Tsugi looked around. He was sitting in front of his father again. The room was completely fine, not a single item was out of place. He was out of breath and sweating profusely with beads of sweat dripping off the tip of his nose and chin, landing on his crossed legs. Sir Gorou did nothing but sit and hold an expressionless face.

Tsugi looked down at his body, looking over everything. His arm wasn't broken, he had no bruises, no cuts, no abrasions, and all his fingers were there, including his thumb.

"Took you long enough." Sir Gorou said plainly. Still shocked at what just happened, Tsugi didn't know what to do or how to respond. "I'm guessing you're confused, in shock, and have no idea what just happened? That was the hallucination magic. I’ll allow you to ask questions."

"When…did it…start?" Tsugi finally managed to ask.

"I officially kicked in the magic when we sat down and I was talking to you, but the planning and preparation started long before that. What did you notice that brought you back?"

"My...thumb was missing." Tsugi stared at his open hand.

"That took way too long for you to notice. There were other more telling signs that you didn't even pick up on. The first sign you should've noticed, that was very obvious, were the red walls." Tsugi glanced around. The walls were black, but during the hallucination, the walls were a dark blood red color.

"Second, there's no sword on that weapon rack. It hasn't been there for a week now. And third was your thumb. You were too consumed in the fight and too worried about yourself that you didn't notice any of that. Guess how long you were stuck in the hallucination for."

‘If time passed by the same, it would mean,’..."One day?"

"One hour."

'Only one hour? It felt like it would never end!'

"Now, if I did make it where there were no loopholes, do you think you'd ever be able to escape?" Now realizing the horror of being stuck in an eternal nightmare, hit him. "The hallucination plays with the mind. If I'm able to break your spirit in the hallucination, the only way to bring you back is to kill you in there. Although, when you come back, your fear and the horror you went through will have done immense damage that you will not be able to move. Or if any, very minimal movement.

Think of it as the body going into shock, a shock that can't be shaken off and the body will not respond. You will still be awake to see and hear everything, your body just won't move how you want it to.

Learn to pay attention to your surroundings. Engrave every little detail into your mind. To push that hallucination onto someone, you will need to imagine and see that world yourself. If you can't see the world and make it feel real for yourself, it won't be for them either.”

"How would I even put them in that world though?" Tsugi had recovered from his shock and was now intrigued.

"It starts with something small. You get them to drop their guard so they don't notice. When you saw me sit down and I told you to come sit, you immediately relaxed. That was when it started. Think of it like building something brick by brick. I had already started placing the bricks. As soon as you relaxed, I had already started pushing out my aura and replaced the surrounding material with the hallucination. From every stone to the smallest speck of dust. By the time my explanation was done, it was already complete."

"The more you do it, the faster you can build the world, and the harder it will be for them to notice, even if they were alert. Unless they are extremely skilled, and lucky they won't be able to escape."

"Will you be able to do it to multiple people at once?"

"It's possible as long as the world you build is big enough. It's all in your imagination, if you can build it big enough, it'll fit as many people as you can fit in it. But be wary, all it takes is for one of those people to realize it’s fake and break your magic.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

This magic is only as wide as your imagination. The better your imagination, the stronger the hallucination, but the more energy you will expend. This is not a magic you can hold forever. An hour out here is a day in that world. Ideally you shouldn't go beyond four hours. If you don't kill them within those four hours, when you come back, they most likely will be the one to kill you.

"If you have someone under the hallucination, your bodies are still out here in the real world?"

"It depends if you are drawing the world around them or pulling them into one. If you are pulling them into a hallucination, since you are the creator you will be able to tell if something is amiss in the real world and you can choose to break the hallucination and return."

"Can someone from the real world wake the person under the hallucination?"

"I've never had that happen, because no one has ever survived. It might be difficult to wake someone, but it might be a possibility, also that is only 'if' the performer doesn't catch a whiff of them first. My first time performing this magic, I had missed a butler. It was a good thing my world drew a line at a door, so it’s easier when you have a boundary, whereas if you were in the middle of a field, it will be harder to hide that boundary line.

Now, look around. Do you think this is real or are you in another hallucination? Don't randomly answer. I want you to think before you answer. A wrong answer will lead to punishment. If you say it's real and you are right, you will get a hot bath and a hot meal. If you are in a hallucination I want you to find out what is amiss."

Tsugi, now frightened, gazed around the room. Had Sir Gorou built a world in that short time? He glanced at everything, the color of the stones, the weapons, the ground, the designs, but nothing looked to be amiss. Maybe, this was a trick question, or maybe he was in one already and never noticed it.

He racked his brain but he couldn't figure it out. Fear of punishment sent his heart pounding and blood rushed through his arteries. He pushed himself up and accidentally kicked the staff he was using as it rolled away.

'Wait. I put my staff back. I didn't bring it with me.'

He was sitting down in front of Sir Gorou again.

"Good. It only took you a quarter of the time to realize it. This is how your training will go from now on. I won't tell you where or when it will occur, but if it takes too long, you will automatically receive punishment. If you don't figure out that it's a hallucination within a certain amount of time, punishment. If you can catch me in the middle of performing the magic, you get to do as you wish for the rest of the day. Agreed?"

"Yes sir."

Sir Gorou spun a kick into Tsugi and sent him flying across the room. As the fight commenced, Tsugi fought him and tried to figure out if he was in another hallucination, or if it was real. He glanced at every detail he could find, but there were so many things, it would take way too long. He started to get flustered and started making mistakes, taking in more blows than usual.

"It's real!" Tsugi finally screamed.

"Correct, but it took too long."

The earth shook and vibrated loudly. Dread filled Tsugi's heart and he saw a very dangerous smile on Sir Gorou's face. He needed to escape and hide if possible, but there was no way he could. He barely had any time to think before Sir Gorou snatched him up by the neck.

"No!" Tsugi choked. Sir Gorou tightened his grip and ascended the flight of stairs to the surface, out the castle, and into the fierce wind. Tsugi fought and fought, but to no avail. His spirit,once again, was crushed. He was reminded of how weak he was against the all powerful Sir Gorou.

'The Dead Hill' was what Tsugi called it. The dead grass had traveled so far from the pole, it almost looked like a barren wasteland.

Sir Gorou grabbed Tsugi's arm. "You remember our deal right?" His smile sinister, sending a chill down Tsugi's spine.

"AHH!" A loud crack and sharp pain shot through Tsugi's arm.

"Since, you didn't even get a chance to hide, I'll just break one this time." He proceeded to chain Tsugi to the iron pole. "Don't say I never went easy on you." Sir Gorou continued down the hill.

"AH!" Tsugi screamed from anger. He struggled through the pain of his broken arm. Even though it hurt and had started to swell painfully, it was nothing compared to the pain that was about to come with the rolling clouds. He fought and struggled to escape.

'If I just dislocate my wrists I might be able to get out of these chains!' He fought and pulled as hard as he could.

"AH!" A few loud poops and one hand popped free, but he couldn't get the other one. Painful tears streamed down his face. He was now hanging by the broken arm. The bone was no longer supporting the weight of his body and he dangled only by the skin that sheathed the broken bone. The elastic skin and muscle stretched and pulled painfully.

Lightning struck the pole, through the iron chain and down his arm. Writhing in pain, he tries to push off on his toes to relieve the pull on his arm, which already started to turn a swollen black and blue from the internal hemorrhaging. Never ending lightning strikes, started to wear Tsugi down.

Blood dripped down Tsugi's mouth from biting his own tongue. A smell of leather filled his nostrils, and he looked around confused. Why would he smell leather all the way up there?