'Plop, plop, plop.'

Celest's indifferent voice echoed in the dim room, along with the sound of three baked potatoes rolling on the table.

"I'm going out for a bit. Stay put and wait quietly for me to return. If you get hungry, eat the baked potatoes. Understand?"

Rosen nodded silently.

Celest moved the luggage chest to the corner of the wall, picked up the sack containing the severed head, and walked towards the door.

At the door, he reiterated, "Remember, don't touch my stuff! Don't leave the room! Don't talk to strangers! If I find out you disobeyed, you'll be sorry!"

Rosen sneered inwardly, 'So he plans to keep me captive here.'

Of course, beggars can't be choosers. He currently had no means of resisting, so he respectfully nodded, "I understand, Master."

'Bang, click.'

Celest left the room, locking the door behind him.

When his footsteps faded away, Rosen also heaved a sigh of relief. Being with a ruthless and narrow-minded mage all day put immense psychological pressure on him.

He turned to survey the room at the inn.

The window was small, made of opaque green glass that barely let in any light. At this twilight hour, the room was quite dim.

It wasn't a large room. All the furnishings were made of wood.

Next to him was a table, with the baked potatoes and a small oil lamp on top. The lamp stand was jet black with a tinge of copper green, seemingly made of brass.

Looking at the lamp bowl, the oil liquid inside was pitch black, emitting a fragrance - likely pressed plant oil.

In the corner of the room stood a wooden tripod rack, with a wooden basin placed on top. Next to the basin was a toothbrush-like object, probably washing supplies provided by the inn.

There was also a wooden cabinet. On it sat a ceramic teapot. Peering inside, it was full of water. He poured some out and tasted it - the water was quite clean, likely boiled, but with a faint muddy flavor, not very palatable.

Then there was a wooden bed. The mattress was neatly cut straw that crinkled loudly when sat upon. The quilt looked quite thick and sturdy. Upon touch, it was filled not with cotton but reed flowers.

Glancing under the bed, he discovered a lidded wooden bucket. Curious, he pulled it out and opened the lid, only to be assaulted by a strong stench of feces and urine.

I see, a toilet.

Having examined the room thoroughly, Rosen sighed lightly, "Feels like I've traveled back to olden times... Oh, there seems to be a gap in the wall."

With nothing better to do alone in an enclosed room, Rosen went up to inspect the crack in the wall.

'Hmm, I can see into the next room. It's empty, no luggage, so no one's staying there yet.'

'What a spacious room. Big windows too, and a nice decorative screen, with a mirror behind it...looks like a small bathroom.'

'The bed is so big too, a round bed, and the quilt looks silky from its sheen...'

'I understand now. The reason my room is so shabby is mainly because he didn't pay enough.'

It was evident Celest was truly strapped for cash.

While idling about in boredom, Rosen had examined every inch of the room he could see and touch, even the rat hole in the corner. But it was such a small room, he was done looking in no time, and was still incredibly bored.

Suddenly he thought of something, 'Oh right, there's the new desktop program, might as well check it out.'

Upon vocal summoning of the desktop, he noticed a new icon - a little man with a backpack, titled "Rosen's Adventure Log".

He tried opening it, and a video playback window appeared, with a timeline on the right annotated with important timestamps.

Extremely intuitive operations.

Checking the annotations by the timeline, Rosen saw one timestamp in the middle labeled "Transmigration".

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Above transmigration was "Past Life", and below was "Present Life".

He tried dragging to Past Life, and his experiences from his previous life were recorded in perfect detail.

Birth, learning to walk, babbling as a toddler, early education, university classes, postgrad studies, finally stepping into society and settling down with a family.

The entire process - everything he had seen, heard, smelled, tasted, felt - any information perceived by his five senses was documented flawlessly.

Rosen clicked his tongue in amazement, "Wow! It's like a holographic recorder of my life!"

After browsing through his past life, he looked at his present life.

Skimming through randomly, he set the time right when he entered the Greentail Inn and met the beautiful girl Lilyris. Then he focused his mind and thought 'Play'.

Immediately, the window lit up and began playing 3D footage.

In the footage, the beautiful girl named Lilyris walked over with a flirtatious tone, "Mage sir, care for some fun?"

It felt somewhat like playing a first-person video game.

Rosen recalled the informational prompts he had received earlier: 'Omnidirectional Viewing' ...what did that mean?

Since he was bored anyhow, he studied it seriously.

Soon, he grasped the meaning of those words.

Normally, the human eye only has one focal point, able to see clearly within that focal range.

However, the eye has peripheral vision, so the actual visual range is much wider than the focal range.

Through playback on the Adventure Log, as long as something was within his view, he could refocus and closely examine objects that had only appeared in his peripheral vision.

Rosen slapped his thigh in excitement, exclaiming, "This is like having an eidetic memory!"

The capabilities were astoundingly powerful, far exceeding his expectations.

But he soon realized this powerful feature didn't immediately change his predicament.

'Oh well, take it slow, no rush.'

Just then, familiar footsteps sounded from outside, followed by the door unlocking.

Celest had returned.

The first thing he did was check the luggage chest in the corner, satisfyingly nodding when he saw everything untouched.

"Not bad, you're an honest child."

Looking closely, Rosen saw his brows were relaxed with a hint of delight, the severed head gone from his hands. He knew Celest had succeeded in claiming the bounty.

Seizing the chance while he was in a good mood, Rosen boldly asked, "Master, when will you teach me magic?"

Celest's expression froze, the delight vanishing instantly.

He silently walked to the luggage stand, opened the top drawer, and heavily placed a whole set of painting tools onto the table with a 'bang'.

"Learning magic costs a lot of money, as you can see I'm not well-off. If you want to learn faster, paint and earn money first. I'll naturally teach you when you've earned enough."

Seeing Rosen's disappointed look, he contemplated briefly before adding, "Of course, you've already earned 1 grayle for me. As reward, I'll teach you the fundamentals of magic today."

Rosen was overjoyed, quickly responding, "Master, thank you deeply for your generosity and benevolence."

Celest scoffed, "Don't thank me yet. I only teach, whether you can learn is up to your own ability."

"Master, I will do my utmost."

"Good. Now get on the bed and lie down in the most comfortable position."

Rosen promptly obeyed.

"Close your eyes."

Rosen nervously shut his eyes.

After a while, Celest's somewhat ethereal voice came from the side.

"The most basic yet most important thing for a mage is mana. And the only way to obtain mana is through meditation."

"There are many forms of meditation, and the more effective ones are harder to learn initially and riskier. Given your lack of foundations, I will teach you the safest, easiest meditation today - stillness meditation."

"Now, listen carefully and do as I say."

Rosen immediately held his breath, afraid to miss a single word.

Celest's voice continued drifting over.

"Calm your mind, breathe slowly, and focus on your body."

"Feel the beating of your heart, the flow of blood through your veins, the vitality contained in every inch of flesh. Perceive the spark of mysteries the Creator left within you."

For a youth raised in bandit dens, these words would have been cryptic and incomprehensible.

But for a seasoned expert from Earth who had weathered the information explosion, there was no barrier to understanding.

With undivided attention, Rosen felt his own body.

After some unknown amount of time, his mind quivered slightly as two informational prompts flashed through.

"New program - Rosen's Spellbook - installation complete."

"New skill - Stillness Meditation - learned."

Rosen's heart stirred. He immediately focused on summoning the desktop, and as expected, there was a new book-shaped icon titled 'Rosen's Spellbook'.

He tried activating the icon.

The book rapidly expanded to occupy the entire desktop, its cover emblazoned with the six golden words 'Rosen's Spellbook'.

Rosen anticipated, 'Can I turn the pages?'

In the next instant, the pages flipped open to the first page containing just one icon - 'Mage Fundamentals: Stillness Meditation'.

Seeing this icon sparked an idea in Rosen's mind.

He focused intently on the icon.

Sure enough, as he had guessed, two seconds later a prompt appeared on the icon: 'Run this skill?'

Obviously, he chose yes!

In a flash, Rosen felt the entire world fall silent - Celest's voice vanished without a trace, the clamor from the inn downstairs gone as well.

The next moment, he could clearly hear his own heartbeat, the sound of blood flowing through his vessels, the whirring from intestinal peristalsis, and the soft 'tap tap' of joints and bones.

Another moment later, Rosen vaguely sensed a trace of warmth arising within him.

It flowed, yet unlike the circulation of blood. Rather, it seemed to breathe.

Not the body's breathing, but the soul's breathing.

Because the core of this 'breathing' was not in the chest, but the brain.

When it 'inhaled', warmth streamed out from the brain, scattering like stars across his limbs and body.

When it 'exhaled', the warmth returned to the brain, like rivers flowing back to the sea.

With each 'breath', Rosen vaguely felt this strange warmth grow a bit stronger.

Intense delight flashed through his heart - 'Ha, does this mean I have mana now?!'

But this delight did not last long. He suddenly felt a burst of palpitations, as if eyed by a fierce beast.

He was shocked, thinking, "How can there be beasts in the room?"

This shock automatically ended the stillness meditation.

Rosen immediately opened his eyes, only to see Celest standing by the bed.

Head lowered, his murky eyes stared fixedly at Rosen, containing a thick gloom that seemed to gaze at prey like a viper.