drogo's thoughts drifted away, and he once again thought about how he had come here. But he was quickly brought back to reality by the present situation.

The reality was that if they entered the human world in their current state, they would surely encounter troubles they didn't want to face. Even if he didn't summon skeletal warriors or use necromancer's powers, Elaine's identity would make their journey fraught with danger.

"Sigh, I could have used Wynne's illusion magic, but it seems I don't have the talent for it," Drogo sighed, but suddenly his eyes lit up. "Talent! According to Matthew's memory, there were so many powerful mages in human history, but very few could use illusion magic. The records only mention a genius mage named Gergew who successfully developed a transformation magic similar to illusion magic, but that was just an imitation of illusion magic."

"Almost no one succeeded, what does this mean? It means that there must be some reason that limits human use of illusion magic. And that reason must be inherent in humans, that is, in their talent. If humans can't do it, what about foxes?"

With this in mind, Drogo grabbed Elaine's shoulder, his excitement startling her as she had been lost in thought.

"Ah,Drogo, what...what are you going to do..." Elaine was a little frightened and didn't notice the ambiguity in her words, or even the slight anticipation. Instead, Drogo said, "Elaine, I'll teach you a spell. This is important. You must remember and learn it seriously."

The little girl nodded repeatedly, "Mm-hmm..."

Then Drogo taught her the spells he learned from Wynne, and had her memorize them first. However, at the beginning, Drogo was a bit disappointed because it took Elaine longer to memorize all the spells than it took him.

Until Elaine, with her hand on her forehead, finally confirmed that she had memorized them all, Drogo demonstrated the matching gestures and techniques to her.

First, disappointment, then surprise. Drogo was surprised to find that Elaine's speed of memorizing those spells was not fast, but she was extremely fast at memorizing the complex and intricate gestures and techniques.

"It is said that girls are good at memorization but not hands-on operation. Looks like this is not the case with Elaine..." Drogo murmured in his heart, while staring at Elaine without blinking. Because next, Elaine was going to try to use illusion magic, which was the key, and the place where Drogo failed before.

"Can I try it now?" Elaine asked, and Drogo nodded eagerly, "Yes, be careful."

Upon hearing Drogo's instruction, the tension on Elaine's face eased a bit. Then, a string of spells murmured from her mouth, and her hands awkwardly waved.

Almost at the same time, Drogo felt the difference from his previous experiments. Because his mental strength was now clearly seeing that there was an indescribable force gathering on Elaine's body.

This was different from the fluctuations when using magic, but more like the lively vitality brought to the world by some kind of creature at birth.

This feels really strange. If it weren't for Wynne having already signed a master-servant contract with Drogo, and if it weren't for Drogo knowing that Wynne could not possibly deceive him, he would have seriously suspected that this was some sort of breakthrough-the-seal plan concocted by Wynne, the underworld general, using him and Elaine.

As the spell continued, the nervousness on Elaine's face disappeared, replaced by a sense of sanctity and tranquility. The once intricate hand gestures gradually became clasped fingers on her chest, as if in prayer.

At this moment, as the spell reached its climax, with the final intonation gradually rising, Elaine became completely immersed in this illusion magic, and Drogo was left stunned.

What did he see? Before his eyes, Elaine was enveloped in a faint glow. Within the glow, an unexpected change was taking place. Elaine's cute pointed ears disappeared from the top of her head, and her soft tail behind her disappeared completely. Now, Elaine had completely transformed into the appearance of a human girl, and an incredibly adorable one at that.

And it wasn't over yet. Just as Elaine finished reciting the spell, her previously pale and tattered white dress suddenly became dazzlingly new.

"Elaine?"

Drogo could hardly recognize her. Was this still the same poor, weak, yet optimistic and strong little fox girl from before? This was clearly an absolutely perfect human princess, the kind that could not be any more princess-like...

"Uh..."

Elaine, who had just cast the illusion and expended a great deal of mental energy, seemed exhausted, her brain responses slowing down as she responded to Drogo. But then, she suddenly screamed, "Ah!"

Elaine looked at herself, clearly incredulous. She had not expected that the illusion magic that Drogo had taught her would have such an effect. She couldn't see whether her ears had turned into a human shape, but she could see that her tail was now completely gone. If her body hadn't still been able to feel the presence of her tail, she would have even suspected that her current appearance was her original form.

"Genius! Elaine, you're a genius!" Drogo exclaimed happily. He never thought he would figure out the illusion, but Elaine achieved such a perfect effect with just one attempt. What did this mean? It meant that the little girl was an extremely talented illusionist, a genius, and it was Drogo who discovered her.

More importantly, this meant that a crisis was truly resolved. They no longer needed to worry about Elaine's fox witch identity causing problems. Two humans walking on the road would undoubtedly face fewer unknown dangers. And if this illusion could be applied to the skeleton warrior, he could constantly summon this powerful aid without exposing his identity as a necromancer.

The problem was initially solved, and Drogo felt refreshed. However, they did not immediately set off but stayed in place for another two days. The reason was simple; Elaine was exhausted. Casting illusions required a tremendous amount of mental strength, even just basic disguises. After each use, Elaine had to rest for a long time to recover.

So after Elaine had disguised the skeleton warrior, Drogo decisively dispelled the last important but shameless idea in his mind. He had wanted Elaine to turn his armor into luxurious clothing, but seeing her pitiful appearance, he couldn't bear to say it...