"...Have you ever had a lucid dream before? The feeling of manipulating the events of the dream as you see fit is somewhat similar to how illusion magic behaves." Margaret wearing her big witch hat led her one-person lecture.
"You should be focused, but not obsessed. Calmly think about the object you are trying to project, how it moves, how it behaves, whatever small little details you can think of—that will all make casting it a bit easier."
"So you need a rich imagination to be proficient in illusion magic," Cyril helplessly replied.
The progress was there, although slow.
Atheris was still with him, though he left Tigris at home.
The tiger wanted to go together to this lesson, since he too was interested, but Cyril declined.
He wanted to go through the proper process and let them wander the castle freely first.
At the moment Cyril was focusing only on learning, even Rhamn didn't talk about anything else for now.
While illusions didn't increase his combat ability directly, they were incredibly useful and, if used effectively, could easily win the fight.
The only problem being that it was really hard to learn it.
Rhamn too struggled with it a lot, even though any other spell they learned during their usual lessons was seen through by her quite fast.
Without knowing it, a lot of time has passed already.
Margaret stopped her lecture and proposed to finish for today. Cyril could only agree.
During this time, he didn't ask anything regarding the Hollowing, but it seems Margaret herself wanted to talk about it.
Her witch hat bobbed up and down, as if having a life of its own. "Don't spread the news, but the academy will have a little event at the Hollowing."
Even without being able to see her face, it was easy to tell that she was excited about it herself.
"The whole academy is buzzing with these rumors... Was she the one who spread them?"
Cyril, not wanting to accidentally find out something and ruin the surprise, got up from the chair. "I am looking forward to it. I've wasted enough of your time, I'll take my leave now."
Some might consider his refusal to take part in casual conversation rude, but Margaret didn't seem to mind. "Oh, don't say things like that. You are a son of my dear friend, that's the least I can do for you."
She also got up from the chair, and together they walked towards the door.
"Be careful during the night. This time of the year it reveals more than it usually does~" She said in a dramatic fashion and waved him goodbye.
...
"She sounds more excited than the students themselves," Rhamn commented on their way home.
They were currently walking under the darkening sky. Cyril spent more time in there than he anticipated.
Night...
He thought back to his vampire friend who almost killed him.
She mentioned back then that she would visit him in a couple of days.
It was clearly no empty threat, and Cyril had no doubts she would be able to find him somehow.
He briefly considered asking for help, but his pride really wouldn't allow for something like this.
Cyril felt if he did something like this, then he would be truly defeated by her...
"That's right! We'll do just fine. Don't worry, all we have to do is get your blood inside of her, and it's over!" Rhamn exclaimed with confidence.
"We must wipe away that shame on our own, there is no need for any help."
He knew it was foolish, but Cyril couldn't help but agree with her words.
With a rather childish sense of stubbornness, he continued walking and no longer thought about that vampire.
He had different things to do now.
...
Once Cyril returned home, another headache awaited him.
Tigris, the majestic tiger, stood on a stone border of the villa's fountain, his head raised high.
Near him was flying Morpho, she was done with her training early today.
The moment Cyril came close, the tiger began meowing at him with energy and complaint.
It was not directed at him, however.
At this moment Atheris crawled out and stared at the brave kitten that just challenged it with threatening eyes.
Tigris's momentum was almost broken, but he quickly regained it after taking a peek at his big sister nearby.
This time Morpho, too twitched her antennae in a challenging manner. The kitten finally managed to convince her.
It might've not looked like it, but she too was very dissatisfied with how attached the serpent was to Cyril. She was smaller, yet she couldn't get into the castle with them!
Atheris alternated between the two of them, not getting scared in the slightest. Rather, her energy was only getting bigger and bigger.
Her golden eyes threateningly observed them all, as if trying to find a weak spot to take advantage of.
Cyril stood there with a blank face, not even sure what to do at the moment.
The three magic creatures completely ignored him and were absorbed in their own little world.
"It's fine, let them play around. They won't harm each other seriously. I guarantee it. Aren't you curious how it will go?"
He was. So Cyril calmly assumed a spectator's stance.
Atheris moved first. She even crawled out completely from Cyril's jacket and onto the ground.
She was slowly slithering towards the two challengers, her golden eyes shining with contempt.
Successfully provoked, Morpho shot forward as the wind.
She was a practitioner of the Dragon Art technique, and her speed, or strength, was not something to underestimate.
There was no way that an inexperienced Atheris would be able to react in time.
At least that's what Cyril thought.
Morpho reached her opponent in a blink of an eye, however, to everyone's surprise, Atheris managed to dodge with all her body, completely evading the charge.
The butterfly swiftly turned around and stared at the serpent with shock.
Atheris only replied with a provocative flicker of her tongue.
Completely enraged, Morpho attacked again.
At a much closer distance now, she slashed with her wing, ready to follow up with a barrage of different strikes.
Atheris, with some awkwardness, managed to twist her body out of the way. Her movements were clearly inexperienced, yet she dodged all nonetheless.
Morpho, out of frustration, slashed with her wing particularly strongly.
The serpent not only moved her body in time but, using the momentum from the dodge, successfully hit the butterfly with her tail.
The strike held much more strength than her small body would suggest. The butterfly was sent flying against her will.
It just so happened that on the way, she hit Tigris, who was spectating with joy, not intent on fighting himself.
The surprised kitten was struck down from the stone border he was standing on and right into the water of the fountain.
Morpho evaded this fate by using the body of the tiger as a jump board and regaining control of her flight.
She wanted to attack again. However, Cyril interrupted them. "That's enough!"
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, only Tigris pitifully climbed out from the fountain, and with tears in his eyes ran towards Cyril.
He could only pick up the wet tiger and pet him in his arms.