Day after day passed, like surging waves, never the same from one moment to the next, yet all looking much alike.
Varin, Mona, and Wizard Jillian had all left and never returned.
This made Ruger even more curious about that world, but he continued quietly reading the Spellbook and pondering his own affairs. Sometimes, before doing something, he needed to lay the groundwork first. In his judgment, these four spells, including the Inverted Cup, formed the foundation for what he intended to do next. There were surely still gaps to fill. Only after he had a plan in mind and accumulated enough materials would it be time to go out foraging.
The process of pondering, pursuing, and accumulating was what Ruger had always described as knowing what he truly wanted. If he did not know what he truly wanted, how could he speak of foraging? He might miss a treasure even if it were placed right before his eyes. It was like the judgment he had made when Barry Danton laughed: what truly made someone laugh more readily was the thing that suited them best, not the most precious thing. To elicit the same laughter with value alone, the difference in value would have to be enormous.
Another session of Sleep Meditation ended.
Ruger let out a long breath. He had finally mastered this last Third Ring spell.
The experimental stage after mastering a spell was always the most exciting. As with the Heart-Leaker’s Hidden Scroll earlier, some things could only be understood through firsthand experimentation. The Heart-Leaker’s Hidden Scroll also resonated with the caster’s body, much like Heartstring Scales. Rather than producing magical scales, however, the Heart-Leaker’s Hidden Scroll could resonate with a damaged remnant—in this case, an injured, partially destroyed heart—to the point of becoming a temporary heart.