Chapter 12: The Blue Stone
Chapter 12: The Blue Stone
Monica on the platform didn’t care in the slightest whether her actions had frightened the surrounding students.
She stretched out her index finger, and with the ease of pinching a candy, picked up the crystal ball.
“Meditation—by using your spiritual power to immerse yourself, you perceive the surrounding elements, draw them into your body, and fuse them with your inherent magical energy. This is the most stable way to enhance your magic.”
The crystal ball spun lightly on Monica’s fingertip, occasionally flashing with bright white arcs of electricity.
“Meditation also helps stabilize your mental state. If one day you notice yourself about to lose control, try using meditation to maintain a certain level of clarity.”
Monica curled her red lips into a faint smile, as if recalling something amusing.
“Of course, if you can’t solve the root cause of your breakdown, you’ll still go mad.”
After that, Monica began guiding the new apprentices on how to enter meditation.
She told everyone to pick a diagram from the meditation manual in front of them—choose one they found easiest on the eyes, or least dizzying—and observe it through the crystal ball.
Saul forced down his nausea and quickly flipped through the pages of the book.
Every single diagram made his head spin, so in the end, he could only choose the one that made him feel the least uncomfortable.
It was an image showing multiple human figures walking in a circle.
At the top of the diagram was a normal adult man.
To his left was a nearly identical figure, but if you looked carefully, the posture was slightly different—knees bent, arms raised.
The third person was also similar, but now the arms stretched out to the sides and the heels lifted a little.
Each figure’s motion shifted slightly, like animation frames, until they formed a complete cycle of a walking movement.
Saul immediately thought of how animation is created.
He followed the densely packed sequence of figures one by one… until he reached the very bottom and suddenly realized—
The last figure was no longer human—it had become a tentacled monster!
But the transformation wasn’t abrupt.
When Saul retraced the figures, there didn’t seem to be much change between any two consecutive frames.
And yet—the final image was definitely a squid-like creature.
A person walking and walking… slowly becomes a monster. And during the process, he notices nothing.
As if being human was always the same as being a squid monster.
Saul resisted the dizziness and looked upward along the diagram again, counterclockwise this time, paying close attention to the changes in each figure’s movement.
Was there a difference? It felt like there was. But maybe not?
When he finally returned to the topmost figure… the monster had turned back into a man.
Saul couldn’t take it anymore—he slammed both hands over his eyes and collapsed backward.
But before he hit the ground, a pair of hands caught him and helped him sit up.
Laughter rippled around him.
Saul’s eyes were tearing up from the pain—he couldn’t see clearly—and assumed it was Kori who caught him, so he whispered:
“Thank you…”
“This isn’t funny.”
A voice rang out. “He fell because he finished viewing the entire diagram—unlike the rest of you, who gave up at the first hint of nausea!”
Saul realized, stunned—it was Instructor Monica who had caught him.
His eyes were no longer as painful now, so he forced them open and vaguely made out the woman beside him.
Monica glanced down at the teary-eyed boy and couldn’t help but smile.
When she looked at the diagram Saul had picked, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes.
But it vanished quickly, and her expression softened again.
“Exploration is courageous—but it should also be done in moderation. You have strong spiritual power. Try using the crystal ball now and see if you can immerse yourself.”
“Thank you, Instructor.”
Perhaps because Saul grasped things quickly, Monica even used him as a demonstration model to guide the rest of the newcomers.
This instantly made both new and old students envious.
But Saul didn’t disappoint—he successfully entered the meditative state on his very first try.
Once immersed in meditation and viewing the diagram through the crystal ball, it no longer caused dizziness or nausea.
One by one, the images—human or monster—lifted off the page and floated into Saul’s mind.
Soon, the surrounding world blurred.
The sounds grew distant, as if from the ends of the sky.
Everything dimmed… and then lit up again.
What re-illuminated Saul’s world were small, multicolored glowing orbs.
Under Monica’s guidance, Saul tried drawing the closest orb into himself—slowly guiding it toward his forehead.
It went smoothly.
The first elemental particle obediently entered his body, fusing into a bubble-like space in his mind.
Saul was thrilled and immediately began attempting the next one.
But he didn’t notice—nearby, Monica’s brow suddenly creased slightly.
She walked away from Saul and circled the room, instructing other new apprentices to try meditation like he did.
Not every newcomer could immerse immediately.
Many hadn’t even picked a diagram yet.
“Keep your crystal balls close—they help filter out dangerous interference and stabilize your meditation. Until you reach the second level, I don’t recommend meditating without one.”
Monica returned to the front and began repeating basic meditation advice tirelessly—but she didn’t give anyone else the individual attention she gave Saul.
This left many feeling bitter.
How could a cheating apprentice be the one to get the most attention from the instructor?
But no one dared voice their complaints aloud.
The first meditation class passed quickly.
Saul didn’t even snap out of it until the room was nearly empty.
Keli wanted to call him at first—but Monica stopped her.
Keli looked at Monica in confusion, only to see her smile… mysteriously.
“Go on ahead. I have something to say to him in private.”
Keli immediately gave Monica a long, suspicious once-over.
Being scrutinized like that by a red-haired girl made Monica’s face darken—but before she could explode, Keli darted away.
And even remembered to close the classroom door behind her.
Only then did Monica return to Saul’s side and snap her fingers.
Zzzt!
A spark of lightning zapped Saul’s forehead.
He jolted awake at the shock and opened his eyes—only to see Monica’s long legs standing right in front of him.
“Instructor Monica!” Saul looked around and finally realized the room was empty.
“I’m sorry, Instructor—I’ll leave right away!”
He hurriedly apologized and started gathering his things.
But Monica spoke, her red lips curling slightly, voice cool:
“Elemental perception—this was something I planned to teach in the next class.”
“Elemental perception is actually a property of spiritual strength.
Just like people all have different appearances, their elemental sensitivity is different too.”
“It represents how sensitive you are to certain types of elemental particles. For example…”
“Let’s say there’s a piece of paper that contains red, yellow, and green elemental attributes.”
“Now throw four stones onto it—red, yellow, green, and blue. What color do you think you’d see?”
Saul wasn’t sure he followed.
“You mean… the paper is colored red, yellow, and green?”
“Can you figure it out?” Monica asked.
“The paper possesses the properties of all three colors—not just painted with them.”
Finally, Saul began to understand.
“If the paper is simultaneously red, yellow, and green…
then the first thing I’d see is… the blue stone.”
Monica nodded.
“Good. The body is like that piece of paper.
Elemental attributes influence how sensitive we are to other elements.
Whichever color you see most clearly—that’s the element you perceive best.”
“The strength of your spiritual power also affects how many elements you can detect.”
After she finished, Monica scooped up her skin-eating creature and sashayed out of the classroom.
Leaving Saul standing there, completely confused.
“Why did Monica suddenly explain all that to me?”
Saul picked up his books and crystal ball, unable to figure it out.
The classroom wasn’t very big, but he walked for what felt like a long time.
One slow step after another—mirroring the sluggish whirlpool of thoughts in his head.
“Only blue… I only saw blue…”
When Saul’s hand landed on the doorknob, he suddenly lifted his head, eyes wide.
“Wait—I didn’t see many dark element particles during meditation!”
His facial muscles twitched wildly.
The boy’s face twisted and contorted.
“My… my strongest elemental perception…
isn’t dark element!”
(End of Chapter)
Oof he got screwed over
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