Novaris. Septer. 905. AGC.

  Nodel. Waxing Crescent ??. Day 5.

  One day of adventuring was not enough to get the party truly trained up with the various things they wanted to accomplish. They all had plenty of things to work on, even if it was mainly Rose, Tesilim, and Arelion. Still, a day out in the field had been good; they had gotten a sense of what they wanted from the various techniques the three of them were working on. It had also been good for bonding, as the party could spend time together while learning more about each other's combat styles. It also helped that they made a small amount of gold, while Teslim had been able to practice the chants for his old and new spells.

  After all, he needed to practice his old spells in order to get much better at casting them. Then, hopefully, eventually, he would be able to use them with his Presence. Tesilim also had to practice the new spells he was trying to learn, since that was the only way he would ever actually get them right. That was also part of what he had done the previous day, when it wasn't his turn to fight or when they were walking.

  He had already gotten the words he wanted for the spells during his two days of studying, but now he had to refine them and get better at actually chanting. So, the previous day had been full of messed-up illusions as he failed the spell chant or failed to blind his targets, as well as throwing very weak fireballs.

  However, he eventually stopped working on the other two spells and focused on the illusion spell. For one, he had plenty of attack spells and didn’t deem the blindness spell as cool as the illusion one. Naturally, focusing on one spell and nailing down the chant produced better results, and Tesilim quickly garnered a better hold of illusion-making. This was because the illusion spell was more of an image-related spell. Well, at least the one that he was learning was, since you could technically make spells for very specific illusions.

  From what Alyx had explained the day before, an illusion spell could be specifically made to create one type of illusion, which would make the overall thing much more real. These simple spells were made and often used by those who lacked imagination, which Tesilim did not. The gnome pointed out that it was the type of spell he had used back at the bunny cave to make the illusion wall. Meanwhile, Tesilim was learning a more varied illusion spell. The spell was essentially an open spell that relied on the caster's imagination to work.

  Create Illusion: The create illusion spell’s effectiveness is held back by a caster's imagination, power, and overall control over magic. Illusions are one of the most easily malleable spells, and can be mixed and molded to other aspects of magic. Of course, this means that illusions have almost endless uses. Sadly, great illusionists are hard to come by, since believability is often the key to an illusion. Luckily, simple is often best for beginners, as it helps them conserve mana while they train to become masters of their craft.

  Current Rank: D.

  Magic Type: Mind Magic - Illusion.

  Concentration: No.

  Mana Use: Hybrid.

  Use: Utility.

  AoE: Yes.

  Multi-Target: Yes.

  Tesilim had plenty of imagination, and once he narrowed down how to chant the spell properly, his illusions became much better. Granted, by the end of the previous day, it wasn't a spell that he could chant in combat or while in duress, but he could at least chant it without issues.

  This meant that the next day, when Tesilim had to unleash his chaos magic, he already had a spell in mind for all his Chaos Mana.

  Around mid-morning, the party stood in full battle gear around the area that Tesilim used to unleash his chaotic magic. Obviously, Lili, Alyx, and Drex were always present since they were Tesilim’s main support group. Meanwhile, Rose and Arelion were not big fans of Tesilim’s chaos magic and had opted to stay out, at least until they learned that Tesilim planned to try out the illusion spell. So, the idea of watching an illusion come to life was too intriguing for them to pass up. Of course, it also helped that Tesilim and the rest of the party worked very hard to convince them to come.

  Taking a second to compose himself with everyone watching, Tesilim finally began chanting the spell. As he chanted, he began to imagine a large black scaled dragon with scary horns and large wings appearing in the clearing in front of him. He had thought of going with something small, but had decided to dump a lot of mana into the illusion to try and make something astonishing.

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  “By mirrored thought and woven gleam;

  I shape the false, craft the dream;

  Let sight be fooled and senses sway;

  The world shall see what I portray.”

  Tesilim waited until the barest outline of the dragon began to manifest. It was the general shape of what he'd imagined a dragon would look like. And as he chanted and poured more mana into it, the shape began to fill with blurry darkness. However, that's when it started to stall as his mana was running out due to what he was trying to accomplish. He had gone above what his mana output could actually support in terms of imagination. Also, the damn illusion was simply too big, which didn't help with the mana issue. Luckily for Tesilim, he had Chaos Mana and dumped all of it into the spell, the taste of fruit overcoming him like it always did, even if he had gotten rather used to it.

  Thanks to the Chaos Mana, the spell resumed but at a greater speed as the entirety of the dragon's outline was quickly filled with details. It had a lithe body, at least what could be considered lithe for a dragon, considering its muscles. The dragon had glittering black scales covering its entire body. Furthermore, like a real dragon, it had six limbs: four legs and two wings. The wings and its underbelly were colored a dull grey that matched its massive horns and bone claws. Tesilim’s illusion was a beautiful creation, the tail wrapping around the dragon's body as it lay on the ground, its eyes closed.

  Heck, even as Tesilim finished chanting, there were still minute details being placed upon the illusion, which truly showed the power of Chaos Mana.

  “Wow, that looks amazing!” Tesilim exclaimed, surprised at how well his image had turned out, even going so far as to shove his hand into it only for it to disappear.

  “That is incredible!” Rose said joining Tesilim by sticking her hand into the dragon’s image.

  “You guys ever think I will become a real dragon?” Drex asked, imagining his future.

  “That’s pretty good considering you just learned the spell. It is amazing how much your Chaos Mana adds to the process,” Alyx added, analyzing everything as always.

  “Yeah, outside of the fear-inducing aura a dragon has, it almost looks like there is one here,” Lili added, getting looks from everyone but Alyx.

  “You have met a dragon before?” Arelion asked curiously, speaking for everyone else.

  “I have met a couple. Still, that’s not important, Tesilim, any news on what the Chaos Event will be?”

  “Uh, not yet, I think the spell is finishing a couple of touches. Oh, there it is.”

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  Warning! Chaos Event Imminent, prepare yourself.

  Rolling d20. 2. Rolling 4d100. 88.

  ??

  With the confirmation that the Chaos Event was imminent, everyone looked around as they got ready to react to whatever might be coming.

  “Guys?” Tesilim began nervously as his eyes landed once more on his illusion, a ripple passing through the entire thing, “Is that supposed to be happening?”

  Turning to look in Tesilim's direction, the party quickly saw the ripple passing through the dragon. However, by the time they turned, the ripple had already passed through most of the dragon's body and was coming to an end at the tip of its tail.

  “Oh fuck,” Everyone heard Lili and Alyx say before the aura of fear struck them as the dragon’s eyes opened, revealing yellow slitted eyes staring at them.

  Tesilim peed his pants when the aura of fear struck him. Where before the image had looked cool and intimidating, now it was like looking at an actual semi-truck coming at him at 100 miles an hour, rather than a picture of one. Tesilim could see the dragon’s chest move as it breathed, and the small movements of its body as it made minor changes to its posture.

  Of course, Tesilim was not the only one struck by this fear, and everyone else, except Lili, was basically stuck in place, staring at the creature in front of them. It was a primal fear of encountering a powerful creature. The fear itself was not a soul attack but a direct oppression of the body of a lesser being. It could be resisted, but only by those at the same rank or with odd powers. As such, everyone, but the white hair elf, also peed themselves as they lost some control of themselves and fell on their butts, joining Tesilim on the ground.

  On the other hand, Lili had some experience with dragons and could hold herself together, but did not dare to move in case the dragon decided to take it as an act of aggression. Meanwhile, Alyx, who had met a dragon or two before, had not done so in the same manner. Lili had engaged said dragons in combat, while Alyx had been around them when their auras were subdued, which had not prepared him for his current situation.

  For its part, the dragon stared at them, at least at first.

  “Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?” The creature said in a deep, rumbling voice, obviously confused to find itself there.

  Of course, the party couldn't answer, still shocked about the appearance of an actual fucking dragon. It had been a normal day, there had been a nice, realistic illusion, and then it had come to life. The sheer thought of that happening was insane, especially when it came to a D Ranker creating that illusion. Yet, there was a dragon as real as any of them. It boggled the mind of everyone, especially Drex, who could only think about the sheer terror he could inflict if he ever became a proper dragon.

  Now dragons came in many sizes and temperaments, and whatever dragon Tesilim had summoned or created was rather short-tempered. So, when the party took too long to respond, the dragon didn’t take it too kindly. In a flash, the creature was on its legs, rising above the party like a majestic creature of death, the act instilling more fear in them and causing them to crawl backwards, making even Lili flinch and take a step back. Then, finally, as it stood over them, it spoke once more, but this time in anger.

  “Who are you!? Where am I!? How did I get here!? Did you summon me!? If so, how!? Answer or die!” The dragon rumbled its fear factor, increasing as its full attention was now on the party.