Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Aureus felt like he entered a different world. Instead of another room, there was a fairytale-like garden in front of him, a vast meadow surrounded by rolling hills, the plants blooming with colorful flowers as if it was the middle of spring. Butterflies and small birds could be seen flying here and there, and one could even hear the sound of a stream nearby.
The scene felt refreshingly beautiful.
'I am sure there was nothing like this outside the cottage?' His gaze followed the bright clear sky above, and when he extended his five senses, he had another strange feeling.
The sunlight was neither too harsh nor too bright, the scent of flowers neither overwhelming nor sweet, the sounds of nature was like music, and the flowers were magnificent, not a single leaf or petal wilting.
It was...too perfect.
'This is not real either.'
"You got it right, young one," he heard the voice of a woman and Aureus turned to look at her. An old witch who looked similar to the woman outside walked towards him. She only had one arm, and her empty sleeves fluttered along with the wind. "Everything you are seeing in this room is an illusion."
"Welcome to my garden, shapeshifter. I am Maria Grimsbane," she introduced herself and then an older woman with a sickly thin complexion came to her side, "and this is Glinda Mortem."
Aureus got back to his senses as he was stunned to see that beautiful illusion and immediately greeted them, "Greetings, ladies. I am Aureus, Commander Morpheus' nephew."
"We have heard about you, the golden eagle of this generation, and we were curious about you. It's good that you had an opportunity to visit us."
"And I must say you look like your mother," the thin woman called Glinda said. "Even with just one glance, I know you are her son."
"Thank you for your kind words," he replied politely and once again looked at the beautiful illusion around them. 'This kind of garden, Seren would have fallen in love with its beauty.'
The two witches observed the young shapeshifter and then shared a knowing look with each other.
"Aureus, would you like to learn how to create such an illusion?"
He looked at Maria. "Can I? I do not think I can learn the magic spells of witches."
"It's a simple magic, nothing more than a trick, which won't be difficult for a divine being like you to use. You don't need to be a witch or warlock to do this. It is nothing special; anyone capable of magic can do this to some extent," Maria replied. "The only thing its caster need is imagination. After all, what will materialize is a product of your own creativity."
"It's amazing how this spell can deceive all five senses," Aureus could not help but marvel. "And you say it's a simple magic trick?"
"You see, we old witches have nothing but abundant time in our hands. Our bodies are too weak for manual labor, and neither do we have much magic power left in us. So what do we do here in Spirit Circle? We develop simple tricks to relieve our boredom. Most people think amazing things are products of strong powers--the more complicated, the better--but sometimes, breaking down spells to their core structures can allow one to reach the same conclusion."
As Glinda said those words, she did something with her hands, and as she threw dust in the air, there appeared more butterflies which happily danced around their figures.
'Butterflies? Seren loves them,' was the first thought that came to his mind.
"Teachers, I would like to learn under your guidance. Please teach me."
----
It took a while for Aureus to listen to the two witches' explanation, and in a span of an hour, he was able to manifest a single butterfly.
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