Master-Level Meditation Method, First-class Wizard Apprentice

A day later.

Night, inside the house.

Ian slowly opened his eyes.

[Skill: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient 1/300)]

"Proficient."

Ian's eyes flashed with delight as he looked at the changed meditation method.

Let's see just how much it had changed.

He closed his eyes and began to meditate.

One sandglass's time—about fifteen minutes.

Two sandglasses.

Three sandglasses.

He did not stop.

Only after nearly four sandglasses' worth of time did Ian finally open his eyes.

"The quality of meditation has increased by thirty percent, and the duration has increased by thirty percent too."

Ian sucked in a cold breath.

The effect was simply outrageous.

By that calculation, a single meditation session now was worth almost one and a half of his previous ones.

Five meditation sessions a day.

That was equivalent to gaining half again as much meditation time, nearly matching those with the best batch of Fourth-grade Star Talents.

"I used to think only of the gap created by talent, but the gap created by experience is just as terrifying."

Ian sighed.

Perhaps that was why Wizards placed such importance on knowledge.

In the blink of an eye.

Two days passed.

As Victor slowly walked into the classroom, the once-a-week lesson began.

Before long, he started asking about everyone's progress.

Most had successfully condensed the first part, and most of the Mutual Aid Society had succeeded as well.

"The second part?"

Victor asked.

Logan and a boy named Harvey raised their hands. Harvey was also among the same group that had succeeded in condensing it alongside Logan before.

"Not bad."

Victor nodded.

With such talent, they were already practically among the very best Fourth-grade Star Talents.

As for Ian, after thinking for a moment, he did not raise his hand.

For him now, showing off in class had no meaning whatsoever. On the contrary, it might invite trouble.

All he needed was Magic Stones.

He would talk about it after he successfully condensed it.

Once Victor had answered these people's questions, the lesson ended.

Ian left quickly.

Just as Logan was about to follow, someone suddenly called out to him.

"Rune."

Logan turned around, staring in astonishment at the person who had called him—it was one of the trio.

Merlin and Rowan stood beside him, both possessing Third-grade Star Talent.

Rune was beckoning to him, signaling for him to come over.

Fond of socializing as he was, Logan naturally would not miss the chance and quickly walked over.

Before long, he learned the reason.

"You formed a small group too?"

Logan stared at Rune in astonishment.

"Yes."

Rune's golden hair shone, and his face was always brimming with confidence:

"This isn't strange. Although we're ahead for now, we're only reserve apprentices. Once we officially become Wizard apprentices, the competition will only grow fiercer.

If we have a team, things will definitely be better than going alone. Are you willing to join us?"

"I am."

How could Logan refuse? He agreed at once.

"However..."

"Can I bring someone in? I have a friend whose talent is pretty good too." Logan hesitated.

"Who?"

"Ian."

"No. His talent isn't good enough." Rune shook his head.

"Not just anyone can join us." Merlin's voice at the side was as shrill as a bird's, and he looked down on Ian.

Logan was among the best of those with fourth-grade talent, but Ian was not.

"A filthy country serf."

Rowan's eyes were filled with rejection as well.

Seeing that the three of them disagreed, Logan said nothing, merely feeling sorry for Ian.

"Boss Rune, may I ask a question about meditation?"

Logan suddenly asked.

"You may."

"When I meditate, I always feel that the connections between different parts of the runes aren't smooth enough."

"Just try more. There's no particularly good method." Rune thought for a moment before answering seriously.

Logan nodded thoughtfully.

Night.

Mutual Aid Society, discussion meeting.

"Ian, I want to ask you something." Looking at Ian surrounded by the others from the Mutual Aid Society, Logan suddenly raised his head.

"What is it?"

Ian turned around.

Logan asked the same question.

"This question." Ian raised an eyebrow.

"Is it difficult?" Logan tensed.

"No. I just thought of several solutions at once, and I'm considering which one is simpler." Ian shook his head.

"Several?"

Logan's eyes widened.

This wasn't a joke, was it?

But he soon learned that Ian was not joking, because he really did receive several methods in quick succession.

"Fix the positions of the runes, then gradually adjust them together."

Logan considered this method. It truly was an excellent solution.

"Ian, you're practically a genius."

Looking at Ian, he suddenly felt that Rune and the others had made a mistake by refusing to accept him.

No, wait—was Rune necessarily stronger than Ian?

Not necessarily.

It was just a pity that the gap in meditation talent was too great.

With a sigh, he handed Ian a book on Knight Method training.

An equivalent exchange.

Ian took the book and began leafing through it.

Ian had encountered the same problem Logan had, but he had quickly associated it with a coordinate system and solved it directly.

In fact, it was then that Ian realized that, aside from the panel, his true wealth was the vast body of knowledge he had brought from another world.

"Of course, what I need more right now is knowledge of this world."

Ian looked at the several books before him, desire gleaming in his eyes.

Next came an all-out sprint toward the first rune.

Time flew by.

A week later.

The rune for the third part had successfully condensed.

By then, fellow apprentices Rune and Merlin had succeeded in condensing theirs, while Rowan had not even succeeded yet.

The others were naturally even further behind.

Their group of three had grown, with Harvey joining as well.

The Mutual Aid Society had also gained members. Rosen, Ian's former "deskmate," had joined too.

At first, he had been somewhat resistant.

Because he did not think much of Ian.

But when he saw even Logan asking Ian for guidance, he quickly joined as well.

Even the way he addressed Ian had changed to "Lord Ian."

What a drastic change.

But it was not only him—the others in the Mutual Aid Society also held Ian in considerable respect.

They had no chance to ask Victor questions, but Ian had filled that gap.

Especially after Logan began running back and forth between the two sides.

Without anyone noticing, Ian seemed to have gradually become the core of the Mutual Aid Society.

Of course, there was also disparagement.

Ever since Halman left the Mutual Aid Society, he had not spared Ian from badmouthing.

Especially as Ian grew more and more popular.

But what pleased him was that Ian had still failed to condense the second part of the rune.

A mudleg would always be a mudleg.

His bloodline was inferior.

Under such circumstances.

Another week passed.

Inside the stone house, Ian closed his eyes and condensed the rune.

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 long since fixed the coordinates of every rune, so there were no problems.

It went very smoothly.

The Mental Power Rune condensed successfully.

And after it succeeded, the rune did not dissipate. It merely gave off a faint Mental Power Rune, while the Mental Power Space became much more stable as well.

The panel changed too.

[Name: Ian Green]

[Age: 12]

[Strength: First-class Wizard Apprentice (1/100), Knight Attendant 60/100)]

[Talent: 103 (Fourth-grade Star)]

[Skills: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient 100/300), Light Spell (Master Level), Breeze Spell (Master Level), Dust Spell (Master Level), Lionheart Knight Method (Knight Chapter—Proficient 32/300)...]