Sleep Fiend

No. 341 Knockturn Alley.

The Academy provided Second-Class Wizard Apprentices with a small villa, complete with a dedicated team of three servants.

These servants were a special kind of diminutive Elf known as Gray Dwarves.

Through Universal Studies, Locke had learned that the brains of these Gray Dwarves had been altered by prolonged magical enslavement. They were born to worship those with high Mental Power and held an extreme reverence for wizards. They could accept any command from a wizard, with no concerns about loyalty.

However, their intelligence was correspondingly poor, so they could not be entrusted with overly complicated tasks. At most, they could clean or carry things.

After giving the three Gray Dwarves assigned to his villa a few instructions to tidy up, Locke returned to his bedroom, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began meditating.

Locke placed around ten grams of Badanxi Wood shavings into a copper incense burner, then used Magic Flame to ignite them.

As a wisp of white smoke curled up from the burner, Locke suddenly lowered his head and inhaled the fragrant smoke in one breath.

Basic meditation methods all required supplementary meditation materials, and such materials were often expensive.

Locke had spent one hundred and fifty Magic Stones just to buy three hundred grams of Badanxi Wood shavings, exhausting every Magic Stone he had saved.

Fortunately, aside from the annual base tuition of one hundred Magic Stones, Sophia had not charged him any additional Magic Stones. Otherwise, he would not even have had enough to pay for his classes.

As Locke inhaled the Badanxi Wood smoke, his head spun and his vision blurred into a dazzling spectrum of colors. It felt as though he had entered a long tunnel of shimmering light, and after a stretch of turbulence, he seemed to arrive within the heart of an ancient tree.

He sat cross-legged within the ancient tree's heart, surrounded by rings upon rings of growth rings. He seemed to become the tree's core, merging with it as one, able to sense its breathing.

His breathing gradually matched the ancient tree's rhythm perfectly.

During this process, Locke felt as though his legs had become the tree's roots, absorbing elemental particles from the earth, while his shoulders had become its branches and leaves, drawing energy from the sunlight.

His Mental Power was continuously nourished throughout the process.

"Meditation succeeded. I've entered the tree-heart state described in the Root-Vein Resonance Meditation Method. Now, I'm making the fluctuations of my Mental Power resemble those of the Life Ancient Tree, drawing energy from the earth and the void to nourish my Mental Power."

The Root-Vein Resonance Meditation Method had been developed by ancient wizards who studied the Life Ancient Tree, seeking to understand why it could grow stronger than other trees.

Of course, the Life Ancient Tree was actually of a very high level. The Root-Vein Resonance Meditation Method had only studied its surface.

While in meditation, Locke sensed his tree-heart incarnation continuously gathering energy through the soles of his feet and the crown of his head, channeling it into his soul.

Having consumed Moonlight Potion, his current meditation speed was still more than twice his original speed.

This caused his Mental Power to rise from 60 toward 61 at a remarkable pace.

"So that's how it is. Wizards who master meditation methods can obtain energy from nature to nourish their Mental Power."

"That is why wizards with meditation methods grow at a completely different rate from those without them."

"It's just that the supplementary Badanxi Wood is far too expensive. The Badanxi Wood I consume every day is already a burden. I need to use at least ten grams of Badanxi Wood shavings daily, meaning one hundred and fifty Magic Stones can support less than a month of my routine consumption."

"Even if the Academy gives me a monthly subsidy of thirty Magic Stones, it still won't be enough."

Locke thought, "After studying Breeding class for a few more months, I can try selling synthesized plants."

"Otherwise, I'll soon run out of Magic Stones just to sustain my studies."

At the same time, the strange substance within the Magenta Jade in Locke's hand—the Aether Element—also entered his soul as he absorbed natural energy.

Locke froze. "My efficiency in absorbing Aether Element has increased by more than twice?"

"The meditation method can also help me absorb the Aether Element inside the Magenta Jade more effectively."

"Great. That means the rate at which my Mental Power improves might increase by more than twofold."

Locke made an estimate. His previous improvement rate had already been close to that of someone with level-six aptitude.

Now, due to the combined effects of the meditation method, the Magenta Jade, and the Moonlight Elixir, the growth rate of his Mental Power had likely fully reached that of a Wizard Seedling with level-six aptitude, perhaps even surpassing it somewhat.

Locke opened his eyes, took a jar of Mind-Calming Ointment from the drawer, and applied it to his temples. Mind-Calming Ointment could improve his focus, indirectly increasing his meditation efficiency and the rate at which his Mental Power grew.

He was now using every means available to increase the rate at which his Mental Power improved as quickly as possible.

The next morning, Locke opened his eyes and found the sun already hanging outside the window, its rays shining directly into his room.

"It seems feasible to use meditation in place of sleep."

"My Mana and thoughts simulated the tree-heart of the Life Ancient Tree, producing an effect similar to deep sleep. Combined with the calming, mind-settling effects of Badanxi Wood, I meditated all night without becoming tired. Instead, my Mental Power recovered."

Locke considered it for a moment. "But the meditation method warned me that I need to sleep at least ten nights each month."

"Meditation does not completely replace the restorative effects of sleep. It seems that certain aspects of the soul and Mental Power, which even wizards have not fully discovered, must recover through a living being's natural sleep."

"Meditating for long periods without sleeping will bring many side effects."

Locke flipped through the meditation scroll in his hand. It depicted a "monster" with grayish skin all over its body, standing upright like a human, but with a pointed head, a protruding skull, and sunken eye sockets.

This monster was marked on the meditation scroll as [Sleep Fiend].

Some wizards had once believed that as long as they meditated continuously, they would not need sleep. This would allow them to use their precious time entirely to increase their Mana and raise their wizard ranks.

They meditated in this way for decades. As a result, some wizards gradually developed physical problems. Their bodies began to mutate, and they eventually turned into the monsters recorded on the scroll—Sleep Fiends.

Looking at the monster on the scroll, Locke thought, "It looks like some kind of degeneration has occurred."

"It should be the consequence of meditating for too long without sleeping. Ordinary mortals at least sleep a little, and prolonged sleeplessness would kill them. But wizards can use meditation to survive for decades without sleeping at all."

"So this is a disease that only wizards can develop. It seems sleep is still very important, probably for restoring some unknown aspect of the soul."

Locke reached into the constantly spinning Horadric Cube, which flickered with silver sparks, and took out the Rapid-Growth Gel he had been continuously synthesizing recently.