Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 45 The Sleeper
No. 341, Diandao Lane.

The academy provides each second-class wizard apprentice with a small villa, and in addition, the villa is equipped with a dedicated team of three servants.

These servants are a special kind of dwarf elves called Grey Dwarves.

Locke learned through the course on all things that the minds of these gray dwarves had been altered due to long-term magical enslavement. They were born to worship those with high spiritual power, and therefore had an extreme worship of wizards. They could accept any order from wizards and had no issues of loyalty.

However, their low intelligence means they cannot be used for anything too complicated. The most they can do is clean or move things.

Locke gave a brief instruction to the three gray dwarves assigned to his villa, telling them to tidy up, before returning to his bedroom, sitting cross-legged on his bed, and beginning to meditate.

Locke placed about 10 grams of almond wood shavings into a bronze incense burner and then used magical flames to ignite them.

As a wisp of white smoke rose from the incense burner, Locke suddenly lowered his head and inhaled the smoke, which carried a special fragrance.

When practicing basic meditation, you need to use meditation materials, which are often quite expensive.

Locke only bought 300 grams of almond wood shavings, but it cost him 150 magic stones, using up all the magic stones he had saved.

Fortunately, apart from charging him a basic tuition of one hundred magic stones per year, Teacher Sophia didn't charge him any extra magic stones; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to afford the course fees.

As Locke inhaled the almond smoke, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred, filled with dazzling colors, as if he had entered a long, shimmering tunnel. After a series of bumps, he felt as if he had entered the heart of an ancient tree.

He sat cross-legged on the heart of the ancient tree, its rings encircling him, forming circle after circle. He felt as if he had become the core of the tree, merging with it and sensing its breath.

My breathing gradually became perfectly synchronized with the breathing frequency of the ancient tree.

During this process, Locke felt as if his legs had become the roots of an ancient tree, absorbing elemental particles from the earth, and his shoulders had become the branches and leaves of the ancient tree, drawing energy from the sunlight.

One's spiritual strength is constantly nourished in this process.

'Meditation successful; I've entered the Tree Heart state described in Root Synchronization Meditation,' Locke thought. 'Now, I'm making my spiritual energy fluctuations resemble the Tree of Life, drawing energy from the earth and the void to nourish my spiritual power.'

The Root Harmony Meditation Method itself is a meditation method discovered by ancient shamans who studied the Tree of Life to find out why it could grow stronger than other trees.

Of course, the Ancient Tree of Life is actually of a very high level, and the Root Harmony Meditation Method only scratches the surface of it.

Locke was in a meditative state, feeling himself transformed into the heart of the tree, constantly gathering energy from the soles of his feet and the top of his head, which entered his soul.

Having taken the Moonlight Potion, my current meditation speed is more than double what it used to be.

This caused his mental strength to start increasing from 60 to 61, at a very rapid pace.

'I see. Wizards who master meditation can draw energy from nature to nourish their spiritual power.'

'This is why wizards who use meditation grow at a much faster rate than those who don't.'

"The problem is that the almonds used for supplementary purposes are just too expensive. The daily consumption alone is a burden. I need at least 10 grams of almond shavings every day, which means 150 magic stones, and that will only last me less than a month."

Even if the academy gives me a monthly allowance of 30 magic stones, it's still not enough.

Locke thought to himself, 'After a few more months of breeding classes, I can try selling synthetic plants. Otherwise, I'm almost out of magic stones to sustain my studies.'

At the same time, the strange ethereal element within the rose-red gem in Locke's hand, which was in a meditative state, entered Locke's soul along with the natural energy he was absorbing.

Locke was taken aback. 'My efficiency in absorbing etheric elements has more than doubled?'

'Meditation also helps me better absorb the etheric element within the rose-red jewel.'

'Great! This way, the speed at which my mental strength increases might more than double.'

Locke estimated that his original rate of improvement was already close to that of a level 6 aptitude.

Now, due to the combined effects of meditation, the Rose Jade, and the Moonlight Elixir, his mental strength is likely growing at a rate that is almost at the same level as a potential level 6 wizard, and may even be slightly faster.

Locke opened his eyes, took out a concentration ointment from the drawer, and applied it to his temples. The concentration ointment could improve his concentration, indirectly enhancing his meditation efficiency and mental agility.

I've used every means at my disposal to increase the speed of my mental power enhancement as quickly as possible.

The next morning, Locke opened his eyes and found that the sun was already shining outside the window, its light streaming directly into his room.

"Using meditation to induce sleep seems feasible."

"My magic and thoughts simulated the heart of the ancient tree of life, entering a special effect similar to deep sleep. In addition, almonds themselves have a calming and tranquilizing effect, so I meditated for a whole night and not only did I not feel tired, but my mental energy was restored."

Locke thought for a moment. "But the meditation method warns me that I should sleep at least ten nights a month."

"Meditation has not completely replaced the resting function of sleep, it seems, because there are some realms of the soul and spirit that even some wizards have not fully discovered, which must be restored by relying on the body's original sleep."

"Prolonged meditation without sleep can have many side effects."

Locke flipped through the meditation scroll in his hand, on which was a 'monster' with gray skin all over its body, standing like a human, but with a pointed head, protruding skull, and sunken eye sockets.

This monster was marked as the "Sleepy Demon" on the meditation scroll.

Some wizards once believed that as long as they meditated constantly, they wouldn't need to sleep, thus allowing them to use their precious time to fully enhance their magical power and increase their wizarding rank.

They meditated in this way for decades, and as a result, some wizards gradually developed physical problems. Their bodies began to mutate, and eventually they turned into the monsters described in the scrolls—the Sleepers.

Locke looked at the monster on the scroll and thought, "It looks like some kind of regression has occurred."

"It must be the result of prolonged meditation without sleep. Ordinary mortals would at least sleep a little, and prolonged sleeplessness would lead to death, but wizards can use meditation to live for decades without sleeping at all."

"So, this is an illness that only wizards can get. It seems that sleep is still very important; it must be a way to recover some kind of unknown realm of the soul."

Locke reached into the Horadric Cube, which was spinning and flashing with silver sparks, and took out the fast-growing hormone gel that he had been synthesizing recently.

(End of this chapter)