Chapter 50: Shu Li’s Meditation: An Unexpected Gain in Meditation.

"Why did Your Highness suddenly come here?" Halis, the blond magic instructor, asked the brown-haired young man.

Seriu gazed out over the reed-filled Bakat River and replied, "I found an ancient book in the library of the White Magic Tower. It recorded many legends from tens of thousands of years ago. One of them was a love story about a prince of Cecilia and a young White Elf woman."

After taking a few steps, Seriu pointed at the ground beneath them. "According to my deductions, this should be where they first met."

Standing beside him, Halis smiled. "Most legends have been embellished, so their authenticity is open to question. You should only believe half of them."

"Half? Which half?" Seriu asked.

"Which half do you want to believe?" Halis countered instead of answering.

Seriu tilted his head and thought for a moment before replying, "The part about the Sword of Carlos."

His sole purpose for remaining alive was to find the Sword of Carlos, return to the Kingdom of Cecilia as its rightful heir, overthrow that wicked usurper, and avenge his father and mother.

But without the Sword of Carlos, all of that was nothing more than empty talk.

Five years ago, carrying a letter from the Elven King, he had endured countless hardships before finally reaching the Central Court. After several twists and turns, he had gained an audience with Saint Mage Danlov.

After reading the Elven King's letter, Danlov had accepted him as his disciple.

From then on, Seriu, a wanted fugitive, had concealed his name and identity to become Saint Mage Danlov's disciple, securing himself a future of limitless possibilities.

The Saint Mage had countless demands on his time and could not spare much of it to teach someone who knew nothing about magic, so he first sent Seriu to Saint Velia Academy, the largest magic academy in the Central Court.

As the Saint Mage's disciple, Seriu thrived at Saint Velia Academy. He awakened fire magic and advanced from Mage Apprentice to Initiate Mage in just five short years.

In addition to magic, he had also studied swordsmanship.

Every member of Cecilia's royal family was a swordsman, and he could be no exception.

Danlov had specially hired an outstanding Great Swordsman to introduce him to the sword.

As a result, he now trained in both magic and swordsmanship as a magic swordsman.

Seriu had never stopped searching for information about the Sword of Carlos, but his efforts had yielded little.

He had once asked the Saint Mage where exactly the Sword of Carlos could be found.

The Saint Mage had pondered for a long time, gazing at him with those profound, wise eyes. Then he had extended a finger, tapped Seriu on the chest, and told him, "Child, when you truly need it, it will hear your call."

Seriu could not understand what he meant. All he could do was rack his brains and search for clues in ancient books, like hunting for a needle in the ocean.

Then, yesterday, he read the love story between the young Elf woman and the human Great Swordsman. On a sudden whim, he decided to visit the Bakat River, where they had first met.

The Bakat River was a beautiful, broad river originating in the Land of Snow to the north. It flowed through the Pross Empire, crossed the entire Central Court, and continued into several small countries in the south. At its furthest reaches lay the Kingdom of Cecilia.

A ship departing from the Central Court could reach the Kingdom of Cecilia in only a month.

How convenient.

Yet as the former prince of Cecilia, Seriu did not dare take a ship back to his homeland.

After seizing the throne, his uncle, Danton Trik, had not only failed to govern the country well but had also grown increasingly ambitious. He launched wars on every side and dispatched those terrifying Black Knights to annex the neighboring minor kingdoms.

In only five years, the people of the southern kingdoms had been plunged into misery. Lives were devastated, suffering spread everywhere, and bitter grievances filled the land.

Every time Seriu heard news brought by traveling minstrels, he ground his teeth in hatred and burned with impatience.

He had come to the Bakat River today not only to see the legendary place for himself, but also to calm his mind.

Never had he imagined that he would witness such a miraculous sight.

At first, he had been immersed in his own thoughts. But a magic swordsman possessed keen vigilance, and even the slightest disturbance could attract his attention. His sensitive ears faintly caught the lyrical, slightly melancholy notes of a harp, and he instinctively turned around.

Then—

On a reed leaf, he saw a faint ball of green light.

Within it, a tiny blond Fairy cradled a silver-white, many-stringed harp and plucked its strings with nimble fingers.

Seriu wondered whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.

How could the kind of Little Fairy found only in picture books be sitting on a reed leaf?

The wind made the reeds sway, yet the blond Little Fairy remained perfectly steady. As he played the harp, he looked around with a pair of large, tender-green eyes, innocent and curious.

When their eyes met, the Little Fairy visibly froze.

Seriu spoke without realizing it. "...A Little Fairy?"

The music stopped abruptly. Apparently startled, the Little Fairy vanished without a trace.

"Halis..." Seriu asked, "Do Fairies ever leave the Faerie Forest to travel across the continent?"

Although Halis did not understand why the prince was asking, he still answered seriously. "Adult Fairies are said to do so. However, they use magic to disguise their appearance. Even if one were standing directly before us, we would be unable to tell whether they were human or Fairy."

"Is that so?" Seriu frowned slightly and held up his fingers to indicate a tiny size. "What about one this small?"

Halis laughed. "Your Highness, a Little Fairy that small wouldn't even be an adult yet!"

An underage Fairy would never leave the Faerie Forest.

Seriu was astonished.

Underage? Then he wasn't an adult Fairy out gaining experience.

"Did Your Highness see a Little Fairy?" Halis asked curiously.

"No..." Seriu shook his head. "I didn't."

Perhaps it had all been nothing more than his imagination.

His teacher was right. He should not remain blindly immersed in hatred. Only by opening his heart and experiencing the wider world could he take control of his own future.

In the Faerie Forest, Shu Li was attending a magic lesson, utterly unaware that the illusion he had previously created had left someone questioning his own senses.

"...To meditate, you must quiet your mind, concentrate, and direct your thoughts along a single path until your body and mind become one."

In the magic practice square, twenty-five Fairy cubs sat cross-legged with their hands resting on their knees. Following Siet's explanation, they slowly cleared away their stray thoughts and emptied their minds.

"When we enter a meditative state, our senses are magnified many times over. We can smell the fragrance of flowers and grass more clearly, hear animals in the distance, and even perceive the wind and running water... Gradually, we become one with nature."

Shu Li felt exceptionally clearheaded, his senses sharper than ever. Just as Siet had described, the wind carried distant sounds to him.

A calf-deer born only a few days ago was circling its mother, crying, "Moo-woo, moo-woo." It was hungry and wanted milk.

A pair of unknown birds were quarreling, chirping at each other with astonishing ferocity.

In the grass, insects went, "Chirp, chirp," seemingly in search of mates.

How amazing. Meditation can actually give me such an interesting experience.

"Yesterday, when we cast magic, we summoned the various elements in the air. But what should we do when our surroundings do not contain the elements we need? We store those elements in advance.

"The first method is to rely on items, such as magic stones, potions, and magic scrolls. The second is to treat your body as a vessel, absorbing natural elements through meditation and converting them into magical power."

Siet's explanation was simple and easy to understand. Shu Li immediately thought of the mana bar in online games—the magical power consumed when using abilities.

"...You must remember that the body can store only a limited amount of magical power at each stage. If you reach your limit and continue absorbing it by force, you may injure yourself at best or cause your body to explode at worst."

Siet's expression was grave and his gaze piercing. "Remember, greed will only leave you with nothing."

The Fairy cubs straightened their backs and nodded solemnly to show that they had taken the warning to heart.

Seeing that the little ones understood, Siet softened his tone. "Now, formally enter meditation."

Shu Li closed his eyes, focused his attention, and immersed himself completely in meditation.

At first, only his five senses became sharper. But as he gradually entered a deeper state, his mind became more active than ever before. Whenever he thought of something, it instantly appeared within his mind.

For example, when he recalled his mother, her every smile and frown came vividly to life. He could even "see" the tiny beauty mark beside her eye with perfect clarity.

Shu Li had always been afraid that he would forget what his family looked like, so every day when he wrote in his journal, he desperately tried to remember their faces all over again.

Deep down, however, he understood that as time passed, the day would inevitably come when nothing remained of them in his mind but blurred outlines.

Yet now, in meditation, he could perfectly "render" his mother's entire appearance. The image was as detailed as a three-dimensional model, richly textured, vivid, and natural.

As he sank deeper into meditation, he unearthed even more memories.

His mother at every stage of her life appeared like a film, one frame after another, all incomparably clear.

At that moment, his anxious heart finally grew peaceful and settled.

After carefully "looking" at every member of his family, Shu Li contentedly shifted his attention to the natural elements in the air.

The springy little slimes had long since crowded around him, jostling eagerly as they waited for him to "eat" them.

Shu Li could not help recalling the state he had entered five years ago while praying to the Light God in Miladi Palace.

He must have unconsciously entered meditation back then, "devoured" a heap of slimes, stored them inside his body, and converted them into magical power.

However, because he had been so young, his capacity had been limited. And since he did not know any magic, those elements had simply lain dormant.

Now that he was meditating again, his body seemed to remember what to do and automatically activated its "eating" mode. The summoned slimes surged forward, constantly urging Shu Li to hurry up and "eat" them.

Since the slimes were being so enthusiastic, it would have been rude to refuse.

Soon, all seven elements flooded toward him. Once inside his body, they followed the paths left by their "predecessors" and reached their destination without obstruction.

Shu Li followed them with his inner perception, smoothly arriving at the place where his magical power was stored.

It was not one of the organs within his body, but an indescribable, illusory space. Everything around him was pitch-black, while seven beadlike spheres hovered in the center.

Each sphere radiated a different color, and together they formed a circle.

The newly arrived slimes bounced into the corresponding spheres and merged with them. In an instant, each sphere grew noticeably larger.

Shu Li watched the seven spheres swell from soybeans into marbles. A sense of fullness welled up inside him, telling him that he had reached his limit and could not greedily consume any more. Otherwise, he would

"Why did you suddenly come here, Your Highness?" Halis, the blond magic instructor, asked the brown-haired young man.

Seriu gazed out over the reed-filled Bakat River and replied, "I found an ancient book in the White Magic Tower's library. It recorded many legends from tens of thousands of years ago. One of them was a love story about a prince of Cecilia and a white-haired Elven maiden."

After taking two steps, Seriu pointed beneath his feet. "Based on the accounts, this should be where they first met."

Standing beside him, Halis smiled. "Most legends have been embellished. Their authenticity is open to question, so you should only believe half of what they say."

"Half? Which half?" Seriu asked.

"Which half do you want to believe?" Halis countered instead of answering.

Seriu tilted his head and thought for a moment before replying, "The part about the Sword of Carlos."

His sole purpose for remaining alive was to find the Sword of Carlos, return to the Kingdom of Cecilia as its rightful heir, overthrow that evil usurper, and avenge his father ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and mother.

But without the Sword of Carlos, all of that was nothing more than empty talk.

Five years ago, carrying a letter from the Elven King, he had endured countless hardships to reach the Central Court. After many further complications, he had finally met Saint Mage Danlov.

Danlov read the Elven King's letter and accepted Seriu as his disciple.

From that day forward, Seriu, a wanted fugitive, concealed his name and identity and became Saint Mage Danlov's disciple, securing a future filled with limitless promise.

The Saint Mage had countless demands on his time and could not spare much of it to teach someone who knew nothing about magic, so he first sent Seriu to Saint Velia Academy, the largest magic academy in the Central Court.

As the Saint Mage's disciple, Seriu thrived at Saint Velia Academy. He awakened fire magic and advanced from Mage Apprentice to Initiate Mage in just five short years.

In addition to magic, he also studied swordsmanship.

After all, every member of Cecilia's royal family was a swordsman, and he could be no exception.

Danlov had specially hired an accomplished Great Swordsman to serve as his first swordsmanship instructor.

As a result, Seriu now practiced both magic and swordsmanship as a spellblade.

All this time, Seriu had continued searching for information about the Sword of Carlos, but with little success.

He had once asked the Saint Mage exactly where the Sword of Carlos was.

After pondering for a long while, the Saint Mage had fixed Seriu with his deep, wise eyes, extended a finger, and tapped him on the chest.

"Child, when you truly need it, it will hear your call."

Seriu could not understand what he meant. All he could do was puzzle over it by himself and scour ancient books for clues as though searching for a needle in the ocean.

Then yesterday, he had read the love story of an Elven maiden and a human Great Swordsman. On a sudden whim, he decided to visit the Bakat River, where the two had first met.

The Bakat River was a broad and beautiful waterway. It originated in the northern Kingdom of Snow, flowed through the Pros Empire, then crossed the entire Central Court before continuing into several small southern countries. At the very end of its course lay the Kingdom of Cecilia.

A ship departing from the Central Court could reach the Kingdom of Cecilia in only a month.

How convenient.

And yet, as the former prince of Cecilia, Seriu did not dare take a ship back to his homeland.

After his uncle, Danton Trik, seized the throne, he not only failed to govern the country properly but pursued his ambitions by launching wars in every direction. He dispatched those terrifying Black Knights to annex the surrounding minor kingdoms.

In just five years, the people of the southern countries had been plunged into misery. Lives were devastated, and grievances rose everywhere.

Every time Seriu heard the news brought by traveling bards, he ground his teeth with hatred and burned with anxious impatience.

Aside from seeing the legendary place for himself, he had come to the Bakat River today in hopes of calming down.

Never could he have imagined that he would witness such a miraculous scene.

At first, he had been lost in his thoughts. But spellblades possessed keen instincts, and the slightest disturbance could attract his attention. His sensitive ears faintly caught the lyrical, slightly melancholy sound of a harp, and he instinctively turned around.

Then—

On a reed leaf, he saw a faint cluster of green light.

Within that light, a tiny, blond-haired Fairy cradled a silver-white, many-stringed harp in his arms, his nimble fingers plucking the strings.

Seriu wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.

How could one of the tiny Fairies found only in picture books be sitting on a reed leaf?

The wind made the reeds sway, yet the little blond Fairy remained perfectly steady. As he played the harp, he looked around with a pair of large, pale green eyes filled with innocent curiosity.

When their gazes met, the Little Fairy visibly froze.

Seriu spoke without thinking.

"...A Little Fairy?"

The music stopped abruptly. Apparently frightened, the Little Fairy vanished without a trace.

"Halis..." Seriu asked, "do Fairies ever leave the Faerie Forest to travel across the continent?"

Although Halis did not understand why the prince was asking, he still answered seriously. "Adult Fairies supposedly do. However, they disguise their appearance with magic. Even if one stood right in front of us, we would have no way of determining whether they were human or Fairy."

"Is that so?" Seriu frowned slightly, holding up his fingers to indicate a tiny size. "What about one this small?"

Halis laughed. "Your Highness, a Little Fairy that size wouldn't even be an adult yet!"

Underage Fairies did not leave the Faerie Forest.

Seriu was astonished.

Underage? Then the one he had seen could not have been an adult Fairy out traveling.

"Did you see a Little Fairy, Your Highness?" Halis asked curiously.

"No..." Seriu shook his head. "I didn't."

Perhaps it had all been a figment of his imagination.

His teacher was right. He should not remain blindly immersed in hatred. Only by opening his heart and experiencing the wider world could he take control of his own destiny.

Within the Faerie Forest, Shu Li was attending a magic lesson, completely unaware that the illusion he had created earlier had left someone doubting his own eyes.

"...To meditate, you must calm your mind and focus your attention, directing your thoughts along a single path until your body and mind become one."

In the magic practice grounds, twenty-five Fairy cubs sat cross-legged with their hands resting on their knees. Following Siet's explanation, they gradually cleared away distracting thoughts and emptied their minds.

"When we enter a meditative state, our senses are amplified many times over. We can smell flowers and grass more distinctly, hear animals in the distance, and even perceive the sound of the wind and flowing water... Slowly, we become one with nature."

Shu Li felt exceptionally clear-headed and keenly aware of his surroundings. Just as Siet had said, the wind carried distant sounds to him.

A deer-calf born only a few days ago was circling its mother and crying, "Moo-woo, moo-woo," hungry and begging for milk.

A pair of unknown birds were having a fierce argument, shrieking and chattering at each other.

In the grass, insects chirped repeatedly, apparently calling for mates.

How amazing. He had never expected meditation to give him such an interesting experience.

"Yesterday, when we cast magic, we summoned various elements from the air. But what should we do when our surroundings do not contain the elements we need? We store those elements in advance. The first method is to rely on items, such as magic stones, potions, and magic scrolls. The second is to treat your body as a vessel, absorbing natural elements through meditation and converting them into magical power."

Siet's explanation was simple and easy to understand. Shu Li immediately associated it with the mana bar in an online game—the resource consumed whenever a player used a skill.

"...One thing you must remember is that the body can store only a limited amount of magical power at each stage. If you reach your limit and continue absorbing it by force, you may injure yourself at best or cause your body to explode at worst."

Siet's expression turned stern, his gaze sharp. "Remember, greed will leave you with nothing."

The Fairy cubs straightened their backs and nodded earnestly, showing that they had taken his warning to heart.

Seeing that the little ones understood, Siet softened his tone. "Now, let us formally begin meditating."

Shu Li closed his eyes, focused his attention, and immersed himself completely in meditation.

At first, it merely heightened his five senses. But as he sank deeper into the state, his thoughts became more vivid than ever before. The instant he thought of something, it would appear in his mind.

When he recalled his mother's face, for example, her every smile and frown became lifelike. He could even "see" the tiny beauty mark at the corner of her eye with perfect clarity.

Shu Li had always been afraid that he would forget what his family looked like, so every day, while writing in his diary, he desperately called their faces to mind.

Yet deep down, he understood that as time passed, the day would inevitably come when nothing remained of them in his mind but vague outlines.

Now, while meditating, he could perfectly "reconstruct" his mother's entire appearance. The image was as detailed as a three-dimensional rendering, richly textured, vivid, and natural.

As he descended further into meditation, he unearthed even more memories.

His mother at every stage of her life appeared like a film playing in his mind, one frame after another, each incomparably clear.

At that moment, his anxious heart finally settled into peace.

After carefully "looking" at every member of his family, Shu Li contentedly shifted his thoughts toward the natural elements in the air.

Those plump, springy slimes had already crowded around him, jostling one another as they eagerly waited for him to "eat" them.

Shu Li could not help remembering the state he had entered five years ago when he prayed to the Light God in Miladi Palace.

He must have unconsciously entered meditation back then, "devoured" a whole pile of slimes, stored them inside his body, and converted them into magical power.

However, because he had been so young, his capacity had been limited. And since he had not yet known how to use magic, those elements had simply lain dormant.

Now that he was meditating again, his body seemed to remember what to do and automatically entered "devouring" mode. The summoned slimes surged forward, constantly urging Shu Li to hurry up and "eat" them.

Since the slimes were being so enthusiastic, it would be rude of him to refuse.

The seven elements soon swarmed into his body. Following the paths left behind by their "predecessors," they encountered no obstacles and easily found somewhere to settle.

Shu Li's inward awareness followed them the entire way and arrived smoothly at the place where his magical power was stored.

It was not any physical organ within his body, but an illusory space he could not explain or define. Everything around him was pitch-black, while seven beadlike spheres hovered in the center.

The spheres glowed in different colors and formed a circle.

The newly arrived slimes bounced into the corresponding spheres and merged with them. In an instant, each sphere expanded.

Shu Li watched as the seven spheres swelled from the size of soybeans to the size of marbles. A sense of fullness welled up within him, telling him that he had reached his limit. He could not keep devouring them greedily, or he would cross the threshold and suffer more harm than benefit.

He decisively rejected the new elements.

The slimes were unwilling to give up. Their little teardrop-shaped bodies bounced around like translucent fruit jellies, looking unbearably tempting.

Shu Li swallowed and firmly resisted their allure.

After trying for quite some time without getting any response from the Little Fairy, the slimes finally gave up.

The elements surrounding him dispersed, and Shu Li let out a breath.

His meditation seemed to be more or less complete. He slowly opened his eyes and discovered that the other Fairy cubs were already holding their magic staffs and practicing spells in front of him.

It appeared his magical talent was not as good as he had imagined. Not only did he have to work the hardest during practice, but he was also the last to finish meditating.

Siet, who had remained beside him, asked gently, "How do you feel?"

Shu Li composed himself and replied, feeling refreshed and invigorated, "Very comfortable. My whole body feels full of strength."

So what if I'm slow? I succeeded in meditating, and I even gained an unexpected benefit. From now on, whenever I miss my family, I can enter meditation and replay my memories over and over.

Could anything be more convenient?

Seeing his beaming smile, Siet encouraged him, "Then go release that power."

"All right." Shu Li spread his wings and flew into the air. After stretching his limbs, he took the beginner magic staff used for practice from his storage ring and joined the other Fairy cubs in casting magic at the pool.

This time, he did not summon elements from the air. Instead, he released the magical power stored within his body.

"Great Water Goddess Hildani Letig..."

Halfway through the incantation, he abruptly fell silent and nearly bit his tongue.

I stumbled over it the instant I opened my mouth. Seriously?!

Shu Li's face flushed with embarrassment. He wanted nothing more than to slap himself twice across the face.

Why can't my brain remember it?

His brain protested: No. I remember it perfectly.

Great Water Goddess Hildani Getty, I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest. I ask you to command the water elements to gather around me and bring me a water sphere capable of engulfing everything!

See? Not a single word wrong.

Shu Li pouted, concentrated, and spoke again.

"Great Water Goddess Hildani Getty, I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest. I ask you to command the water elements to gather around me and bring me a water sphere capable of engulfing everything!"

This time, the incantation succeeded.

He felt the magical power within his body stir. A surge of power traveled along his arm, rushed into the magic staff, and gathered at its tip. At a speed visible to the naked eye, it formed a sphere of water the size of a ping-pong ball.

He instinctively swung the magic staff, and the water sphere shot toward the pool like a cannonball.

Splash!

The water sphere struck the surface and sent countless droplets flying.

When the other Fairy cubs saw it, their mouths fell open in astonishment.

"Wow, Sperien, you're amazing!"

"That's right! You succeeded the very first time you used your own magical power."

"And it was so powerful! I tried loads of times just now, but I only succeeded once."

Faced with the Fairy cubs' admiring gazes, Shu Li rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

That was only because they had not heard the half-finished incantation he'd mangled.