"Fun?"
"Yes. I've been chased by the whole academy, it feels like. I've fought Rose at the end too."
Myra observed his face for a moment.
"Rose? Really?"
"Yes. She ambushed me at the end when I was exhausted. She almost won, even. She is pretty good."
Cyril nodded, the arcs of his mouth subtly raised.
Myra's eyes imperceptibly shook at his reaction, and then she looked away.
"I mean, it was an ambush, right? Not an actual duel, so..."
Cyril tilted his head, giving her a look.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, never mind."
Myra shook her head, her auburn hair swinging back and forth.
With that, she stood up and went towards the exit.
"I've sat for long enough. I'm going to go breathe some air."
As if escaping, she passed the people at the entrance after they parted for her.
Cyril sighed and looked around the chaotic cabin one last time.
...Maybe it's something among the junk that's her item?
He walked towards the shelf.
"I'll wait outside as well." Cedric waved and walked out of the door.
The others followed after him. Anna gave him one last look before leaving as well.
What kind of items are these...?
Cyril ignored them, closely observing the random things lying on the shelves.
They looked like nothing he had ever seen before or like they had a purpose at all.
They were random shapes that vaguely looked similar to something he knew, but at a closer inspection appeared completely nonsensical.
"What's wrong with this cabin? It's so confusing."
Finally, something caught his eye.
Mixed with the chaotic junk was a picture frame lying face down.
As soon as he noticed it, its presence became obvious to him. Now it was impossible to miss.
He curiously picked it up.
Huh.
On the picture itself, there was only a smudged mix of different colors: green, yellow, and red.
Despite essentially nothing being on it, it still gave him an unexplainable feeling of warmth.
"I think it's also random junk. The illusion is just messy here for some reason, maybe the professors messed up?"
...Maybe.
A perplexing feeling of frustration briefly flashed in him, and Cyril put the picture back on the shelf.
Without looking back, he walked out of the cabin, leaving the lonely flame in the chimney still burning, the smudged picture on the shelf no longer face down.
...
The clouds in the sky disappeared at some point, letting the moon into clear view. It hung high above, softly illuminating the forest.
Myra stood near the cabin with her arms crossed.
Cedric sheepishly stood near her, his palms clasped together as he quietly talked to her about something.
"That's great! Maybe-"
He quickly interrupted himself as soon as he saw Cyril and scratched his hair awkwardly.
Cyril slowly walked over, on his face a light frown.
He was about to say something but then quickly restrained himself, his face growing calm.
Why should I say anything? What did I want to say...?
"Nothing."
Confusing himself for a moment, he looked around, finding Anna near Cedric, who looked at her with something resembling joy in his eyes.
What's he happy for?
Emily stood farther from them, blankly staring at the ground.
Edmund stood away as well, observing the forest with a frown.
Cyril walked towards Myra.
"I'm guessing the lesson should be over soon. Do you have anything you want to do?"
Myra tilted her head, thinking for a moment.
At this moment Cyril felt a cold breeze on his skin. Goosebumps rose on his skin, and soon the breeze turned stronger.
The trees around them shook, the birds flew away in droves, and the moon above them seemed to become brighter.
"What's happening?"
The group reflexively moved closer to each other.
Cyril remained still. He only held the crystal tighter, his eyes scanning everything around them.
In the woods, something unseen was moving, more obvious than ever.
The shadows hiding under the trees had humanoid shapes of various sizes. Some were as tall as three people, some as small as a branch, and some had wings on their backs.
They danced around, seemingly staring at them with curiosity.
Emily pulled out a dagger, sweat slowly trickling down her head.
Cedric put down his pole, on his face a frown.
Anna stood still, utterly fascinated by the movements in the forest.
Myra's eyes turned sharp as she lowered her body, ready for action.
The curiosity aimed at them from the woods didn't seem benign. It carried an unexplainable malicious feel to it, as if getting caught by one of them would spell unspeakable horrors.
The sounds around them soon grew quieter.
Despite the wind still rustling the branches of the tall trees, it was completely silent.
The shadows around them grew, seemingly stretching in their direction.
What is this?
Cyril took a light breath and got ready. The butterfly on his shoulder stayed still, preparing to fly out at any opportunity.
"This is fake, right?"
Just as the moving shadows slowly reached them, everything changed.
Everything around them stopped in place.
The sky above them became pitch black as the moon disappeared completely.
Then, the towering trees surrounding them grew smaller, slowly disappearing into the ground.
The rest soon followed after: the grass, the water, and the cabin, all melting into nothingness.
Even the disc-shaped crystal in his hands and the flagpole on the ground near Cedric.
In mere moments, only dark soil remained under their feet, barely illuminated by the magic lamps placed high on the ceiling that now hung over their heads.
Ceiling?
Cyril briefly looked above.
"Are we back in the real world?
Myra hesitantly said, looking around as she slowly relaxed.
"Seems like it."
Cyril nodded and straightened his back as well.
Cedric gave a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping.
"What was that for? The shadows and everything, I felt as if something horrible was about to get me..."
Emily nodded in solidarity as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
Anna nodded after a delay too, her breathing uneven. Though her brown eyes shone clear.
Cyril raised his arm, looking at his bracelet.
It suddenly lit up, showing an arrow pointing in a specific direction.
He looked at the others, finding them looking at the same thing.
However, Edmund's, Emily's, and Anna's arrows pointed in a different direction.
Must be class-based.
"See you."
Cyril nodded to them and began walking away, following his own arrow.
Morpho flew off his shoulder, exploring the now desolate scene. Though she quickly landed back on his shoulder, her wings drooping in disappointment.
Myra and Cedric followed him a beat later, similarly looking around in curiosity.
Without all the vegetation around, the place seemed smaller.
Though it was still a vast empty area lying just beneath their academy.
"I wonder why Ailanthus has such a place," Cedric asked as he looked around.
"Didn't we just use this area for its intended purpose?" Myra simply replied, staring ahead.
"Hmm, I guess that's true."
Then Cedric snapped his fingers and made a smile. "That's pretty cool, actually. While the other academies have to travel somewhere for their field training, we only need to go to the basement."
That's indeed impressive.
Cyril nodded as he walked.
"Very convenient. There is a lot of potential here... no, in the illusion magic!"
"We really must learn it! Imagine all the things we can do with it! It could be so fun!"
Rhamn hugged her cheeks, her face somewhat flashed as she stared into the distance.
All in due time...
...You aren't going to use it to terrorize people, right?
"Hehe, right on. Scaring people is just too much fun!"
"..."
Cyril gave a tired sigh and continued walking, internally rethinking his life choices.
Before long they finally arrived at their destination.
This was the same entrance Cyril entered from originally. What was a dark cave sticking out from a hill now appeared as a gate in the stone wall.
About 20 students stood gathered in a single place, paying attention to someone in front of them.
Not that many people.
"This is class I. The rest of the students are probably going towards different exits."
Mixed in with the crowds were a few familiar faces, Rose Briar among them.
Indeed. There is no way a facility of such size only has a single entrance.
I didn't recognize them at first...
Cyril felt somewhat awkward on the inside, though his face didn't show it.
Standing in front of the small crowd was Richard, saying something to everyone and motioning with his hands.
As soon as the people noticed Cyril and the red butterfly on his shoulder, they immediately created some distance, with lingering fear and hostility on their faces.
Cyril ignored them, standing still after arriving close enough. Cedric and Myra stayed near him.
Seeing this, their professor's eyes became a bit more tired than they already were.
With a cough, he got everyone's attention. "Ahem! Now that we're all here, the lesson is over. I want to congratulate you on completing it.
"Don't be disappointed in the results if they were unsatisfactory to you. You just started studying, and this technically wasn't a test."
"Next, I would like to talk about something that happened during the lesson. Earlier, some of you might've encountered Cyril, which led to a heated situation."
Richard's tired eyes slowly scanned the students.
A few whispers started going around the students of class I.
"Is he going to punish him?"
"His attacks were too painful!"
They shot glances at Cyril, some gloating, some angry, and some just curious.
Richard continued, "That altercation happened because a spell was cast on all of you."
The whispers immediately grew quiet, as everyone looked at Richard with confused and somewhat concerned eyes.
"All your actions had increased hostility to them. No party truly wished the other evil. I apologize for this happening."
Richard lowered his body, bowing towards them.
"This was done to prepare you for similar situations in the future. Whenever emotions threaten to cloud your judgment, think back to today and remember how detrimental that can be."
A spell, huh?
Cyril nodded, not too surprised.
"This can't be! I mean, I'm just that good at provocation. It wasn't because of some spell!"
Rhamn sounded upset for some reason, her arms crossed as she pouted.