In the dead of night, Helos sat cross-legged on the soft bed, wrapped in the blanket. Her pale purple eyes flickered in the darkness with a light that was both excited and cautious.
An ancient tome that existed deep within her consciousness was now emitting a faint purple glow.
With the release of the Phantom Arts seal, a vast amount of obscure and profound knowledge surged into her mind like a tide.
But this torrent was not as violent and aggressive as when she had unlocked the Enlightenment Arts; it was more like a winding underground river, silently seeping into her spiritual world.
Of course, this might also be related to the Curse of Silence.
Helos closed her eyes and focused on sorting through this new knowledge.
Phantom Arts Alchemy was not the traditional technique that used material exchange to create things.
If the Life System was about making potions, the Valiance Arts about strengthening the body, and the Enlightenment Arts about distorting rules, then Phantom Arts was about deceiving the world.
It didn’t alchemize; it refined the heart. Helos’s consciousness lingered on those lines of text that had appeared.
The first ability she focused on was the one that sounded the most absurd yet intrigued her the most.
The Charm Eye. When activated and successful, the target would develop an indescribable fondness and trust for the caster, even obeying them to a certain extent.
‘This is… brainwashing.’
Helos marveled internally. However, this ability was not invincible.
The tome clearly marked its limitations and risks. First is the Charm Limit.
This depended on the difference in spiritual power between the two parties.
If the target’s will was far stronger than the caster’s, like Julius, a chosen one with firm faith, or Duke Eisend, a strong-willed man with steel-like spirit, the interference would not only fail but also trigger severe mental backlash, harming the caster themselves.
Second is Duration. This forced interference was not permanent.
Once the caster stopped using it, or the target was subjected to intense external stimuli like injury or severe pain, this false trust would also collapse.
‘So this move can only be used on small fry, or to interrupt enemies at critical moments?’
Helos rubbed her chin, thoughtful. Although it sounded like it had many restrictions, in certain situations, like when needing to infiltrate, extract information, or create openings in battle, this ability was nothing short of godly.
She tried to mobilize a strand of spiritual power and focused it in her eyes.
She looked at the stuffed bear on the nightstand.
‘Look at me.’
Helos silently recited, trying to transmit the concept ‘I am your favorite master’.
Although the stuffed bear had no life or spiritual power, in Helos’s perception, she clearly felt her spiritual power extend like tendrils and wrap around that inanimate object.
If it were a living person, they would probably have started feeling some inexplicable familiarity for her by now.
‘Heh, interesting.’
The girl dispelled the purple light from her eyes and turned her attention to the second ability.
Shadow Stalk. Or more accurately, it should be called ‘Presence Elimination’.
This was not optical invisibility. It didn’t let light pass through the body, nor make people vanish out of thin air.
Its principle was to use spiritual power to construct a special ‘cognitive filter’ and cover the user’s body surface.
When the filter was activated, the user would become the most inconspicuous ‘background’ in the world.
People’s gazes would unconsciously slide past the user; their brains would automatically ignore the other’s existence.
Even if she stood right in front of them, they would feel there was only a mass of air or an irrelevant stone.
Unless the caster actively attacked or made a violent motion that broke the filter’s balance, this ‘invisibility’ was nearly perfect.
Of course, this ability also had a time limit.
‘This was practically an ability tailor-made for me!’
Helos was so excited she almost slapped her thigh.
She already possessed the Curse of Silence, which could block mana fluctuations and evade magic perception.
Now with this ‘cognitive filter’, she could block visual and perceptive attention.
‘Wouldn’t that make her completely invisible?’
‘From now on, whether it’s infiltrating enemy bases to cause trouble or sneaking up behind someone to knock them out, who could find her?’
‘If she ever ran out of money, becoming an assassin could make her rich.’
Helos thought happily, though she wasn’t short on money—the more skills, the better.
She immediately tried to use this ability. As her spiritual power flowed, she felt as if she was wrapped in a cold and soft film.
The surrounding world seemed to become distant; even the sound of air flowing grew faint.
She looked at the mirror; the girl in the mirror had not disappeared.
But strangely, when she stared at herself in the mirror, she felt a strange sense of ‘there seems to be nothing there’.
If she didn’t force herself to observe closely, her gaze would easily drift to the wardrobe or curtains.
‘Impressive!’
Helos dispelled the stealth state, and that strong sense of presence instantly returned.
Finally, her gaze fell upon the third ability, which was also the most versatile.
Illusion Construct. This was the most basic yet also the most versatile ability in Phantom Arts Alchemy.
It allowed Helos to project realistic false images into the real world using spiritual power.
In theory, from simply creating a clone to altering the surrounding environment, or even fabricating a nonexistent magical beast, as long as spiritual power was strong enough and details constructed perfectly, there was nothing that couldn’t be made.
Of course, an illusion was still an illusion. It had no physical form, no temperature, and no attack power.
As long as it was touched or scanned by high-level detection magic, it would easily be exposed.
But on a rapidly changing battlefield, a convincing false image could often play a decisive role.
For example, creating a fake self running left while the real body strikes from the right.
Or creating an illusion of a bottomless pit at the enemy’s feet, scaring them into not moving.
Or… Helos’s mind conjured the sapphire necklace that Julius had just given her.
She reached out, palm facing up. Purple spiritual power rose like smoke.
Under her mental control, the smoke quickly condensed, compressed, and shaped.
***
Nine seconds later. A sapphire necklace identical to the one Julius had given her appeared in her palm out of thin air.
Both the deep blue luster and the fine patterns on the silver chain were eerily realistic.
If not for the lack of weight and cold touch, even Helos herself might not have been able to tell which was real and which was fake.
Snap
She snapped her fingers. The ‘necklace’ instantly shattered, dissolving into specks of purple light in the air.
‘Looks like I need more practice.’
Helos flexed her slightly numb fingers. Maintaining an illusion consumed a lot of spiritual power, especially for objects requiring intricate detail.
If she wanted to create large illusions that could fool everyone’s eyes, she would need stronger control.
However, this was already enough to surprise her.
Helos slowly lay down, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
‘All four alchemies have been unlocked. Suddenly I feel so empty.’
‘Sigh, what should I do next?’