After returning home, Helag sat at his desk and wrote a letter to Lilian, updating her on his situation and including his rune stone ID.
There was a mailbox in town, so Helag dropped off the letter on his way to class the next day.
Ms. Lori's meditation course was held in a tower, with only five wizard apprentices attending.
Helag glanced at the others, all first-class apprentices like him.
He was the only one who had arrived by sea; Moonlight Woodland had other sources of new blood.
Ms. Lori appeared to be in her thirties, exuding mature feminine charm. She dressed boldly, her long legs wrapped in black stockings, perfectly accentuating their curves.
"Thank you all for enrolling in my course. Over the next three sessions, I'll be teaching 'Basics of Meditation Techniques,'" Lori began, opening her textbook.
"As you know, meditation involves sensing and absorbing ambient energy to strengthen one's mental power and enhance abilities. Even without learning any specific meditation techniques, one can achieve this through meditation, though the speed and efficiency are much lower."
"Hence, meditation techniques were developed. Most techniques differ in their methods, but the principle remains the same: visualization."
"Visualization involves choosing an anchor to focus on during meditation, accelerating the absorption of ambient energy. Different anchors result in different techniques, each with varying effects."
"Common anchors include the earth, plants, and rivers. These are the most common and moderately efficient. Ancient meditation techniques reportedly involved visualizing celestial bodies, which were extremely powerful but have been lost over time…"
[Relevant information on meditation techniques has been collected and is being analyzed…]
As Helag listened, Deep Blue recorded and analyzed Lori's explanations.
Lori's lecture made things much clearer for Helag. The textbook alone hadn't given him such insight, but Lori's explanations made everything click.
"The Starry Sky Meditation Technique is truly unique…"
After the first session, Helag realized the distinctiveness of the Starry Sky Meditation Technique. Most techniques involved focusing on a single anchor to gradually increase mental power, with limited efficiency.
The Starry Sky Meditation Technique, however, had no upper limit. Each successful visualization of a star immediately boosted mental power.
***
Two days later, Helag completed the three meditation sessions, gaining valuable knowledge and information.
[
Data on meditation techniques is sufficient.
Upgrading and optimizing the Starry Sky Meditation Technique will consume 360% magic power.
Proceed with upgrade?"
]
Deep Blue's prompt surprised Helag.
"What improvements will the upgrade bring?" he asked.
[Post-upgrade, the Starry Sky Meditation Technique will modify the meditation method to a combination matrix, significantly enhancing meditation speed.]
"Upgrade the Starry Sky Meditation Technique."
[Upgrading and optimizing. Estimated time: 5 days, 3 hours, 25 minutes.]
Helag felt his magic power slowly depleting, fueling Deep Blue's calculations for the upgrade.
He hadn't expected it to take so long. Constructing the Partial Petrification spell model had only taken twenty-five minutes.
The magic power consumption was also staggering. A 360% consumption meant depleting his magic power, waiting for it to recover, and then continuing the upgrade.
Fortunately, the consumption wasn't all at once, and the upgrade could pause to allow magic power recovery.
During the upgrade period, Helag took out "Fundamentals of Spell Model Construction" to study, preparing for the upcoming class.
Knock, knock!
A knock at the door interrupted him. Helag opened it to find a middle-aged man with a large package, also a wizard apprentice.
"Hello, are you Mr. Helag Merlin?" the man asked, holding a slip of paper.
"That's me. What's up?" Helag replied.
The man pulled a wooden box from his package. "I'm Ivo, responsible for deliveries in the Woodland. This is from Miss Lilian of Augustus Academy."
"Oh?" Helag took the heavy box, curious about its contents.
"Please sign here," Ivo said, handing Helag a feather pen after moistening it in his mouth.
Helag gingerly held the pen by the end and signed the slip.
"Thank you! If you need to send anything, just let me know," Ivo said, smiling as he packed up and left.
Helag opened the wooden box with some effort, finding a small golden pouch and a letter inside.
He opened the letter first.
[
If I don't contact you, you won't write to me, huh? This is the first time I've written to a man. Professor Nina has taken me as her student and is covering all my expenses. She's very kind to me.
I heard from Professor Nina that your courses at Moonlight Woodland are expensive. You'll likely need to do tasks to earn gold coins and magic stones for resources.
I don't need gold coins right now and have plenty to spare, so I'm sending you 500 gold coins.
Remember, this is a loan. You have to pay me back. But being the generous person I am, I won't charge you interest.
Count the coins when you get them. I don't fully trust the delivery people here.
Let's work hard together. Don't take on dangerous tasks. Life is long; there's no need to risk it."
.
.
Lastly, I'm still upset you haven't written to me. Add me as a rune stone friend when you get this, and write back!!!
Lilian Stuart, June 25, 4175 of the Holy Radiance Calendar
]
Helag murmured, "June 25th, the same day I wrote my letter. She hadn't received mine yet."
He opened the golden pouch, finding it filled with gleaming gold coins.
"Deep Blue, count the coins," Helag instructed.
[There are 500 gold coins.]
"Seems like nothing's missing. This money is a lifesaver," Helag thought. The 500 gold coins were timely, allowing him to focus on learning and improving his skills without worrying about earning money.
"Am I living off a woman now?" Helag chuckled, entering Lilian's rune stone ID to add her as a friend.
"Your permissions do not allow cross-organization communication," the rune stone displayed.
Helag hadn't expected this restriction but quickly understood. As a first-class apprentice, the complex relationships between wizard organizations meant potential risks of espionage.
Five days later.
[Starry Sky Meditation Technique upgrade and optimization complete.]
Helag closed his eyes and began to meditate.
After the upgrade, the three and a half stars in his mind, which were previously scattered, were now connected.
Deep Blue added an auxiliary background, and Helag understood. It resembled the thousand matrix diagrams he had decrypted for the pocket watch, though with fewer points.
The three existing stars were positioned at several magic points on the first diagram. Helag calculated that the diagram had seven more magic points.
The three stars formed a continuous line, creating a corner of the matrix diagram.
During meditation, Helag noticed a faint connection between the three stars, significantly increasing his meditation speed.
The fourth star, which he had estimated would take a month to solidify, could now be completed within a week at this pace.
In addition to faster meditation, his magic flow also accelerated.
"Partial Petrification," Helag's right hand turned grayish-white.
"Deep Blue, how long did this spell take?"
[This Partial Petrification spell took 0.86 seconds.]
Helag pondered, "0.86 seconds, previously it took 1.3 seconds. That's a significant improvement."
A 0.5-second reduction was a substantial enhancement, crucial in combat situations.
"Completing the first matrix diagram should bring further changes."
Helag decided to enroll in more courses to provide Deep Blue with ample data and information.
Deep Blue's powerful data analysis capabilities meant that with enough input, it could achieve many things.
During the meditation upgrade period, Helag took the time to write another letter to Lilian.
Due to the rune stone restrictions in Moonlight Woodland, they still had to communicate via letters.
***
Five days later.
[Fundamentals of Spell Model Construction data recorded, spell model construction speed increased by 20%.]
[Herbology database updated, new potion material effects and uses added, new standard potion brewing procedures, new wolfsbane potion formula, and dittany healing potion formula added…]
In five days, Helag completed the Fundamentals of Spell Model Construction and Introduction to Herbology courses.
Meanwhile, he successfully meditated on the fourth star of the Starry Sky Meditation Technique.
[
Helag Merlin:
Strength 2.2,
Agility 2.0,
Constitution 3.0,
Spirit 6.9,
Magic 100%."
]
After this successful meditation, his other physical attributes also saw slight improvements.
"Two more stars to reach a second-class apprentice," Helag calculated.
Once his mental power reached the required level, he could attempt to break through to a second-class apprentice.
"Next… learning two spells." Currently, Helag only had Partial Petrification, lacking both offensive and defensive spells.
Level 0 spells typically had dedicated spell model books, like Partial Petrification.
Helag could buy them from official wizards or other wizard apprentices.
He thought of the bespectacled Leo and opened his rune stone to send a message: "Do you have any Level 0 spell models?"
After a while, Leo replied, "Yes, what type do you need?"
"One offensive and one defensive."
"I have Ice Spike, Small Fireball, Corrosive Arrow for offense, and Ice Shield for defense."
Leo then projected some diagrams, showing the spell models and brief descriptions.
"Ice Spike: High magic consumption, fast speed, strong attack, with freezing effect, less effective in hot areas."
"Small Fireball: High magic consumption, moderate speed, strong attack, with explosion and burning effects, cannot be cast underwater."
"Corrosive Arrow: Moderate magic consumption, very fast speed, strong attack, with corrosive effect."
"Ice Shield: High magic consumption, less effective against fire-based spells."
Helag skimmed through and asked, "How much?"
"Each costs two magic stones or three hundred gold coins."
"So expensive?" Helag hadn't expected Level 0 spells to be so pricey.
Leo replied, "That's the standard price. Compared to potion materials, Level 0 spell models are quite cheap. The prices are transparent; you can easily verify them."
"New apprentices usually can't afford Level 0 spells right away. They typically do tasks to earn magic stones before learning them."
"For tasks, prioritize those rewarding magic stones. Gold coin tasks are easier but slower."
Helag visited the tavern and searched for Level 0 spells, confirming the prices.
He messaged Leo, "I'll take Corrosive Arrow, paying in gold coins."
"Okay, I'll bring it over. Where do you live?"
"Room 443."
Ten minutes later, Leo arrived with a thick book and a pile of notes.
He also lived in the Northern Forest, not far away.
"Here's the Corrosive Arrow spell model. These notes are my previous calculations, for reference."
Leo's notes were filled with dense parameters and formulas, meticulously organized.
"Here's three hundred gold coins. Count them," Helag said, feeling a pang as his coin pouch lightened significantly.
Lilian probably hadn't expected Helag to burn through gold coins so quickly.
Leo adjusted his glasses and used magic to make the coins jump into his pocket one by one.
"Transaction complete. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm available to help when I'm not busy. Corrosive Arrow can be tricky," Leo said, preparing to leave after counting the coins.
"Thanks a lot," Helag said, seeing Leo to the door.
Closing the door, Helag remarked, "Didn't expect after-sales service. Leo has a researcher vibe."
Leo's attire, apart from the robe provided by the Woodland, was simple coarse cloth. His hurried demeanor suggested he was engrossed in spell research.
Helag guessed Leo's life was likely frugal, hence his flea market stall.
The wizarding profession was indeed costly. Helag now had just over two hundred gold coins and one magic stone, enough for another Level 0 spell.
No suitable defensive spells were available; Ice Shield seemed too limited, and many knew Small Fireball, making it less advantageous.
Among the offensive spells, he ruled out Small Fireball since his ring already had it, though it cast slower.
Ice Spike wasn't ideal for prolonged combat due to high magic consumption, given his limited mental power and magic.
Thus, he chose Corrosive Arrow for its versatility.
Though he didn't need Leo's notes, as Deep Blue could handle all calculations and spell model construction, he still read them thoroughly, appreciating Leo's meticulous logic.
"Deep Blue, start recording Corrosive Arrow data and begin constructing the spell model."