Leo's mind worked in hyperdrive.
Ever since the system announcement that gave him a deadline on life, he became aware of the importance of every second of his life as he did not rest for a second.
Ben saw it too, the maniacal frenzy with which Leo trained and although he could not understand the reason that would compel a human to go to such insane lengths, he watched on in amazement as Leo made unbelievable progress everyday.
About a week into his training, he mastered the first phase of his training, by learning how to cast multiple reflections.
It was by no means a small feat with a lot of his success being because of his own comprehensive ability and deduction, as Ben had no proper path for him to follow and Leo was pretty much on his own.
Everything from light angles, light sources, environmental manipulation, creation of artificial mirrors and image projection, he figured out in less than a week, as after a week he could create an illusion of himself being present as a 2D image in seven different spots at once.
Although reaching this phase of mastery was already a great achievement, the most difficult part of his training unfortunately only began now.
The core of the 'Mirror World' technique was to understand the difference between 2D projection and holographic projection and it was making this leap that was the hardest.
Ben guided Leo in this step, teaching him the exact pathway in which he needed to circulate mana to create environmental resonance, as well as some concepts to make that leap, but while he could draw him a map to the treasure, it was ultimately Leo who needed to traverse and find it.
For 10 days, Leo immersed himself deeper into the concept of light and reflection, extending his understanding of mana and its intricate connection with the natural elements to create a theoretical base for the technique that he was attempting.
Emptying his mana to debuff levels and regaining them via potions that Ben made for him again and again, Leo kept training like a freak as he tried anything and everything that came in his mind, as he adopted the approach of learning through a thousand failures, rather than cautious training.
His epiphany came when he realized that mana could be woven not just around objects but through the very fabric of space, manipulating the perception of those who gazed upon it.
This understanding was the cornerstone of his holographic projections as he began to practice channeling his mana in precise patterns, mimicking the way light behaved in the physical world but applying it within the realm of magic.
Once he understood this concept, he grasped the key to mastering holographic illusion which lied in the harmonization of his mana with the natural energies around him, creating a sort of live feed of his movements.
It was such a complicated concept that if Leo himself was a teacher teaching it to Luke he would not be able to explain it, as it was literally something that could only be comprehended and not taught as Leo realized why Ben could not outright teach him the technique only once he gained this epiphany.
As a result, he was able to create 7 incomplete holograms that had the same physical properties as him, but did not have the finer details such as a shadow, proper eye positioning etc.
In a week more, Leo learned to infuse his illusions with a life-like essence, making them not only visually three-dimensional but also capable of interacting with the physical world in minor ways, such as casting shadows or reflecting light.
This was the phase that he found the easiest to master as with Ben's guidance and just a little modification to the holographic projection process, he learnt how to give them physical properties as he made his holograms almost indiscernible to his real self.
Over the next week, his mastery of holographic projection improved even more when he discovered the concept of "mana echoes." By carefully controlling the release of mana and allowing it to resonate with the ambient mana current of his surroundings, Leo realized how to do the trick that Ben did with his daggers which was to imbue his illusionary properties on moving objects that were not reflecting off him.
This technique gave his holograms a level of depth and realism that he had never achieved before, completing the third phase of Ben's training in just over month!
Finally, the culmination of his efforts came when he mastered adding sound to this illusion technique as well, learning the basics of sound manipulation as he gained a complete mastery over Ben's self created move, as the system acknowledged his efforts.
[ System Notification - Congratulations player 'TheBoss' for achieving (Basic) mastery of the (Legendary) move 'Mirror World'
Since the technique has been learnt naturally, it will be more effective when used compared to those learnt via a skill scroll. ]
[ System Notification - Congratulations player 'TheBoss' for mastering 3 legendary moves and becoming the first player in the game to have mastered 3 legendary techniques!
You have been given
+(????)( Legendary) Skill-Scroll ]
[ System Notification - Do you wish to publicize your achievement of having mastered 3 legendary techniques?
Yes/No ]
[ System Notification - Detected, player 'TheBoss' has the special class 'Actor' and cannot deny any global announcement. The yes option is automatically selected ]
[ Global Announcement - Congratulations player 'TheBoss', for having achieved (Basic) mastery of three different legendary grade skills! Becoming the first player in the entire game to master three legendary moves! ]
A series of notifications blinded Leo, as things quickly escalated out of his control.
The fact that he had mastered three legendary skills was made public as the global chat that was already suspicious of his identity, became even more suspicious of him now, as the additional announcement only served to add fuel to the fire.
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/// A/N - This chapter is a bonus for hitting the power stones target. Thank you for all your consistent support! ///