"They do not demand attention the way most students' tricks do," the bored voice said at last.
The boredom had drained from it, replaced with something careful, like a man realizing the note he had been humming under his breath belonged to a hymn.
"They do not shout, look. They ask the room to look aside. It is quieter. It is harder to punish. The boss in the canyon chased ghosts, yes, but at least half the time it chased slightly wrong edges, not full phantoms.
The body read the space wrong because the space felt wrong, not because a painted shape fooled its eyes."
The medic leaned closer to her own screen. She always leaned close when things mattered, even if she didn't realize she was doing it.
"Which means less fatigue for the caster," she said. "Adrenaline holds loud illusions together, and then collapses the user. Quiet ones ride habit."
