After settling matters with Bonnie, Lance took a quick bath, ignored the fresh bucket of murloc blood, and went to bed early.
After experiencing such severe side effects, using murloc blood recklessly to improve his physical condition no longer seemed wise. There was no telling whether the same problem might flare up again at the worst possible moment.
Lance woke even earlier than usual the next morning. Instead of going to the training yard, he headed straight for Moonlight Tower.
Bonnie followed him as always. She moved a little stiffly and kept her brows tightly drawn. Lance noticed, but could do little more than sigh inwardly.
In this harsh world, the weak survived by attaching themselves to the strong. Lance's father was one of those strong people. The inhabitants of the entire territory relied on Viscount Lane's personal strength and the protection of his soldiers to survive on this land instead of becoming prey for the monsters roaming the continent.
For the moment, Lance benefited from his father's position as well. Within the viscount's domain, people treated him as someone powerful.
But that power was not truly his own.
...
"Lance? You're here this early?"
Inside Moonlight Tower, Amman looked at Lance stepping out of the elevator with mild surprise.
Dawn had barely begun to brighten the sky. Even with Amman's famously disciplined routine, the old wizard had only just risen.
Lance smiled and deliberately put on an excited expression.
"Teacher! I succeeded!"
"Last night, I finally entered my mindscape. I can move on to the next step now: constructing the rune!"
Lance was not trying to deceive Amman out of malice. He simply understood the danger of standing out too much. He had been able to enter his mindscape comfortably for about a week already, but revealing that kind of progress immediately would have attracted far too much attention.
Amman smiled with genuine satisfaction.
"Then today you can begin learning how to construct a rune."
"The rune you need to construct is the Lesser Meditation Rune. By now, its form should already be deeply fixed in your memory," Amman said thoughtfully. "Constructing the rune itself is actually straightforward. You use your mental power to reproduce the remembered rune inside your mindscape."
He paused.
"Have you counted how many points of mental power you possess?"
Lance's thoughts turned quickly.
"You mean those little golden points of light? A little over a hundred, I think."
"Over a hundred? That's excellent talent!" Amman exclaimed. "Constructing the Lesser Meditation Rune requires at least sixty-nine points of mental power. If you have more than a hundred, that is more than enough. Once you learn meditation, the remaining mental power should still be sufficient to construct two simple Level 0 spells."
Lance smiled faintly.
Privately, he was relieved that he had reported only about half the truth. A hundred points had already surprised Amman this much. If he admitted he possessed more than twice that amount, the old wizard might start looking at him like some kind of monster.
From the basic texts Lance had read, ordinary novice wizards usually possessed fewer than ninety points of mental power when they first memorized a meditation rune.
His own total exceeding two hundred was probably connected to his transmigration.
Amman led him into a clean room and began explaining rune construction and meditation in detail.
Constructing the rune was only the first basic step toward meditation. The meditation rune had to become fully stabilized inside the mindscape before a wizard could truly enter a meditative state.
Mental power used to construct the rune would gradually recover, but a person's total mental-power capacity normally did not increase unless special potions were used or the wizard advanced in level.
"The moment you can truly meditate, you have stepped into the world of wizards," Amman said kindly. "You're already very close, but you must not become impatient. Impatience causes mistakes."
"First, calm your mind. Once you enter the mindscape, practice controlling the points of light formed from your mental power. Under ordinary circumstances they will obey you, although unusual cases do exist."
"Practice until they respond completely to your will. Then arrange those points according to the shape of the Lesser Meditation Rune."
"After constructing it for the first time, inspect the rune every day for completeness and stability. If any part shifts or deforms, correct it immediately."
"That instability usually lasts about seven days. From the eighth day onward, the Lesser Meditation Rune generally stops changing shape. Even then, make a habit of checking it before sleep. Every cautious wizard does the same."
"Once the mental-power rune is fully stabilized, you can begin using additional mental power to activate it and enter meditation."
...
Amman spent a full hour patiently teaching Lance everything he needed to know before returning to his own work.
A wizard's time was precious, and Lance was genuinely grateful for the attention. It was obvious that Amman now truly regarded him as a disciple worth cultivating.
Unfortunately, the old wizard's own strength was limited. Amman was only a Level 2 Wizard and had barely condensed a mana pool. Lance knew his teacher could probably instruct him in Level 0 spells and a handful of Level 1 spells, but beyond that he would eventually have to find his own path.
That's a problem for the future.
Lance adjusted his posture and calmed his thoughts.
'For now, I'll construct the rune.'
His consciousness entered the mindscape with ease, where more than two hundred golden points of light waited for him.
He did not need to practice controlling them. During the previous days, he had already learned to make every point obey his will.
Two hundred and thirteen points of mental power.
And the Lesser Meditation Rune only needs sixty-nine.
Lance selected sixty-nine points and moved them into the center of his mindscape. He pushed the rest toward the edges.
Holding the Lesser Meditation Rune's exact structure in memory, he began arranging the selected points.
One by one, the golden lights settled precisely into position.
Time passed unnoticed.
Under Lance's careful control, all sixty-nine points eventually locked into place.
Because the rune had been forcibly imprinted into his memory, his recollection of it was exceptionally precise. He did not hesitate even once during the entire construction process.
Sixty-nine active points of mental power now floated quietly in the center of his mindscape, combined into the standard rune.
Excitement surged through Lance.
For a moment he almost poured additional mental power into it and tried to activate the rune immediately.
Reason stopped him.
The newly constructed rune was still unstable. Forcing power into it now could make the entire structure collapse. At best, all his work would be wasted. At worst, the collapse might seriously damage his mindscape.
Magic was not something to treat carelessly.
Lance suppressed the impulse and inspected the rune twice more. Only after confirming that every part was intact did he withdraw from the mindscape.
...
Grrrrr...
A humiliating growl came from Lance's stomach.
He blinked and looked outside, only to discover that it was already afternoon.
'Fox, how long was I inside my mindscape constructing the rune?'
Only now did the hunger hit him in full force.
Fox replied immediately: [You entered deep-brain space at 6:11 a.m. The current time is 2:30 p.m. Total elapsed time: eight hours and nineteen minutes.]
[Because you remained seated for an extended period, your muscles are currently stiff and your blood glucose is low. It is recommended that you stand, move slowly for a short period, and then eat.]
More than eight hours?
Lance had not noticed the passage of time at all. Inside the mindscape, it had seemed like only a short while.
'No wonder the wizards in stories can meditate for ten days or half a month at a time. You barely notice time passing in there.'
Following Fox's advice, Lance stood and walked around slowly before searching Moonlight Tower for something to eat.
The tower's meals came from a fisherman's family living nearby. Their cooking could not compare with Head Chef Hogg's food at the castle, but Lance was far too hungry to care.
After eating, he informed Amman that he intended to stay for a while, then had the two clay guardians allow Bonnie inside.
"Young Master Lance..."
Bonnie kept her head lowered. She had spent the entire day waiting outside the wizard tower and had eaten almost nothing. She looked pale and weak.
"Eat something," Lance told her casually. "I don't plan to return to the castle today. Actually, I may stay here for several days."
He intended to remain in Moonlight Tower until the Lesser Meditation Rune was completely stabilized.
Staying inside a wizard tower also had other advantages. It kept him away from the First Madam's suspicions and any covert move she might attempt.
It also let him avoid Irene for the time being. What had happened the previous night left him deeply uneasy, and he had no desire to face her until his thoughts were clearer.