A day later.
Night, inside the room.
Ian slowly opened his eyes.
[Skill: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient Level 1/300)]
"Proficient Level."
Ian looked at the changed Meditation Method, a flicker of delight shining in his eyes.
Let's see how much it has changed.
He closed his eyes and began meditating.
One hourglass, roughly fifteen minutes.
Two hourglasses.
Three hourglasses.
He did not stop.
It was not until nearly four hourglasses had passed that Ian finally opened his eyes.
"The meditation quality has risen by thirty percent, and the duration has increased by thirty percent too."
Ian sucked in a cold breath.
The effect was simply too outrageous.
By that calculation, one session of meditation now was nearly worth one and a half of his previous sessions.
Five Meditation Method sessions a day.
That was equivalent to gaining half again as much meditation time, almost matching the best batch of Fourth-grade Star Talents.
"Before, I only thought about the gap brought by talent, but the gap brought by experience is just as terrifying."
Ian sighed.
Perhaps that was why Wizards valued knowledge so greatly.
In the blink of an eye.
Two days passed.
As Victor slowly walked into the classroom, the once-a-week lesson began.
Very soon, he began asking about everyone's progress.
Most people had successfully condensed the first part, and most of the Mutual Aid Society had succeeded as well.
"The second part."
Victor asked.
Logan and someone named Harvey raised their hands. They had also been among the same group as Logan to successfully condense it earlier.
"Not bad."
Victor nodded.
With such talent, they were already nearly at the peak among Fourth-grade Star Talents.
As for Ian, he pondered for a moment but did not raise his hand.
For him now, showing off in class had no meaning whatsoever. Instead, it might bring trouble.
All he needed was Magic Stones.
He could talk about it once he had successfully condensed it.
After Victor answered these people's questions, the lesson ended.
Ian left quickly.
Logan was just about to follow when he was suddenly called over.
"Rune."
Logan turned around, staring in surprise at the one calling him. It was Rune, one of the trio.
Merlin and Rowan stood beside him as well, both possessing Third-grade Star Talent.
Rune was waving at him, signaling for him to come over.
Naturally, someone as sociable as him would not miss the opportunity, and he quickly walked over.
Soon, he learned the reason.
"You formed a small group too?"
Logan stared at Rune in astonishment.
"Yes."
Rune had a head of blond hair, and his face was always brimming with confidence.
"This is nothing strange. Although we are ahead now, we are only reserve apprentices. Once we officially become Wizard Apprentices, the competition will only grow fiercer.
If we have a team, our situation will definitely be better than going alone. Are you willing to join us?"
"I am."
How could Logan possibly refuse? He agreed at once.
"However..."
"Can I bring someone else in? I have a friend whose talent is pretty good too." Logan hesitated.
"Who?"
"Ian."
"No. His talent is too poor." Rune shook his head.
"Not just anyone can join us." Merlin's voice beside them was as shrill as a bird's, and he looked down on Ian.
Logan belonged to the best batch of Fourth-grade Talents, but Ian did not.
"A stinking country serf."
Rowan's eyes were full of rejection as well.
Seeing that the three disagreed, Logan did not say anything. He merely felt regretful for Ian.
"Boss Rune, may I ask a question about meditation?"
Suddenly, Logan asked.
"Sure."
"When I meditate, I always feel that the connections between different parts of the runes are not smooth enough."
"Just try more. There is no particularly good method." Rune thought for a moment, then answered seriously.
Logan nodded thoughtfully.
Night.
The Mutual Aid Society's discussion gathering.
"Ian, I want to ask you something." Looking at Ian surrounded by the members of the Mutual Aid Society, Logan suddenly raised his head.
"What is it?"
Ian turned his head.
Logan asked the same question.
"This question?" Ian raised an eyebrow.
"Is it difficult?" Logan's nerves tightened.
"No. I just thought of several solutions at once, and I was considering which one would be simpler." Ian shook his head.
"Several?"
Logan's eyes widened.
This was not a joke, was it?
But he soon learned that Ian was not joking, because he truly received several methods shortly afterward.
"Fix the positions of the runes, then gradually work them into harmony."
Logan considered this method. It truly was an excellent solution.
"Ian, you are simply a genius."
Looking at Ian, he immediately felt that Rune and the others had made a mistake by refusing to accept Ian.
No, was Rune necessarily better than Ian?
Not necessarily.
It was just a pity that the gap in their meditation talents was too great.
He sighed, then handed Ian a book on Knight Method cultivation.
An equal exchange.
Ian accepted the book and began flipping through it.
Ian had encountered the problem Logan faced as well, but he had quickly associated it with a coordinate system and solved it directly.
In fact, it was then that Ian realized his true wealth, aside from the panel, was the vast body of knowledge from another world.
"Of course, what I need more right now is still knowledge from this world."
Ian looked at the several books before him, longing in his eyes.
Next, he would go all out to sprint toward the first rune.
Time flew by.
A week later.
The third part of the rune had been successfully condensed.
By then, Rune and Merlin, apprentices from the same period, had succeeded in condensing it, while Rowan had not even succeeded yet.
Everyone else was naturally even farther behind.
The trio gained another member, with Harvey joining them as well.
The Mutual Aid Society's numbers also increased. Rosen, Ian's former "deskmate," joined them too.
At first, he had been somewhat resistant.
Because he did not think highly of Ian.
But when he saw even Logan seeking Ian's guidance, he quickly joined them as well.
Even the way he addressed Ian changed to "Lord Ian."
What an enormous change.
But it was not only him. The others in the Mutual Aid Society also held Ian in great respect.
They had no chance to ask Victor questions, but Ian filled that gap.
Especially after Logan began running between both sides.
Without realizing it, Ian seemed to have gradually become the core of the Mutual Aid Society.
Naturally, there was also mockery.
Ever since Halman left the Mutual Aid Society, he had said no small number of bad things about Ian.
Especially as Ian became increasingly popular.
But what delighted him was that Ian had still not condensed the second part of the rune.
A mud-legged peasant was still a mud-legged peasant.
His bloodline was lowly.
Under such circumstances.
Another week or so passed.
Inside the stone house, Ian closed his eyes and condensed the runes.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The four runes condensed smoothly, then began merging into a new rune.
This should have been an extremely difficult step, but Ian had already fixed the coordinates of every rune, so there was no issue.
It went very smoothly.
The Mental Power Rune was successfully condensed.
After succeeding, the rune did not dissipate. It merely emitted faint mental power, while the Mental Power Space became considerably more stable.
The panel changed as well.
[Name: Ian Green] [Age: 12] [Strength: First-class Wizard Apprentice (1/100), Knight Attendant (60/100)] [Talent: 103 (Fourth-grade Star)] [Skill: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient Level 100/300), Light Spell (Master Level), Breeze Spell (Master Level), Dust Spell (Master Level), Lionheart Knight Method (Knight Chapter—Proficient Level 32/300)...]
Before you continue