Illusions

I was frozen looking at these wandering prisoners, some looking into space, others just sitting in the corner rocking. These prisoners were game code and death row, inmates. I had no worries about doing untoward things to them. I sat down on the floor with my back to a wall and started to read the first book mistress gave to me.

What came next surprised me. A notification popped up with details.

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You have opened Illusion magic for a beginner's book. In Grand Adventure Online, we found magic to be one of the hardest things to adapt to the game. We came up with a much more simple process for most magics. On the other hand, illusion magic is one of the most Complex magic types. So to offset this, we have made the more complex and challenging the magic type is, the better it is. Please enjoy our tutorial.

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With that, the book went from blank, and ink started to show. I read the contents and was surprised by how complex it was. It was saying syllables in order, each meaning its own thing. Mixing and matching these syllables creates new spells and illusions of various strengths. The longer it is, the more detailed the illusion is. This also comes with a mental component. The Syllables needed to be correct, but they didn't create the details, the color, or anything like that. The next part came from the image in your head. For example, the spell would fail if you thought black book but said the syllables for a nightgown. This was a lot of memorization; saying it was complex was a fucking joke. This is a whole school of magic. The power, though, with the game would probably make this disgustingly powerful.

I read further in the book and found most of these illusions would be real to anyone caught in them at a higher level. To achieve that, you had to picture it clearer and clearer while reciting the spell. In the end, after you created the illusion, it became a passive effect until you let it go. The person in the illusion also feeds that spell. The higher the intelligence on the person casting the spell would do some of its power, followed by wisdom making it more believable. It came through with one downside, the book said. The dumber the person in the spell, the harder it was to do damage with it. If the person is a complete moron who can only drool, you're better off hitting them with a bat than hitting them with an illusion spell. Contrary intelligent people will fill in the gaps automatically with their brains. This created a contradiction, making an illusionist a Mage killer who was weaker than warriors and berserkers.

It was a nice contradiction. I thought I would be a mage that specialized in killing mages. I continued on, but all it told me was more syllables, chant them proper pronouncing, and things like that. I studied and quickly learned as it seemed the system helped with that. Maybe I wasn't sure but I was enjoying it. I started to use the magic on one of the prisoners creating a world around them. I started with three or four syllables making a quill and small things like that. Their reaction to it was extreme though. Then I realized it these people are stuck in a world with only bars; they must think they are going crazy.

With that, I went to have my fun practicing with different Illusions. My only way of telling, though, was if it was working was if they reacted. It became a problem for me, so I started to cast on myself and made real progress. The world around me shifted and changed many times. I chanted and changed different triggering reactions. With time I cast and cast, I realized I never ran out of mana at one point. I was questioning this when Mistress appeared.

"Well, Slut, how are you doing? I see all of the prisoners are still alive." She was looking around; she looked expectant and a bit disappointed. "Why have you not made any progress?"

"Mistress, I am sorry that I appear to have made no progress then driving one of the prisoners slightly crazier. I have never encountered magic before and have been teaching myself. I have several questions, but the lack of being able to see my illusions made it a liability for me to cast on the prisoners, so I cast it on myself, so none of the prisoners have died so far because of it." I explained, and she started to laugh.

"I am happy you noticed this problem quickly Slut. But have you ever thought to cast it on the prisoner and yourself? An Illusionist can then use their own mind to increase the power of the illusion. It makes it better against morons and dumbasses as well as boosting its properties against other mages." I was thunderstruck with my own foolishness. "Illusionists would be useless if they couldn't deal with more than one enemy at the same time. Bringing yourself into the illusion allows you to refine and edit. This also allows you to picture what you want and fix mistakes. Now, remember, though, to keep this to yourself. This is advanced knowledge many don't think of. It is one of my secrets. Many fail to realize this as my disciple, and I will help you. Now please continue to practice my disciple. Do me proud."

"Mistress, can I ask you one last question before I continue my Practice?"

"Go ahead asking questions is free Slut. Getting answers depends on the questions you make."

"Thank you, Mistress I was just wondering why I seem to have an Unlimited Mana pool in here."

"That is simple. I have given you access to the Mana whirlpool of my home. This allows you to keep casting while inside my home. Great against intruders. But it will allow you to learn something complex like Illusions with more ease. I will be back in an hour to take you to bed; casting magic while sleepy is harmful to everyone's health. Just to finish, though, I give you two more days to finish my task max; otherwise, I will be disappointed." With that, she disappeared again. I was wondering how she did that, but NPC knows more about this world than me. I started practicing the new trick and started to get reactions from the Prisoners. After about another half hour I even had a favorite prisoner to practice on. She was in the corner but she was intelligent it seemed since my Illusions seemed much more realistic with her.

I continued to practice till my throat hurt when Mistress showed up again and I was escorted to my bedroom for the night so I could log off. I realized as I started it that this game was meant for the rich or people with lots of time I had no ability to log off in eight hours. I wonder if Victoria was going to do something about that.