Angor handed the necklace to Sunders.
Since he never discovered the source of Mystery energy to unleash it, the item still contained it inside, and he might as well let Sunders deal with it.
Sunders activated the item, and upon seeing his study becoming an empty snow land of pure whiteness, he immediately felt the faint Mystery energy lurking around him.
“Did you have a ‘purpose’ when making this illusion?” Sunders frowned.
Purpose? Angor shook his head. “No, I made random stuff to contain the sensation so that I can check them out.”
“So the illusion is meaningless apart from this?”
Angor recalled the moment when he crafted the necklace.
“The only thing I attempted was making the snow cold and empty. Other than that... no, there’s nothing.”
Sunders looked around the illusion while repeating “cold and empty” under his breath.
The area did feel empty enough, but it wasn’t important.
It was lifeless.
It was common for such a place to be void of life, but only on the outside. Typically, there would be other forms of life striving under the snow, such as hidden saplings, fishes swimming under the ice, or certain plants, which had developed cold-resistant natures.
Yet there was none of that in Angor’s illusion.
Sunders could tell that the particular quietness wasn’t caused by Angor’s “lack of purpose”. It was as if something intentionally made the illusion so desolate.
And this was probably what kept the “manifestation” hidden.
While Sunders moved around to search, Angor decided not to explain the other forms of manifestations he saw since the gentleman looked so focused. Instead, he left the snowfield illusion and returned to his bedroom to work on the “Monument Valley only” illusion that Sunders requested.
Since Sunders specifically asked for it, Angor would not want to disappoint him by making a flawed item. He carefully worked on it from the very beginning, by giving it the best outer design and style he could think of.
As for what an old-fashioned nobleman would like... At first, Angor considered making something traditional like walking canes or modest-looking decorative charms that could be worn on a gentleman’s suit.
But he was worried that unlike Greya, who loved anything that looked attractive to the eyes, Sunders probably preferred the item to be “consistent” between both its looks and its content.
For instance, if Angor made a gorgeous stick out of obsidian, which turned out to be a tool for playing a mini-game...
That would be a joke.
He shook his head and gave up “giving Sunders something nobleman-like”. It was better if the item suited the illusion.
As he remembered, the main character of the game, which was Ida, would reveal a strange-looking geometric object from her hat each time a stage was cleared. If not considering the obscure story the game was trying to tell, the game itself solely focused on “geometry” and “conflicting space”.
And this was what Angor had in mind. He was going to make something just like that.
He began thinking about images that looked strange enough, such as Penrose Stairs, Klein Bottle, Escher’s Impossible Cube, Penrose Triangle...
He excluded what seemed to be impossible to make, including Hering Illusion, migrating blind spots, or Devil’s Tuning Fork. From available choices, he decided upon the “Mobius Strip”.
This shape did a perfect job representing the concept of geometry, and it also looked like something taken from Monument Valley. It could give sharp minds a lot to think about when people looked at it.
But the strip alone wasn’t beautiful enough if one would carry it in their hands.
After considering, Angor decided to encase it inside a transparent shell, thus making the whole item into a tabletop decoration.
With the general idea set, he quickly began working on it.
From choosing the correct materials to making the final product in his spell, it took him less than two hours.
The Mobius Strip sat inside a diamond-shaped crystal casing and used the vertices as support. The simple and straightforward design meant to allow its viewers to easily recognize the mathematical beauty, while the diamond shell looked like a “monument” that represented the game.
Angor was rather satisfied with his creation. He also left his signature emblem on the base of it.
As for its name, Angor thought about just using “Mobius Strip” earlier. On second thought, however, it would be difficult to explain who Mobius was in this world, so he called it the”Monument Loop” instead.
He didn’t know how Sunders’ exploration was going. With nothing to do, he continued to read books so that he could study Narda’s Vision soon.
Tick, tack...
When the hanging clock suggested the advance of another hour, Angor heard Sunders’ voice.
“Come.”
The phrase sounded slower compared to how the gentleman usually talked, as if Sunders was holding back something in his voice.
Angor arrived at his professor’s study and saw him quickly writing something using his quill, while the “crescent necklace” was hung on the demon falcon statue.
“Take a seat. I need a moment.” Sunders didn’t look up from his paper.
While Sunders did his paperwork, Angor inspected the falcon sculpture he made before. Using his current standards, it looked too crude to his liking.
But it seemed Sunders liked it since the man did not remove it from his desk.
Angor thought that he heard it from someone before, that Sunders particularly loved keeping demon falcons as familiar pets.
So it was true.
Should I make a new one for him? Angor thought to himself. If a wizard visits him and sees the poorly-made statue... that won’t be very “noble”.
As he began thinking about the designs of his next gift for Sunders, the gentleman dropped his quill.
And the first thing he said shocked Angor for good.
“Remember, do not unmindfully place Mystery energy in your illusions from now on.”
Angor chose to listen carefully since his professor looked rather serious about this.
“Once a ‘manifestation’ is found, it unleashes boundless intelligence that overwhelms you, am I right?”
“Yes.” Angor nodded. He then took on a surprised look. “You found the target in the snow illusion, sir?”
Sunders picked up the necklace and carried it to Angor using his spirit power.
“Look for yourself.”
When the illusion was activated, Angor was looking at plain and dull snow everywhere, without sensing the Mystery presence, which meant Sunders already “spent” it.
“What did you find, professor? Is it like a random snowflake?” asked Angor.
“Pay attention. See what has changed in the illusion.”
Angor complied and slowly looked around him, but he didn’t find what Sunders was implying. Everything looked the same apart from the absence of the Mystery sense.
Wait... He frowned. It feels as if this place is more “alive” now...
He wasn’t sure of the answer and chose to tell Sunders what he presumed, but he still couldn’t understand what this had to do with the manifestation.
“Of course they’re related,” said Sunders. “What is missing now is exactly what you tried so hard to find.”
Angor was taken aback by such an answer. I was looking for emptiness? How is that possible? Could manifestations of Mystery show up as abstract perceptions?
“It’s not a perception, but a concept. The manifestation here is a concept called ‘Wither’.” Sunders lifted a hand, which began to unleash energy ripples into the area.
Angor immediately felt the deathly ambiance that haunted this illusion before.
Now that they had left the illusion, Sunders’ energy was traveling toward a flower pot in the room, which had a sweet vanilla blossom growing in it.
Under Angor’s gaze, the flower turned pale yellow and shrank.
“This is...”
“This is ‘Wither’.” Sunders closed his eyes. “Do you see why I told you to be careful with what you create? I learned this spell thanks to the manifestation I found.”