Magic With You

The ghoul dodged by moving to its side. As ghouls forte is their speed, the ghoul successfully dodged before charging at Calter's direction

Calter silently gave a mental order to the skeletons to protect Kence at all cost. "[Dark Magic: Dark Blessing]" a black aura covered Calter's body and when the ghoul was close to him, he moved and met it with his sword

Calter calculated in his mind the ghoul's next actions and he saw an opening despite the ghoul's fast speed. The young master's arm strength exploded and his sword's speed increases. Calter accurately penetrated another ghoul's chest before he kicked it in the stomach to remove his sword

The man wasn't finished though as he continued to kill the ghoul that Kence and a skeleton warrior was fighting

Calter jumped in the air to borrow gravity's power and it increases the power of his sword but the ghoul spread its arms and threads of blood spread everywhere

Without a choice, Calter was forced to cut the blood threads first to keep himself safe. However, when the threads were cut, they still continued and went to attack Calter

"[Ice Magic: Ice Shards!]" Kence slapped his milky white hand in the air and pieces of ice cut the blood threads. The ghoul might be powerful but it was still fighting three enemies at a time

Calter didn't waste the chance and his sword was ignited with black flames. With another sword slash, Calter managed to cut more blood threads

Too bad that at that time, Calter sensed the connection he had with one of his skeletons vanished and one more ghoul went to attack

Tens of threads made from blood were fired at Kence's direction and Calter can feel his heart shaking. "No!" Calter immediately controlled large amounts of his mana and they all went to his eyes

"Karami!" Calter's pupil changed its shape. From the normal circular shape, it turned into two upside-down triangles that made a star shape

"[Karami Magic: Endless Darkness!]" Calter targeted the ghoul. He can use this skill even without making direct eye contact with the enemy but it will use up more mana than it already does

Calter's vision locked on the ghoul and the poor monster loses its sense of vision. The threads that were shot to Kence slowed down as the ghoul was not able to control it

Kence was shocked at this and used the knife in his right hand to slash the blood threads coming to him

Even after using a lot of his mana to use Karami, Calter still accurately threw his sword to the ghoul and he successfully killed it too

When Calter saw that Kence use the knife to cut the threads, he realized that he overreacted. Even without his help, Kence would still be able to defend himself

Calter wants to finish this test as soon as possible, his judgments were being clouded when he saw that Kence is in danger

Kence thought that it was weird that the ghoul's attack slowed down but only credited it to Calter throwing his sword at it

Unlike him, the fairy imp was shocked. She only sensed some sort of power from Calter and that caused the ghoul to behave 'weirdly'

She doesn't know that the ghoul loses its sense of vision and in a fight to the death, that is a fatal thing

The fairy look at Calter and her interest was piqued. Having that much mana was surprising but is not too much of a big deal. However, the capabilities he showed was far above what normal Magic Warriors have

The last ghoul went to attack Calter and this time, it was Kence that 'helped' the man

An icy fog was fired from Kence's hand and it froze the ghoul's hand

Another sword appeared in Calter's hand and he used it to penetrate the ghoul's chest

The two managed to kill three ghouls at their level. This can already be considered as an achievement. However, for Escardon Academy's students, it was only so-so

The imp continued watching as the two head deeper in the dungeon while anticipating what they would do in the next part of this trial

After walking for a few minutes, the two sensed that the fogs turned thicker making the visibility even lower

"Walk next to me" Calter said and Kence looked at him warily. "Y-you won't take advantage of me?" Kence knew what sort of situation they were in but he still won't let Calter do something inappropriate to him

"Stop flattering yourself and do as I said" Calter bluffed. He knew to himself that his heart (and only his heart!) was genuinely concerned with Kence but .... it also won't be bad if the youth inched closer to him

Kence gave Calter an angry glare before moving closer to him

"Closer" Calter said with a growl and Kence gritted his teeth before moving again. This time, their distance is only around seven inches apart

Calter was about to ask Kence to move closer but the youth beat him to it. "T-this is enough"

Calter can only purse his lips in dissatisfaction and let Kence be. However, the deeper they are in the dungeon, the thicker the fog becomes

They didn't encounter any monsters but they almost cannot see anything

Calter 'took the initiative' and walked next to Kence with their shoulders almost touching. In Calter's defense, this place is dangerous and they should 'help' each other

Kence didn't say anything as he was scared at the place he was in. He just wants to become a student of Escardon Academy, why did he suddenly enter such a situation

As soon as the two took another step, the imp's eyes glowed, and watched them more attentively

A wave of power shrouded the two. The glow of Kence's eyes vanished and it was replaced by a lifeless look. Even his body stopped moving and turned motionless

----

The next thing Kence knew was that he was in a place he doesn't want to be in. He doesn't know why he was there or where he was literally just seconds ago

A rope was wrapped around Kence's body and in front of him were the three people that meant the most to him

The first one is Noom and on the man's side was Kence's foster father, Otto Crosmoner. And the last one is Kence's Big Sister, Caizha

The three were bound with vines too with their backs in a tall pole. The three were currently looking at him with hate as they spat hurtful words at him

"This is all your fault!"

"Why did I even adopted you? Look at what happened to me!"

"It was my greatest misfortune for me to be your guard!"

Their words pierced Kence's heart and waterfalls immediately formed in his eyes

Why? Why is this happening? What did Kence do?

Why are the people he cared about the most looking at him with utmost hatred? They were always looking at him with gentleness and care in their eyes

"Boo!"

"How dare you insult a royal!"

"Stupid whore! Go die!"

When Kence looked around him with his teary eyes, he saw that a lot of people were around him. Some even threw random things at him and his 'family'

"Russel, how could you do that?" a voice familiar to Kence entered his ears and he saw Xian looking at him with disappointed eyes

On Xian's side was another person that he is familiar with looking at him with gloating eyes. "Bitch, that's what you get for disrespecting me. Hmph! To think that you will do such a horrible thing to my Royal Father. You and your trash family deserve to die!"

Kence doesn't know what he has done but the next thing he knew was that he was already watching his family being burned alive

The three cried out in pain and Kence watched as the skin of the three started burning. The sight made Kence dizzy and he is starting to break down

The hurtful words and the scene in front of him is not something that Kence's fragile mind can take and he can only cry while slowly losing his consciousness before another voice entered his ears

"Release!"

Kence felt mana circulating in his body and when he woke up, he was back at the dungeon. This time, the black fogs thinned and he can see better

"Impossible!" The fairy imp exclaimed and almost revealed herself. She knew how powerful the illusion trap in the dungeon and it is not something that mere Magic Warriors can easily break free from

The illusion will play a scene based on the victims' memories that will be enough to break their minds. Since Kence only have memories from the Escardon Realm, his greatest fear was for the people important to him to be in danger or die because of him

Especially since he angered the Crowned Prince before, he's afraid that he would cause another trouble in the future

For the examinee to break free from the illusion by themselves, they must first realize that it was an illusion. The changes might seem abrupt but the power behind the illusion was high, visible in how Kence became a victim even though he was still inside the dungeon just literally seconds ago

Even after the victim realizes that it was an illusion, it wasn't easy to break free from it. The scene will continue playing and the victim must protect themselves by the things inside the illusion

If they were killed inside the illusion, then they will also die in real life

It should take the two a lot of time to break free but Calter made a huge miracle. In just a few seconds after the illusion activated, Calter already break free from it

In truth, Calter didn't really enter the illusion. His core and the mana inside his spirit sea protected him. Well, even if he does enter the illusion, using Karami can help him break free from it

Karami can see mana itself and the illusion was made with mana as its fuel. It would be too easy for Calter to break free from it

Calter originally planned to wait for a few minutes before 'shattering the illusion' but his damned heart won't let him do what his mind wants again

In his peripheral vision, Calter saw that Kence's body was shaking as if the youth was in so much pain. Thus, he was forced to help Kence exit the illusion

It was actually easy, Calter only needs to circulate some of his mana to Kence, particularly in the youth's brain to stimulate it

Just like that, the two finished the hardest part of the trial that was placed in the middle part that is unlike other trials or exams

The illusion might look simple but it was because Calter didn't let it show its true potential

For example in Kence's scenario, even if he realizes that it was an illusion if he showed that fact, the people inside the illusion will all attack him. And just how many people were there?

How can Kence find the weak points of the illusion with hundreds of enemies attacking him?

"Are you okay?" Calter asked in concern and his heart broke apart as he saw Kence's eyes have tears in them

Kence wanted to break down but he still knew what kind of situation they were in. He was tired of having other people think that he is weak and Kence doesn't want that. That's why Kence forced himself to nod his head

Calter was about to comfort Kence when he saw that the youth is really not okay but the fairy imp appeared again

The fairy was shocked but she didn't show it on her face. "Congratulations, you two passed the hardest part of this trial and you will be rewarded!"

The fairy snapped her fingers and two pouches appeared in her hand. One was color blue and the other is color black

The fairy then flew to the two and sprinkled the blue and black specks of dust on them

Kence and Calter can feel that the surrounding mana was being drawn to their bodies and they breakthrough a small realm. They are now at the mid-stage of Magic Warrior Rank

The most surprising thing was that their foundations didn't become shaky at all. In fact, it was even fortified!