Chapter 7: Introduction to Magic (I)

With the gains from this trip, Donald and his three companions quickly returned to their home.
Just five days after he first brought back prey from hunting, the old house of the Merlinas family had completely changed.
The once dilapidated yard was cleaned thoroughly, and after hiring a gardener for a few silver moons, it looked brand new. The house itself was also repaired, along with the addition of simple yet decent furniture.
During these days, Old Cord not only purchased plenty of food and daily necessities but also a few small packs of expensive spices!
He even hired a commoner woman as a cook and maid. Though her cooking skills weren’t great, she was hardworking and kept both the house and yard spotless, truly living up to Old Cord’s payment of two silver moons per month.
By the gods, it had been nearly a decade since he had tasted such delicious foods as salted lamb chops and potato soup with lost spice!
Now that he had ample money, he should acquire the necessities befitting a noble—power, status! All of these would come eventually!
“You’re back, young master!”
Upon returning home, the butler Cord rushed forward immediately to report on today’s expenses.
Donald waved his hand and said, “Enough, Cord. You can decide on household matters from now on. Just report to me at the end of each month.”
Cord’s grandfather and father had both been butlers for the Merlinas family—true servants through generations. He was only a few years older than Donald’s father. Due to the family’s decline, he had suffered greatly to support Donald until he grew up, which made him appear much older than he actually was.
In terms of master-slave etiquette, Cord, who remained utterly loyal to the Merlinas family, always adhered to his own principles. Although Donald treated him as an elder, he never acted arrogantly because of his age or ignored his status as a servant.
“The young master has grown up and finally become a true noble. Cord can die in peace now! When I return to the land of the gods and meet the old patriarch and the lady of the house, I can say I fulfilled their trust!”
After jokingly dismissing Cord, who remained excited, Donald walked briskly to his room.
In his bedroom with the new bed, Donald sat on it and, illuminated by the bright crystal light on the bedside table, carefully opened the leather-bound book.

Elements and Meditation: This is a basic mage tutorial written by a great element mage five hundred years ago. Many of its theories have been revered by mages throughout the ages, especially by element mages who regard it as a classic. The copy Donald acquired was not the original, but merely a transcription by later mages. Yet for someone who urgently needed to get started as a mage apprentice, this book was already comprehensive enough. To pursue deeper or broader knowledge, more mage books or guidance from actual mages would be necessary.

“Heh! I see! Meditation is a way to put oneself into a state of emptiness to harness mental power. The rhythm of breathing and the state of meditation are strikingly similar to the practices of qi cultivation and meditation in Buddhism from my past life!”

Reading this, Donald couldn’t help but feel excited. After all, which young person at his age in his past life didn’t have dreams of being a martial hero? The education he received from a young age was filled with heroic tales. As a child, he often dreamed of having a miraculous encounter, mastering extraordinary skills, fighting evil, and becoming a legendary hero celebrated worldwide! As he grew older, he was influenced by fantasy novels and games, developing a strong desire for magic and sorcery. Now that real magic training was before him, how could Donald suppress his excitement? He decided to focus on understanding meditation first rather than continuing to study the theoretical overview of spells later in the book.

With a prepared mind, Donald put down the parchment and sat cross-legged on the bed, imitating the practitioners from his past life. He closed his eyes, concentrating, breathing deeply and shallowly, striving to enter a state of meditation. Time passed slowly. Half an hour went by, yet he still hadn’t felt anything, and he began to grow impatient.

“Huh…”

“What’s going on?”

“Why can’t I achieve that state?”

After enduring another ten minutes, Donald let out a long sigh and reluctantly gave up trying. Realizing that it might be due to his limited mental strength or his inability to calm down enough to enter meditation, he turned to seek help from the Divine Artifact, the Book of Truth. As an auxiliary high-tier artifact, it was governed by the highest permissions of its creator. Although it couldn’t communicate face-to-face with its user like a sentient being, it still had the ability to assist its owner in solving problems and resolving doubts—through functions like detecting objects, logical reasoning, and searching for information—similar to the electronic intelligence systems of his past life.

It could be said that the existence of the Book of Truth was similar to Donald’s computer in his past life—intelligent but lacking independent consciousness. After communicating, upon realizing that Donald couldn’t enter a meditative state, the Book of Truth examined his body, quickly arrived at its own analysis, and provided corresponding solutions. Donald’s mental potential was indeed lower than that of ordinary people, and even after merging with another soul, this situation didn’t change much. As a homebody with chaotic thoughts and a wandering mind, he had no systematic training, making it difficult for him to calm his mind and achieve a meditative state in a short time. This required long-term practice and effort; otherwise, mages wouldn’t be such a rare profession. After communicating with this divine artifact and learning about his own aptitude, Donald couldn’t help but smile bitterly and say, “I thought coming here would make me a chosen one, able to master any magic artifact! Turns out I’m still a failure in this life!” After feeling disheartened for a moment, Donald regained his spirits. “Heh! Fortunately, I have the Book of Truth, this amazing artifact. As long as I have energy, these difficulties aren’t a problem! All geniuses will be trampled under my feet!” The solution suggested by the Book of Truth was to improve mental potential, which could be achieved by exchanging for several items from the Warcraft game. For example, the cheapest Small Purification Potion could restore a small amount of mana, i.e., mental energy, and also remove minor negative statuses, slightly enhancing mental focus. The most effective option was the Training Book, available only in special stores—the Book of Wisdom. Similar to the Book of Strength and the Book of Agility, learning from the Book of Wisdom could directly improve the user’s soul potential, including the speed of thought processing, as well as the strength, upper limit, and recovery speed of mental energy. There were also more advanced magical items like Energy Pendants or Magic Pendants, which, when worn, could increase the upper limit of mental energy. However, compared to the improvements brought by equipment, Donald valued the Book of Wisdom more, as it provided permanent enhancement to his strength. Donald checked the exchange price of the Book of Wisdom. The Book of Wisdom +1 increased the user’s mental potential by one level, encompassing the speed of thought processing, as well as the strength, upper limit, and recovery speed of mental energy—equivalent to a 40% boost to the current level’s potential. It required two low-tier elemental crystals as energy.

Moreover, this enhancement comes with strict limits on the number of times it can be used. According to the rules of this world, each user can only enhance themselves with the Book of Wisdom once in their lifetime, provided their life condition remains unchanged. This restriction is imposed by both the rules of this world and the physical and spiritual endurance of the user. Otherwise, if enhancements could be carried out infinitely like in games, one could overthrow the gods and become a creator god themselves!
When the host has the chance to use the Book of Wisdom for the second time, the energy required is ten thousand times that of the first time, and it increases as the user grows stronger. In other words, at least twenty thousand low-grade elemental crystals are needed for the second use.
Apart from the magic beast cores, Donald had spent thirty of his fifty gold Solars on purchasing introductory books for mages. Not counting those managed by butler Kord, he still had twenty gold Solars left. Since one low-grade elemental crystal costs five gold Solars, he could afford to buy four such crystals. Four low-grade elemental crystals would only be enough for one enhancement using the Book of Wisdom, with some remaining for enhancing other attributes at the same level.
“It seems the gains from these past few days won’t last long! The Book of Truth is indeed expensive—making money is the key! With its special abilities, I should be able to earn quite a bit of money!”
At that moment, Donald suddenly had an idea. He got up, left the bedroom, found butler Kord, and handed him the gold Solars, asking him to exchange them for elemental crystals in town and bring back a cartload of iron ore.
Butler Kord was confused and asked, “Young master, what do you want the elemental crystals and iron ore for? We don’t have any need for crystals in our household. Do you plan to abandon your noble status and become a crude blacksmith?”
Donald was speechless at this.
“Why would I become a blacksmith? How much money can a blacksmith make?”
Realizing he should also reveal some of his secrets to his loyal butler, Donald grew serious and said, “Kord, don’t you wonder why I, who was originally weak, was able to enter the Green Cloak Forest repeatedly and hunt so many magic beasts?”
Instead of the curious questions Donald expected, Butler Kord smiledreliefly.
“You’ve grown up, young master. Naturally, you have your own secrets. As a servant, Kord shouldn’t ask questions he shouldn’t!”
Moved by these words, Donald said softly, “Kord, you’re the only family I have in this world. I’ve always treated you like an uncle. Of course, I need to let you know my secrets!”

Then, with confidence and strength, he said, “Not long ago, I encountered danger in the forest, and unexpectedly, my potential as a mage was awakened—more specifically, as a rare summoner among mages. This is the reason why I can hunt such magical beasts!”
Hearing this, Kord’s tall frame trembled.
“Young master… you’ve really become a mage!”
Donald nodded solemnly.
“Of course. Otherwise, why do you think those three powerful warriors, Clinton and the others, would choose to follow me? They too saw my potential and my status as a near-noble, which is why they are willing to serve as vassals of the Merlin family!”
“Haha! That’s great! Our Merlin family will have a mage now, and my young master will become one of the nobles among nobles!”
With Donald’s explanation, Kord’s worries, which he had suppressed for days, completely vanished.
Watching the usually steady Kord dancing with joy, Donald couldn’t help but laugh, feeling warmth from family affection in his heart.