"What the heck?" I muttered while getting up from the bed and walking up to the window.
The sky was starry, and the moons were shining brightly, but the only thing that caught my attention was a beam of golden-white light that seemed to emanate from the ground or maybe even descending from the sky, extending high up towards the clouds.
"Balcker Forest?" I wondered, realizing that the direction of this beam coincided with the location of the forest.
"First the Illusory Path, and now this?" Blaze seemed as shocked as I was.
Without wasting another second, I made up my mind to investigate. I quickly put on a robe and strapped on a sword.
"It seems sleep will have to wait," I said as I closed the door behind me, not worrying about coming home early since my parents weren't there.
It was likely the middle of the night, and most of the streets were empty as I made my way to the outer wall of Sephra.
"Now," I said, and Blaze jumped off my shoulder and transformed into his larger form.
This way, we wouldn't have to pass through the city's exit gate and confront the guards, which would raise suspicion about me being out in the middle of the night, especially on the side of Balcker Forest.
Hopping onto Blaze's back, I signaled him to take flight into the sky, and within a few minutes, we reached the outskirts of the city. We landed after getting considerably far from the outer wall of Sephra.
I didn't want Blaze to exhaust all his mana, especially since he couldn't maintain this form for long.
Walking for a while, we reached the entrance that I was familiar with to enter the Balcker Forest.
"It's a complete Illusory Path," I said, my voice tinged with surprise.
Unlike the forest path I had encountered with Anabelle and her group, where certain parts of the forest were turned into illusions, the entire Balcker Forest was now one big illusion.
The trees had lost their distinct shapes and now appeared tall and dangling, as if the world was nothing but a weird painting.
The knights were guarding the route, but they kept their distance from the forest, aware of its mysterious and dangerous nature.
"How are we going?" Blaze asked, his small form nestled in the inner pocket of my robe.
"There!" Without wasting a moment, I made my way towards the gap that the knights were not guarding. It was quite far from their camp, giving us a chance to slip into the illusion forest unnoticed.
As I ventured into the forest, the surroundings started to shift and twist, creating an overwhelming kaleidoscope of absurd shapes and colors. The illusions were disorienting, making it hard for me to grasp anything solid.
"Whoa! Now that makes my head hurt a little." I couldn't help but grab my head with both hands, trying to steady myself amidst the visual chaos.
However, my discomfort didn't last long. I knew that my Elemental Vision skill could help me in such situations. I took a deep breath, focusing my thoughts, and activated the skill.
"Elemental Vision," I whispered, and suddenly, everything around me changed.
The forest transformed into a mesmerizing mana pattern blueprint, devoid of color or illusion. I could see the mana signatures and sources, like mana cores, clearly delineated. Even the mana beasts hiding behind bushes became visible, sensing my presence and trying to avoid detection.
The Illusory magic affected everyone differently, but for me, it allowed me to see the world through the lens of mana, making it easier to navigate the illusion forest.
Yet, despite this newfound clarity, it still wasn't enough to delve deeper into the forest. If I wanted to explore further, I needed to improve my Elemental Vision skill.
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System Skill:
Elemental Vision: See the world from the perspective of mana.
Level: 1
Current Status: Activated.
Consumption: 1 mana per minute.
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"Level up skill," I said, and another panel appeared.
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Elemental Vision Lv1
Upgrade requires: 1000 exp
Continue: Yes/ No
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Upgrade," I said resolutely, feeling a slight change inside my retinas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Upgrade Done!
System Skill:
Elemental Vision: See the world from the perspective of mana.
Level: 2
Current Status: Activated.
Consumption: 2 mana per minute.
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And now, I closed and opened my eyes a few times, the world becoming clearer with each blink.
The range that I could see increased, and most importantly, I could walk without stumbling anymore. I felt relieved as I stepped ahead, my gaze shifting between the sky and the shifting illusion of the forest.
"What are you seeing?" Blaze asked, his vision and mine differing.
The skill upgrade proved to be a good choice. Now, I could see the whole structure of the body and mana veins, making it easy to grasp the size and distance between the creatures and myself.
Thanks to the system, I only needed to learn the basics of the skill, as I could use experience points to upgrade them without any problems.
With cautious steps, I continued forward, occasionally able to catch glimpses of the beam of light not too far away, but not in the center of the illusion.
*Shruk*
"Huh?" My hand instinctively gripped the hilt of the sword as the noise came from my right.
Reacting quickly, I jumped back, taking a defensive stance, as an outline of a humanoid form emerged from behind a tree and charged toward me.
"Aghhhhhhhhhh!!!!" With an ear-deafening shrill, someone came out, driven by an unknown force, and aimed straight at me.
Sling*
I moved with precision, infusing the blade of the sword with dense mana, and swung it horizontally, aiming directly at the neck of the approaching figure.
Thud*
"Dead?" Blaze asked.
I believed so. My actions were automatic, and the mana signature wasn't familiar, indicating that the person who died wasn't someone I knew... at least that's what I thought.
Deactivating the elemental vision, I looked down without glancing around, trying to keep my emotions in check.
"Hmm," I squatted down, observing the headless figure lying there. It was a girl, and her head had fallen quite far from her body.
"Adventurer?" I wondered as I searched through her robe.
"Freya Redwood... F rank. She was a newbie," I sighed, feeling a little sympathy towards the girl who died without any fault.
My gaze shifted to the girl's tossed-aside head. Her hair was fiery red, and her face showed emotions of fear and shock, perhaps from encountering some rogue mana beast or illusion.
Clasping my hands in front of me, I silently prayed for her soul to be accepted in heaven.
"That's the most dry prayer I've seen in my life," Blaze sighed, "You should at least be more sorry for killing someone who's innocent."
"It's not my fault if she can't keep her cool. I ain't letting someone get close to me in this kind of situation... she might've turned out to be an enemy," I admitted, feeling a little guilty, but not that much, to be honest.
Getting up, I walked ahead, leaving the deceased Freya Redwood behind.
I didn't know her, but it seemed her adventure had come to an end.
...
As I approached the beam, the illusions became weirder and more distorted.
It was evident that this wasn't a natural phenomenon; someone was deliberately causing this illusion. But the question was, who? It seemed like a massive task, and the risk of getting caught was high.
"What the fuck," I muttered, unsure if what I was seeing was real or just another illusion.
Before me was not just someone, but a multitude of figures, all outlined at the same time. And when I say a multitude, I mean a lot – around forty or so.
"Khhhhh," a weird sound came as one of them stepped ahead. What were these people doing here? It didn't seem legal in any way.
"!?" I flinched as one of them turned in my direction. The distance between us was considerable, but I knew it wouldn't take long for them to close the gap. To my surprise, they seemed unaffected by the illusion.
*Jump*
I infused mana into my legs and swiftly climbed up a nearby tree. It was my best chance to gain some distance and observe the situation.
"PRINCESS!" Blaze's urgent shout echoed in my mind. "Stop the elemental vision! Now!" he ordered.
I quickly deactivated the skill, and suddenly, everything changed. It wasn't the magic that caused the shift, but rather the realization that events were not unfolding as I had anticipated.
I remembered something from the past that Blaze once said to me,it didn't mean anything to me at that moment but now it makes sense that even the coincidence is the small word for it.
[There could be various reasons, my friend. Perhaps there's a hidden treasure or a valuable artifact concealed within the forest. Or maybe it's a defense mechanism to keep trespassers at bay.]
To hide something and keep out the trespassers?
Demon???
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