***
Amon's eyes opened with a flash as he felt sothing cold settle on his skin.
A cloudless gray sky entered his vision and he finally regained control over himself.
He quickly sat up and found himself in the sa spot where he had first appeared after they teleported inside.
All the students from his camp were currently lying on the ground, sleeping peacefully.
He could even see Elizabeth and Alya in the distance.
And also...
Dylan.
it was an illusion from the mont they entered the boundaries...
He thought it was only the prison but he seed to be wrong.
Even that girl Rebecca was lying peacefully in the distance.
Suddenly, Amon heard a hiss in the air, as he felt sothing slithering on his arm.
His gaze quickly traveled down, where he saw a purple and black scaled snake the length of Amon's arm.
Its crimson eyes peered into Amon's black ones.
"You are awake, human."
"Yeah." Amon nodded.
"So it was an illusion from the mont we entered the camp?" He asked.
And he saw the snake hiss in response, its tongue coming out.
"Yes, for several years, I waited for my mont. All while corrupting the minds of the humans that resided inside the walls."
"I see."
It was fair enough.
After all, they were the first class or group to travel to this location.
Most academies wouldn't send their classes to a dangerous place like this.
A place where the Black Tear was just a few miles away.
But Arthur....
He was just wrong in his head.
Suddenly, the sound of a portal opening was heard behind him.
And from it, Athena erged with several batches of soldiers.
As soon as her eyes landed on Amon, instantly a portal opened beneath him.
And with it, Amon fell into the large hole, saving him from the multiple eyes of the guards behind him.
***
Amon erged in the room where he had once been hospitalized with Michael.
It surprised him a little but he realized it must have been the only room that ca to Athena's mind at that mont.
After all, she couldn't teleport him to his room without entering it first.
As he landed on the bed, Amon scanned the room.
It was neatly kept, with all the things arranged beautifully.
There was a bright sky outside and he could hear the seagulls chirping beside the blue sea.
He quickly moved back to the present situation after finding no one to be in the room with him.
"That woman..." The snake hissed on his arm.
"She's strong." He said.
Amon nodded.
"If not for the years that took the spell to strengthen itself, she would have pierced through it in an instant." It explained.
"Oh."
This was why as soon as the spells ended, the portals opened up.
Athena probably wasn't able to enter the space because of the spell, also cutting off their connection from the outside world.
As he was about to move forward, Amon's eyes suddenly widened.
Wait but...
He turned to the snake, shocked.
"Didn't you just say that you didn't know that woman from before?" He asked.
And the snake hissed in agreent.
"But the people I saw in the illusion... They were all those people sleeping beside weren't they?" He asked.
The snake hissed in agreent again.
But then...
"That woman, she was in the illusion." He told the snake and imdiately saw it glare at him.
"Impossible. No one could enter or leave that illusion and I'm positive that she wasn't in the illusion." It explained.
"Yes, if she was a little stronger, she would be able to pierce through the spell. But with the strength I saw, it's impossible."
Amon's eyes widened at its next dialogue.
'A little stronger.'
Those words rang inside his mind.
In his illusion, it wasn't just two people.
There was also soone next to her.
A person who wasn't just 'a little stronger' than her.
Arthur...
Amon shuddered in fear.
His title 'The Strongest' made just a lot more sense to Amon now.
A spell that took years for the horror to make...
Yet Arthur broke through it so easily.
In any case, Amon didn't ntion it to the snake.
He suddenly rembered sothing.
"Was she able to see you?" He asked.
It lightly shook his head.
"No. I can only be seen by you or soone you wish to see . I'm basically a mana spirit
inside your body, I can go inside your body as well." It explained.
For so reason, it was very talkative now.
But as the word 'mana spirit' resounded in Amon's head, he suddenly jumped up.
Because a mana spirit was actually a familiar.
Familiars were amalgamations of mana basically that took the shape of an animal or monster.
The animal or monster that erged would depend on the user's elental affinities and
their mana properties.
It was sothing that could only be done when a person was at the pinnacle of 2nd order.
This was a reason why it was held a quarter of a year into the academy, a ti when it was expected for almost everyone to be of that rank.
'So this is my familiar...' Amon realized.
Suddenly, he rembered sothing.
And without any wait, he quickly opened up his status screen.
====[ STATS AND SKILLS ]====
Leaves:××××◊◊◊◊◊◊◊*
VIT: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
STR: ◊◊◊◊*
AGI: ◊◊◊◊
END:◊ ◊ ◊ ◊≈ INT: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Amon's eyes widened.
He had finally broken into the 3rd order...
He had taken such a big leap just from one familiar materialization...
It was truly shocking.
But that wasn't all. Amon was about to open another screen when he saw the snake staring at him with confusion.
||
||||
"Wait..." Amon finally spoke up.
His finger trembled as he pointed to the screen in front of him.
"T-There's no way you can see this right?" He asked.
"Human, what is this?" The snake hissed, and its curiosity peaked.
'What the fuck?' Amon cursed.
He couldn't wrap his head around all the unusual events that were occurring today.
But, Amon ignored the snake and chose to let it observe for itself.
He then opened up his elental level screen.
[VOID]: Level 3000000
[BLOOD]: Level 2× × × × ◊ ◊
[LGHTNG]: Level 2×××◊ ◊ ◊ [SOUND]: Level 1× × × × × [CRYSTAL]: Level 1× × × × × Familiar Arts
It was satisfying.
Amon nodded, happy.
His elents were at a really good level, with Sound and Crystal about to reach Level 2.
He looked at [Void] which was his highest leveled elent now.
Although losing [Elental Integration] was painful, Amon was happy he hadn't chosen the
quest reward back then.
If not for that, then he would have been royally fucked.
As it was that reward that helped him level up [Void] and unlock another slot for his skills.
Which was [Void Extraction] now.
But right now, Amon's curiosity was peaked by the Familiar Arts.
He quickly opened it and a new screen opened up.
[Weaver's Smile]
There was only one skill currently.
He quickly turned to the snake.
"How do I use this?" He asked.
"It's simple human." The snake slithered and got on the ground.
Imdiately, Amon felt his lips curving up into a smile.
"If you use this skill while looking at a person directly for a certain period, you can ss with
their brain or cast illusions for them." It explained.
"The higher ranked you are, the shorter it will take for you to take them under their control,
and more effects will be available to you."
Amon raised his brows in surprise. This was truly a broken skill.
Just the thought of how many people he could influence using this was unimaginable.
"Furthermore, as a passive, this skill allows you full control over your facial expressions."
"Ah..."
Yes, there was also a passive included with a familiar.
And as the snake said, Amon could currently feel full control over even the smallest facial
muscle.
Suddenly, Amon rembered sothing he wanted to ask.
"The ones that were caught under the effect of your illusion, do they rember what
happened?" He asked.
But to his dismay, the snake shook its head.
"No, they won't. This is a downside of such a large-scale spell of mine. However, I can return
the mories to any person you tell ." It said.
Fair enough. Amon nodded.
After all, no way would he be able to rember everyone's nas.
And although it was better for the people to not know about the illusion, Amon wanted the
main cast to rember the mories.
Yes, even though he manipulated a lot of them and broke their ntality.
It would bring so issues as well but this was what he wanted to do.
And the main reason for this was the developnt of their group.
It was only on this trip that he was able to further develop his relationship with characters he
hadn't talked to before.
Like Alya.
They were very close friends now.
The sa could be said for the other characters as Ren familiarized himself with Charlotte
and Michael got closer to Elizabeth.
There was also the developnt between him and Elizabeth...
But yes, this was what he wanted to do.
Even though it would make Elizabeth rember that conversation and make Michael have
that ntal pressure again.
Before this trip, even though they were a group, they weren't particularly close to each other.
They were just a pack of strangers that decided to sit together.
But now, they seed like actual friends.
Sothing he wanted to do before revealing his power to the world.
This was also crucial because of the mid-terms, familiar ceremony, and the cultural festival
that was coming up ahead.
For all this, he needed the main cast to band together.
Sothing that was done on this trip. Except for Liliana of course.
'That bitch should just die in a ditch.'
He quickly told all their nas to the snake, who nodded after a second.
"I'm done, human. They should be able to rember now."
Amon's face suddenly twitched at the fact that they were calling each other human and snake
all this ti.
"Don't you have a na? Or should I just call you Derek?" Amon asked.
The snake shook its head.
"I don't care, you can call whatever you want." It said.
At its words, Amon started to ponder.
He wasn't particularly good with nas but...
He tried to think hard.
Eventually, he ca up with a goofy na from his previous life of a flop ga.
"Okay, I'll na you Vainglory." He said.
It just resonated with the personality of the snake for him.
The snake paused for a second.
"..."
"What? Don't you like the na?" Amon asked.
"No, I couldn't care less about the na. But, what's your na?" The snake asked,
embarrassed as if it had forgotten to ask the most obvious thing in the world.
"It's Amon. Amon Ashford." He said.
"Very well." Vain slithered up his arm.
"Let's see the ques-"
Amon's eyes widened with shock.
He had completely forgotten about the most important thing of this whole drama.
The quest...
With worried eyes, he quickly tried to open up the tab.
But just as he was about to, the door of the cottage opened.
And in entered a wet Arthur, wearing casual shorts with his abs exposed.
"Alia..." He called out, rubbing his eyes before suddenly stopping.
His eyes locked with Amon.
"Oh wait, brat, when did you get here?" He asked.
Amon clicked his tongue.
As if this geezer found out just now.
"Don't act like you don't know geezer." He pointed at the shadow on the ground.
Arthur broke into laughter before settling down on the sofa.
"Seriously, youngsters these days." He rubbed his hair to throw out the water and dirt in
them.
Amon suddenly felt a strong grip on its arm.
"H-Huma-..A-amon..." Vain called him out.
Amon looked down into its crimson eyes, which were filled with shock and fear.
He tilted his head.
"Who is that abomination?" It pointed.
Amon looked up.
"Ah..."
A smile pulled on Amon's lips as he saw the snake also feel fear.
"That's a man you should never ss with. Even in your wildest 'illusions'."
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