So Useful

After finishing the task, Zeliel had no desire to wander around outside and headed straight back to the Nightflower Inn.

"Good evening, Mr. Zeliel." Auro greeted him with the same sweet smile as always.

"Good evening, Auro."

"What would you like to eat today?"

"Hmm..."

Faced with the extensive menu, Zeliel did not deliberate for long.

"A serving of beef shank with red wine sauce."

"Certainly!"

After eating and drinking his fill, Zeliel leaned back in his chair and contentedly rubbed his stomach.

"Still the familiar taste..."

This time, Auro had not brought him ale, but a jasmine drink instead. It was also delicious.

However, after accepting her gifts again and again, Zeliel was starting to feel embarrassed. So when he got up to return to his upstairs room, he deliberately left a silver coin on the table as a tip for Auro.

"For a mage, meditation is the foundation of all growth.

It is an active form of inner cultivation that consumes an immense amount of energy, and the only means of connecting the surface consciousness to the subconscious Sea of Consciousness.

During deep meditation, a mage must cast aside all distracting thoughts and focus on sensing the Source Seed floating at the center of the universe within the Sea of Consciousness. Through day after day of nurturing and cultivation, a mage can achieve two major forms of growth.

First, the growth of the Source Seed.

Through deep meditation, the Source Seed can become more condensed. Every wisp of magic power it produces will become purer as a result, and the magic cast through it will be more powerful.

Second, the size of the Sea of Consciousness.

The rhythm radiated by a powerful Source Seed spreads outward like ripples, expanding the Sea of Consciousness that bears it and thereby increasing one's total reserves of magic power.

However, this must be emphasized once again:

Meditation is an extremely energy-consuming form of mental labor.

Many mages harbor a misconception: they believe meditation can replace sleep.

This is completely wrong.

On the contrary, after a successful meditation session, a mage will usually feel utterly exhausted mentally.

It is like having engaged in an intense magical duel at a training ground, if not even more exhausting.

Therefore, restful sleep is indispensable for mages. It is an important means of restoring energy.

Only through prolonged meditative cultivation, gradually mastering the advanced technique of Mind-Sleep, can one possibly combine meditation with sleep and improve the efficiency of daily activities."

In the quiet library of the Mages' Guild, Zeliel closed An Overview of the Source of Magic.

He rubbed his eyes and could not help muttering under his breath.

"This is really academic..."

The elegant cursive lettering on the pages looked free and graceful, but the content was unfathomably profound.

Reading it word by word, sentence by sentence, was enough to make his head spin.

To explore this world's magic system, theoretical knowledge was essential.

Since he could not afford to hire a magic teacher at a high price, he could only slowly chew through these obscure tomes himself.

Zeliel shook his head vigorously.

He had never imagined that meditation was actually the primary way normal mages grew stronger...

He reviewed the original owner's memories of meditation, compared them with the book's descriptions, and reached a conclusion.

The process was simply too tedious—hard, grueling, and boring.

Other mages were not like him. They had no quantifiable status panel, so they had no idea how much progress they made each day.

Moreover, meditation consumed an enormous amount of energy. After completing a session of cultivation, mages were often completely drained and could only sleep to restore their minds.

Forget taking tasks at the Adventurers' Association—they could not even do physical labor.

With neither clear positive feedback nor any way to combine cultivation with battle, enduring both at once was not something ordinary people could manage.

But Zeliel was different. His method of improving his strength was to grow through battle.

He could take tasks to earn all kinds of resources while gaining experience and leveling up in battle. The difference in efficiency was practically heaven and earth.

"This cheat ability is really useful..." Zeliel sighed.

"What are you muttering about?"

A crisp voice sounded out. Zeliel turned his head, and a familiar face came into view.

Bev had arrived.

"Nothing... Good afternoon, Bev." Zeliel waved in greeting.

"You can drop the 'Miss.' There's no need to address me so formally, is there?"

Bev wrinkled her delicate nose. "Good afternoon, Mr. Ze. Li. El."

"What are you doing at the library?" Zeliel asked.

"The same as you. Looking for books."

Bev bent slightly and leaned closer to look at the book in front of Zeliel.

"Ah... An Overview of the Source of Magic. It's Master Setia's work, a fairly good book for understanding the fundamentals of magic."

"What about yours?"

Zeliel also glanced at the book Bev held in her arms. "Analysis of Basic Magic Constructs... Are you studying how to create magic?"

"I'm not at that level yet. This book only gives a preliminary introduction to the structures of various spell formulas, so it barely counts as beginner-level. Actually creating magic requires long-term accumulation of knowledge and experience." Bev waved a hand.

"Aren't you going to focus your efforts on optimizing spell structures? The assessment for Lower-Level Mage is quite strict. Casting time has been compressed to within three seconds," Zeliel said.

"You don't necessarily have to take the practical combat route. Research-oriented mages are just as sought after. Many mages have created new types of magic, founded their own schools, and become famous far and wide."

Bev lifted her chin slightly. "Maybe someday you'll get to use magic that I created myself."

"I look forward to it." Zeliel smiled.

"Oh, right. How is your progress on learning new magic? You should be able to master two new spells within three months, right?"

Bev suddenly remembered that. "Don't let Mentor Marvin down. He's a very nice person."

"Don't worry. I've already learned one new spell," Zeliel said.

"That was pretty fast. What magic is it? Tell me about it." Bev moved closer, her face full of curiosity.

"Uh..."

Zeliel pursed his lips and thought for a moment. "Wind Blade."

"Huh? It's actually a spell I've used before." Bev was a little surprised.

"Because I thought Bev looked really cool when she cast that spell, I specifically bought the same magic scroll." Zeliel kept a perfectly straight face.

"Hehe."

Bev gave a silly little laugh. "At least you have good taste."

He had no choice. Zeliel could not just make up a spell he did not even know himself. What if Bev wanted to see him demonstrate it?

Although he had already learned three new spells, Zeliel was in no hurry to seek Mentor Marvin for a second evaluation.

If his progress was too fast, someone might pay special attention to him... He might even end up being sliced open for research.

Zeliel still did not want to draw too much attention.