Boollivan woke up early the next morning to get an early start to practice his illusion before class. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't disturb Booligan's sleep, so he went into a quiet, unoccupied room to practice by himself. A few times he managed to make his gray void larger but alas nothing would form inside of it. When the school hour was getting close, he nearly had something form in the void a few times but it kept fading. He sighed to himself, "I got to get something to form before show and tell! Why is nothing working?!" He thought to himself in frustration, groaning in disappointment.

Suddenly, he felt someone coming. He turned to the door right when he saw Booligan faze through the door. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, class is about to start. We don't want to be late!"

"Oh no, not now... I haven't gotten my illusion to work for me yet.. Hopefully by sheer luck, it'll finally work for me in class..."

***

Not too long since Booligan dragged him all the way to class, Boollivan was in his classroom with several other Boos - his classmates. It was the time for show and tell as all of the young boos were practicing their illusion-casting. One-by-one, the Boonstructor invited them to the front of the room so each boo could show off their most intricate illusion.

The first Boo sent to the front of the class was a female boo wearing a flower crown. Unsurprisingly, her name was Bootanical. Her illusions always specialized with plants of any kind.

Her show and tell illusion consisted of manipulating the plants around the room to over-grow. As she was controlling the plants to do her bidding, Boollivan noticed her eyes turned bright green.  She gave off a high-pitched cackle in enjoyment as she wrapped the vines around a few of her classmates raising them up in the air playfully before releasing them. Once she was finished all of the boos in the classroom applauded for her brilliant performance.

"Brilliant work from the lovely Bootanical! That was a wonderful illusion! Truly remarkable!" The Boonstructor complimented.

Bootanical's tongue lolled out in content. "It's my pleasure, Boonstructor!" She replied, calmly.

"Now who would like to be next?"

A boo wearing a pair of devil horns hovered up with a nubbed hand in the air. "May I?" He asked with a vigorous smile.

"Of course, Booffalo! Let's see what you have in store for us." The Boonstructor replied.

The Boo's red devil horns began to glow as he raised his tiny appendages in the air. A large fireball materialized in front of him, soon it broke apart into multiple fireballs that were smaller in size. Then Booffalo inhaled all of the flames. To all of the boos surprise, he suddenly blew out a large burst of fire from his mouth right in front of them, which caused some boos to flinch but others looked at him astonished. They never thought a boo could ever control fire without burning their tongue.

"Impressive, Booffalo! You're learning how to use    Pyrokinesis. I have never seen a boo think of doing such a thing before. I hope to see you improve at this skill. It's quite a talent you have there, young illusionist." The Boonstructor told him.

"Thanks! I've been working hard on it. I've been wanting to cook up something spicy this show and tell and I can tell for myself that it worked marvelously. It seems I caught everyone in the heat of the moment. Hehe!!"

"Indeed, you have! Let's move on to the next illusion."

Most of the other illusions were similar to each other. They were the more typical illusions that boos tend to enjoy making such as, deceiving the targets and setting an unexpected trap for them or suitable ones for nightmarish psychological warfare, like the image of dead or dying loved ones, people in pain - rather it was physical or mental, the sights and sounds of torture and suffering or someone's significant other cruelly scorning them for a specific reason or none at all. The Boonstructor gleefully applauded each illusion, genuinely enjoying their greatest efforts as well as their hard work.

"Excellent," cackled the Boonstructor. "I see you have all been keeping up with your homework.
You're all getting used to your illusion powers. Soon, you'll be freely roaming these fine woods along with the rest of them and perhaps even be one of the chosen boos to be gifted the opportunity to be dipped into the magic cauldron."

His eyes then fell on the smaller-than-average Boo. "Boollivan? Would you like to show us an illusion of yours next?"

"Like he even has one," chuckled another boo. His name was Rambooling. He was known to be the loud-mouth of the class.

The Boonstructor whipped around and glared at the Boo. "I will have none of that behavior!" He warned. Rambooling turned away from the Boonstructor muttering an apology.

"Now, Boollivan," the Boonstructor continued,
"Come along - it's all right. Remember no two Boos are alike. Please come forward. Let's see what you got in store for us!"

Boollivan grinned - but in truth he was only trying to hide his raising anxiety as he made his way to the front of the class. "I hope you're ready," he said, trying to conceal the fact that he wasn't certain of his own illusion skills.

"We are," the Boonstructor replied, encouragingly, adjusting his monocle. "Give us your best illusion, young Boollivan!"

He took a deep breath and exhaled, attempting to calm his nerves. Relax... Focus.. This is your moment to prove everyone wrong...

Boollivan nodded, narrowing his eyes in determination. He began to concentrate hard, working to conjure his most nightmarish image yet for his awaiting classmates. The image of a cold, dark, and depressing place where the target would die alone, injured and frightened. The most terrifying experience anyone could imagine. Who would want to die alone after all? How dreadful would that be? After his fellow Boos who once took him as a weakling saw it, they wouldn't be so quick to underestimate him again. They will treat him with the utmost respect he truly deserved.

But—

To his classmates and even his own disappointment, all he could manage to get out was a gray, formless void. The same result as the many other times he attempted this illusion. It just kept refusing to function for him.

The Boos watching only stared in confusion.

"Hold on," said Boollivan, focusing harder on his illusion. "Almost got it...! I was so close before! I know I can do it!" He continued trying to force it out as quickly as possible but still to no avail. Unfortunately for him, nothing was taking form. Nothing else was coming out for him. There was only nothingness.

All of the other Boos whispered among themselves, some even holding back laughter. Boollivan could feel the disapproval among his peers. He could feel it even all over his own rotund body.

He threw more effort into it. "Come on, stupid illusion," he growled. "Don't do this to me now...Please...!"

"Okay - be honest," another boo named Booruman spoke up. "You don't have an illusion to show us, do you? Did you even prepare one at all?"

"Yes, I do have one! I've been practicing it for a while now! I swear!" Snapped Boollivan, becoming frustrated. "It's just taking a while, all right? I'll get it eventually! Just get me a moment longer!"

"Oh, sure!" huffed a third boo named Booradly. "I think the illusion itself is embarrassed over coming from a tiny dollop like you! I think you should just give up and leave the illusions to the bigger boos, pesky little runt!"

"That's enough!" warned the Boonstructor again, his eyes narrowed, his face forming an angry scowl at the boos. "I can't believe what had come over you young boos! Harassing one of your fellow boos like this? Have you no shame?!"

Boollivan focused all of his power for a bit longer, but to no avail. He was beginning to lose it as the void blinked a few times - before dying down and disappearing. Boollivan sighed in despair, his round body lowering down to the ground.

It was then that everything finally went quiet in the classroom. Then came the half-suppressed snickers.

"It's quite all right, Boollivan," said the Boonstructor, endeavoring to salvage the situation. "Illusions don't come easily to some boos at first."

"Why? Are they all itty bitty, too?" Booradly asked, harshly. "Only a tiny boo like you can conjure the weakest of illusions."

The giggling began to get louder among the crowd of boos.

Boollivan snarled at that remark. "It doesn't matter if I'm small!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, tiny! Nice illusion!" Cackled a boo, ignoring him. He knew the boo from yesterday. It was Booruce again, trying to interrogate him once more.

Boollivan growled loudly. "One day I will show you an illusion you'll never forget!"

"Yeah, right, teeny boo! What will you create next time? A microscopic little cloud of nothing again?" Booruce added. "When will you learn to give us something more appealing than this? Each time thus far you've always been the disappointment to the class. How will next time oppose to be any different. All we can expect from you is just a bunch of illusion malfunctions at this point. You're just a pathetic little excuse of a boo!"

The giggles in the crowd became full on screeches of laughter.

"Stop this madness this instant! I won't ask again!" commanded the Boonstructor. "Next time won't be so friendly!"

"Hey, he just needs a bit more practice. There's no shame in being a late bloomer." Booligan tried to speak up.

However, The Boos continued to ignore their Boonstructor and even Booligan's own defending remark, as they continued to mock and laugh at Boollivan. "Silence!" The Boonstructor finally lost his cool as he whipped up his own illusion. Once a large bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of the mocking and laughing boos they instantly went silent, staring at their Boonstructor with fear in their eyes.

Hidden rage brewed in Boollivan's own eyes as he glared as his fellow boos in front of him too. He didn't seem to be fazed by the illusion casted by his Boonstructor. Laugh while you can, because I will grow from this! I swear to you all that I will create the most powerful illusions anyone has ever seen! And when I do, everyone that treated me like I'm just a big hunk of trash will pay!

The suffusing cackling wouldn't impair his spirit, he wouldn't allow it. He only absorbed it into his body turning it into a fiery adhorrence - a potent weapon which he would put to good use when the time comes.

<(^-^)><(^w^)>

After class, Boollivan was the last to leave his desk. Boonstructor hovered towards him, "Boollivan, wait! Can I speak to you for a moment, please?"

"I guess..." he grumbled.

"Booligan was right. There's nothing wrong with being a late bloomer. In fact, when I was your age, my illusion powers wouldn't come to me either. Then one day, with enough practice, it finally happened. You just need to be more confident and believe in yourself. Then, you can do anything you dream of."

"I guess..." Boollivan muttered.

"Boollivan, you are a very intelligent boo. I know you can grow into a great illusionist. I have faith that you will be an amazing boo when you grow up. You have potential Boollivan and I want to see you become a very strong boo. All you need to do is try harder and prove your peers wrong. One day, your true powers will awaken inside you. Every boo has their chance of being spectacular. You just need to take the time to find it... Find your true self. Find who you are supposed to be. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can accomplish in the future. I'm counting on you, Boollivan."

The small boo nodded at his Boonstructor before hovering out of the classroom, attempting to keep himself held up high. He had to prove that no one could take him down, no matter how tough they seemed to be and how harsh their words were.

"I will show my true colors! I am a boo of many artful illusions. It just takes time for it to come together. Being the best takes a long time!"

_________________________________
That is the end of Chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed. More will be coming ^^

I know it has been a long time since I updated this. In fact, it has been since November 2023 since the last update so I felt I had to release this as soon as I could get it out.

Boollivan is having a hard time conjuring illusions. He seems to be a late bloomer and as a boo, their illusions are what makes them truly special. It makes Boollivan stressed out trying to be the best boo there ever was, but little does he know he will be a bigger deal than he thinks.