These were just a few of the illusions that appeared before him.

Aster was continuously inflicted with disturbing emotional pain for what seemed like months and years as the fear branch of his spirit root tried everything imaginable to crush, choke, and completely break him, but Aster gritted his teeth before yelling for everything to stop.

At first, he had almost been convinced that the illusions in front of him were his new reality, but deep down, Aster knew that something wasn't right, and his determination not to accept the twisted reality fabricated by the fear branch proved really important, because now all the illusions had been dispelled, and Aster found himself standing in the void once again.

But this time, he could feel something colossal standing before him.

He lifted his gaze and noticed that he could roughly make out the outline of the large humanoid being standing in front of him.

It was the fear branch of his spirit root.

It had manifested itself before him, and since Aster had successfully refused to be fooled by the illusions, the dark entity smiled, giving Aster a good look at the large, pointy teeth of the being in front of him.

Then the humanoid entity slowly began to shrink in size until it returned back to its original form while the environment around it slowly brightened up.

Though it was called a spirit root, right now it looked like a tiny pitch black tree with glowing roots.

However, Aster noticed something different about the spirit root.

White, shiny light had spread from the root to the trunk to form a line that brightened up a particular branch of the tree, while its other branches remained pitch black.

'I guess this should be the fear branch of my spirit root.' Aster uttered internally and right after, a new screen suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Congratulations to the host, you've successfully awakened your first spirit branch: The Fear Branch.]

[Also, Your Fear resistance skill has successfully increased from Level 0 to Level 3.]

[Your Illusion resistance skill has successfully increased from Level 0 to Level 3.]

[And your Pain resistance skill has successfully increased from Level 0 to Level 3.]

Aster's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the screen in front of him, but before he could take everything in, his surroundings shattered like glass as his consciousness got pulled back to the real world.

Back in the real world, Aster's eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed to the ground, but just before he could hit the ground, Sara immediately tried to catch him, but to her surprise, Vivian appeared like a phantom and swiftly caught her son in her arms.

She gently cradled her unconscious son against her chest, and a slow smile curved across her lips. "You did it, Astaroth."

Aster buried his face deeper into her chest as the warm, familiar feeling of her presence instinctively made him feel safe and relaxed, and he fell asleep instantly.

Vivian smiled down at him and gently stroked his head while Sara fell to her knees with a relieved look on her face.

And so, with his training finally over, everyone returned to the castle.

The next morning, rays of sunlight flowed into the castle's training courtyard, where Aster could be seen standing at the center of the yard. But his entire body was engulfed in a fire that was hot enough to melt steel and even burn young demons that were his age.

However, Aster wasn't screaming in pain, and neither was he panicking.

In fact, he wasn't even flinching despite how intense the flames were.

Instead, he just remained silent and utterly calm.

Meanwhile, Hallie stood several steps away from him with her arms clasped behind her back.

"Your Highness?" She called gently.

"Yeah?"

"How are you feeling?"

Aster opened his eyes, and the fire coating him flared up a bit.

Earlier, the flames had stung him so badly that it had felt like tiny blades were carving into his skin.

But now...?

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Aster replied confidently with a grin, then his translucent system screen appeared before him.

{Congratulations to the host. Your Fire Resistance skill has upgraded from Level 0 to Level 2}

'Sweet.' Aster's smile widened even more because he was glad to see that his body was slowly getting used to the intense heat Hallie had been coating him with.

Noticing his progress as well, Hallie nodded approvingly. "Well done, Your Highness. You've successfully adapted to this level of flame; you're definitely improving at a really fast rate. I'm impressed."

"Hehehe~ thanks, Hallie." Aster smiled cheekily as he scratched his cheek while feeling proud of his achievements.

"I think we can move on to what you've been waiting for." Hallie said and Aster raised a brow. "Really?"

"Yes, I believe His Highness is ready to partake in his first lesson as a Conjurer."

Hearing this, Aster's heart skipped a few beats and his smile widened even more.

Ever since he had arrived at Evermore, the dragon prince had wanted to learn how to conjure a spell, but now that he was really about to learn how to do it, the excitement in him couldn't be contained anymore.

In fact, before Aster had arrived at the training room, he had been the first to wake up because he couldn't wait to start his magic training with Hallie.

And so, he'd had his bath and swiftly stormed out of his room in search of Sara who had helped him to prepare the delicious jackalope stew that she had promised him and the pleasant and yummy goodness instantly filled up and warmed his belly.

But despite having just awakened his fear branch the day before, Aster refused to remain indoors to rest.

Yes, he could have easily taken a day off from training today, but Aster decided otherwise.

He really wanted to learn how to cast a magic spell, and since he had been stuck in the illusion magic of his spirit root yesterday, Aster had developed an even greater desire to grow stronger.

Because at the moment, he didn't want anything that happened in the illusion to become his new reality.

However, since he had successfully endured the illusion and fear energy infused in him, Aster now felt sharper, hungrier, and completely fearless.

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