With Granny Wren agreeing to teach him, Lucas was ecstatic. It was the chance that he'd needed to grow stronger, and he knew that he could put his affinity for Illusion magic to good use if it was as dangerous as the old woman claimed it was.

  “So, when do we start?” Lucas asked.

  “We can start your first lesson right now,” She replied. “I'm busy today, so we can't do much, but I can at least explain to you what illusions truly are.”

  As the old woman spoke, she got up from the table the two had been sitting at. Lucas watched as she began to work on the cauldrons full of potions once again.

  “When most people think about illusions, they think of them in the context of hiding things or making people see things that aren’t there. Illusions can do that, yes, but they can also do far more,” Wren explained.

  “Most will learn how to hide themselves and then work on another affinity, feeling like they've figured out all Illusion magic can offer. The truth is that Illusion magic has far more complexity. You remember what I told you, yes?”

  The old woman looked over her shoulder as Lucas nodded. It was hard to forget the ominous warning that the potion maker had given him about what illusions could be used for.

  “You mentioned that they can twist people’s senses. And that they can create illusions so real that they can hurt people.”

  “Good, you were listening. The truth about Illusion magic is that it directly targets the five senses. Sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. In truth, Illusion magic is closer to mental manipulation than simply creating images that people can see.”

  The old woman waved her hand dismissively and before Lucas’ eyes, a second Wren was suddenly standing in front of him while the other continued to check the bubbling potions one by one.

  “This is a good example.”

  Lucas was stunned, watching as the illusion in front of him opened its mouth and spoke normally. The voice sounded like it was coming from only a couple feet away from him rather than across the room where Wren really was.

  “Illusions can be broken down into two simple types to make things easier. There are targeted illusions, and general illusions. What do you think each does?” The illusion asked.

  Wren’s question had Lucas stumped. While a targeted illusion sounded pretty straightforward, he had no idea what a general illusion could possibly mean. Granny Wren didn’t say anything, letting him try to work through it on his own as she extinguished the fire underneath one cauldron and stoked the flames of another.

  “Targeted illusions would be an illusion that targets a specific person, right?” He asked.

  When he got a nod from the illusory copy in front of him, he felt confident enough to throw out an idea he had thought up about what the other illusion type was.

  “Then that means a general illusion targets multiple people?”

  Wren actually turned around from her work to look at Lucas. “My, my. That’s certainly closer than I expected you to get. But you’re not exactly right.”

  Getting to the potion that James had been working on, Granny Wren looked it over and extinguished the flames boiling the potion. With that done, she turned her full attention back to Lucas and walked over to him, standing beside the illusion she had created.

  “A general illusion does target multiple people, yes, but it’s more than that. A general illusion targets everyone within the area that the illusion is cast. Even the caster will see the illusion they create. The only difference is that you will know that it isn’t real. Targeted illusions are for single targets, but general illusions are made to affect entire areas and capture entire groups in an illusion or hide a whole area.”

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  Hearing the explanation from two different mouths felt strange and Lucas couldn’t help but cringe a bit from the strange echo. The old woman noticed, and her lip quirked with the hint of a smile.

  “Now, tell me which type of illusion you think this is,” She said as she gestured towards the copy standing beside her.

  “It has to be targeted. I can see it and hear it, and I’m the only one around,” Lucas replied immediately.

  A wide grin split Wren’s lips as she nodded her head. With another wave of her hand, the illusion was gone, and Lucas was left with only one aged crone in the room.

  “Correct, though your reasoning could be better. Just because you’re the only one here other than me doesn’t mean that I targeted you. I could have made that an illusion that filled the whole room and anyone inside would have seen it, including me. It’s hard to tell apart a targeted and general illusion unless you’re with other people,” Wren explained.

  “So, you could be lying to me, and I wouldn’t even know,” Lucas pointed out, getting a laugh from Wren.

  “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. I guess you’ll only know the truth when you get good enough with your magic to find the truth.”

  The teen’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded his head. He knew what he had to do, he just needed some instruction.

  “Then tell me how I can get better.”

  “You’ve certainly got some steel in you. Good,” Wren commented. “But that’ll come in handy down the line. The best way for you to improve is to learn how to make your own illusions. Imagination and visualization are key. You can’t make a convincing illusion if you can’t imagine what it will look like.”

  “But how do I make an illusion at all?”

  “I was getting to that,” The old woman snapped at him, though her tone lacked any real heat. “We’ll start you off with general illusions. Targeted illusions not only require a target, but they’re also harder to do. General illusions, on the other hand, are something you can practice on your own and are a good starting point. Have you been able to grasp the mana in the very core of your being?”

  “I can,” He replied. Even hours later, the memory of the feeling of his mana brought a small smile to Lucas’ face.

  “To craft an illusion, you need to take the mana from your core and push it out into the world. You need to direct and shape it, willing the image that you imagine in your mind to appear in the real world. Keep a firm hold of your magic and feed the illusion a small, steady trickle. For now, focus on simply creating something that you can see, something small. Sight is the easiest of the five senses to mess with when using Illusion magic. Once you’re able to do that, refine the image until you can’t see any flaws in it. If you can do that, we’ll be able to go further.”

  The old woman gestured for Lucas to follow as she began to head back towards the door leading to the main room of the shop.

  “I’ll have one of my children come by and invite you over within the next couple days and I expect to see some progress by then.”

  “A few days?! But I don’t even know how to do any magic at all?” Lucas protested. The goal of learning how to make an illusion in a couple days seemed absurd.

  “I just explained to you how to do it. And I have faith that you’ll do just fine, Lucas. You have a sharp mind, and that is a great boon to have when crafting an illusion.”

  The sheer amount of faith in the woman’s words left Lucas speechless. She truly believed that Lucas would be able to get a solid grasp of his magic in only a couple short days. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to prove her right.

  “I’ll do it,” Lucas replied, determination shining in his eyes as he met the old woman’s gaze. “I’ll make an illusion so perfect even you’ll believe it.”

  That got another loud cackle out of the aged potion maker. “Let’s not go that far, child. You’re still new to this and it’ll take time to fool me.”

  She grabbed at the door to leave but paused and turned back to Lucas.

  “I expect great things from you, Lucas. You’ll likely be my last student, and the only one I will ever teach Illusion magic to. I will teach you everything that I’ve learned about the craft in my long life, if you’ll let me.”

  The atmosphere in the room shifted and Lucas could feel how serious Granny Wren was about teaching him. He didn’t know where it came from, but he decided to give the old woman a short bow of respect in return.

  “I’ll learn everything that you can possibly teach me. I can’t thank you enough, Granny Wren.”

  He felt a hand land on his shoulder, and Lucas looked up to see the old woman standing in front of him.

  “You’re my student now, Lucas. Just call me Wren. Being called ‘Granny’, from a student of mine who isn’t my family makes me feel old.”

  “But you are old.”

  The smack to the back of the head that he got for his snark was worth it, in Lucas’ opinion.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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