Meditation Method

Three AM, in the dormitory at the bottom of the lake.

Jerry and Geralt were sleeping deeply at this moment; last night, the three in the dormitory had been in high spirits, chatting until very late before falling asleep.

Last night's Sorting Ceremony had been no surprise.

They had discussed all evening how "The Boy Who Lived" was in Gryffindor, and that Hermione and Neville hadn't lost their inner "bravery" due to Matthew's interference.

Matthew woke up in the dormitory. He had drunk a Sleeping Potion before sleeping; Professor Snape's improved version of the Sleeping Potion was very effective, replenishing his energy with just two hours of sleep.

Matthew's father was a Senior to Professor Snape, and they had a good relationship during their school years.

Therefore, when Professor Snape discovered that Matthew had some talent in Potions, he often had him stay as an Assistant after class.

He glanced out the window. On a moonless night, the bottom of the lake was Pitch Black.

Preserved Egg was sleeping by the window; who knew if its dreams held fish from the Black Lake.

Matthew sensed the disc in his mind; the energy in the crystal was full.

He focused his mind, and the disc in his head spun rapidly. After One Breath, he was back in the Snowfield.

Chris and Tina were still in the same positions as before he had left.

"Matthew..." Chris looked at Matthew, his face full of surprise. "How did your clothes suddenly change?"

Tina, who had just climbed onto the Sled's Carriage, also looked over curiously.

Matthew Drew Out his wand and And Cast a Transfiguration Spell on His Clothes, turning them into the previous style of Fluffy Cloak, and the clothes underneath also became the style that matched Chris's memory.

Blue Light flickered in Matthew's eyes as he used Legilimency on Chris. He wanted to see how he appeared from someone else's perspective when he traveled through.

From Chris's perspective, Matthew had never left the spot; it was just that in an instant, his cloak and clothes had turned into the robes he wore at Hogwarts.

It seemed that after Matthew traveled back, time on this side also didn't move.

Matthew hadn't known before if there would be a Time Difference when traveling between the two worlds, so before he went back, he had told Chris to go on ahead, that he would go to Whitestone Town himself.

"Obliviate." Matthew made Chris and Tina forget what had just happened.

Chris was Startled for a moment, then sat down in the driver's seat of the Sled's Carriage as if nothing was wrong. "Get on, Matthew. We'll reach Whitestone Town by nightfall; no need to stay out in the wild tonight."

Chris was a skilled Blacksmith, and the heater at the bottom of the Sled's Carriage was something he had personally modified.

An hour later, the outline of Whitestone Town came into view.

No one was at the town's entrance, which was blocked by a wooden fence as tall as a man. Next to it stood a tower a bit taller than the surrounding houses.

Chris stopped the Sled's Carriage at the gate and called out, "Anyone there? Open the gate!"

He took a Wine Pouch from the drawer next to the carriage's heater and took a sip of hot wine to warm himself.

A head wearing a hooded cap poked out from the tower.

He glanced at the Sled's Carriage below, then pulled his head back in. After a moment, the door at the base of the tower opened.

The man who came down was the same one with the hooded cap. He hugged his arms and yawned. "Chris, it's freezing cold. What brings you here?"

Chris's craftsmanship was somewhat famous in this area, and the Night Watchman before him had bought weapons from him.

Chris got down from the Sled's Carriage and said:

"It's you, Jack.

Things haven't been peaceful in Gemu Village lately. The nearby animals have become unusually Agitated and often attack the village.

My Great Uncle left a house in Whitestone Town. I plan to move here with Tina."

Jack's Face Lit Up With Joy. "You're moving here? Then I won't have to go all the way to Gemu Village to get my blade maintained. You should have moved here long ago!"

He stepped forward and Pulled Open the wooden fence.

Chris also came forward to help, saying as he did, "Has Whitestone Town been attacked? There's only you, one Night Watchman, on the gate. We ran into plenty of trouble on the road."

Jack was a Night Watchman; if he spotted anything unusual, he only needed to blow his horn in the tower, and Guards would come to his rescue.

Jack replied, "No, everything's normal. That lazy Bohr is still sleeping in the tower!"

After Pulling Open the wooden fence, he rubbed his hands together. He had forgotten to bring gloves when he came down, and in just that short time, his hands were nearly frozen stiff. He just wanted to hurry back and warm himself by the fire.

Chris said goodbye to him and led the White Deer into Whitestone Town.

The architectural style of Whitestone Town was similar to that of medieval European towns on Earth, all built from brick and stone.

The streets were empty at night, seeming a bit desolate. The liveliest place was the tavern not far from the town entrance; you could hear the noise from there even a street away.

The town wasn't large, and Not Long After, the three stopped in front of a house.

This house looked quite old, its grayish-white brick walls covered with the Traces left by time.

"My Great Uncle usually lived in the Royal Capital before he died and didn't come here often. I'd come by occasionally to clean up." Chris took out a key and said, "Matthew, you can take a look in the study. There are some books my Great Uncle left behind up there."

Matthew became interested. He hoped the books left by the Wizard would help him understand this world a bit better.

Chris led Matthew to the study. The study wasn't large, with the desk and chairs taking up most of the room. On the bookshelf to the right of the desk were about a dozen books.

Matthew took one down, and it happened to be the Compendium of Magical Creatures that Chris had mentioned.

Chris said, "You can stay in the room next to the study. I'll go tidy it up first."

Matthew thanked him and continued browsing. The Compendium of Magical Creatures had very brief descriptions of magical beings—just an illustration and a rough account of their abilities. The illustrations weren't animated either; it seemed books in this world didn't have a habit of embedding moving images.

He spotted many interesting creatures, several matching images from his previous life's memories. For example, mermaids who used their voices to enchant humans, though this world had not only human-bodied, fish-tailed mermaids but also fish-headed, human-bodied fishmen, whose power in the deep seas was immense. He also saw the Dragon Snake Tree and Phantom Demon he'd encountered before, much as Chris had described.

Then Matthew continued flipping through other books. Most on the shelves were travelogues, poetry collections, and histories. He took out the Scribe's Quill, a pen he'd bought for 10 Gold Galleons, enchanted with an auto-copying spell. He intended to transcribe all the books on the shelves.

After inventorying the books, he pulled out the only parchment scroll on the shelf, which had been hidden under other books and escaped his notice earlier.

He unrolled the scroll. Written on it was "Aemon Basic Meditation Method"!

The scroll's author was named Aemon, and it recorded a basic meditation technique.

The meditation method trained the mind through meditation, continuously tapping into one's potential, condensing the spirit into a Sea of Consciousness. This process also slowly increased one's total magical power.

Most importantly, it allowed the construction of a Runic Model within the Sea of Consciousness.

Using Runic Magic mainly involved two steps: "Condensation" and "Guidance":

--The first step was to "condense" magical power into runes.

--The second step was to "guide" the runes into a Spell Model Structure.

After cultivating the "Aemon Basic Meditation Method" and constructing the "Runic Model" in the Sea of Consciousness, condensing runes with magical power would become instantaneous.

A "Lightning Bolt" spell required condensing 32 runes. Without the meditation method, just condensing those 32 runes would take five minutes!

Now, with the meditation method, when he cast "Lightning Bolt," he could quickly "condense" the runes, and then only needed to "guide" them into a Spell Model Structure to release the Runic Magic.

This process was shortened to about ten seconds.

Matthew was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to resolve his doubts so quickly. Salazar Slytherin was right—meditation was the key to Runic Magic.

But now he had even more questions. If the "meditation" Salazar Slytherin spoke of was this meditation method, where had he learned of it, and had he ever practiced it himself?

Matthew grew increasingly curious about that period of history. After he returned in a few days, he still wanted to check the Hogwarts library to see if he could find any clues.

Cultivating the meditation method didn't require the scroll itself. After copying it down, he placed it back on the shelf.