Archmage Carlisle, bearing Garrettâs responses, returned to report back with satisfaction. âThe teacherâs right to know, clearly had a higher priority than those attempting to usurp power; if the teacher nodded in approval, willing to support him from behind, negotiating terms would also secure more compensation.
Besides, it was about time to send Garrett out for training. Deciding on the training location was necessary to select suitable equipment for him, wasnât it?
At the top of the Tower of Heaven, the Lord of Thunder was also quite pleased with Garrettâs answers. He immediately urged his disciple:
"Have you chosen the adventure mission?"
"Iâve picked a few, suitable for level 3 to 5 mages," Archmage Carlisle, with his wealth of experience, pulled out his notebook:
"Considering he has a high-level barbarian warrior by his side, Iâve found tasks of varying difficulty levels. For instance, the abandoned church on Ram Island has seen the emergence of a draugr, calling for adventurers to clear it;"
"Those Radiant Lord folks, always leaving a mess when they flee." The Lord of Thunder commented with a cold laugh:
"Their own church, three years gone, and draugrs still emerge. But that island is too small, and the church too low-level, unlikely to hold anything valuable. Our little fellowâs combat ability is planned to handle level four and five alone; no need for such simple tasks for him."
"Yes." A low-level task and you know the details, youâve checked in advance, huh⦠Archmage Carlisle mentally scoffed as he turned a page:
"Mines are too unpredictable." He had barely started when the Lord of Thunder interrupted with a shake of his head:
"Bad luck, and you might fall into the underworld. Next."
"Yes. A water monster has appeared in Loch Loxi, disrupting shipping lanes. The emergency management department sent a team, including a level four mage and two knights, but they returned unsuccessful."
"Loch Loxi..." The Lord of Thunder frowned: "The little girl that Garrett helped out? Canât he focus a bit more? Arenât there any other missions?"
...Youâre too picky... Archmage Carlisle flipped through two more pages before finally settling on a task that satisfied the Lord of Thunder:
Enter the northern Spessen Forest, gather a specified herb, and eliminate magical beasts.
This task involved exploration, combat, and long-distance travel, easy yet challenging, allowing for constant monitoring and timely support. Even if the young fellow slipped up, he could be promptly retrieved without causing irreparable damage.
Archmage Carlisle, carrying the mission brief, returned to Garrettâs mage tower, ready to double-check the equipment list with Garrett. However, he received news that made him somewhat happy yet also a bit annoyed:
Garrett was advancing in seclusion.
...So all this research wasnât in vain, right?
"Uh... maybe come back tomorrow, teacher?" Aurora weakly suggested, negotiating with her mentor:
"Advancing in meditation doesnât usually take too long, typically a day and a night should suffice..."
Archmage Carlisle silently drifted away, off to negotiate terms for Garrett with the review committee.
The public health institutions were originally forced onto Garrett by the review committee; now that they wanted to kick him out, they couldnât be too stingy. After all, the wool comes from the sheepâs back; they just needed to uphold fairness, wrapping up negotiations in a day.
Having roughly agreed on the compensation amount with the other party, Archmage Carlisle, clutching a list of materials, returned to Garrettâs mage tower.
Without waiting for his disciple to speak, he could tell from their expressions what had happened:
"Garrett hasnât completed his meditation?"
"Seems like it..."
"Any problems? Are the magical fluctuations in the meditation chamber normal?"
"I canât feel them, but MOSS says everythingâs normal."
"Has he eaten?"
"I donât know, the invisible servants keep bringing food in but never take anything out..."
"You...sigh! You never pay attention to anything, if something happened to the person youâre following, you wouldnât even know?"
Aurora puffed her cheeks, feeling unjust yet daring not to argue with her teacher, merely presenting a face of utmost grievance for him to see:
He didnât know!
His own advancements in meditation, from start to finish, never exceeded two days, even when advancing from level four to five!
When Garrett advanced before, he was never around; how could he know if there was anything unusual about Garrett?
"...Alright, Iâll come back tomorrow..."
The next day.
The meditation chamber remained closed.
The third day.
Still closed.
The fourth day.
"Teacher, youâve been coming over, is there something you need? Anything we can help with?" Aurora began to show concern for her mentor
:
"If possible, let us run errands for you, so you donât have to keep waiting?"
"...You canât help." Archmage Carlisle, with a dark expression, scolded his disciple:
"The idea from above was for Garrett to get out and experience the worldâwithout you guys. I need to talk to him, remind him of some adventure precautions, and double-check what equipment he needs."
"What? Not take me?!" Aurora leapt up: "What about his safety? Heâs only level three! Even if he advances, heâll only be level four! Heâll have to look for inns to stay in, and if there are no inns, heâll have to sleep outdoors, he canât even cast a mageâs hut!"
"...Thatâs why you canât go with him! If you do, how is that considered training?!"
"Then... can Brother Lynn lend him the cat?"
"GET OUT!!!"
Garrett wasnât trying to stay in the meditation chamber; meditating in his own mage tower just felt particularly good.
âSafe, quiet, with stable and abundant magical elements, and most importantly, free of charge!
The primary meditation chambers in the Tower of Heaven, for level 1 to 4 mages, cost 100 contribution points a day!
"MOSS, can I rent out this meditation chamber for money?"
"Itâs possible to rent it out, but itâs not recommended, master." MOSSâs voice was indifferent:
"Meditation chambers are limited in number, and long-term daily practice in specialized meditation chambers is beneficial for rapid advancement. Unless the mage tower is in particularly difficult financial straits, itâs not recommended to rent them out."
"Uh..."
Garrett deeply felt this point. Since acquiring his own mage tower, his daily meditations, morning and evening, were conducted there, and indeed, the accumulation of spiritual and elemental powers was much faster.
Otherwise, he wouldnât have reached the threshold for another level advancement in less than half a year since his last advancement.
Now, the preparatory work for advancement was already complete:
The light humanoid in the meditation core, its bones and muscles, had been constructed during the previous two advancements.
During his time as a level three mage, arteries and veins were constructed with spiritual power, with the heart as the center, spreading out a dense network, interconnecting;
At the moment of advancement, thump, thump, the heart began to contract and expand vigorously in the void!
Left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle, right ventricle, tricuspid valve, mitral valve...
Each functioned orderly, rhythmically flawless, the expansion and contraction perfectly balanced. A textbook-standard heart, through and through.
"If only it had blood inside..."
Garrett silently lamented.
Constructing the blood vessel walls layer by layer, according to their characteristics and hierarchy, had exhausted all his spiritual power. Arterial walls consisted of four layers, venous walls of three, plus the internal valves. From coarse to fine, interconnected, including the terminal capillaries...
Internal red cells, white cells, various cells?
Sorry, the microscopic stuff, he hadnât figured out how to handle. After two attempts, finding that his constructs were nonsensical, he gave up...
Not knowing whether the heartâs empty beating and the blood vesselsâ pointless expansion and contraction in the void were busy doing something. A performance without substance?
Besides him, there were no other spectators!
Garrett internally grumbled. However, the next moment, the inevitable mysterious feedback that comes with advancement, reached across the void.
"This isâ!"
Starting from the heart, or to be precise, from the left atrium, a vibrant force suddenly exploded. Flowing, full, slightly viscous, emitting specks of lightâ
Filling the left atrium, shot into the aorta, roaring through the blood vessels, reaching the bodyâs extremities, then meticulously recollected by the capillaries into the veins...
Was that, blood?
The thing this world granted me, in the spiritual core, to replace blood?
The thing that resonates with my own blood?
"Ah ah ah wait a minute!" Garrett frantically adjusted his meditation method:
"Blood isnât like this! Reshape for me! Red cells! White cells! Platelets! Water, various soluble substances, glucose, hormones, enzymes! Albumin, fibrinogen, globulins!"
He desperately recalled the textbook descriptions about blood, attempting to "order" these liquids to react. The feedback descending from the void, along with the stable supply of magical elements in the meditation chamber, were absorbed wholesale into the depths of the spiritual core.
As for whether it took shape according to his commands...
Garrett admitted, he didnât know, wasnât sure, had no idea. Even if he had a microscope, he couldnât take a drop of blood from the spiritual core to examine...
The human body has about 5000 milliliters of blood
. Garrett didnât know whether he was shaping it milliliter by milliliter or drop by drop. Anyway, just try hard, absorb until no more can be absorbed, and perhaps this advancement would then be complete?
With magical elements fulfilling his bodily needs, he felt neither hunger nor thirst. Besides, occasionally opening his eyes during meditation breaks, the dishes on the plate were either fried fish or cheese, fries or soup, showing no desire to eat.
Garrett closed his eyes in concentration, day and night blurring together, until the feedback in the void ceased, and he opened his eyes, standing upâonly to realize:
Oh no, I rushed in so hurriedly, I didnât bring my oak staff!
"Garrett! Garrett, youâre done, right?" Auroraâs shout came through the stone walls. The meditation chamber was soundproof, so clearly, MOSS decided he had successfully advanced and enabled voice transmission:
"I see your oak staff! Four leaves! Four leaves! Youâre done, come out! Someoneâs looking for you~~~"
Garrett smiled slightly and stepped forward, then hesitated, sitting back down on the meditation mat:
"Wait a moment, I still need to advance further..."
"What?! We have to wait again?!!!"