"Hahaha! Yes! It's actually possible!"
Cyril continued to observe the flower with a stunned expression. Margaret's words were true enough. The flower in front of him looked just like the real thing. More than that, it exuded a certain allure, making it seem impressive.
Having it in his own dorm seemed like a proper achievement. No other person had a flower as good-looking as this.
Just as such thoughts flashed in his mind, Cyril shook his head, regaining his calm.
It really is augmented by your feelings of pride. Just looking at it is enough to be affected.
Rhamn snapped her fingers, and the flower disappeared. She looked at him, a satisfied glint in her red eyes, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, I'll take on the pride of both of us and work extra hard to make our illusions strong!"
"Hehe, arrogance this, arrogance that. What? It will lead to our doom? Well, now we can just use illusions to amplify the pride of our opponent, bring them to our level, and beat them with experience!"
...That's indeed a working strategy.
Although the way she said it made him want to object to it for a moment, he couldn't deny the potential of the tactics she described. Illusion magic was capable of confusing the mind in more ways than he thought.
Next, they've tried casting it again and again. In their excitement they almost forgot the time.
Like kids discovering a new toy, they've tried making everything their minds could think of: weapons, plants, small animals, and abstract shapes. However, they've encountered an issue when trying to make anything bigger.
They were still beginners in illusion magic and couldn't make anything that was too big or anything that moved with more energy than a rocking chair.
Not to mention that Margaret's illusions were capable of reacting to touch, unlike theirs. Still, they were plenty satisfied already.
Cyril sat on the bed, breathing heavily. Rhamn lay near him, smiling towards the ceiling.
They were taking a brief rest, as Cyril began feeling his mana approaching dangerously low levels.
Finding the right moment, Tigris climbed onto the bed and cautiously walked up to him. It was obvious from the tiger's careful eyes that he would rather sleep right now, but something urged him to act.
At first the tiger was excited with his younger sister being so 'dependent' on him, but the constant presence of her ferocious golden eyes proved to be a bit difficult to endure.
He had to walk more carefully now, lest he accidentally anger the mean snake. Not to mention he had to eat more carefully during dinner now. And that was a big problem! Food was meant to be enjoyed.
Anyway, now her golden eyes urged him to walk closer to Cyril, who was now finished with his training.
Cyril sat upright, took one of the mana potions he always carried, and drank it in one gulp. The taste of it, along with the feeling of his strength replenishing, was truly enjoyable.
"What is it, Atheris?" he said after recovering.
The snake, in cute mode, raised her scaly head and cautiously stuck out her forked tongue. At the corner of her golden eyes tears glistened as she stared at him with everything she's got.
She didn't like to be like this! She learned her lesson! A strong feeling of unwillingness and regret emanated from her.
Cyril looked away a little to the side. He didn't have the heart to stare into those pity-filled eyes.
"Poor Atheris. I believe her. That was enough punishment. Let's stop."
...No. It obviously wasn't.
Rhamn pouted, glancing at the snake coiled around an awkwardly looking tiger. Atheris slowly turned to her, once again sticking out her forked tongue as even more tears glistened at the corner of her eyes.
Rhamn's red eyes were quickly filled with tears as well as she sat up and scooted to Cyril. She put her whole face right in front of his.
"Come on! Don't be so harsh on her! You can feel her regret."
Stop spoiling them.
Cyril leaned away and tiredly sighed. He glanced back at the serpent, on his face a frown.
"Atheris, you have to be like this for at least a day more."
The snake froze. After a moment she weakly lowered her head as her whole scaly body became limp. The blue scarf that Tigris wore was no longer alive. Her golden eyes became empty.
"...However, while we are in the dorm, you can get off," Cyril added, finding her sad state to be quite lethal on his soul.
Immediately, the snake bolted from the tiger's neck, dropping on the bed. She eagerly slithered up to Cyril and hissed in gratitude.
"Just don't do anything bad in the future." He picked up the snake, letting her familiarly coil around his body.
Tigris meowed happily at the scene of reconciliation. He was beginning to worry, but now he can eat in peace.
Even Morpho twitched her antennae with a quiet sense of relief. She didn't like to see any one of them in a sad state, even if it was a mean snake.
"Atheris," Cyril called out to the head poking out nearby, "back in the castle, I saw you breathe a cloud of poison. How did you do it?"
The snake proudly nodded up and down. She then looked towards the ceiling and opened her mouth, effortlessly breathing a small greenish cloud.
Cyril blankly observed the dangerous poison right by his side, then looked at Rhamn lying on the bed.
"That clown, Bonzo, cast a spell at her, which created this poison. She absorbed it and can now use it for herself."
So that's her 'enhancing' her venom. Quite powerful.
Atheris happily wobbled to the sides, clearly proud of her ability. The sight caused the butterfly to droop her wings lower.
She heard Rhamn's words. It really was unfair. Seeing the future wasn't enough for her, now she had to be able to absorb other poisons, effectively being immune to them.
At least she still had her Dragon Art. To compensate for lack of an ability, she would practice extra hard!
No longer in a calm mood, she flew over to her personal mannequin nearby and began hitting it at various angles.
Cyril observed her actions, shook his head, and glanced back at Rhamn.
You wanted to try making a body for yourself. Will you try?
While he could see and hear Rhamn just fine, no one outside of their peculiar family could do so. With this, she could possibly interact with the outside world.
"With our current limitations? No, I am not making a toy figurine of me. That would be undignified."
"But I am looking forward to the day I can create a fully sized and controllable me. It would be funny to consider that other people would think you are just making up an imaginary friend~"
"…"
Cyril lay back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling with helplessness.
He was now looking forward to that day a little bit less.