Chapter 48
Meditation Method and Long Dress
In a luxurious residential area near the Grand Duke's mansion, the noble reception of the Principality of Kolo was welcoming the caravans of the three wizard towers.
There were still two days left before the enfeoffment ceremony. This place would serve as their temporary resting place.
Knock knock knock~
"Come in."
The female knight Judy, already changed into a linen casual outfit, entered while carrying two buckets of hot water with one hand. Her healthy wheat-colored skin and well-defined muscles glowed with a unique charm under the candlelight.
After pouring the hot water into the large wooden tub in the room, Judy respectfully said, "Lady Lucy, the hot water is ready. Today... thank you for your assistance."
Had Lucy not intercepted that burst of mental strength in time, Judy might have fallen from her horse and been injured.
Lucy closed the second half of the Bramble Meditation she had borrowed from the Exchange Office, and the inscription on the cover flickered and disappeared.
This sheepskin book used a special confidentiality method unique to the Tower of the Four Sages.
Only by infusing the mental strength produced by practicing the first half of the meditation method would the text inside the book reveal itself.
"It was nothing." Lucy gently stroked the spine of the book. "I couldn't just stand by and watch you get hurt, could I?"
Having her own guardian knight fall from her horse due to a sneak attack by a hostile wizard was hardly a pleasing matter.
After Judy bowed again and exited, Lucy finally got to enjoy her first bath in days.
The warm water washed away the fatigue of the journey. She changed into fresh underwear and a petticoat, feeling refreshed as she sat by the bed.
Through these days of studying on the carriage, Lucy had fully mastered the complete Bramble Loop Meditation.
Summoning the system interface, she softly said, "System, help me simulate 'Bramble Loop Meditation I'."
Buzz~
You have finally acquired the long-awaited complete meditation method, but the daily increase of 0.1 in mental strength was far from meeting your expectations. You decided to modify the meditation method once again.
After consuming 9 academic points, the simulation reached a deadlock. You realized that a different approach was needed.
You began to reread the key principles at the beginning of the meditation method.
(Tower of the Four Sages general meditation method. Construct a bramble ring in the consciousness space, piercing through distracting thoughts while using the sensation of pain to maintain clarity...)
You captured a key word: "pain."
You began to actively stimulate your mental strength, seeking to induce more pain.
As expected, the effect of the meditation showed a slight improvement.
However, the pain caused by stimulating mental strength alone was very limited. You needed some kind of external stimulation, and that thing was right by your side...
In the middle of the simulation, Lucy opened her eyes, a hint of confusion flashing in her azure pupils.
This was the first time she had been forcibly awakened during a simulation.
"External stimulation... pain... right by my side?"
An object flashed through her mind.
She immediately rummaged through the luggage carried on the carriage and soon retrieved a wooden box.
This was the box Talia had used to store herbs for her when she bought medicinal materials for the first time, and later Lucy used it as a potion storage container.
She opened the wooden box. Inside, two bottles of Devouring Contamination Potion and more than twenty kinds of preliminarily processed medicinal herbs were neatly arranged.
Her fingertips brushed over the herbs one by one. When she touched the fifth kind, the system interface changed once again before her eyes.
...At the moment you touched it, you realized this was the external force you were looking for.
"Calming Flower!"
Lucy reached out and picked up a black herb called Calming Flower, one of the three main ingredients of the Silverleaf Awakening Potion.
After drinking the Silverleaf Awakening Potion, ninety percent of the pain came from this thing. It was also the most intense pain Lucy had ever experienced.
She subconsciously swallowed her saliva.
If possible, she truly did not want to experience that kind of pain that was worse than death ever again, but...
"System, continue the simulation!"
She tilted her head back and swallowed the entire Calming Flower. Instantly, it felt as if countless brambles were twisting in her stomach, and waves of intense pain swept through her entire body.
Buzz~
In the extreme pain brought by the Calming Flower, your understanding of meditation advanced by leaps and bounds.
The new improvement method was gradually taking shape.
You have finally completed the improvement of the Bramble Loop Meditation.
This simulation provided you with a new direction for further improvements, but unfortunately, you will need some new form of stimulation...
Meditation Method: Bramble Loop Meditation II
Mental Strength: 12.1 → 14.1
Academic Points: 118 → 83
As the pain subsided, Lucy propped herself up on the bedside and slowly sat up.
The two-point leap in mental strength made the earlier torment seem worthwhile.
However, the actual effect of the meditation still needed to be verified the next day.
A whole night of meditation.
After six sandglass turns, Lucy opened her eyes with her mental strength fully saturated.
Mental Strength: 14.1 → 14.2
Her meditation efficiency had returned to an increase of 0.1 per day. Although the ratio seemed unchanged, the total amount of mental strength was now several times greater than before.
In addition, Lucy keenly noticed that after Bramble Loop Meditation advanced to level two, the tenacity of her mental strength had significantly improved.
The effect of this was that she would have an advantage in pure mental strength confrontations.
Although this did not seem like an immediately impactful effect, since it was a free bonus from the simulation, having it was better than not having it.
Rising to her feet and rubbing her slightly stiff waist, Lucy pushed the door open and stepped outside.
The sunlight gently bathed her face. It was the first time she had seen the sun in the half-month since autumn began.
"Lady Lucy."
The female knight Judy appeared from some corner.
"Where is everyone else?"
Lucy noticed that the courtyard was unusually quiet, and she could not sense any fluctuations of mental strength from the apprentices.
Judy replied, "Lady Lilith went to the Duke’s mansion last night and has not yet returned. The other lords all went out one after another this morning."
These apprentices, who had been confined within the tower for many years, were obviously eager to breathe the air of freedom.
"In that case, let’s go out for a walk too." Lucy suddenly remembered something. "Where did Raul go?"
"Personal matters... ahem..."
Seeing the flicker in the female knight’s eyes, Lucy let out a knowing "Oh."
In this world lacking entertainment, the leisure activities of adult men were self-evident.
"Just the two of us will go."
"Do you intend to go out dressed like that?"
Lucy asked in confusion, "Is there a problem?"
Only then did she realize that she was still wearing the wizard apprentice robe of the Tower of the Four Sages.
But aside from the wizard robes, her suitcase contained nothing but undergarments.
"Do you have any spare casual clothes I can borrow?"
"I do, but..." The female knight rose slightly on her toes.
She stood at nearly 1.8 meters tall, weighing over 150 pounds, with lean, cheetah-like muscle lines faintly visible under her linen long sleeves. Even standing on a small stool, Lucy barely reached the tip of her ears.
The clothes would be more than enough for Lucy to wear as a robe.
"I have an idea, my lady, please wait a moment."
Judy ran off with her longsword at her hip and returned in just over ten minutes, holding two long dresses, one pink and one black.
"This one will do."
Lucy decisively avoided the pink dress, but caught a fleeting trace of disappointment on Judy’s face.
When the door opened again, the wizard apprentice once cloaked in a wizard’s robe had transformed into a stunning silver-haired girl.
Her snow-white skin and red lips were even more captivating against the black long dress, and her waist-length silver hair flowed like moonlight.
The female knight subconsciously swallowed, her fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of her sword.
At this moment, Lady Lucy in casual attire appeared even more dazzling than when wearing her wizard robe.
"Shall I prepare a carriage?"
"No need, we’ll just walk around nearby."
The female knight quietly gripped her sword tightly: hopefully no blind noble would come to provoke them.