Above the mage

Chapter 4 The Cultivation of a Mage

As soon as Gao De stepped outside, an undisguised hostility rose in his eyes.

"In the face of absolute strength, clever tricks are useless, and even trying to outmaneuver someone is exhausting."

He recalled his recent encounter with Master Seda, feeling not only humiliation but also a sense of relief at escaping death: "Although I got away with it this time, it was all thanks to luck."

Gao De didn't know the exact effect of the spell that seemed to sprout spikes from the palm of the mage Seda, but he could guess that if he had lied, the mage Seda would have been able to sense it.

Fortunately, the question asked by Master Seda was, "Do you really feel that your body hasn't changed at all?"

—In fact, after he woke up, he did not find anything unusual about his body.

It's highly likely that the predecessor absorbed all the effects of the potion.

It seems that the potions this old fellow concocts are effective for mental and emotional issues.

Gao De deduced.

Otherwise, he shouldn't have felt no physical discomfort after inheriting this body.

The not-so-tall Master Seda exerted an immense pressure on Gaode that he had never experienced in his previous or present life.

He touched his neck, which had just been gripped by the monk Seda, with lingering fear.

There were no wounds there.

But just now, that unbearable pain was real.

This is the wonder of magic.

Even if it's just a magic trick.

The feeling of having your life and death in someone else's hands is unpleasant.

Although Master Seda was just a stranger whom God had only met once, God's hatred for him had reached its peak at this moment.

Gao De also knew that he was too weak now and could not possibly be a match for Master Seda.

His opponent was powerful, so he had to be patient and secretly look for an opportunity.

The question is, how much time does he have left?

Gaode was unaware that it actually only had one month left.

But he knew that Master Seda valued that unknown potion highly. Even though he had never successfully concocted it in all these years, he had tried again and again, which showed his dedication.

Now that Master Seda has discovered that he is still alive after testing the medicine, he must feel that the preparation of the potion is close to success.

Therefore, in the short term, Master Seda will definitely try to concoct the potion again.

At that time, the person who will be tested on the drug will most likely be him again.

After all, he is the only person so far who "did not die" after undergoing drug trials.

"God, you're finally back!" As soon as God returned to his room, Amy rushed over and asked, "What did Master Seda want with you?"

Gao De told the truth, "Master Seda asked me about my experience after taking the medicine."

"I knew it! Master Seda's potion has finally been successfully made! We're going to have some good days ahead!" Amy exclaimed excitedly.

"Perhaps." Gao De did not shatter Amy's illusion.

"Oh, by the way, I just ran into Ilan." He paused for a moment, then said seemingly casually.

"What's wrong? Is he causing you trouble again?" Amy's expression changed upon hearing this, and she asked nervously.

"More or less, but it's nothing serious. He might make things difficult for me with his words, but he can't really do anything to me," Gao De said nonchalantly.

"That's not how it's said!" Amy was much more concerned than Gao De. "Ilan has spent the most time with Master Seda, so he can speak to Master Seda to some extent. I heard that the reason you went to test the medicine this time was because of him."

"Really? I don't have any grudge against him, why would he go to such lengths?" Gao De said in disbelief.

"He's petty and jealous by nature. He's already unhappy with your outstanding talent, and since you don't pay him any attention, how can he not hold a grudge?"

"Moreover, you've mastered potion-making so quickly. Ilan must be afraid that if this continues, the mage Seda will value you more and more, until you replace him in Seda's eyes."

"You can't afford to offend him right now, so it's best to just play along for now," Amy advised tactfully.

Gao De's gaze sharpened slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I understand."

Amy assumed Gao De had heeded her advice and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

"Ilan's job is to ship goods for Master Seda?" God asked casually.

"Yeah, his job is the easiest. He only needs to ship once every four or five days, and he can also take the opportunity to go to the city for a stroll. Unlike us, who are working ourselves to the bone in the herb garden every day." Amy said this with some indignation.

"Like this." Gao De's eyes darted around, as if he was thinking about something.

Subsequently, he intentionally or unintentionally learned a lot of information about the herb garden from Amy through various topics, and gained a basic understanding of the current environment.

"Oh dear!" Amy slapped her forehead, as if she had remembered something, and hurriedly said, "Let's hurry up and go eat, or there won't be anything left."

He pulled Gao De along and rushed to the restaurant, not forgetting to boast, "I missed the meal service time because I was waiting for you to come back."

It's dinner time now.

In the herb garden of the monk Sedda, meals are served three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If we disregard the fact that it was used for drug testing, for most of the apprentices who came from humble backgrounds and were nothing more than beggars, this place was actually a paradise.

Because most ordinary people actually only eat two meals a day, breakfast and dinner.

Led by Amy, Gao De arrived at the restaurant where the apprentices were eating.

It was called a dining room, but the space was only slightly larger than their bedroom. It had three square wooden tables, each with a candle lamp made of three candlesticks, and a fireplace. That was all it took to call it a dining room.

Gao De and his group arrived quite late; there were only two or three apprentices left in the restaurant.

Amy glanced nervously at the large plate beside the fireplace, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there were still two long black loaves of bread left.

Next to the large plate was a stew pot made of earthenware.

Having been awake for so long and having eaten nothing but a sip of water, Gao De was feeling a bit hungry, so he followed Amy over.

Next to the large plate were some cutlery. Gao De picked up a small plate from it, then put a long loaf of bread into his plate, picked up a small bowl, and looked at the stew pot.

The stew pot contains pea soup made from a local specialty pea variety.

After filling their pea soup bowls with spoons, Gao De and Amy chose an empty table to sit down.

Rye bread and pea soup.

This is their daily food.

Meat? Forget about it.

Moreover, although it is described as bread, it is completely different from the bread that Gaode Maps recognizes.

These rye breads don't contain yeast, so they're exceptionally hard after baking, the taste is definitely not great, and they're also extremely difficult to bite into.

Of course, it's not without its advantages.

Cheap.

A 4-pound (about 1.8 kilogram) loaf of rye bread cost only 6 copper coins.

Gao De did the mental conversion and realized it was equivalent to 3.5 copper coins per kilogram of rye bread.

The cheapest meat cost 7 copper coins per pound (about 450 grams).

The value of rye bread is self-evident.

Amy used a knife to slice the long strip of rye bread into pieces and arranged them on a plate. Then she spooned pea soup over the bread slices one by one before putting the bread slices into her mouth.

This is the correct way to eat rye bread: soak the bread slightly while drinking the soup, otherwise you'll choke if you eat it dry!

Of course, eating bread slices by soaking them directly in soup is also a very common way to eat them.

Following Amy's example, Gaode picked up a knife and cut the rye bread into several slices. He then soaked the bread slices in pea soup to soften them before putting them in his mouth.

The next moment, he couldn't help but frown.

Even though he was mentally prepared, the food was still harder to swallow than he had expected.

The pea soup had no seasoning at all, and the bread slices soaked in the pea soup were only slightly softer. If I had to describe the taste, it would be slightly better than sawdust.

For Gaode, such food was undoubtedly terrifying, but for the other apprentices, having this kind of bread to eat was already quite good.

However, Gao De had no choice at the moment; the hunger in his stomach forced him to grimace and swallow the rye bread with difficulty.

Thus, he had yet another reason to rebel against the sorcerer Seda.

—If you can only eat this kind of food every day, what's the difference between that and being dead?

After dinner, it was time for the apprentices to practice.

The apprentices in the herb garden have a very regular daily routine.

During the day, they are busy with their own work, and in the evening they have a fixed three to four hours of practice time.

Back in her room, Amy quickly entered a meditative state.

Gao De first reviewed the monks' cultivation methods in his mind.

For a mage, the two most important basic indicators are: magical power and mental strength.

Mana is the energy consumed when casting spells, also known as the "blue bar," and is the foundation of all a mage's power.

Mental strength concerns the control and learning of spells. It determines a person's spellcasting skills, the stability of continuous spellcasting, the variability of spells, and even the speed at which they learn spells.

The growth of magical power and spiritual power relies on the tedious and repetitive practice day after day. There is absolutely no room for laziness, and there are no shortcuts.

"To begin the guided meditation, first, you must enter a state of tranquility."

The method for cultivating magical power is called the guiding method, while the method for cultivating spiritual power is called the meditation technique.

The two are separate and cannot be practiced simultaneously. Generally, the guiding method is practiced first, followed by the meditation technique.

Because the process of cultivating guiding techniques also requires the consumption of mental energy.

Once more than 40% of one's mental energy is depleted, continuing to practice the guidance method will be much less effective.

For Gaode, this is not hard to understand. It's like learning – the first few hours are definitely the most effective, but as you get more tired, your learning efficiency naturally decreases.

Practicing meditation after the guidance technique not only quickly restores depleted mental energy, but also enhances the growth of mental energy.

According to Gaode's own understanding, this is like training, constantly repeating the process of "consuming physical strength - restoring physical strength" can better stimulate physical strength growth.

(End of this chapter)