The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 800  Theatrical Performance

So, with the assistance of the butterfly, a new evening hobby was born. In the theatre of the illusionary city, just below the window of the library tower, everyone gathered to watch a live action play, based on one of the many books that had been brought into the illusionary space.

The butterfly turned out to be just as voracious of a reader as Remi was, but it had a distinct advantage. It was aware of what happened in its illusion, so when it made an illusionary clone of a person, it could have that illusion read various books to prepare for the eveningʼs show, or even just teach the butterfly a bit more about the world in general.

The lead actor of the show looked out at the crowd and bowed. ”For tonightʼs presentation, we have a classic saga, Hans and Greta.” The manʼs deep voice boomed through the space, and Karl had to do his best not to laugh. He had noticed that book earlier, when the workers were bringing it in, and it was most definitely a childrenʼs storybook, complete with pictures.

Perhaps that was why the butterfly chose it first? Because it had an idea what the cast should look like?

The backdrop of the auditorium changed to a dark and misty forest, where two young demon children were being led along a path by their parents. The couple ditched the kids in the woods then went home to a swingers party, and Karl began to suspect that the butterflyʼs mind had been corrupted by age inappropriate reading material.

But Remi disagreed. She had already read this one, and the Demonic version of childrenʼs tales were much different than human childrenʼs stories.

The children were discovered by a benevolent witch with a grudge against their parents, who trained them to be assassins and take vengeance on the couple who abandoned them. Parents who were brutally murdered at the end of the show.

The moral seemed to be to guide your children well, or someone else will raise them to their own ends. The Demons in the room were all cheering as the final scene of Greta throwing her parentsʼ corpses into a pool of magical magma ended, and the actors came out to take a bow.

”That was absolutely incredible. Iʼve never seen a show that good before. How does this place do that?” One of the cooks asked, and Karl realized that he didnʼt know any of their names.

They were... One, Two and Three? That couldnʼt be right.

”Do you mind if I ask about your names?” Karl replied curiously.

The head Chef, conveniently named One, sighed and shrugged. ”We were sold by our parents to the owner of the Abalone Casino as children to pay off a debt. The owner renamed us, and when the System granted us classes, they stuck. At Ascended, we petitioned the city to have the debt discharged, and the City Governor agreed that we had paid long enough. But the names wonʼt change, no matter how we try to give each other nicknames.”

The demon known as Two smoothed the white hair between her curled horns. ”Itʼs convenient sometimes, though. People think that itʼs a disguise skill, and nobody wants to anger a potential assassin.”

Karl smiled as he remembered that when his System was only partially activated, when he disabled the display, it would turn off the visibility of his name to others as well. That had caused a lot of suspicion that he was an infiltration type class.

”What would you like me to call you instead?” He asked.

”Abbie.” They replied in unison.

”All of you?”

They nodded, all determined that they wanted the same name. Karl suspected that the reason that they couldnʼt get the System to change their tag was because they couldnʼt agree on unique names. But it was also possible that you couldnʼt change it at all.

Mickʼs name tag still said Michelle, even though the vampire never used her full name.

A few minutes after Hans and Greta ended, a new group of actors appeared on the stage.

”Please join us for our rendition of the defence of Arurd River Crossing by the Leg Regiment during the Drodh-Laredian War.” The man, dressed as a Noble courtier, announced.

That sounded like it could be interesting, Karl decided. It was local history, a war between Drodh and their neighbour to the south, and the Leg Regiment was well known within the city. They were stationed up the river a few hundred kilometres, and often escorted riverboats to the docks with crops.

This one was a military docudrama, and the special effects that could be made by a Glasswing Illusionary Butterfly were better than anything Karl had seen on television at home. You could even feel the thumping of spell explosions as the battle was replayed, ending with the dramatic duel between the two regimental Champions, both Mythic Rank Demons. Nearly ten thousand acres of forest and cropland were completely obliterated during the fight, which ended with the Leg Regiment Commander victorious, but his Regiment almost annihilated. Fewer than a thousand of his fifty thousand men survived the siege.

Dana fell asleep in Karlʼs arms during the second show, and most of the others were rousing themselves to go to bed once they realized it was over.

[Thank you for the shows, little butterfly. You did an incredible job.] Karl congratulated the newest team member.

One of the actors reappeared on the stage and bowed to Karl in response, then vanished again.

Perhaps that was how the butterfly preferred to communicate? Not directly or through a verbal mental link, but with their illusions representing them? That might actually be easier to interact with than some of the others. At least you knew when the butterfly was paying attention. Cara could be staring right at you and still not listening.

That made the Void Badger laugh. [Itʼs not my fault that life is boring. But this place is fun, I like it here. I think I will nap here today.]