Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 105 The Mysteries of Advanced Meditation

Francis glanced at several documents, including the rejection letter for Locke's application for a medium-sized botanical garden and the loan contract for the advanced meditation magic stone, and immediately frowned in displeasure. "I mentioned this in the high-level meetings a long time ago, emphasizing the need to fully consider the students' feelings towards the academy. Such a blatant loan contract will only alienate students from the academy."

“It should be done more discreetly,” Francis mused. “If the Academy were to agree to give Locke a medium-sized botanical garden now, it would likely earn him his gratitude, but…”

"I think I'll pass," Francis said after a moment's consideration.

The last spot for establishing a medium-sized botanical garden in the last three years was also being eyed by the only formal wizard in the academy specializing in summoning magic, who wanted to secure the spot for his son.

Francis said, "Locke's talent isn't even top-tier. Among his peers, there's an Elemental Child who performs better. Moreover, the Elemental Child's talent is stable and clear, while Locke's talent might not guarantee the same rate of progress in the future. I've seen many fallen geniuses."

"He is not yet comparable to the son of a proper wizard."

"I finally managed to recruit a certified Beast Taming Wizard for the academy, and Lilith's Hut opened a series of courses in the Beast Taming Magic category, and built a public building—the Bloodhowl Arena."

"I cannot let the sake of a mere student affect my overall plan for teaching the Beast Taming Magic category." Francis looked up at a map hanging on his wall, a map of the southeastern region.

The entire southeastern corner region is just a long coastline, like the edge of a pond, without extending inland.

The Atlas Dragon Mountains, like an insurmountable barrier, separate the southeastern region from the interior on the map.

Nevertheless, the southeastern corner region is vast enough, its area many times larger than that of Eurasia.

Francis stared at the wizarding organizations surrounding Lilith's Hut on the map, his eyes dark and his face gloomy. "These surrounding wizarding organizations are always competing with our academy for students; it's so annoying."

"Recently, they've been following the Blood Curse Court, causing trouble in the area and stealing several promising new students."

"Hmph. As long as I succeed in opening a magic category teaching program for beast taming magic, I can at least steal most of the students from that ridiculous little white wizard organization, the Beast Bone Origin Society, and then force them to gradually move away from this area."

Francis glared disdainfully at the location of the Beast Bone Common Origin Society on the map.

……

Locke let out a sigh of relief after leaving Francis's office.

In the hired carriage, he sighed softly and said in a voice only he could hear, "Being with that Lord Francis, for some reason, is incredibly stressful. My intuition tells me he's very dangerous, yet he treats me very well."

"Moreover... the ominous mandrake vines didn't react at all."

"Of course, it's hard to say whether the Ominous Mandrake Vines can work on a formal wizard. Formal wizards have a permanent defensive field around their bodies, which is equivalent to having extremely high magic resistance, making it difficult for ordinary spells to affect them."

Locke shook his head. "Never mind, I basically have no chance to see him except when I receive the advanced meditation technique."

“My teacher is the Sophia Witch, so it doesn’t matter.”

Locke quickly returned to his cabin, gave a few instructions to the gray dwarfs and cat maids, and then went into his meditation room.

Locke quickly recalled the meditation techniques he had just received.

These ideas couldn't appear in his mind in words; instead, they became an instinct, something he was born with.

Just as mice are born knowing how to dig holes, birds are born knowing how to fly, and fish are born knowing how to swim, they only need to practice and improve these innate abilities.

Locke sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and his consciousness seemed to travel through time and space, seeing a beautiful scene.

In a land where rainbows blanket the sky, there lies a vast forest filled with ancient trees, thousand-year-old tree-people, ancient trees of life, ancient trees of knowledge, ancient trees of war… and in the heart of this forest stands a magnificent World Tree.

This forest is so vibrant that countless magical plants and creatures live here. The immense natural energy is enough to distort the laws of physics, rendering external forces ineffective.

At that moment, a wizard dressed in a wizard's robe, with an indistinct face, suddenly walked into the forest, as if a stone had been thrown into a calm lake.

"So this is the World Tree? By simulating the magical form of the World Tree, I can also obtain such powerful energy from nature..." The wizard raised his head, and his face became clear, transforming into Locke's face.

The next moment, Locke's magical energy began to change. He stopped breathing, each breath becoming almost imperceptible, and his magical energy began to exhibit a peculiar rhythm.

That was a mimicry of the World Tree's magical power.

In his mind's eye, he saw a void, and in that void, he saw a world plane located in a distant place. From that world plane, natural energy was constantly flowing back in, strengthening his magic power and increasing his spiritual power.

Thus, the magical power that had reached its limit and could not advance for several months was nourished again and began to progress rapidly once more.

"So this is the advanced meditation method. The advanced meditation method can directly obtain energy from other planes to improve the wizard's magic power. As a result, wizards who had not made much progress with the basic meditation method can now make rapid progress in their lifetime."

"Advanced Meditation Technique...it seems to be divided into seven levels. As long as I learn this Natural Plane Advanced Meditation Technique to the fourth level, I can become a formal wizard. It seems that each subsequent level of meditation technique can further improve my level as a formal wizard." Locke understood.

He is currently at the first level of advanced meditation, so he is very far from the natural plane and can only absorb a little bit of energy radiated from the natural plane from the endless void.

Nevertheless, this was enough to propel his magical abilities forward rapidly.

Locke meditated for three hours, leaving him breathless. "Advanced meditation is different from ordinary meditation because it requires absorbing energy radiated from other planes from the void. Therefore, the process of capturing this energy will continuously consume my energy. I can only meditate for a maximum of three hours at a time, unless I buy an [Energy Potion]."

"I remember an energy potion costs two hundred magic stones! No wonder it's so expensive, it turns out it's a potion that comes with the advanced meditation technique."

"Secondly, I need to buy the [Four Seasons Fruit Kernel Fragrance], which can harmonize my magic power and make me absorb the energy radiated from the natural plane more efficiently. Of course, I can also choose not to buy it."

“I remember that the Four Seasons Fruit Kernel Fragrance has a special production method and is a processed magical resource,” Locke thought. “The monthly consumption should be around 300 grams, and each 10 grams of this stuff costs about 50 magic stones.”

Locke's expression changed slightly. "That would cost 1,500 magic stones a month."

"Of course, I don't need to use energy potions and seasonal fruit kernel incense every night when I meditate."

"But if I pursue the fastest advancement, I spend more on meditation techniques every month, and those two materials alone cost more than five thousand magic stones. I also have to factor in the cost of Bloodstained Dragon Sunflower Potion and Star Tear Potion."

Locke felt like he had two heads. "This doesn't even include the expenses for my other research. If there were no restrictions at all, the monthly cost would be over eight thousand."

"Most first-class wizard apprentices probably can't afford this amount of money."

Locke pondered, "Without using additional materials, the advanced meditation method only allows for three hours of meditation per day, and the meditation efficiency is only about fifty percent."

"But I'm afraid most first-class wizard apprentices won't spend money to buy extra materials. Or, they would need to sign a harsh agreement with someone to obtain a large amount of magical resources before they would have the money to buy extra materials."

"So, I still need to make money," Locke thought. "No wonder Teacher Sophia didn't become a formal wizard directly, but was simultaneously a first-circle breeder and a first-circle potion master."

"Without a side job, how can I continue learning! In this world, learning is the most expensive thing to do."

(End of this chapter)