Dream Painting

Killing Painter only gave Magnus 260 DP. Which didn't come as a surprise, honestly. As a Protagonist, he shouldn't even have gained any points at all, considering the vast gap between his and Painter's Level. However, as an Author, he did receive his due reward for defeating a Protagonist. Protagonists were supposed to be the extension of an Author's direct influence, after all.

Painter was apparently not a very reliable Protagonist, though, as evidenced by the low amount of DP. It was way lower than the amount Magnus had gained after TJ killed Wayde. But it made sense, considering Painter's cowardice and weak constitutions, both mentally and physically.

After he was done with his bloody business involving yet another decapitation and cremation, Magnus was greeted with a slightly surprising but definitely-within-his-expectation sight of an upset Lisa. He saw her heading back inside the apartment, seemingly about to burst into tears. Magnus then informed Summer about Lisa's state and hoped the young girl was going to be alright soon.

After having breakfast from the supplies stored within everyone's Inventory, they had all gathered in the parking lot, ready to get back to training. As usual, Magnus enclosed the area with [Unbreakable] and applied the anti-god coating. He then observed the faces of his family and friends. There was still an atmosphere of mourning lingering in their hearts, but overall, everyone seemed to be using that very emotion as a reminder about how mad the world had become.

And their serious faces told a silent declaration that they needed to survive no matter what. There should be no more death allowed.

With that said, the absence of one person hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Umm," Garrett said while looking around, "Where's Matt?"

Magnus sighed and told everyone what had happened a few hours ago.

"You know, you could've held him back. By force, if necessary," Garrett chided, feeling as if Magnus hadn't done his best to make Matt stay. "What he needed most was time. If you hadn't let him go, he would've eventually come around."

It wasn't as if Magnus hadn't considered this. However, he knew that even when Matt finally calmed down, the idea that his mother could be brought to life would forever haunt him. His heart would never truly be at peace unless he went to try out the possibility himself. With this constant burden in his heart, he would always be an easy target for the gods. He would be a ticking time bomb, a stubborn risk that could endanger the rest of the group.

Magnus tried to present this train of thought to everyone. However, he could still see the reproachful look directed at him.

He sighed. "Look. It was his choice to leave. It's true that I could've done more to prevent him from leaving, but at the same time, I didn't want to force him. I already told you guys, time and time again, that as much as I'm going to help you all survive and protect you from the gods, I will always give you choices. I already revealed to you a lot of truths and the crazy nature of the current world, along with its dangers and the gods' cruelty. However, I'm not going to hold your hands. I can't, anyway; I only have two hands.

"What I'm saying is, there's only so much I can do to protect you. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't blame me for every single thing that goes wrong. I'm not omnipotent. Besides, the choices ultimately lie in your hands, not mine. I refuse to be held accountable for the choices you consciously make on your own."

Once Magnus made his stance clear, Garrett and a few others who had disagreed with him couldn't retort. They lowered their heads with a complicated expression on their faces.

Magnus could understand their dilemma. They were just upset at the situation, and deep down, they felt helpless. And these emotions were clouding their judgement.

Surprisingly, it was Lisa who finally spoke up. "You guys can keep playing the blame game all you want," she said while heading to a far section of the area. There was a building made of bricks nearby and a circle the size of a tennis ball drawn on the wall. There were cracks on the two bricks within the circle; a sign that Lisa had been using it for target practice. "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna remain weak forever."

Her words served as a fuel that sparked a fire within everyone's heart. And so, they all dispersed and began training on their own.

Magnus was about to stand a bit further away in case someone needed his help and guidance, when Summer suddenly approached him.

"Magnus!" she called out.

Magnus turned and smiled at his girlfriend. "Hey, you."

Summer blushed a bit before shaking her head, trying to look serious. "Listen. Can you lend me that spear Mrs. Haysmith used yesterday?"

Magnus raised his eyebrows. The request had come unexpectedly. "Sure. Are you thinking of learning spearmanship?"

The girl nodded. "Mhm. I already have [Earth Bullet] for long distance offense. Now I need something for short range combat that doesn't exhaust my mana."

Magnus pondered for a bit before pulling [Forthright] out of his Inventory and handing it to her. "You can have this for now. But we're gonna have to get you your own spear, and TJ his own sword."

"How?"

Magnus waved his hand casually. "Don't worry about it. I already have a plan in mind."

After that, Magnus went to teach her the proper posture to wield a spear, along with some basic thrust and slash. He demonstrated this a few times before letting her practice on her own. After about twenty minutes repeating the same movements, Summer finally learned [Spearmanship], granting her 20 XP and Magnus 280 DP. Just like [Swordsmanship], increasing the level required a ton of practice and needed longer time than it took improving magic skills.

Magnus himself had only managed to reach Level 4 on his [Spearmanship], as he was just too lazy to take it to the next level. He wasn't really a melee guy, anyway. The wide variety of his element affinities caused him to rely more on magic.

For the remainder of the one-hour time limit of the anti-god coating, Magnus went around to offer tips to those who needed it, with some of them asking him to teach a new skill.

After a fifteen-minute break, Magnus finally decided to sit down and think about the new knowledge he had just acquired from Painter.

He attempted to use light element mana to reach someone's head—in this case Katja who happened to be standing near him. The tall girl, who was currently panting after practicing a speed-enhancing skill called [Lightning Steps], suddenly felt a gentle wave of calmness wash over her mind. She directed a questioning look at Magnus.

"Umm, did you feel anything?" Magnus asked.

"A little. Whatever you just did helped me clear my head," answered Katja.

His action did bear a small result. However, it was practically no different from casting [Rejuvenate]. He might have slightly affected the state of her mind, but he didn't actually gain entry into it.

'How do you use light element's Aura to enter someone's mind? Wait, what does entering someone's mind mean, anyway?'

Magnus felt like without any skill or experience as a reference to base on, he wouldn't be able to figure out the answer. He didn't even know where to start.

Besides, he was feeling lazy. So, Magnus 2.0 needed to step up.

'Welp, I tried. Now go do your thing, other me!'

Magnus 2.0 knew this was coming. They had identical minds, after all. 'Fine, fine. Hopefully it wouldn't cost much,' his copy said before getting to work.

ʳ Sitting down by himself and left to his own devices, Magnus began mulling over many things. One of them was about the relation between a person's mind, mana, and Aura. He wondered, "What if I could use mana to paint a picture in someone's mind? Like, giving them a dream in their sleep?"

He thought about it, and after the longest time, he was suddenly struck by an inspiration. Working off of it, he started imagining sending a stream of light element mana to Katja's mind, while using its Aura to smoothen its entry. After that, he used the mana to construct an image within her mind. It was all a theory, though. However, he knew this could work, somehow. And so, he suddenly gained an epiphany.

This was an actual skill, one which he was definitely going to learn. ʴ

Magnus 2.0 totally did not just repeat what Painter had basically described.

And just like that, a wave of new knowledge suddenly poured into Magnus' head.

[The current name of the skill is [Dream Painting]. Would the host like to rename the skill?]

'Nope, thanks,' Magnus 2.0 answered.

The knowledge then began settling within Magnus' mind, allowing him to skim through it in a matter of seconds. After a moment, the system finally gave him the much-anticipated notification.

[Congratulations! You have learned a skill!

Skill name: Dream Painting (Lv. 1)

Description: Uses light element mana and its Aura to plant a dream in the target's mind.

Mana Cost: 9 points/second

Cooldown: None.]

'So, we just paid 300 AP for that,' informed Magnus 2.0.

'Well, that's not too expensive,' replied Magnus. After going over the newly-imparted knowledge one more time, he finally understood the mechanics of the skill. Basically, imagination and perception of Aura played a crucial role in executing it.

When people said X element mana carried Y attribute, it technically implied two things. One, the core of the mana itself did bear the color and attribute of the element. Two, the Aura that surrounded the core was actually the one responsible for the element to be detected and identified. Without this skin layer around the core, the mana would still have its effect, but without the person or anybody else being able to sense that it was there.

Aura was, after all, the presence of everything, including mana.

Now, using this energy that was constantly emanating from the light element mana, the skill caster would try to open up an easy passage to their target's mind. What they did was essentially blending the Aura the mana was giving off with the target's own Aura that surrounded their mind.

Because of the soothing effect of light element, it became easier for the target to lower their mental guard and subconsciously allow the caster's Aura to 'befriend' their own Aura. With the two now mingling with each other, the caster could just command their Aura to 'persuade' the target's Aura to permit them an entry. The process was especially smoother if the target was asleep, since the defense around someone's mind drastically lessened when they were unconscious.

So then, what constituted a person's mind? How would you enter it if you didn't even know where it was or what it even was?

Well, the answer was pretty obvious. A person's mind was basically their consciousness. And in order for Magnus to sense its presence, he just had to aim for the head and locate a big lump of Aura fluctuations within it.

What Aura fluctuations?

Magnus should be very familiar with this already. The fluctuations basically came from the person's thoughts and emotions. Because apparently, these two things radiated their own Aura. In fact, the reason Magnus was able to easily perceive the emotions and the 'air' around people was thanks to his sensitivity to Aura.

As to why he had this trait? He had no idea and frankly, he didn't really care.

The term 'entering someone's mind' basically meant inserting the light element mana into that lump where thoughts and emotions were constantly produced. No, not exactly the brain. The brain was just the physical organ that hosted this lump.

Once the mana arrived inside the target's consciousness, it was able to freely do whatever the caster wanted. And that included 'painting' a picture or projecting a scene. So, where did this picture or scene come from? From the caster's imagination, of course. The more vivid the caster's imagination was, the clearer the dream became and the more realistic it seemed to the target.

Painter, of course, excelled at this field since, according to the hearsay Magnus had once heard, the man had been an actual painter. As in, he produced digital paintings that he sold on the internet. Naturally, his mind was gifted in everything visual. He didn't have to expend so much mana when executing the skill on someone, as he didn't have to take long to construct the dream. Once he was inside his target's head, he would seamlessly start painting the dream he already had imagined.