Empirical Verification of a New Meditation Method

James was still in his laboratory. The research had entered a bottleneck, and there was not the slightest sign of a breakthrough.

The academy had not withheld his funding. Funding was not his problem; he lacked assistants and research subjects.

Just as Elliot had said, the older apprentices who shared his problem had unfortunately all died. The survivors did not think highly of him, while the new apprentices could not meet his requirements. Only Adam was an exception.

"But a genius of that caliber probably wouldn't be interested in my research, would he?" James sighed inwardly.

He walked through his black laboratory, occasionally stopping beneath an Optical Projection to stare at unfinished runes, or completed runes that had never been tested, wavering endlessly.

"I'm already over seventy."

Lifespan was the Sword of Damocles hanging above his head. His talent could be called poor, and his total Mental Power was scant. Because he had constantly experimented with new runes over the past decades, he had yet to construct his Mental Power according to any systematic Meditation Method. From that perspective, he was simply wasting time.

"Ah."

James slumped against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. Then, unexpectedly, the laboratory access panel suddenly lit up. "Apprentice Adam requests entry."

James's eyes abruptly blazed with startling light. He sprang up from the floor, rushed outside, and opened the laboratory door.

Following his memory, Adam arrived at James's laboratory and swiped his Identity Verification. He was not sure whether James was inside, but he had no better way to find him. He could only come here and try his luck.

Bang.

The laboratory door was yanked open roughly. James stared wide-eyed at Adam and asked eagerly, "You agreed to be my assistant, didn't you? You agreed, right?"

Adam took a step back before saying, "If the compensation satisfies me, then yes."

James grabbed Adam and dragged him into the laboratory. "Wait for me!" After saying that, he rushed inside. Before long, he returned with a paper contract and handed it to Adam.

Adam lowered his head to read it. The contract listed both parties' responsibilities, points requiring attention, and confidentiality clauses. Every one of those sections was airtight, without a single loophole. Only the compensation section was blank.

James said generously, "The laboratory receives funding of two thousand units of Energy Stone each month. I need eight hundred Energy Stones for daily expenses. The rest is all yours!"

That meant Adam could receive up to twelve hundred Energy Stones per month. It was undoubtedly an enormous sum, far more generous than the less than one unit per day offered to New Apprentices in the Mission Hall.

However, James immediately changed his tone and said somewhat awkwardly, "It's just that we need to produce some results within three months at the latest, or the project will be cut. The Approval Department has already lost patience with my experimental project. Three months is the final deadline they gave me."

Adam nodded. Three months meant he could receive at least three payments. He asked James, "Mr. James, what do you mean by some results?"

James replied, "A complete and valuable Meditation Method that can be promoted among apprentices." He immediately added, "The laboratory actually already has a complete result, but no one can verify it. After all, constructing a Rune Array is not easy for me."

Adam was very confident about this. Projects requiring massive amounts of computation for Empirical Verification were precisely what he excelled at. Constructing Rune Arrays merely required occupying a few more threads.

Adam said to James, "If the research succeeds, I don't need my name on the results, but I need unrestricted usage rights."

James nodded rapidly. "Of course. No problem at all."

After receiving his agreement, Adam added that clause to the contract. Then he wrote one thousand units per month in the compensation section and handed the contract to James. James did not care in the slightest about Adam's requested compensation. With wild joy written across his face, he put away the contract and impatiently pulled Adam into the black room.

After a series of operations, he said to Adam, "From now on, you have permission to enter the laboratory freely, but you cannot take any materials out of the laboratory."

After that, half a month passed quickly. During those half months, Adam nearly vanished from everyone's sight. Every day, he traveled only between the dormitory and the laboratory. Even his one daily meal was eaten inside the laboratory.

James was undoubtedly a decent person. Although Adam was merely an assistant and a Test Subject, James still took excellent care of him. During those half months, he did not ask Adam to construct any unverified and unstable runes. Instead, he devoted himself to guiding Adam in constructing the Basic Meditation Method. In his words: "This Basic Meditation Method, created by Prometheus True Spirit Grandmaster, possesses stability that far surpasses every variant. At the Current Stage, that stability manifests as protection for the soul no matter how apprentices experiment with new methods, preventing them from dying after their Mental Power shatters repeatedly."

This helped Adam greatly. Compared to muddling through alone behind closed doors, James's guidance, backed by greater experience, spared him many detours. In less than half a month, the Basic Meditation Method had been preliminarily completed. Adam could feel a layer of armor enveloping his fragile soul, allowing him to neutralize a greater quantity of aether.

James was extremely satisfied. Adam's talent had once again exceeded his expectations. One had to know that preliminarily completing a Meditation Method required at least one thousand Scale Fragments. An Ordinary Person—such as himself—could only construct three to five Scale Fragments per day even at full effort.

James did not know that this was not merely a gap in total Mental Power, but also a gap in Computational Power. An Ordinary Person could only construct one rune at a time, whereas Adam possessed the talent of Multi-tasking. Multiple threads could simultaneously work on constructing individual runes, after which he merely needed to merge the threads together.

Half a month later, James determined that Adam could withstand the negative effects caused by runes shattering within his Mental Power. After activating an Optical Projection device, he said to Adam, "Now, try constructing this Rune Array to replace Mage's Armor. Be careful not to force yourself. If you feel a conflict in your Mental Power or fluctuations in your soul, stop immediately."

Adam turned his gaze to the new Rune Array. It was still composed of nine runes, but each one was more complex than before. Yet that complexity showed no harmony. Adam felt that there was no need to test it at all; this Rune Array was bound to be a failure.

But Empirical Verification could not rely on feeling. Only by testing it personally could he find the problem, so Adam began constructing it without hesitation.

James said nervously from the side, "Compared to the original Mage's Armor, this set enhances the properties of Mental Power on its foundation. If it succeeds, Mage's Armor will become offensive."

"Take it step by step. Remove the original Scale Fragments little by little... Stop! Heavens, what are you doing?!"

James watched in horror as Adam's originally preliminary-condensed Mental Power collapsed in an instant. The dispersed energy seemed to whip up a gust of wind inside the laboratory, sending every sheet of paper flying!

James had no time to care about the laboratory's utter mess. Regret flooded his heart. Adam's composure had misled him; he had thought Adam would proceed gradually. But the situation clearly showed that Adam had shattered Mage's Armor all at once. That would cause enormous damage to his spirit.

He ran frantically toward the door, intending to apply for treatment. Adam was already his last hope. Nothing could happen to him!

Just then, Adam's unconcerned voice rang out. "As individual runes, they possess greater complexity than the original version, but the rune connections are crude and contain redundant structures. Once combined, they cannot be Self-Consistent..."

James's sprinting figure froze. His body remained still as his head slowly turned toward Adam. Stiffly, he said, "You... you're all right?"

Adam replied calmly, "There is no need to worry. This is not difficult for me. Besides, this method of experimentation is too inefficient. I can probably conduct..." Adam considered how to allocate his Computational Power and Mental Power for the optimal solution, then said, "the construction of four different Meditation Methods simultaneously."

"F-four? Different ones? Constructing Meditation Methods you've never encountered?"

"Yes. That is mainly because I'm unfamiliar with the new runes. Otherwise, I could be even faster," Adam confirmed.

James stared at Adam in amazement. "Is this Multi-tasking?" James had every reason to be amazed. Multi-tasking was a talent; it could not be automatically acquired by increasing one's total Mental Power or Mage rank. Those two circumstances could only make a mage think faster when considering a single matter.

"Yes," Adam said.

What a monster. It really makes one jealous. If only the person with this talent were me. James thought.

Throughout the conversation, Adam continued constructing Rune Arrays. Problems discovered in individual combinations did not necessarily apply to the whole. Perhaps when placed within the overall structure, those problems would resolve themselves.

Silently, James placed three more Optical Projection devices beside Adam. Looking at the focused Adam, he felt hope unlike anything he had ever felt before. Perhaps this time, it really might succeed!

Experiments were tedious, and Empirical Verification was an endless series of blows against confidence and conviction. Another two months flew past in the blink of an eye. Both Adam and James had become obsessed. Neither had returned to his own residence during that time. James still had to teach once a week, while Adam had thoroughly become a shut-in.

Yet they still had not obtained even a single Meditation Method that was harmonious, Self-Consistent, and universally applicable.

Only ten days remained before the three-month deadline. James looked countless years older, changing from the Young Man he had been when they first met into someone with graying hair.