Perhaps it was because he found it hard to understand the state of emptiness during the cultivation of the Hexagram Meditation Spell, so Wizard Landes wrote a few more pages of detailed explanations, including his presumptuous guesses.
But from Claude's point of view, it was the simplest of them all. Wasn't it just the calmness and concentration of the qigong practitioners in his past life?
There wasn't much to be surprised about.
The only thing that puzzled Claude was how to use his mental power to draw a hexagram in a state of emptiness and attract the omnipresent elemental photons to the six corners of the hexagram to convert them into his own mana.
The main question was, which part of the human body did the state of emptiness reside in?
Just as the qigong practitioners in his past life had said, qi flowed through the dantian and meridians.
Even though the existence of the dantian and meridians wasn't something that could be found in an autopsy, it wasn't something that could be found.
But those with some understanding of traditional Chinese medicine knew that the meridians were spread throughout the body and the dantian was located three inches below the navel.
Apart from that, the dantian was further divided into upper, middle, and lower positions. Those were places that could only be sensed and not seen.
If the state of emptiness was a state where the mind was empty, the drawing of the hexagram to attract elemental photons and convert them into mana was something that didn't exist in the state of emptiness.
Just like qigong practitioners, they could sense qi flow through the meridians and return to the dantian.
The state of emptiness was probably a place in the human body, which was why one could imagine the body as a vessel for mana and use the converted mana in the hexagram to output it.
However, Landes didn't answer Claude's question in his diary. He probably hadn't thought about it before.
He wrote in his diary that when practicing the Hexagram Meditation Technique, he could first attract the elemental photons that had the highest affinity with him and drive away the elemental photons that did not have a high affinity with him. This way, when converting the elemental photons into magic power, he could increase the conversion speed and obtain a purer magic power.
He'd only discovered this under Tawari's guidance, which was why he was able to become a rank-one magus in just three months.
According to the diary, when practicing the Hexagram Meditation Technique, the elemental photons attracted would have various attributes, and it would take a lot of effort and time to harmonize these elemental photons. Some of the elemental photons would even cancel each other out. For example, the fire and water elements would devour each other, the wood and earth elements would resonate with each other, and the light and dark elements would annihilate each other …
Therefore, absorbing photons of the same element during training was the best way to convert mana, especially elemental photons that had the highest affinity with oneself.
It didn't matter even if he didn't pass the magic talent test. As long as he could sense which element photons gathered the fastest while practicing the Hexagram Meditation Technique, he would know which element photons he had the highest affinity with.
Another thing worth noting was that apart from elemental affinity, a cultivator's mental strength was also a very important factor.
Wizard Landes believed that his Mind Power played a huge role in his promotion to a First-level Rune Wizard within three months.
During the magic talent test back then, Landes's fire elemental affinity was nine and his Mind Power was eight.
Thanks to Tawari's guidance, he focused on absorbing fire elemental photons and repelling the other elemental photons. With the help of his powerful Mind Power, he was able to do that without much effort.
He even increased the speed at which he absorbed the fire elemental photons, filling up the six triangles in the shortest time possible and converting them into his own mana.
Claude didn't sleep for the whole night and finished reading the diary in one go.
However, most of what was recorded at the end was the knowledge he gained from learning rune magic alchemy formations after he became a rune magus, as well as his experiences and thoughts during his time as an assistant to other rune magi. That was still a little too early for him.
Claude had already read through the part about the Hexagram Meditation Technique three times and had pretty much memorized everything.
What he had to consider now was whether he should start practicing the Hexagram Meditation Technique based on what was recorded in the diary.
It was a decision he couldn't take back once he took it. He had no choice but to reconsider it.
It wasn't some secret martial art manual that could shock the world with a single brilliant feat.
It was magic, a forbidden and taboo magic on Freia. The consequence of becoming a magus was eternal darkness. The moment he was discovered to know magic, he would be hunted down and killed, or forced to flee the continent.
Perhaps he could only relax when he went to Higros Island, where the evil magus was. But could he go there?
The diary was left behind by Wizard Landes, the key figure in Baron Regus Aug Hill's rebellion against the magi's rule. Without his improved muskets and magic crystal explosives, Baron Regus Aug Hill wouldn't have been able to conquer the holy land of magi, St Perth, and drive the remaining magi to Higros Island, far away from Freia.
If he went to the island and the magi there asked him about his magic heritage, how would he answer?
Without confirming the attitude of the magi on Higros Island, there was no way he would go there.
Who knew if the magi there had records of Landes and Tawari's treason? Going there with Landes' diary would be no different from walking right into a trap. Even if he were to die, that wasn't the way to do it.
If he didn't learn magic, the path his father had arranged for him would be rather stable and safe.
A year and a half later, he would head to Nubissia and seek refuge with his godfather, the governor of Tyrrsim, Viscount Jerryhausen van Cruz, who he had never met before. Even though that life would be full of uncertainties, it was still better than learning magic and having to live in fear of being discovered every day.
However, he wasn't satisfied with not learning magic either. He had finally transmigrated to a world where magic existed, yet he couldn't learn magic due to safety concerns. It was truly a pain in the ass.
He knew very well that he had to make a choice in his life.
One was the path his family had arranged for him to join the military. It was a safe and stable path that would allow him to become a famous person like his father and live out his life in peace.
The other was a path of magic with an uncertain future. Choosing that path would mean choosing darkness and danger. He might even die young and become a nameless corpse on the run.
Do I really have to learn magic?
He knew very well that he had made his choice long ago. Even though he came up with many reasons for not learning magic, as a transmigrator, he couldn't convince himself not to learn magic. Especially now that all the prerequisites for learning magic had been fulfilled, he couldn't resist his desire to understand the mysteries of magic.
The sky was already bright. Not long after, the horned bell of the wargod shrine rang again, waking Whitestag from its silence. Soon, the bustle of carriages returned.
Claude rubbed his face. It was another sleepless night and he had to catch up on sleep in school.
But since he had already made up his mind, he would learn the Hexagram Meditation from that night onwards and take his first step on the path of magic.
On the way to school, Borkal brought some good news to everyone. The target business, which everyone had invested one thale each, had finally come to an end. In just half a month, 172 targets were sold. Apart from setting aside some funds for future use, everyone would receive a bonus of three thales each.
That news made Eriksson and Welikro incredibly excited. However, Claude wasn't focused on earning money. He only smiled to show that he was happy too.
After class, Borkal secretly told Claude that he might be able to sell his shaliun anytime soon.
His father had invited some friends to his house for a gathering to discuss the funds for the expedition.
Borkal pretended to pack his things and accidentally dropped the shaliun on the ground, attracting the attention of quite a few of his father's friends.
When Borkal picked up the coin from the ground, he clearly felt quite a few gazes on the shaliun in his hand.
Claude asked him curiously, "Doesn't my father mind that I did that?"
Borkal smiled like a fox that had just stolen a chicken and replied that he had already told his father everything. His father also knew that he had another shaliun from his collection.
To his father, having one was enough. There was no need for him to collect both shaliuns.
At the same time, he praised Claude for his financial sense and knew to sell off the extra one.
Borkal gleefully told Claude that his father's friends would find an excuse to meet him in less than three days and discuss the shaliun he dropped. He would definitely get a good price for Claude then.
Because coin collecting was very fashionable among his father's friends, having a Sullivan as part of one's collection was something worth showing off in front of his friends.
Alright, I'll leave it all to you then. I'll treat you guys to a feast after I sell it off.
Claude brushed it off and started catching up on sleep in class.
After school, Claude rejected Eriksson's invitation to go fishing at the pier and rushed home.
He wanted to catch up on sleep so that he could focus on his Hexagram Meditation at night.
His sister woke him up again before dinner. He washed up and went to the dining room to explain to his father about his hobby of learning ancient Hez.
As many of the languages on the continent were variants of ancient Hez, learning ancient Hez was very useful for learning other languages.
Perhaps he could get a diplomatic post in the kingdom when he returned from retirement. If that didn't work out, he could also become a translator with a bright future.
His father was quite satisfied with the explanation, so he didn't pursue the matter of Claude wasting oil again.
After a simple dinner, Claude played with his siblings for a while and teased the snowhound for a while before returning to his attic with the excuse of studying.
Next, it was time to cultivate the meditation technique.
According to the diary, there wasn't a specific posture to practice Hexagram Meditation. There was no such thing as kneeling with one's legs crossed, palms facing the sky, or keeping one's back straight.
Regardless of whether one was sitting, standing, or lying down, one could do it as long as one's body was relaxed.
Regardless of the posture one was in, it was more important for one's mind to enter a state of tranquility.
Claude experimented for half an hour. He stood, sat, and laid down, but he couldn't find a posture that would allow him to relax.
He kept feeling that a certain part of his body was stiff, be it his legs or his hands. He couldn't relax even if he didn't move. His back was itchy and he really wanted to scratch it.
In the end, even Claude was getting anxious.