A clear vial, filled halfway with a viscous and sky-blue substance, rested on the tabletop.

Azure Blossom Tonic... it looks just like how I remember.

Sans knelt by the table, holding his head level to the vial. The early morning rays of sunlight shone through the window, bringing warmth to a portion of his face, while his eye peered into the tonic as if it were a murder suspect with a dubious alibi.

An A-grade medicinal tonic. Its purpose is to prepare the body for much more severe medications. It doesn’t do anything on its own, however the moment an injury occurs—the tonic will activate in full force. Supposedly described as if your bones and organs are dipped in the most soothing of waters, eliminating all aches and pains.

His upper eyelids hung low, and his mouth curled into a pleased grin. After spending all night working on this alchemical marvel, he was both tired and elated.

“With this step complete, I’ll-”

He stopped abruptly, tilting his head at a slant. Staring at him from the other side of the vial was a beautiful and enchanting eye. It wasn’t just any eye, but one that belonged to the most mysterious woman he had ever come across.

“Azure Blossom Tonic.”

Elsie’s charming voice floated through the air, causing Sans to adopt a subtle smile. However, before he could engage in a heartfelt conversation on the topic, he realized something was off.

“Um, Elsie? Why are you... upside down?”

Sans backed away from the table to find Elsie standing downward from the ceiling. The most perplexing part of the situation was her hair, which seemed to defy gravity as it flowed upward and over her shoulders like strands of silk.

“Upside down, right side up, sideways and back ways. It’s all the same when you can’t differentiate reality from an illusion. After hearing everything I told you last night, I thought you would practice illusion mastery.”

Sans’ face scrunched up awkwardly. Just after Chenbo had left, Elsie explained in grave detail the horrors happening below. She recounted with anger the gruesome treatment and ritualistic sacrifice that the various prisoners were undergoing; each of them acting as a human battery for some unknown plan.

“I did say I would practice illusions, but not right now. There are still many unexplored avenues I can take if I’m to find a solution that doesn’t involve a Ragnar variant. Let’s think efficiently here, and right now it is best to practice alchemy. Time is of the essence. Besides, does it really matter if I master illusions? I still don’t want to fight King Anthor... despite the circumstances.”

Elsie folded her arms across her chest. Her cheeks puffed outward like tiny marshmallows as her mouth formed something of a scowl.

“Did you not understand the importance of anything I told you? The people of this kingdom are being sacrificed like sheep, and it’s all happening beneath our very feet. These are innocent people who don’t deserve such a fate.”

Sans raised an eyebrow as he glanced upward at Elsie’s wiggling toes.

“You mean, beneath my feet. You’re upside-down.”

Elsie’s scowl deepened and she took a step forward. The ceiling and walls warped and twisted, while the air seemed to thicken.

“Really? Is that so?”

She took another step forward, closing the distance between them. Sans let out a hollow laugh and moved backwards, but just as he did—something poked his back.

“…And you’re dead.”

Sans’ eyes went wide as Elsie whispered into his ear. The upside-down figure before him evaporated into nothingness, while the room suddenly became rigid once more.

“Is all of this necessary?”

He let out a sigh and turned around, finding Elsie pointing at him with an outstretched finger.

“This could have been a sword. I could have been King Anthor. Did you think if you cured yourself, you could beat the king in a fight?”

Sans scratched the side of his head and cast his eyes to the side of the room.

“Eh, well… that wasn’t really in the plan. I at least wanted to talk with him first. What if the king himself is innocent? For a man to care so much about his son’s health and safety… I refuse to believe he’s as evil as you say. The advisor on the other hand—I don’t trust that guy for even a second.”

“Okay then. Let’s pretend it’s just you and the king in some abandoned location. You talk to him, thus learning he’s not as innocent as you hoped. Do you think he’s just going to let you walk away with that knowledge?”

“Well I—”

Before Sans could finish his sentence, he felt another finger poke his back.

“Dead, again.”

The Elsie before him dissipated into butterflies as he whirled around to face the new version.

“This isn’t very fair. The king’s mastery over illusions is mediocre compared to yours.”

“Illusions were never fair to begin with. King Anthor is capable of illusions far more complex than just this. With your lack of practice, there was never a fight to be had—only certain death.”

Elsie wagged her pointed finger at him as if to taunt the poor boy. Sans grimaced, but before he could give his retort, a series of gentle raps sounded from the door.

“Oh! My new friend is here!”

Elsie chirped happily, which only caused Sans additional confusion as her voice didn’t come from the Elsie in front of him.

What in the world is going on?!

Sans spun around once more, this time toward the door. Just as he did so, everything from the walls to the ceiling all shattered like glass, revealing Elsie’s dainty figure skipping toward the door. She wore a white overcoat that trailed down to her ankles. Its wide sleeves dangled just beyond her knuckles, which seemed to highlight her ruby painted nails all the more.

Elsie threw the door open with a beaming smile and a glimmer in her eye.

“Lady Elsie, I got your message and-”

“Madam Alten!”

“It’s Madam Altores...”

Madam Altores, gowned in an elegant black dress, muttered through pursed lips. Surrounding her were two broad-shouldered men that stood like stone statues. It seemed that even within the palace, she chose to walk with protection.

“Yes, yes. Wait one second and then we’ll leave.”

“Leave? Where-”

The woman asked back in confusion, but Elsie had already turned away from her, making her way toward an equally confused Sans.

“Here, this is for you.”

Elsie reached into her coat pocket, withdrawing a golden talisman, barely the size of a coin. Laced through the talisman was a silvery chain that glimmered against the loose rays of sunlight. Sans received the talisman and inspected it closely.

“What are these tiny inscriptions on the side? What is this for?”

He asked her with squinted eyes as he tried to make sense out of any of the etchings.

“Currently, both King Anthor and Advisor Karbone have left the palace. I suspect that they are on the tenth floor somewhere, scouting for the remaining ingredients that you asked for. Here, put it on.”

Elsie grasped the talisman from Sans’ hands, looping the chain over his neck.

“It’s a single-use protective formation that will activate upon receiving a life-threatening strike. Even though there should be no threats within the palace, one can’t be too certain.”

“Oh, I see… well where are you going? I could come with-“

“Shopping! We’re going shopping! Want to come?”

Elsie beamed a radiant smile that seemed to outshine the sun itself. Meanwhile, Sans flinched upon hearing a particular word, making him recall a certain day of dread.

“No thanks, I’ll stay here and-“

“And practice illusions, right?”

Elsie interjected with a stern glare, which didn’t seem all that serious when combined with her lush and pouted lips.

“Right, I’ll practice illusions. Now hop along, enjoy your time uh—shopping!”

He took a step away from the door and casually waved goodbye.

“Hmpf! You better practice!”

Elsie slammed the door behind her, which was followed by the faint shuffling of footsteps.

“The audacity! The day is ruined! I can’t believe he won’t spend his time with me! Me, of all people! The wonderful me…“

Sans, unmoved and wholly unaffected, listened as her remarks faded into the distance. A couple moments of silence went by, before he finally released his long-held breath into a drawn-out sigh.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Silence, at last.”

He revealed a sly smirk before turning toward the center of the room.

“Practice? Of course I’ll practice. Now, where was I? The Azure Blossom Tonic is only one part of the recovery process. I will also need something to maintain my body’s integrity under the extreme energy of the Solar Sandstone. To begin with, we can start by dissecting an advanced body strengthening pill.”

Sans clicked his fingers together, an act that he had done countless times over the last couple weeks. What he expected was a flurry of flames to come forward, with which he could mold and solidify into the perfect alchemy cauldron. However, instead…

“Smoke?”

He gazed at the hazy plume before him in bewilderment. There was no fire, no cauldron, nor any magic in the air to speak of.

Something is off!

He took a step back, when something caught his eye from within the dissipating cloud. A dainty yet familiar foot stepped forward with wiggling toes.

E-Elsie?!

Before he could suffer another thought, Elsie’s smoldering visage appeared from the depths of smoke as she waved to clear the air.

“This is not illusions! This is alchemy!”

Elsie’s cheeks puffed out once more as she balled her tiny hands and rested them on her hips. Her weight shifted onto one leg, while her entire demeanor seemed to demand an explanation.

“I…this… but you left! What?!”

Sans recoiled back in shock. He was used Elsie’s unfathomable methods, but something about the situation seemed entirely off.

“I said illusions! Practice illusion! Il-lu-sion! Il-lu-sion! I said illusions!”

Elsie marched around the room, all the while chanting the same phrases over and over again.

“What is going on here…”

Sans twisted his mouth in thought.

For some reason, I lost command of my own fire. Additionally, Elsie seems to have gone crazy. I suppose I’ll have to calm her down. It’s odd, normally she only gives me suggestions and hints. She’s almost never this straight forward. It’s almost as if…

He focused his attention on a single immutable detail that had never failed him—his strange connection to her that was nothing short of an invisible tether. If anything, the connection only seemed to be growing stronger with each passing day.

She’s not here…

With a sudden flash of inspiration, he cast his gaze to the window.

There’s no sunlight coming through the window!

He rushed to the window, only to be greeted by a vast expanse of black. The phantom Elsie grew silent as she watched from a distance. Her expression was stern, yet somehow playful.

“I’m still trapped in… an illusion…”

His defeated mumbles were the only sound that could be heard.

“Arrgh! Fine!”

Sans cried out while pulling at his hair in frustration.

“I’ll practice! I’ll do it!”

The moment he acquiesced, Elsie’s figure skipped over in excitement. Her body shrank smaller and smaller, until it was barely the length of his arm. Without hesitation, she flung herself through the air and latched onto his body like a miniature koala bound to a tree.

Sans kneaded his forehead as he tried to pull her away from his chest, but unfortunately it was an impossible task.

Well, I would rather her like this than conjuring a verbal storm.

He glanced at the small body trying to mash her face into his shirt. Giving up on her, he assumed a cross-legged position on the floor and closed his eyes. Scanning his memories for a certain figure of legend.

I’ve yet to truly dive into Kaima’s inheritance. It’s always felt… daunting to do so.

It was as if he were exploring an extension of himself, something foreign but at the same time familiar. His mind flipped through different topics on illusions before finally landing on the one most pertinent.

It’s clear what she wants me to learn—detecting and breaking illusions.

Unlike his memories for alchemy, his memories for the illusion arts always seemed to be in a strange haze, like an incomplete puzzle that he couldn’t even envision the complete form of. He could recall details, but never the most crucial ones. This left him in a constant state of unwillingness to practice the art entirely, especially with alchemy being so accessible—not to mention vital to his short-term survival.

Sinking deeper into his thoughts, Sans found himself seated upon a blackened throne within a massive cathedral-like building. Small samples of violet light filtered its way through the patterned glass ceiling, illuminating the shadow infested room like a series of thin swords piercing into the abyss.

This is Kaima’s home. No… this is my home.

He stood up, briefly scanned the empty room, and then lazily strode toward a side door. His gait exuded confidence, almost like a casual saunter that followed an obscure and profound rhythm. With every step, shadows coiled and clung to his feet as if the floor itself were hesitant to see him go.

The door swung open by some unseen force, revealing the interior of the side room. An altar was positioned at the head of the room with a man sitting leisurely upon it. His outfit was of pure black and surprisingly sharp. Light reflected off his simply laced leather shoes, while his slacks were secured by two misaligned belts. The top of his collared shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a contrasting splash of pale skin and two beautifully prominent clavicles.

One of the man’s legs dangled playfully off the side, while he rested his arm on the raised knee of the other. An enchanting smirk rested beneath two piercing blue eyes—eyes that Sans could have sworn that he’d seen before.

Isn’t that… Kaima? But this is Kaima’s memory… how?

“Are you ready?”

The man called out as he hopped off the alter.

“Always.”

Sans replied without any thought. The next moment, a shroud of black erupted from the altar and encased Sans within. Two orbs of blue light flashed brightly, before absolute darkness took hold.

A breathless moment passed, when suddenly a gust of chilling air brushed against Sans’ neck.

“Pay attention, I won’t repeat myself again.”

Sans’ ears twitched upon hearing the familiar voice.

It’s him again. It’s Kaima.

His eyes flickered open, finding himself in the same room, in front of the same narcissistic smile. Kaima’s condescending gaze bore down upon Sans, staring through him as if he didn’t even exist.

“As we were then. The fundamentals of illusion mastery rest in the manipulation of information. This much you have already practiced with your own mediocre illusions, yes?”

“Yes.”

A quiet voice called out from behind Sans, filling him with no small amount of alarm.

I’m not alone?!

Sans turned around to find a small figure, donning a black hooded cloak. The figure’s lower face was partially visible.

He looks young. Is this Kaima’s disciple?

Realizing he was standing between Kaima and the possible disciple, Sans took a step to the side. After all, it was awkward for Kaima to stare at him but not at him.

“Good, let’s continue.”

Kaima gave the boy a nod and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Manipulation of information depends on perspective. For the most basic of illusions, we control the five senses: visual, auditory, taste, touch, and smell. As for more complex illusions, we may control the deeper aspects of a person’s psyche: aura, spiritual, and emotions are a few such examples.”

He paced in front of the alter as he spoke, while still occasionally batting an eye toward the boy.

“Yes-but Kaima, I already understand these things…”

The boy spoke with slight hesitation as he voice lingered, almost worried to speak the rest of his mind. Kaima revealed his pearly white teeth, giving the boy a knowing grin.

“You want to break illusions, do you not?”

“Y-Yes…”

“The most critical aspect in both detecting and breaking an illusion, is to understand which combination of simple and complex senses are being manipulated. Perhaps you might think your sight has been distorted? Maybe your hearing? Then it turns out you were asleep all along, and it was your dreams that were twisted.”

Sans shifted his attention between Kaima and the boy. His brow crumpled, deep in thought.

You can be under an illusion… while asleep? What if you woke up within the illusion thinking it was over, but it wasn’t? Wait—am I asleep?

The boy’s head turned away from Kaima, as if he were also swimming in his own thoughts. Seeing this, Kaima chuckled and leaned on the altar’s edge.

“Don’t worry, you’re not asleep.”

Both Sans and the boy let out a synchronized sigh of relief.

“Not yet anyway.”

Kaima muttered before continuing.

“The concept of detecting an illusion is easy. Simply pinpoint the distorted senses, along with every way they are distorted, and trace the flow of magic with your own. The challenge comes with figuring out all the creative patterns that the illusion master has cleverly conjured.”

He held out his hand, curling his delicate fingers inward while leaving one standing tall.

“Look here and we’ll see…”

With a swift chop, he cleanly sliced the finger off without batting an eye. Blood spurted outward like a miniature fountain, dying Kaima’s chest and face a scarlet red.

He didn’t even flinch…

Sans stared at Kaima with wide eyes. He was quite familiar with the pain of losing a finger. Even knowing that he could grow it back with special medicinal pills, it was still a painful experience nonetheless.

“We see the blood, yes? But wait a minute, there’s something strange about this… Can you tell me?”

The boy tilted his head toward Kaima before letting out a mumble.

“There’s no smell. You’re bleeding a lot, but the smell of blood isn’t in the air.”

After hearing the boy’s assessment, Sans glanced back toward Kaima’s hand with intrigue.

“That’s right. It is established that the distorted sense is visual, now we have to detect all the different ways that magic is being applied. Our eyes and senses are just like any limb of our body, so much so that we can empower them with magic. In order to detect an illusion, one must empower their senses with intent. Your intent… is critical to success.”

Sans nodded in understanding as he focused on the flow of energy within his own body, channeling it to his own eyes.

The trick is intent. Intent to see through his illusion of a cut off finger…

He concentrated on Kaima, who stood still with his outstretched hand. In a matter of seconds, Sans was able to see a numerous streams of shadowy energy exploding outward from the severed hand. Each black tendril was connected to the various splatters of blood that decorated Kaima and the floor.

“I see it!”

The boy exclaimed as he gripped the hem of his cloak with a clenched fist.

“Very well. Let’s move to the next step.”

Kaima smiled, and as if time were rewinding itself, the spilled blood flowed in reverse and his finger reattached itself. He wiggled his fingers and clenched his fist, showing that his hand was perfectly fine.

“In order to break an illusion. Your version of reality needs to be stronger than that of the illusion. When creating illusions, a varying amount of skill, depth, trickery, and energy are all components that can make the illusion easier or harder to break. It should be mentioned that breaking an illusion for someone else is a completely different learning curve. To do so, you would have to impose your reality onto the victim’s reality, which involves understanding them to a fine degree.”

Kaima dismissively waved his hand through the air.

“Enough talk, hold out your hand just as I did before.”

Sans bit his lip as he watched the cloaked boy hold out his hand.

Will I be able to practice breaking the illusion as well?

“What are you waiting for?”

Kaima’s voice reverberated in his ears.

Huh?

Feeling something off, Sans turned to the enchanting man.

“I said hold out your hand, both of you.”

Kaima shifted his gaze onto Sans, who stood in place, shocked and dumbfounded.

“You can see me?!”

“Did you think yourself invisible or something? Stop wasting my time, or rather—your time.”

Sans sheepishly glanced toward the boy, praying for his silly assumption to be overlooked. Unfortunately, he could barely make out the sly smirk hiding underneath the hood.

These bastards! Were they in on this together?

With a grunt, he held out his hand, pointing a finger into the air.

“Perfect, now break the simple illusion.”

Kaima called out while folding his arms across his chest.

Nothing has changed-

Just as he turned to inspect the boy behind him, a fountain of red caught his eye.

Blood… my finger. I understand now.

His eyes glowed in interest as he inspected the bloody stub that was forming his finger. Blood spewed into the air, just as it had with Kaima, and similarly there was no metallic scent to fill the air. In fact, there wasn’t even any pain other than an awkward phantom itch. In his heart and mind, the entire image went against all common sense, especially considering his extensive experience in losing his smaller appendages.

“Now we understand the task ahead of us. Step one, identify the sense that is distorted. Step two, channel energy into that sense, focusing on the discrepancy. Step three, break the illusion by imprinting your own reality over the illusion. Just remember, breaking an illusion tends to require an equal or greater amount of energy than the amount used. The more experienced you are, the less energy you will need to use.”

Kaima let out a small chuckle and continued.

“Heh… If it helps, you can even try to verbally call out for it to break. Is it more embarrassing to look silly, or to be trapped in an illusion forever?”

“Break!”

“Break!”

Both Sans and the boy called out simultaneously upon hearing Kaima’s statement. Seeing this, Kaima nodded in approval and continued his lecture.

“We have a whole journey ahead of us, and this is only the first component. To keep things simple, we’ll keep using the same illusion, but each time will become more complex. Naturally, complexity will come in the form of adding additional senses or changing the pattern in which the illusion is conjured.”

Sans’ heart thumped.

Adding in senses? Does that include-

“That includes the sense of touch! But don’t worry, I’m not here to traumatize you.”

Sans let out an internal sigh of relief, but it was too soon.

“That’s why we’ll be adding in touch as the second sense! It’ll be much easier if you get used to it sooner rather than later. That way you’ll have a lot more practice!”

Kaima’s devilish laughter filled the air as Sans grit his teeth.

I want to go back to alchemy.

“As much as I’d like to start right now, let us get out of this dreary room. I know a spot, just outside these castle walls. A beautiful and serene forest…”