A Mage's Cultivation

The moment Gao De stepped out, a trace of barely concealed savagery rose in his eyes.

"Before absolute strength, little tricks are useless. Even trying to maneuver around them is difficult."

As he recalled his encounter with Mage Seda, aside from the indescribable humiliation, he also felt the lingering relief of having narrowly escaped death. "Although I managed to bluff my way through this time, it was also due to luck."

Gao De did not know exactly what effect Mage Seda's spell, which seemed to make spikes grow from his palm, had. But he could guess that if he had lied just now, Mage Seda would certainly have been able to sense it.

Fortunately, Mage Seda's question had been, "Do you truly feel that there have been no changes to your body at all?"

—In truth, after waking up, he had indeed found nothing unusual about his body.

Most likely, all the effects of the potion had been borne by the previous owner of this body.

It seemed that the potion brewed by that old man targeted the mind.

Gao De deduced this.

Otherwise, after inheriting this body, he should not have felt absolutely no physical discomfort.

Though Mage Seda was not particularly tall, the pressure he brought Gao De was greater than anything he had ever experienced in either this life or his previous one.

Still shaken, he touched the neck Mage Seda had just gripped.

There was not a single wound there.

Yet the unbearable agony from moments ago had been real.

That was the wonder of spells.

Even if it had merely been a trick.

The feeling of having his life and death decided by another's whim was not pleasant.

Although Mage Seda was merely a stranger Gao De had met once, Gao De's hatred for him had already reached its peak.

Gao De also knew that he was far too weak right now. He was simply no match for Mage Seda.

The other party was powerful, so he had to endure and secretly seek an opportunity.

The question was, how much time did he have left?

Gao De did not know that he actually had only one month remaining.

But he knew that Mage Seda attached tremendous importance to that unknown potion. Even though he had never successfully brewed it over so many years, he kept trying again and again. That showed just how obsessive he was.

Now that Mage Seda had discovered that Gao De was still alive after testing the potion, he would surely think the potion's formulation was close to success.

Therefore, Mage Seda would definitely attempt to brew the potion again soon.

And when the time came, the person testing it would most likely be Gao De again.

After all, he was the only person so far who had "not died" after testing the potion.

"Gao De, you're finally back!" When Gao De returned to his room, Emil immediately rushed over and asked, "What did Mage Seda want with you?"

Gao De told the truth. "Mage Seda asked me about how I felt after taking the potion."

"I knew it! Mage Seda's potion has finally succeeded. We're going to have good days ahead!" Emil was extremely excited.

"Perhaps." Gao De did not shatter Emil's fantasy.

"Oh, right. I ran into Ilan just now." After hesitating for a moment, he spoke as if casually.

"What? Did he come to cause trouble for you again?" Emil's expression changed, and he asked nervously.

"More or less, but it was nothing serious. At most, he can give me trouble with his words. It's not like he can really do anything to me." Gao De sounded unconcerned.

"That's not the point!" Emil cared far more than Gao De did. "Ilan has been with Mage Seda the longest. He can more or less get a word in with Mage Seda. I heard that the reason you were chosen to test the potion this time had something to do with him."

"Really? I don't even have any grudge against him. Why would he go that far?" Gao De asked in "disbelief."

"He's narrow-minded by nature and jealous of talented people. He was already unhappy seeing how capable you are, and you never bother with him. How could he not hold a grudge against you?"

"Besides, you picked up potion brewing so quickly. Ilan must be afraid that if this continues, Mage Seda will value you more and more, until you replace him in Mage Seda's eyes."

"You can't afford to provoke him yet. It would be better to keep up appearances and play along with him for now," Emil advised tactfully.

Gao De's gaze narrowed slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I understand."

Emil assumed Gao De had taken his advice and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"Ilan's job is to deliver goods for Mage Seda?" Gao De asked as if he did not care.

"Yeah. His job is the easiest. Usually, he only needs to make deliveries once every four or five days, and he can even use the chance to stroll around the city. Unlike us, working ourselves to death in the herb garden every day." Emil sounded somewhat indignant.

"I see." Gao De's eyes drifted as he considered something.

Afterward, he deliberately and casually learned a great deal about the herb garden from Emil through various topics, gaining a basic understanding of his current surroundings.

"Oh!" Emil slapped his forehead, as though he had suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly said, "Let's go eat quickly. If we go any later, there probably won't be anything left."

He pulled Gao De toward the dining hall, not forgetting to claim credit. "I missed meal time just to wait for you to come back."

It was dinner time now.

At Mage Seda's herb garden, meals were served three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If the matter of potion testing was set aside, this place was actually something of a paradise for most apprentices, who had once been nothing more than beggars.

After all, most commoners only ate two meals a day, breakfast and dinner.

Led by Emil, Gao De arrived at the dining hall where the apprentices ate.

It was called a dining hall, but it was only slightly larger than their bedroom. Three square wooden tables stood inside, each with a candle lamp made up of three candleholders. Along with a fireplace, that was enough for it to be called a dining hall.

Gao De and Emil had come fairly late. Only two or three apprentices remained in the dining hall.

Emil nervously glanced at the large plate beside the fireplace. Seeing that two black loaves of long bread remained, he finally relaxed.

Beside the large plate was also a stewpot made of earthenware.

Gao De had eaten nothing since waking up except a sip of water, and he was beginning to feel hungry. He followed Emil over.

Some tableware was stacked beside the large plate. Gao De picked up a small plate, placed one of the long loaves on it, then took a small bowl and looked toward the stewpot.

The stewpot contained pea soup made from a local variety of peas.

After filling his bowl with pea soup using a ladle, Gao De and Emil chose an empty table and sat down.

Rye Bread and pea soup.

That was the daily food of apprentices like them.

Meat was out of the question.

And although it was called bread, it was vastly different from the bread Gao De knew.

These loaves of Rye Bread contained no yeast, so they were exceptionally hard after baking. They surely did not taste good, and they were difficult to chew.

Of course, they did have one advantage.

They were cheap.

Four pounds, about 1.8 kilograms, of Rye Bread cost only six round copper coins.

Gao De calculated it in his mind. That was equivalent to 3.5 round copper coins per kilogram of Rye Bread.

Meanwhile, even the cheapest meat cost seven round copper coins per pound, about 450 grams.

The value of Rye Bread was self-evident.

Emil used a dining knife to slice the long loaf of Rye Bread and arranged the slices on his plate. Then, he spooned pea soup over the bread slices one spoonful at a time before stuffing them into his mouth.

That was the proper way to eat Rye Bread. While drinking the soup, the bread would soften slightly. Otherwise, eating it dry could make someone choke.

Of course, soaking the bread slices directly in the soup was also a very common way to eat it.

Gao De copied Emil, using his dining knife to cut the Rye Bread into several slices. He then soaked the slices in pea soup until they softened before stuffing them into his mouth.

The next moment, he could not help frowning.

Even though he had been mentally prepared, the food was even harder to swallow than he had expected.

No seasoning had been added to the pea soup at all. The bread slices soaked in it were merely a little softer. If he had to describe the taste, it was only slightly better than sawdust.

To Gao De, such food was undoubtedly terrifying, but for the other apprentices, having this kind of bread was already quite good.

However, Gao De had no choice now. The hunger in his stomach forced him to frown as he swallowed the Rye Bread with difficulty.

Thus, he gained another reason why he had to resist Mage Seda.

—If he could only eat food like this every day, what difference would there be between that and death?

After dinner came the apprentices' cultivation time.

The apprentices in the herb garden followed an extremely regular routine every day.

They busied themselves with their respective work during the day, while the evenings were reserved for a fixed three to four hours of cultivation.

After returning to the room, Emil seized the time and quickly entered a cultivation state.

Gao De, meanwhile, first reviewed the mages' Cultivation Method in his mind.

For a mage, the two most important basic attributes were mana and Mental Strength.

Mana was the energy consumed when casting spells, the so-called "mana bar." It was the foundation of all a mage's power.

Mental Strength concerned the control and learning of spells. It determined one's spellcasting skill, the stability of continuous spellcasting, variations in spells, and even the speed at which one learned spells.

The growth of mana and Mental Strength relied on dull, repetitive cultivation day after day. There was absolutely no room for laziness, nor were there any shortcuts.

"To begin guiding, first enter a state of calm."

The cultivation method for mana was the Guiding Method, while the cultivation method for Mental Strength was called the Meditation Art.

The two were separate and could not be cultivated at the same time. Generally, one cultivated the Guiding Method first, then practiced the Meditation Art.

That was because cultivating the Guiding Method also consumed Mental Strength.

And once more than forty percent of one's Mental Strength had been consumed, continuing to cultivate the Guiding Method would yield half the results for twice the effort.

This was not difficult for Gao De to understand. It was like studying—the first few hours were certainly the most effective, but once the mind became exhausted later on, learning efficiency naturally declined.

Practicing the Meditation Art after cultivating the Guiding Method could not only quickly restore the consumed Mental Strength, but also benefit its growth.

In Gao De's own understanding, it was like exercising. Repeatedly going through the process of "expend stamina—restore stamina" could better stimulate the growth of stamina.