“Faster kid! Hurry it up, we got three more laps.”

I regret joining this immensely.

“Come on Briana I just lapped you. Pick up the pace or I’ll do it again.”

Jack laps me with a smile on his face. Taunting me as he showed no fatigue in his stride. I, on the other hand, was winded. The only running I had done in this body was in short bursts. Trying to learn how to run long distance with two tails and shorter legs was a mess.

“You look like a dying fish! I’ve seen fawns run better than you!”

Kill me!

I laid sprawled out on the ground sweating as I tried to cool down and catch my breath.

“Get up kid. You aren’t going to get any better laying on the ground lass.”

(B) ‘This guy feels like Teage as a drill sergeant.’

(T) ‘I’d expect nothing less from a dwarf lass.’

My ‘trainer’ was a dwarf named Arcanor. He was the fitness and combat trainer of the place and offered combat training to people that wanted it. Jack had even told me a rumor that he had beat a giant with his bare hands.

I’m not sure how much I believe that, but I don’t doubt he could beat me to the ground.

“Come on, get up, we’re about to do combat training.”

Jack who was looking ready to go was standing nearby with a smile on his face.

“Ready to go Briana? I won’t go easy on you.”

I heaved a sigh as I heaved myself up.

“Give me a minute, I’m still not used to this body.”

“The enemy ain’t gonna care lass. Now, prepare yourself!”

He tosses me a wooden sword and I barely catch it as Jack tenses up ready to jump.

“3”

I jump up to my feet and start casting an illusion spell as he counts down.

“2, 1, go!”

As he jumps at me I cast three illusions that spread out to surround him. It still doesn’t faze him though as he sniffs me out. I have to slide underneath him barely missing his grasp.

He spins around as I charge at him with my clones in a straight line. It sounded stupid as they don’t have any force to them, but that isn’t the point.

The first one swings and misses but it runs through him causing him to be unprepared for the second swing which still passes through him. He then swings at the third with a smile on his face.

“GOT YOU!”

His hand passes through the mirage and I strike him in the stomach throwing him back. He prepares to jump at me in response but a whistle blows through the air.

“First point, Briana. You let your guard down Jack. Just because they aren’t all real doesn’t mean you can let your guard down.”

“But her smell was on the third one!”

“No, it wasn’t, she used that one a couple inches in front of her to get you to miss and strike you while you recovered. Just because she is new doesn’t mean you let your guard down or trust your senses. Especially against someone who uses illusions. Now do 100 push-ups and think about what you did.”

That means I get a break right?

“But don’t think you’re getting off easy Briana. That strike was pathetic. I want you to do 100 sword swings.”

“But I hit him!”

“Yeah, and you were about to get tackled to the ground if I hadn’t stepped in. Next time I want him wheezing on the ground. Am I understood”

I sighed as I began my sword swings.

“Yes sir.”

“What was that lass?”

“YES SIR”

“Round 2, begin!”

I charge at him again as he stands his ground. But I don’t change my approach and strike at him with a clone approaching from every angle. He jumps over me and kicks me in the back of the head throwing me to the ground.

“First point, Jack. That was pathetic Briana. Follow through with your strike. You left yourself exposed and he used that window to counterattack. 100 sword strikes again Briana. Now, Jack good moves, but I want you to stick on the ground. If she had counterattacked you your options would have been limited. Now 25 up downs Jack hurry it up.

“Now for this round, I want you to not use those illusions of yours Briana. You are an illusionist, that means you shouldn’t limit yourself in the way you use your powers. So show me something else.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Like what?”

“That’s your problem, not mine lass.”

Another illusion I could use? I look at the sword in my hand when an idea hits. Let’s just hope this works.

I only wish I had the Matti Kati with me. Flash step would be nice to have right about now.

“Now, Round 3, begin!”

Jack charges at me and I charge in as well. I need to finish this fast or he’s just going to overwhelm me with his endurance and strength.

I dodge his first punch and use my sword to block a kick that follows shortly after. It pushes me back as I reel from the impact. But I grit my teeth as I swing my sword imbuing it with an illusion.

He easily dodges my strike, but he then immediately keeps moving in a random manner. It looked like he was shadow boxing and I smiled as my illusion worked. I continue to push him back. His speed is still making it hard for me to reach him though.

He starts to notice that I was making illusionary strikes after a while though. he calms down his attacks and punches at me from time to time as he continues to sniff the air. Realizing that most of my attacks are fake he tanks the few weak hits I make while countering with fast precise strikes.

My assault slows though as fatigue starts to eat at my movements. Before I realized it I felt his hand grasp my arm and I’m thrown into the air before hitting the ground on my back.

“Second point, Jack. You okay there lass?”

I lean up as I try to catch my breath. I’m still too weak for what I no doubt will be facing very soon.

“Yeah, just catching my breath.”

Jack offers me his hand and I take it as he helps me up to my feet.

“You had me going for a bit there. You just need to gain a little more muscle so your attacks stop feeling like a massage.”

I couldn’t tell if he was complimenting me or insulting me.

“Or I could just use a sharper blade.”

“Enough you two. Good fight, both of you. But you both have a lot more room to improve. For now, go get some lunch you two. Also, Briana, I think Ms. Oak wanted to see you after lunch she didn’t tell me why though.”

What did she want to see me for? Was this about last night?

“That can wait till ‘after’ lunch now come on Briana. We got to hurry or we’ll be waiting in line!”

Jack pulls me as I wheeze.

“Give, me, a second, to catch, my, breath, Jack.”

“Oh, sorry, do you need a minute?”

“Just, go on ahead. I’ll, catch up, in a minute.”

“She sure will. We need to do some introductions after all.”

I feel Evelyn grab me from behind and tense up as I expect her to jump up into the sky.

“Ease up Briana, I’m not going to hurt you or anything. I just wanted to see if your tails were as soft as I remember them being.”

I feel her grab my tails and yelp in response.

“Stop that!”

“Oh, sensitive are we?”

“Quit that already!”

Jack sees Evelyn and tenses up ready to jump. But, Evelyn is using me as a shield and keeps me between him.

“Cut it out Evelyn!”

“Oh, and are you going to make me lover boy?”

“Will you two knock it off! Or do you two want to have another chat today you two.”

“NO MAM!”

They both hurried off as Ms. Oak appears in front of me.

“I swear those two really need to learn some manners. But right now we have some training to do. Here, I made you lunch.”

She hands me a lunch box and I accept it. Opening it up though it’s empty.

“Why’d you hand me an empty lunch box?”

I look up at her but she simply gestures at the lunch box.

“Look again.”

Looking inside I see the lunch and looking back up I see her sitting down in a chair drinking some tea.

“Eat up, it’s real.”

I look down at the lunch and back up and now she’s reading a book. As I stare in confusion I feel a tap on my shoulder.

“Illusions can take many forms Briana. Now, I won’t ask what you are doing in your free time, but you’ve been using a lot of mana, haven’t you. That ‘game’ you’ve been playing. I’m guessing it’s not just some simulation is it, and since it is using mana to function. It must have been where you found out about your origins, right?”

“Did Mason tell you?”

“Yes, he was the one who told me about your situation. After, our little incident.”

“Don’t remind me of that. It wasn’t very pleasant.”

“Would you like to talk about what goes inside this ‘game’ of yours.”

“Not really, but I wouldn’t mind some training.”

She looks disappointed but understanding.

“Mason said not to press you about it, but it might help me.”

“I’m sorry but I’d rather not.”

“Very well, but I can guess at the very least it isn’t very peaceful over there.”

“True.”

“Then let's get to work, shall we. First off there are three types of illusions. One, personal illusions, these are where you manipulation an individual's perception of reality. Second, reality illusions, these illusions change the way the world sees something. Then finally, reality marbles.”

She touches my forehead and I see myself on a flat field.

“A very powerful illusion that shuts down someone’s ability to perceive reality itself. A very powerful, but very taxing illusion you should use sparingly.”

She snaps her fingers and we’re back to reality.

“But it requires you to touch that person to activate it.”

“There is also another version called a reality marble that pulls everyone around the user into a similar shared illusion, but I’ve never been able to accomplish this. My illusion powers aren’t that strong.”

“So is that what happened when I was in Jack's room?”

“I would guess so. But right now we need to work on your basic illusions. Make me an apple.”

I stare at her hand and imagine an apple in her hand. An apple appears but when she goes to pick it up with her other hand it passes through.

“So you're only able to create an image at the moment. No wonder you were having such a hard time with Jack earlier. This is how you create an apple.”

An apple then appears in the lunch box an I pick it up to look at it. How did she make this? It was solid, but not only that the skin felt real too. It also smells real as well.

“Take a bite. It won’t be filling but it will show you what a true illusionist is capable of.”

I take a bite hearing the crunch from the bite as I chew. I expected it to taste like an apple but it tastes like chocolate with the texture of steak. I spit it out and see the rest of the apple is gone.

“True illusions are perceived by all five senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Reality is perceived by all five of these senses and you need to learn to make someone believe they are experiencing all five of them. So far you’ve gotten by through subconscious thought and your have backed projected images. But if you want the upper hand you need to utilize a complete illusion.

“Next on the agenda though is your classes. Even if you aren’t exactly human. Doesn’t mean you should be skipping out on your education. Tomorrow you’ll be joining me for some tutoring and mythology lessons. With the actual information on how to defeat each monster. Though some myths got it right other were horribly off.”

Not school, I don’t want to study math right now!

“Now how about we get to work and see how good you are at this.”

I gulped in tread as I was in for some intense boot camp training.