Becoming the Wind

"Ready... begin!"

Yurelia shot forward toward Velissa. Velissa took a few steps back, giving herself a brief moment to prepare something.

"Ghalmur —Area Illusion—"

Ghalmur, the large toad spirit perched on her shoulder, exhaled thick purple mist from its pores. The fog quickly spread throughout the entire arena, engulfing both Yurelia and Velissa in a dense vortex that rendered the spectators blind.

"Hey! I can’t see anything!" "Is this a visual test or a mystic fog exam?!" "I paid for VIP seats, not a guessing game!" "Are we watching a duel or a fog competition?!"

Seeing the small chaos, the academy promptly activated a special device. A mechanical eyeball with wings and iron legs flew into the mist. Moments later, a large projection screen appeared above the arena, displaying the scene inside the fog in clear detail.

Elsewhere, Sylphia watched intently. "Father, what is that?"

Reyhan didn’t answer right away. Internally, he asked the system. ’System, what skill was that just now?’

\[Analyzing skill...] \[Analysis complete.] \[Skill: Area Illusion — The spirit creates a thick fog covering the surrounding area (initial radius: 10 meters). Enemies inside will find it difficult to escape unless they injure the spirit user. Within the fog, the user can manipulate the target’s perception and create illusions indistinguishable from reality. No physical damage is dealt, but the pain feels completely real.]

Reyhan exhaled slowly, a hint of concern in his eyes.

"That’s the Area Illusion skill," he explained to Sylphia. "It’s full of illusions. No real wounds, but the pain... is just like the real thing."