“Can you show me?” Brett’s eyes sparked with excitement.

Laira turned her head slightly to look at Lukas, who smiled at her encouragingly.

“I… yes, but as I said, I’m still not too sure how to control it.”

Brett spread his arms. “That’s okay! You don’t have to show me anything specific. I’m just really curious how your skill looks.”

Laira hesitated. “I also tend to get really weak afterwards…”

Lukas put his warm hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be safe here. Don’t worry about it.”

Brett also nodded and smiled at her. “Yes, nothing can happen to you here.”

She sighed inwardly. Honestly, she didn’t feel like activating the skill anytime soon, since it wasn’t exactly pleasant, but she had decided to reveal everything to Brett after all. And of course they had been really eager to see the skill in action after she had told them about it…

“Alright.”

Steeling herself, she thought for a bit about what reality she wanted to show them. What exactly counted as a reality still eluded her - the skill description wasn’t exactly forthcoming with extra information.

Loki’s Il̵̹̩̎lusionary Shroud - ? - Copper I You cha̵͕̓nnel Loki’s poŵ̶̧̧͖̠̥̜͔̱͕̥͉̰̦͇͇̹̪͓̭̟̫͓̞͙̺̈̂̈́̂͗̈́̔͊̉͐̔́̍͌̏̿͊̈́̊̂̋̃͘̚͝͝͝ͅer through̴̰͓̾̓̓͑́̅̽̃̇͘͝ your mind, ma̵̒̒̉͗͝king others see realities that have once existed. Effect:

Ǘ̴̹sing man̸͈̗͌̏̾̓͜a to call upon Lo̵͌ki’s divine power and channel i̵̤̖͛̿̅͜t through yoú̵̢̊r mi̵̤̖͛̿̅͜nd, you sȟ̴̨̪̺̳̟roud yourself in a̵̻͈̿n illusion.

Illusi̵͍̻̩͎̥̠͓̬͝ons must recreate realities you have experienced before.

Dura̵̻͈̿tion and the n̸͈̗͌̏̾̓͜ú̵̢̊mber of minds affected increase mana drá̶̭̽̄͑̈́̃̌in.

A̸̍ĉ̸̣͖t̵͐̃i̷ṿ̵͂a̵͝t̸͓́̑͜ion̸͚̰͘ ̶̧͑ŝ̶͉̀s̸̡̩̋͐ë̷͎͂͜ ̵͖̟̓s̴̖̀a̵͜͝s̵͚̑̓d̵̗̃s̸̝̋̐d̷͇̕͝ͅ ̸̼̒ͅn̶̛̳̅n̷̢̩̾̿ ̷̮̥̽̊ą̴͖̅ś̷͉̼̐o̴͔͛y̴̧͉̍͂ỉ̶̼̞̅ĝ̶̣̝h̵̳̏b̵̳͛r̷͓͉̄̐ ̴̙̄̒C̴̔́or̶͋rr̸̻̃p̷̰͉̀̕i̸o̵̬̣͒͋n̷̍͠. Ẅ̵̛́e ̶̻͇͝ḅ̴͘à̷̌r̷̗̀̇ ̷͍͒̅ļ̸̀v̵̿̆ā̷͇͔͑ṣ̵̨̈̎ÿ̶̟́̓.̴̭̆ ̶̷̴̡̛͕̫̬̈͒̍̎̈B̶̯̲̽l̷̟͗͑ ̶̝̊̔ć̶͎l̶̲͌͑s̸̾͗c̸̫̈́̃i̷͓͒ͅġ̴̑r̷̢̹̔g̸̞̑,̶̝̘̌ ̸̢͓͂La̶i̷r̷͍͗a̴.̸̛̖

For example when she had activated the skill last time, she had been aware of what kind of scene her skill produced - until before she collapsed that is.

But the scene that it had shown had been confusing. It was certainly not something she had experienced before, or at least she couldn’t remember experiencing it. But it had felt so… natural. As if it had been real at one point.

As for how she had produced the scene in the first place… that was also something she was confused about. When the skill had activated she had felt in her mind how to control it, how to choose. And she had chosen something that had drawn herself to it, a kind of memory she wasn’t aware of but that still existed and that had proclaimed itself to her that it was right.

So her plan for this skill activation was to explore a bit more about what she could show. And although she was nervous and hesitant, she was in truth also a bit excited about exploring it further again.

With one last, deep breath, she activated Loki’s Illusionary Shroud.

An electrifying energy instantly shot into her head, making her gasp. It was much like the last time, but she still couldn’t get used to the divine energy gushing into her, filling her up like a vessel on the verge of breaking.

And once again, the skill urged her to choose, but this time she wanted to explore what she could do. So she endured the pain and the dizziness that came from holding the choice back and let her mind wander around.

Images and scenes from her childhood assaulted her mind, flashing in and out in rapid succession. Her time in school, her playtime with Cleo, her cries, her time with her father, her cries, her pain, her cries, her pai- A storm of memories she had always suppressed until now threatened to overwhelm her, but her own mind was quick to respond and shut them off as quickly as they had arisen.

Those were things she certainly didn’t want to show to Brett and Lukas… nor did she even want to think about them.

Shaking her head and gritting her teeth from the rising tension in her head, she searched deeper.

Come on. There must be something like last time. Something that feels real but is different to what I know.

More memories from her life surfaced but she shoved them all away, until there was only emptiness. Darkness. She closed her eyes and imagined herself drifting through that darkness.

For a while, her only reward was an ever rising pain in her head.

But after what felt like an excruciating eternity, she saw it.

There was a spark in her mind. A tiny, purple speck of light, usually hidden from the rest of her mind, but now made visible through the activation of the skill.

Excited, she focused her mind on it, grasped it with her thoughts and dove straight into it.

The spark expanded, until it swallowed the darkness of her mind and all around her was filled with that bright, purple hue.

And then came the memories.

First one.

A foreign scene of a dirty orange sky.

Then two.

A field covered in endless bodies, the ground stained a dark crimson, the cries of more fighting in the back.

Then… came all.

Her eyes snapped open and her head reeled back in shock as the pain in her head exploded. Memories flooded her mind as if she had touched a high voltage powerline, zipping through her, freezing her body in place.

There were… so many. Impossibly many. Thousands of lifetimes of memories.

They were drilling into her head, the sharp pain the only reason she hadn’t fainted yet.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

She felt like drowning and burning alive at the same time. Desperately she reached out into the flood of memories, trying to grasp something. Anything. But the memories were too fast, too many, she couldn’t get a hold of any of them.

Darkness bled into her vision and she gave herself one last push. One last effort.

With all her remaining strength she squeezed and pulled something out of the stream that threatened to kill her.

Then she collapsed.

****

The girl gasped and cocked her head back, her eyes wide open.

Brett frowned.

Is that how it’s supposed to go? The activation time is also a bit slow for combat…

When the girl had finally been forthcoming - after a long talk with Lukas - and had told him about her skill, he had been over the moon.

An illusion skill!? That was amazing! All of their skills so far had been pretty much combat focused and, in his opinion, a bit boring.

There were skills that could give you knowledge and ability in the weapon you were wielding, and some skills that gave you the opportunity to do a faster and stronger strike and some other minor, not that fun skills. Of course there were some more extraordinary skills, like the archers' Ammo Replenishment that magically summoned arrows over time and his own Encouraging Battle Cry that boosted himself and his team members. But although those were pretty fantastical in their own right, none of the skills he had seen so far had truly impressed him.

But an illusion skill? That sounded like straight up magic. Something you would expect from a world filled with sorcerers and mages. So yes, he was pretty excited.

“Brett, I think something is wrong. Should we-” Lukas’ voice was filled with worry, but Brett cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“There is nothing we can do anyways. Just wait and be pati-”

His words got stuck in his throat as a sudden darkness fell onto their surroundings.

He looked up into the sky and saw that the afternoon sun had been replaced by a dark canvas of barely visible stars. But before he could admire the changed environment, a wave of heat hit him, making him stumble back in pain.

The blistering air, which threatened to burn off his skin, was followed by an earth-shaking roar, making him fully fall to the ground.

He had just barely enough time to register the huts around him getting toppled, some of them burning, before his vision became occupied by something else. Something… out of this world.

A gigantic pillar of bright fire reached into the sky just barely outside of the camp. What seemed like a network of veins, filled with molten fire, wrapped around the pillar, with actual fire burning all around it. A portion of the lake bed next to it had simply evaporated, while the grass around the pillar had already burned to a black crisp.

No… not a pillar. A… snake? A worm?

The insides of his eyes threatened to boil when the top end of the pillar turned down, a massive, blazing mouth facing him, the light from the fire contained in it brighter than the sun.

Darkness once more creeped into his vision as his retina got burned away, and a single thought filled his mind.

What… did we do? What is this monster?

Another heat wave hit him, a million times hotter than before, as he accepted his fate. His skin and flesh burned away in an instant, his mind losing its grasp on reality, the nothingness of eternal sleep embracing hi-

*Gasp*

Brett lay on the ground, gasping for air as reality suddenly snapped back into place.

His eyes shot open and he sighed in relief as he was greeted by a normal, blue afternoon sky.

When he turned his head to look at the rest of the camp, everything looked normal as well. No toppled or burned houses. No burned grass. Everything as it should be.

He sat up, spotting Lukas sitting next to Laira, who was apparently unconscious.

A wide smile appeared on his face.

“That was… fucking amazing.”

****

“What’s wrong?”

Claire’s words ripped Jett from his daze.

“Huh? Oh, uh nothing.”

He shook his head to ground himself back into reality.

“For some reason I just remembered something from a long time ago.”

“Oh? Some childhood memories?” Claire’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

Jett snorted. “I guess you could say that.”

“What was it about? School detention? Given how much of an ass you can be now, I’m sure you weren’t the nicest kid around.”

He rolled his eyes at her while she stuck a tongue out at him.

Seeing as he wasn’t going to reply, Claire continued to tease him.

“Come ooon, what was it about? Did you steal some food? Put a nail on a teacher’s chair? What-”

“I was just playing with some worms, if you have to know."

It was weird that one of his first encounters with a Pyreworm had suddenly entered his mind, but he had more important things to do than to think and talk about his past.

"Now shut up and focus, we are here.”

Claire actually did as she was told, only giving him a weird look but otherwise staying quiet.

Jett took his sword in his hand and slowly made his way up the small hill in front of them. Claire and Robert followed quietly behind him, their weapons also ready.

After reaching the top, it didn’t take them long until they reached a small ravine, where they spotted a small stream of water coursing through it.

And at the source of the stream was their target. A wild assortment of various flowers, ferns, mosses and other plants dotted the area. Small trickles of water seemed to flow around all of them, as if the source of the stream was directly under them.

In a way, it was under them. But more accurately, the majority of the source was them.

That’s right. They were all mana treasures. Water mana treasures, both nourished by the natural spring and contributing themselves to the water coming out of it.

Jett held up a hand, stopping their advance. He crouched down and observed the area for a while. The ravine was empty and quiet, safe for the small gurgling sound of the stream.

“That one over there, next to the tree with the blue glowing moss growing on it,” he whispered and pointed to somewhere next to the water source.

Robert shuffled up next to him, his bow ready, trying to spot the location Jett was indicating.

“I don’t see anything,” he said in a quiet voice while frowning, his eyes darting around in a vain attempt to see a target.

“The puddle. Aim at the puddle. Trust me, it’s there.”

Robert was still frowning, but in the end he shrugged and nocked an arrow he had held ready.

Drawing back the string of his bow, he brought his hand to his cheek, looking down the arrow with focused eyes.

“Use Empowered Shot,” Jett whispered.

Robert gave him a glare, but then focused again on his target.

His lungs filled with one last, deep breath and then his bow and arrow suddenly shone in a soft glow. Moments later the arrow burst away with a sharp *twang*.

The still slightly glowing arrow streaked towards the mana treasures, heading straight and accurately to the location Jett had indicated.

It hit the water surface of the puddle and… made a really big splash, water sprinkling everywhere from the force of the empowered arrow.

Robert turned to Jett and hissed. “So why exactly did I waste-”

A pained and gurgly howl interrupted him, making his head snap back to where he had shot his arrow. The puddle seemed to flow upwards, the water coalescing into a form. Red streaks of what seemed blood marred the otherwise pristine water, which was now taking on more and more the shape of a beast. Of a wolf, to be precise.

Once it had fully formed, it once again released a howl, this time louder and more clear than before. This seemed to trigger something, as at three more locations water rose up and converged into the forms of beasts.

“Alright, 2 boars and 2 wolves. Robert, keep them busy with arrows and use all your Empowered Shots as soon as possible. Claire, we’ll meet them at the area where it's a bit more dry. And remember what I told you about fighting them; your attacks will do more damage if you wait until they attack. They will have to solidify more to do some damage, then they are more vulnerable. Same for you Robert, if you are out of Empowered Shots, try to time your attacks with theirs.”

Jett shot out instructions while the beasts made of water started rushing towards them, with him also starting to move down the ravine in the middle of his talk.

“Oh and focus on the uninjured ones first!” he yelled towards Robert, who had already nocked another arrow.

“Let’s go!” he waved for Claire to follow him, falling into a fast trot towards the incoming beasts.

Another glowing arrow streaked over him, hitting one of the boars square in the middle. Its watery form collapsed for a second with a weirdly gurgly squeak, water splashing onto the ground. But it quickly reformed into the angry boar, which continued to charge towards them. Only a few red streaks of blood inside were any evidence of the attack.

Jett sighed, his sword twirling in his hand as the uninjured wolf was about to reach him.

Fucking water variants.