CLEAVER OF SIN - Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Illusion
Asher’s second goal for the day was something closely related to the invisibility he had just achieved, Illusion.

Just as invisibility had been attained by bending and reflecting light around himself, illusion, he realized, could be achieved through a similar principle, or rather, within the same logical framework that governed light manipulation itself. The difference lay not in the nature of the light, but in the perception of it.

Asher remained in his invisible state, his form perfectly blended with the surrounding air. His mind spun rapidly, diving deeper into the theoretical and practical mechanics of illusion. The silence of the training chamber was filled only by the faint hum of Astra drifting in the air, faint motes of light floating around him like dust caught in sunlight.

‘At its root, an illusion is not about changing reality,’ Asher thought, his mind sharp as glass. ‘It’s about altering what others perceive as reality.’ His thoughts continued to flow smoothly, each forming a foundation for the next. ‘In essence, illusion through light manipulation alters how light behaves before it reaches the observer’s eyes, bending, scattering, reflecting, or reprojecting it to create false images that deceive perception.’

A structured framework clicked into place in his mind. He didn’t want to rely solely on brute control or raw manipulation; his goal was to create perfect harmony between mind, Astra, and body, to make them one, synchronized in intent and execution.

Asher’s thoughts shifted toward the physical foundation of light and perception. He spoke softly under his breath, organizing his thoughts aloud.

“Light from a source, like the sun or a bulb, strikes an object. That reflected light enters the eyes, and the brain interprets the resulting patterns as color, depth, and form. If one can manipulate those light patterns, they can make others see something that isn’t there… or hide something that truly exists.”

The logic made perfect sense.

With that clarity, Asher began without delay. The atmosphere around him vibrated faintly as Astra pulsed once more within his core. The light motes hanging in the air trembled, then bent under his precise control. A few seconds later, a wooden table appeared before him, its texture detailed, its form perfect. Asher smiled faintly but maintained his composure. He extended a hand to touch it, and as expected, his fingers passed through the illusionary surface. He knew it wasn’t real, yet instinctively, he couldn’t resist testing it.

Next, Asher decided to expand his experiment. He created more illusions, starting with simple objects: chairs, cups, plates, scrolls, and even books. They materialized one after another throughout the training chamber, suspended in midair. The light-borne creations circled him slowly, each one crafted from refracted photons woven together like strands of silk. With a single thought, the entire array of objects dissolved back into shimmering motes of light.

Encouraged, Asher pushed further. Light warped again, but this time, far more intricately. Dozens of beasts and Emovirae appeared within the chamber, filling the space in a heartbeat. They stood tall and imposing, their forms as vivid as reality itself. Asher rose from his seated position, eyes gleaming with focus. Creating still illusions was one thing, but illusions that moved, that behaved according to their nature, required more precision and control.

He had to make them act as if alive.

“Wait…” he muttered, halting the illusion mid-motion as another idea sparked in his mind. “I can’t manually control them forever. They need a degree of autonomy.”

He dismissed the illusions with a wave, letting the chamber return to its calm brightness. Silence stretched for a moment, then a grin tugged at the corner of his lips as realization dawned.

Perfect Astra Control.

That was the answer. With his perfect control, he could imprint preset behavioral patterns into the illusions, a kind of programming. He could make them move, attack, defend, or act according to a mental blueprint, without needing to guide each movement consciously. The illusions wouldn’t truly be alive, but they would behave as though they were, following commands embedded within their creation.

Asher’s smile widened. ‘Perfect Astra Control never ceases to surprise me,’ he thought. The ability wasn’t just powerful; it was limitless in potential. Many could possess such an ability, but only a few would understand its depth, and even fewer could wield it as naturally as he did.

Light bent once more at his command. This time, when the Emovirae and beasts reappeared, they did not stand motionless. They began to move, dancing and circling around him with fluid, lifelike precision, executing the exact motions Asher had programmed into them. It was like watching an entire performance directed by pure thought.

But he wasn’t satisfied yet. Just because he could automate the process didn’t mean he would neglect the manual aspect. Mastery, he knew, required control in all forms.

“Only if I could live here forever,” Asher murmured, half amused, as he began manually guiding a perfect illusionary clone of himself. The clone mirrored his movements with uncanny synchronization.

Minutes passed like seconds. Then Asher shifted to the next phase of experimentation, facial illusion. Light bent intricately around his head, refracting at microscopic precision. Within seconds, his face transformed into that of Malrik, the First Sun. It wasn’t true transformation, only the illusion of one, but it was flawless. Even his reflection would have been deceived.

Moments later, the illusion shifted again, dissolving into a glitching distortion that obscured his entire face behind a veil of flickering static. The sight was eerie and mesmerizing all at once. Each passing second, his control improved, and his speed of understanding soared.

His innate genius, amplified by the Star Core Fragment, was on full display. Combined with Perfect Astra Control and the light chamber’s natural attunement that accelerated training speed, Asher was utterly in his element, like a fish gliding effortlessly through water.

Here, everything he imagined came to life instantly. Second attempts were unnecessary, a foreign concept reserved for the untalented. Each success flowed naturally into the next, as if the universe itself bent to his comprehension.

Yet, Asher wasn’t deluded. He knew what he had achieved was not the pinnacle of illusion, not yet. True illusion, he mused, went beyond sight. Could light-based illusions create or manipulate sound? The answer seemed to be no, at least, on the surface. Light governed vision, not hearing. But Asher wasn’t one to stop at limits.

He envisioned a deeper application, to manipulate light in such a way that it affected not just sight, but perception itself. If he could alter how light entered and interacted with the eyes and mind, he could make his opponents perceive sounds or sensations that didn’t exist, all without producing them physically.

Although he had no desire to become a pure illusionist, Asher found himself fascinated by the complexity of it. What began as a brief experiment had turned into an intellectual journey.

He pondered the connection between light and Astra, realizing that light manipulation was, in essence, the control of photons through Astra as a medium. If Astra could serve as a connective bridge, perhaps it could extend his influence into other sensory domains. In simpler terms, while he couldn’t use light manipulation to create actual sound waves, he could simulate the perception of sound through illusionary interference, Astra resonance, or perceptual warping.

The more he thought about it, the more his excitement grew. Every discovery opened doors to new possibilities, doors that only he seemed capable of unlocking.

And as time blurred onward, Asher continued experimenting ceaselessly, weaving theory and practice together. He wasn’t merely training, he was redefining what light manipulation could mean. To attack, to defend, to conceal, to deceive, all these were only fragments of what he envisioned. He wanted more. He wanted to explore every hidden layer of the light element, to uncover every secret it held.

Because for Asher, light was no longer just illumination. It was creation, perception, and truth itself, a truth he could shape at will.

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