My Mental Strength Gets a Boost from Medicine?

On the way home, excitement clung to Gret.

He even braved the night to haul in several buckets of water, chop wood, and light a fire, then treated himself to a good hot bath, using up half the firewood stored at home. Life in ancient times was such a hassle. If only there were running water and a water heater—or if he could at least use magic to heat his bathwater—

Tsk, even if it was just to improve his quality of life, he had to become a Mage Apprentice as soon as possible!

Gret lay in the bathtub and sighed. But no matter how much of a hassle it was, he still had to bathe. To improve his chances of successfully meditating, bathing and changing clothes were essential steps. He cleaned himself up, climbed onto the bed, and sat cross-legged—

This body was way too inflexible! He was only sixteen, yet he couldn't cross his left leg over his right foot and his right leg over his left foot, sitting in the proper five-pointed posture!

This... Although Basic Meditation didn't say he had to sit cross-legged, as a Chinese person, he just didn't feel right starting to meditate without trying the pose. It was like his success rate was going to drop by five, five, five...

Gret bent his left foot, then his right, trying again and again, but to no avail. He tried relaxing his legs and loosely crossing them into a square, but couldn't sit steadily. Then he tried stretching them out into a triangle, but kept leaning backward as he sat.

With no other choice, he flopped onto the bed, rolled over to the wall, and sat with his back against it, legs stretched out.

Ah, much better.

Now close his eyes and clear his mind. Breathe in... breathe out... Breathe in... breathe out... Imagine himself in total darkness. Sight switched off... hearing switched off... smell switched off...

Following the instructions in Basic Meditation, Gret prepared himself mentally, one step at a time. Let himself grow quiet... quieter... still... calm... empty...

Perhaps self-hypnosis was having an effect. Or perhaps, after crossing into another world, he really did have a boost when it came to learning magic. When Gret focused his mind on a single point, just as he did before casting a healing spell, something seemed to light up in the darkness.

What was this?

Neither up nor down, neither left nor right, neither inside nor outside. Was this... him?!

Gret shuddered violently, nearly losing the empty clarity he'd achieved. With his eyes closed, he struggled for a while to calm himself, and finally steadied his mind again. He'd entered meditation. Now, the next step!

According to Basic Meditation, training one's mental strength first required constructing a virtual "self." Then, one drew power from the outside world to fill out this "self," bit by bit. Once it had been tempered to a certain strength, one could release one's mental strength and begin to affect the outside world...

At the thought, the point of light in the darkness began to change according to the illustration in Basic Meditation. A tiny figure with limbs, a head, facial features, bones, muscles, and flowing blood was outlined in spots and lines of light, standing silently in the void.

The next moment, like a stone dropping into water, ripples spread out into the darkness in rings from the luminous figure, then quietly flowed back. With each return, the figure outlined by those insubstantial lines of light seemed to grow a little more solid.

Is this me?

Is this illusory figure my mental strength?

Gret was a little dazed. Somehow, a connection seemed to tell him: Yes, this is you. This is your mental strength. It was formed from your physical body and moved with your will. Once it grew strong enough, it could nourish your body in return and influence the real world!

But the figure's details were wrong!

The muscles were wrong!

The blood flow was wrong, too! The arteries and veins weren't separated, and the left atrium, left ventricle, right atrium, and right ventricle weren't shown at all. The direction of blood flow was completely missing!

The nerves! The lymphatic system! The capillaries! None of these had been drawn!

Gret grew irritated. The illustrations in Basic Meditation were far too crude. They left out many details, and plenty of what they did show was wrong—he'd stake his reputation as a medical student that he could pick out seven or eight, even a dozen, mistakes at a glance!

This wouldn't do! Gret focused and began recalling the anatomy atlases he'd studied in his previous life. Without realizing it, the little figure made of white light began to change as he remembered:

206 bones, joined together from bottom to top by more than 300 joints, forming a sturdy yet flexible structure;

640 muscles, attached to the bones by tendons, or connected directly to other muscles;

The heart began to beat powerfully, pumping blood into the arteries. After passing through the capillaries, it flowed back to the heart along the veins;

The nervous system, respiratory system, digestive system, urinary system, endocrine system, lymphatic and immune systems, reproductive system...

Finally, skin covered everything. Hair grew, and nails emerged...

He might never have dissected or treated every part himself, but he'd studied, drawn, and memorized each detail countless times. Now, they all came back to him as vividly as if they were right before his eyes.

This was how it should be. Even in another world, the human body had to be structured this way. Gret was certain of it.

He'd treated patients with his own hands, cut open abdomens, pinched the hepatic hilum to stop bleeding, opened tracheas, and punctured chests. His many successful treatments had proved that his understanding was correct!

When he came back to himself, the little figure in the void was already countless times more detailed than the one in the illustration. On closer inspection, it was exactly like the human anatomy he'd studied in his previous life.

The heart made of white light beat powerfully. Thump, thump, thump, one beat at a time. With each beat, an insubstantial halo of light spread outward—and the halos released by this newly constructed figure were more than twice as powerful as before!

Was this how it worked?

Did mental strength need to match the body as closely as possible, so it could resonate with the body and gain support, while also nourishing the body in return?

Gret didn't know. But he had a strange feeling that his mental strength was considerably stronger than when he'd first constructed the figure.

Then the next thing to try was sensing the world... What did the world look like through mental strength?

Still following the instructions in Basic Meditation, Gret deliberately controlled the ripples emitted by the figure, extending them outward. Then, through the perception of his mental strength, the whole world... changed.

A steady, weighty force bore the world with solid reliability;

A light, buoyant force moved freely and joyfully, never still for a moment;

A scorching, restless force knew no restraint and brought the greatest heat;

A gentle, dense force quietly spread life, calm and nourishing...

"Earth, water, fire, wind? The Four Great Elements?" Gret was astonished. With his emotions stirred, the figure in his meditative space shuddered violently again, nearly collapsing:

"Is this... the world as my mental strength perceives it?"

After his initial shock, Gret was delighted:

"According to Basic Meditation, if I can vaguely sense the Four Great Elements, then my mental strength has already reached the level of a Mage Apprentice?"

"Can I start analyzing magic from today onward?!"

I deleted the chapter draft I wrote yesterday again today. Sobbing.

Please comfort me...

Yesterday was another day when my new book's collection growth failed to keep up with my old book's...

Please add the book to your library, recommend it, invest in it, leave a review, anything...