Ryan walks to Zaru.
"Come on join me" Zaru hastily Ryan to sit by his side. Unconsciously Zaru founded himself relying on Ryan for the company.
Ryan now at most could be considered a normal person with sensitivity for magic at best. And Zaru wanted to test if Ryan could meditate at least.
"Ok, now we can start". Zaru said as he adjusts his position so that they can all fit up on the bed.
Zaru calm himself as he entered the meditation trance and Ryan was doing the same as if in synchronization whit Zaru.
Again Zaru takes the crystal ball and rubbing slowly, as the last time bulks of information were sent through Zaru mind followed by the biting pain.
But compared with last time all this was more tolerable was if his burden was been shared.
This time Zaru ignored all information focusing only on the mind rune. He starts to focus very deeply on the first mind rune.
A mind rune slowly emerged in the Zaru brain. At first, it was vague and distorted but it then with passing breath it was coming more and more clear. The mind rune resembled a 4D image and pattern combined given an impression of staring at a bottomless pit deep to infinite.
At the same time, there were a few dots of flickering lights surroundings Zaru body. They slowly penetrated his body disappearing in it.
Zaru abruptly opened his eyes in confusion. Then he looks outside through the windows seem the sky barely darkening.
"So fast?". Zaru knew he was a low-grade aptitude grade. It was so cleary by the desperate chooses he(old Zaru) had made that led to his downfall.
But now he estimates that he took just three hours to engrave the first mind rune deep into his mind, his speed could only be attributed to the legendary grade as for the old Zaru, he had taken 1 month to just engrave the first mind rune.
"Muscle memory"After a little though Zaru figured it out. After all, the old Zaru was a level 1 neophyte. This explains why could he meditate so fast. If the first time was hell the second was like a breeze.
Mind rune engraving is too difficult, even if went all the way to the end a step wrong in the process mean to repeat it all from the beginning again.
"So tiring" Zaru fell the sudden strain in his body when he was trying to continue meditating.
"Although the tiredness is obvious I can still fill refreshed somehow" The meditation technique purpose is to increase the spiritual force and the increase in it have a direct impact on the body too. It can make life metamorphosis, and evolve to a higher life form.
Zaru was preparing to find a place to rest as he looks a Ryan still in meditation. But then his eyes flashed confusion.
He could feel energy tremble around. Although he had just finished practice his first (the new Zaru) mind rune his sense had gone up a notch.
Zaru eyes then moved to rest in Ryan. Zaru then stood in front of Ryan quietly looking at him while thinking.
After a while, Ryan opens his eyes, around him the flickering light still trembling as it was cleary in front of his eyes. His eyes moved to meet Zaru as his eyes still flickering in pondering.
"How?" Zaru trow a question to himself as he looks at the morning sky.
He knew very clearly in his memory how difficult his to meditate the mind rune. Although just now the speed he could meditate his first mind rune be considered a legendary-grade, he understanding that was because for him was like doing it a second time in easy mode after went through the hell mode in the first time.
But right now Ryan just to finished his first mind rune. Although he took double of time Zaru took but that combine could only amount to a full day.
"Ok, either because of the experiment, Ryan grade went up straight to legendary-grade or because I could meditate the mind rune first, strengthing up my spirit force so Ryan would only need to engrave the mind rune... " For Zaru the second was more like it, as he could feel his spirit force more serene after Ryan finished engraving his first mind rune.
"I should sleep now, after all, is good to do it after meditating "He had stood wake up all night as he felt the Ryan progress in engraving his mid rune so his tiredness was going through the roofs. But his belly seems to drive away his desire to sleep.
First Zaru went to the dining hall to get some food for him and Ryan. But he quickly went back to his Tower.
Meditating put lot of stress in mind too and it has a direct relation with the spirit force recover, but the mental recovery is a slow process, although magus may have a way to speed up recovery, for Zaru, the best way is to go through into a deep slumber.
By the time Zaru wake up the sky was back to dark again. Then he took the extra food he took from the dining hall and start eating it.
Zaru felt that most of the tiredness he felt had disappeared, and he even felt a little better than before.
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"The bag" While eating Zaru remembered the bad he got from magus Lilissy as it stood at the corner he had tossed it when he came depressed from the administration hall.
"What greed b*tch" Zaru cursed the old woman from the administration hall as he looks at the bag that it´s now half full as he had entered that place. All the thing the old woman told Zaru wasn't free. Here Magus abide by the equal exchange.
"Magic crystals!" It was a hazy black crystal prism, about the size of a nail cap, with a faint mysterious glow. According to his memory, the magic crystals were a kind of currency between Magus. So they are very useful for a neophyte.
Their usefulness varies from exchanging resource to knowledge it could even produce beneficial results to one's body.
"Oh!, 50 magic crystal" That amount wasn´t bad for a level 1 neophyte. At least Zaru had never had all this at once. Although he (Old Zaru) used to accept some low paying task the most he had saved was less than 40 magic crystal bu that took him a year and a half.
Although the old woman only took 50 magical crystal for Zaru it felt too much.
As if forcing his eyes out of magic crystal Zaru keep looking at his bag. Then he took a sealed glassed crystal container with a grass leaf inside it.
"Uuuuh". The moment Zaru took the bottle the room filled with a glooming light bringing whit it a depressing tune.
"Ghost leaf" Zaru eyes couldn't help marvel. This one of the main reason the old Zaru was driven to sell himself.
The ghost leaf has myriads of utility and effect. The size of spoon It is classified as a magical spirit herb, one of the most simple and growable herbs that just need a freshly dead body, so why it names.
Each of this Ghost leaf cost around 100 magic crystal but it was difficult for a neophyte to put its hand on it. It used by most magus as a catalyser in variety of experiment and even as an ingredient for potions. And in all this is stock is not enough making it one of the most sought herbs in magus community.
All this made it price inflate as high as 300 magic crystal per leaf even making neophyte going as further to fight for it.
The reason neophyte his so crazy for it is that one of it affect when refine it could raise one spirit strength. Although one could raise their spirit strength throughout meditation, this is a long and hard process. And for someone that had low aptitude the longer they stayed in on level the more difficult is for them to advance further.
So alternative that could raise spiritual force his a very hungry market where the offer never could satisfy it.
Although in Ghost leaf this effect it only visibly for thus below level 3 neophyte but it still had a very high demand fur thus in level 2 neophyte.
In the middle of the excitement, Zaru unsealed the ghost leaf. But just he was about to finish unsealed the container slip out of his hand and breaking when hitting the floor.
"Oh no!" In a jolt, Zaru gets down to pick it.
"Ouch," But while he was picking the Ghost leaf when his left hand was cut by a sharp piece of the crystal container.
"Quick Ryan find me a container" But Zaru didn´t care about the cut as he shouts to Ryan to find a new recipient.
Because once the Ghost leaf was plug out of the dead body its shelf life is very short, so most of the time it would be sealed in a vacuum container to further preserved it.
Ryan quickly took one of glass container from Zaru old toolkit and handed it to Zaru.
"Hope is not damaged"Zaru had quickly put the Ghost leaf inside the bottle and sealed it again. Zaru carefully look at it, as now the Ghost leaf was completely covered in blood.
Then he took some old cloth and made a band-aid and roll his hand in it.
"Look!". Ryan voice suddenly sounded in Zaru hear.
"What?". Zaru quickly turned his head out his hand and look a the glass bottle now rest on the table.
Zaru face darkness as he sees the Ghost leaf rapidly withering. This made his body unconsciously stiffing. What was Ghost leaf, for the old Zaru was so precious that he sold himself as a rat-lab for it.
"Did someone cursed me?" Zaru didn´t know why but seem the Ghost leaf wither into a pile of debris Zaru depression had reached a new level.
Compared to Zaru, Ryan seemed not caring by the Ghost leaf whithering as his eyes still carefully looking at the pile of debris.
"Yah it could only be it, as to who it must be that b*tch magus Lil...". Right, where Zaru was finding someone to cursed for his seemly bad luck he felt a new presence coming to his sense.
"Who?" He jolts his eyes around in search, but only to land on the glass container.
Right there in the middle of the little pile of debris, like a seed sprouting a tine hazy dark red leaf was growing out of the debris pile. It keeps growing at naked eyes till stopping at half spoon size.
"Ghost lead?, How?" Zaru look at now half size Ghost lead.