Diagon Alley, Room 341.
The academy provided second-class wizard apprentices with a small villa, complete with a dedicated servant team of three.
These servants were a special type of diminutive elf called gray dwarves.
From the Universal Studies course, Locke learned that the minds of gray dwarves had been altered by prolonged magical enslavent. They innately revered those with high ntal strength, showing extre devotion to wizards and unquestioningly obeying their commands without any loyalty issues.
However, their low intelligence ant they could only handle simple tasks, such as cleaning or moving objects.
Locke gave a brief instruction to the three gray dwarves assigned to his villa to tidy up, then returned to his bedroom, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began ditating.
In a copper incense burner, Locke placed about 10 grams of Badansi wood shavings, then ignited them with a magical fla.
As a wisp of white smoke rose from the burner, Locke leaned forward and inhaled the fragrant vapor.
Basic ditation techniques required auxiliary ditation materials, which were often expensive.
Locke had spent all his saved magic stones, 150 in total, to purchase just 300 grams of Badansi wood shavings.
Fortunately, aside from the annual 100 magic stone base tuition, Sophia hadn’t charged him extra, or he wouldn’t have had enough to cover course fees.
As Locke inhaled the Badansi wood smoke, he felt dizzy, his vision blurring with vibrant, multicolored hues, as if entering a long, dazzling tunnel. After a turbulent journey, he seed to arrive at the heart of an ancient tree.
Sitting cross-legged at the tree’s core, Locke was surrounded by its growth rings, feeling as though he had rged with the tree, sensing its breathing.
His own breathing gradually synchronized with the tree’s rhythm.
During this process, Locke felt his legs transform into the tree’s roots, absorbing elental particles from the earth, while his shoulders beca its branches, drawing energy from sunlight.
His ntal strength was continuously nourished in this state.
“I’ve succeeded in ditation, entering the tree heart state described in the Root Pulse Synchronization ditation Technique,” Locke thought. “Now, my ntal strength fluctuations mimic an ancient life tree, drawing energy from the earth and void to nurture my ntal strength.”
The Root Pulse Synchronization ditation Technique was developed by ancient wizards studying why life trees grew stronger than other trees, though it only scratched the surface of their secrets.
In his ditative state, Locke felt himself, as the tree’s core, gathering energy from his feet and head, channeling it into his soul.
Having consud the Moonlight Elixir, his ditation speed was currently more than double his normal rate.
This caused his ntal strength to rise from 60 toward 61 at a remarkable pace.
“So that’s it. Wizards with ditation techniques can draw energy from nature to nourish their ntal strength,” Locke realized.
“This is why wizards with ditation techniques grow incomparably faster than those without.”
“But the Badansi wood is so expensive. The daily 10-gram consumption is a burden. My 150 magic stones can only sustain for less than a month.”
“Even with the academy’s 30 magic stone monthly subsidy, it’s far from enough.”
Locke thought, “After a few more months of breeding lessons, I can start selling synthesized plants.”
“Otherwise, I’ll soon run out of magic stones to sustain my studies.”
anwhile, as Locke ditated, the strange ether elent substance from a Rose Red Jade in his hand flowed into his soul alongside the natural energy he absorbed.
Locke paused, surprised. “My efficiency in absorbing ether elents has more than doubled?”
“The ditation technique also helps better absorb the ether elents in the Rose Red Jade.”
“Excellent. This could more than double my ntal strength growth speed.”
Locke estimated that his growth rate was already close to that of a Level 6 aptitude wizard. Now, with the combined effects of the ditation technique, Rose Red Jade, and Moonlight Elixir, his ntal strength growth likely matched or even slightly surpassed that of a Level 6 aptitude prospect.
Locke opened his eyes, took a dose of Focus Ointnt from the drawer, and applied it to his temples. The ointnt enhanced his concentration, indirectly boosting his ditation efficiency and ntal strength growth rate.
He was using every thod available to accelerate his ntal strength growth.
The next morning, Locke opened his eyes to find sunlight streaming into his room through the window.
“Using ditation to replace sleep seems feasible,” he noted.
“My mana and thoughts simulated the heart of an ancient life tree, entering a state akin to deep sleep. Combined with the calming effects of Badansi wood, ditating all night not only prevented fatigue but also restored my ntal strength.”
Locke reflected, “But the ditation technique warns that I should sleep at least ten nights a month.”
“ditation doesn’t fully replace the restorative role of sleep. There seem to be aspects of the soul and ntal domains, not fully understood even by wizards, that require natural sleep to recover.”
“Prolonged ditation without sleep can cause nurous side effects.”
Locke flipped through his ditation technique scroll, which depicted a creature with ashen skin, standing like a human but with a pointed head, protruding skull, and sunken eye sockets—a “monster” labeled [Sleep Demon].
So wizards once believed that continuous ditation could eliminate the need for sleep, allowing them to use precious ti to boost their mana and wizard rank.
They ditated for decades without sleep, resulting in physical abnormalities. Their bodies began to mutate, ultimately turning into the Sleep Demon described in the scroll.
Looking at the creature, Locke thought, “It looks like so form of degeneration.”
“It must be the consequence of ditating without sleep for extended periods. Ordinary mortals sleep at least a little, and prolonged lack of sleep leads to death. But wizards can survive decades without sleep by relying on ditation.”
“So, this is a disease unique to wizards. Sleep must be crucial for restoring so unknown aspect of the soul.”
Locke reached out, retrieving a recently synthesized batch of Growth Gel from the Horadric Synthesis Cube, which spun and sparkled with silver flas.
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