Time Twister - 71 Magic Meditation II

The hard part is over, Xander thought to himself. Hopefully, my parents have enough manpower to deal with the people on the list, Xander added. Indeed, what he did was merely cross-checking their appearances with the database of clans, families, and conglomerates in his smartwatch to recognize the masterminds and those involved.

The trio, after talking a bit more about the possible names the twins would have, returned to the party after around 6 minutes of talking. They began to socialize and Xander decided to stay the night at the villa, telling Danes to standby inside the house.

Inside his room, he once again isolated the space and headed to Eden. He spent around 2 hours of outside time there.

The next morning, he headed to school after taking a bath and eating the breakfast his mom made. Danes arrived at the school gates in 35 minutes. He passed by the numerous buildings and small gardens before reaching the class building. He scanned his smartwatch, as usual, entering the building, and went straight to the third floor, in the lounge.

He was surprised to see people he knew: Maryann, Faykes, Valerie, and Carly. The three girls were actually discussing multiple methods of subconsciously undergoing Magic meditation without falling into deep meditation state. Advanced study, huh.

Faykes, on the other hand, was practicing conscious-subconscious spellcasting, or Biconscious spellcasting, similar to what Xander did before. When they saw Xander come up, they paused what they were doing and greeted him, with Carly and Maryann approaching him, while Valerie was trudging unwillingly. Faykes continued to practice his control, fine-tuning it.

Xander smiled at the four. He took one of the available seats and asked them curiously,

“What do you plan to specialize in, friends?” Upon hearing this statement coming from Xander, the four were surprised, as they had never thought of specializing. They had initially set their goals to becoming like Xander, an expert to all specializations. As if realizing what they were thinking, Xander laughed.

“Friends, to clarify any misconception in your minds, I may look like I’m an expert at everything, but the truth is, I’m not.”

“My current field specializations are on Magic research development, Magic artificer, and Magic Material Developer, the latter contains Magibiopharmacist and Metallurgy Creation. It’s important to have focus on what you already are talented in and continuously improve them. So I repeat: What do you plan to specialize?”

Maryann and the rest fell into deep silence and contemplation. It was Faykes that answered first.

“Landscape Developer and Magibiopharmacist.”

Upon hearing his answer, Xander nodded in agreement, because his primary elements suited these specializations. He could improve the relationship between his primary elements, as well as his control and comprehension of them.

Afterward, it was Carly that spoke up.

“U-um, I want to specialize in Magic Archeology and Applied Magic Physics.”

Xander also agreed with Carly’s choice. With her elements, Magic Archeology is a lucrative business, not just in Eteria, but also in Universal Empires. According to the records he got, even the Galactic Empire had structures similar to the ruins Eteria had, but usually bigger, and can even span as big as several planets in the same system.

Applied Magic Physics would be needed no matter what planet or empire you are in. Not only do you get to research on magic and its physics, but there’s also a form of application to different raw and processed materials, such as ores, crystals, gems, metals, to alloys, jewelry formation, and the like.

Valerie answered simply: “I want to focus on how to kill effectively.” Hearing this, Xander was surprised, but couldn’t refute Valerie. Her family had a heritage formed from bloodshed, after all. At the same time, she really didn’t have any elements that can be used effectively for any of the known non-lethal professions.

It was Maryann who still hasn’t answered. Earlier, she had no idea what to specialize in. One of which was being a Magic Researcher, but beyond that, what else? Only after hearing Valerie’s answer did she a possibility.

“I want to focus on Applied Magic research and how to kill effectively as well.” It was Maryann’s answer that really surprised him. After all, Xander never saw her as someone willing to kill. If he was to select something for her, it would be simply Applied Magic research and Physics research, because her elements really suited the study of the two.

However, he had to respect their decisions. They are the ones going to walk down this path, after all. At this point, Xander began his spiel, tapping his smartwatch screen quite fast that everyone who was watching him could only see a blur.

“Since I see you guys have your own specializations chosen, I hope you stick to them until the very end, allowing you to reach your maximum potential, or even surpass it. I’ve sent several hundreds of books and research papers, as well as videos that would improve your skills in the respective specializations. Once you read and watched them all from start to end, can you consider yourself stepping into the field of specialization.” Upon saying those words, his hand stopped moving, and all of them received several hundreds of documentation and videos that almost overwhelmed their storage.

“However, you have to promise something before you can open them: You have to ensure that you will never show anyone the files I have sent you, or create copies of it without permission, nor teach their contents to others without my permission. Do you agree?” Xander asked them solemnly, creating a somber atmosphere.

It was Maryann and Carly that replied first. “I agree.”

Faykes asked, “Do I still have to take this vow even if I made an earlier contract with you?”

Xander rolled his eyes, before nodding. Faykes then said, “I agree.”

Valerie hesitated for a moment, before gritting her teeth and saying, “I agree.”

Once everyone said those words, the atmosphere on the floor suddenly changed, a constricting, overwhelming sense of power covered each and every one of them. These tendrils of power would enter their body and diffuse into their magic seeds and their life essence dolls, creating a sense of power boost, yet at the same time, a locking sensation.

A voice echoed in their minds.

“With these words, I bound thee. Let the truth be hidden by thee the darkness. The vow is done in the light, and is fulfilled by the night. Break this vow, let thy essence be dispersed.”

It was as if an invisible chain surrounded their hearts, connected to the far unknown. After a while, they realized that the voice disappeared, but the energy around them hadn’t dispersed, confusing them, as they thought there would be more.

“Don’t waste energy! Immediately go and use it to compress your magic seeds and make new ones! Faykes, just go strengthen your master rank spells. Absorbing this would be equivalent to 30 years of cultivation.” Xander’s voice reverberated in their ears.

Upon hearing Xander’s words, the girls were enlightened and began to compress their seeds after generating them. Maryann was smart, as she decided to form her last two magic seeds, before inflating the size of her seeds and then compressing it, repeating it for three cycles. Carly, who was initially Elite-5, raised her rank to Elite-9 and did one round of inflation and compression. Valerie only had to create one more Magic seed, and she began to supplement and improve the magic seeds, doing inflation and compression for a total of 5 cycles. Faykes, who had experienced this before, was quite calm and focused on cycling the magic energy from his life essence to the spells he had right now. He also used this time to integrate his 2nd and 3rd Master spells, [Smog of the Sea], and [Yggdrasil’s Branch].

Xander, observing them, let out a sigh. It was quite hard to transform free-flowing elemental particle to energy form, then into pure magic energy that everyone can absorb. He had to use [Forced Elemental Decay] on 4 Elemental crystals that he had, using up 200 kilograms. Then again, this was insurance and a way to foster their loyalty to him. Basically, this was similar to a bloodline curse that Faykes had. However, this was a one-time use, which basically affects one’s foundation. Once they are affected, the rest of their magic cultivation comes tumbling down on a free fall, and they would have to cultivate again and reach their previous cultivation within 2 years or die of old age. This is assuming they manage to survive the sanction of the binding vow to their life essences, of course. Although it was a bit insidious, the hearts of sentient beings can be so fickle. He was merely setting up insurances to ensure his safety.

After 45 minutes, everyone had a stable foundation and awoken easily. Since they were doing Magic meditation while breaking through and compressing their magic seeds, they were also able to gain enlightenment. In fact, Valerie and Carly already had formulated their first Master-class spell, but they haven’t integrated it yet because they are still trying to perfect it. However, they can use it, but only display a limited amount of power like Faykes and Maryann a week ago. Maryann, on the other hand, was excited because she developed her new Master spell, but hasn’t named it yet. When Xander asked them what their new skills were, they giggled and said they’ll show it to me in the final exams.

Xander shook his head, smiling wryly. The small group continued their discussions, with Xander coaching Faykes and Maryann on Biconscious control, while the other two were focusing on understanding their first master-class spell.

15 minutes before class started, they headed down to the classroom and began to talk and socialize with their friends. Alexa and James were also there talking with the others who came downstairs. Xander, on the other hand, merely slept for now after greeting his classmates with his cheerful persona.

After a few more minutes, the class began with Ms. Lim entering the room, and heading straight to the front, and opened up the hologram projector. She gave her traditional smile, and spoke,

“Students, welcome. Continuing on what we did yesterday, we are going to focus on how to do Magic meditation actively, allowing you to harness its capabilities in real-life situations and battles.”

“First, let’s review what we did last week. We did Magic meditation, but it causes us to go into a deep trance, controlled by our general subconscious thoughts, to rest, recuperate, and or comprehend the mysteries the universe has to offer. This type of meditation is known as passive Magic meditation.”

“We are going to do an active Magic meditation, wherein you retain your conscious state. You may ask: Why should we do this?”

“First, doing this while, let’s say, you are hunting for a magic beast, or fighting off against another magician, would enable you to have a faster absorption of elemental particles and energy around you than the passive absorption our body has. Although it isn’t as fast as when you actually fall into a deep trance, it is still at least 5 times faster compared to the passive absorption.

Second, it isn’t as simple as passive absorption; it can automatically regulate the transformation of the elemental particles into magic energy that can heal your body. Yes, it’s not just to ensure you recover your lost magic energy, but it also ensures your safety and wellbeing.”

At this point, another hologram figure showed two people facing off one another, and one of them was gravely injured in an exchange. During their chase, a glow surrounded the body of the wounded, and visibly, to the eyes of the students, they could see the open wound drying up, clotting, and then after 2 minutes of continuous chasing, the scabs fell off, showing new skin. Another group of figures appeared on the side of the first video, this time, showing a comparison of automatic and active transformation of magic energy into healing energy that can restore the body.

The first person was slashed on the arm, revealing a bloody gash, the same with the second person. The first one was actively healing, while the other one was automatically healing it. Afterward, technical tests were shown for each person, showing that the actively healing produced 95% recovery in 2 minutes, while automatic healing produced 65% at the same time. The problem with the first one was that he also cannot execute strenuous activities while controlling the magic energy actively to heal his body. The second person was able to perform such activities and even cast a spell or two.

The third person, on the other hand, was used to demonstrate things that cannot be healed by passive or active magic energy control. His finger was cut, and when he did both passive than active, the finger did not regrow. When the cut part was attached to his newly-formed stump and his cultivation skill was cycled, the body recognized the missing part and connected with it, joining perfectly, having a 100% recovery rate after 4 minutes of cycling.

Ms. Lim then continued the lecture.

“Last but not least, the third benefit of active Magic meditation is when it is running, you may be able to steal the surrounding elemental particles and energy from the other targets around you. Why? Because of the hierarchy of the cultivation skills you are using. Some are better and stronger than other cultivation skills, so it’s possible to be suppressed by them.” At this, Ms. Lim showed another example in the screen, wherein the opponent was not able to absorb the elements into his body because the caster was able to actively control the flow of the elemental particles and energy around them to his body.

“Of course, this is a risk as well; what if your opponents or targets manage to micro-control elemental particles; can they then activate them inside your body? Theoretically, yes, but that requires very high experience and expertise in micro-control both outside and inside the body. They also need to almost have a near-perfect understanding of the elemental particles they controlled. That is why when using Magic meditation, it is important to only take the elements you can actually have affinity and control over. You don’t really want to absorb every element, or risk being killed or controlled from the inside. However, if you have a special cultivation body, you really don’t have to worry about these things.”

She then changed the display, showing what she meant by micro-controlling elemental particles into the body of the caster. Once the target had willed the controlled elemental particles, they began to wreak havoc in the cycle pathway, diverging to different paths along with other elemental particles. There was even one situation where the particles were rearranged into forming a magic spell, activating inside the caster, killing him instantly.

“So, how do we go about it? I’ve mentioned this in the previous week: you just use your cultivation skill standalone.”

“First, you need to visualize what you want to do, such as recover your injuries, staunch the bleeding, passively comprehend the elements and the mysteries of the universe, etc., and then you run the cultivation skill, automatically guided to doing what you visualized. You can easily stop the cycle as well, but not in the middle of the cycle. It will do one round, then stop. Stopping it in the middle is not advised because the magic energy in your body would rapidly go into chaos, and lead to magic psychosis. However, your opponents can use this as a way to kill or disrupt you, so never let the fight prolong that the opponent can grasp the cycle of your cultivation skill. Once they do, they just have to strike between the start and the end with an attack that can mess up the circulation, and you’re dead.”

“Today, you’ll be training on using your cultivation skills, with Mr. Cloverfield being excused from the exercise. He sent me a message last night about the possible disruption if he joined, and I agreed with his request. For today and tomorrow, get a hang of cycling your cultivation skill by doing an array of things, such as walking, running, talking, eating, or even doing physical things like chopping fruits, carrying a heavy load on your own. Tire yourself then try using the cultivation skill to recover your lost vitality and energy. By Thursday and Friday, I will assign you to different partners where you will test it in a VR simulation, so we’ll be meeting in the gym on Thursday and Friday.”

Everyone began to do their own stuff on the other side of the classroom, some starting from a meditation pose before standing up and walking like they are on a tightrope balance. Some were able to use the cultivation skill easily, meaning they were practicing on their control and usage of the cultivation skills they had. Xander was merely asleep, quiet, and wasn’t giving any pointers. In fact, he had nothing to give them since it really depended on their respective practice and type of cultivation skill they were using.

After 3 hours of class practice, Xander woke up, feeling refreshed. He wasn’t in the dream dimension, but rather he was doing passive Magic meditation. He was focused on understanding space-time elements. In fact, no one noticed but the time around Xander’s body was accelerated, having a ratio of 1 second: 10 years, so he was in Magic meditation for 108,000 years. The improvement was quite low, only 3 percent. However, it was this 3% that made a qualitative change for Xander.

All his space-based and time-based spells can now contend two levels higher than they are. All their effects and capabilities have increased tremendously, producing quantitative and qualitative changes. He also felt that [Absolute Time] and [Absolute Space] improved once again, but the description hasn’t changed. All of his spells’ AoE had increased to 3/4 of the universe, while he can traverse any location in the universe in just a thought. With his current repertoire of space and time spells, he can easily fight a peak-demigod and win.

He can also fight with Divine magicians and end in a draw, while surviving, but not win against Sage-class cultivators since his [Absolute Defense] was able to contend with any attack up to the level of a Void Traveler-1. Another good thing was that his spell, [Mirror Image] as well as [Simultaneous Projection], allows him to extend his control to 1 million to 5 million light-years. Beyond that distance, the connection becomes weaker and he cannot use simultaneous projection, and the mirror image disappears.

The current size of the universe is 1 novemdecillion or 1e+60 light-years. It is still growing, but he was quite unsure what is the period of growth. To give a scale, a demigod with a speed of 0.01 light-years per minute would take 1.9e+56 years to explore from end to end the universe, 7.6e+54 years for a Sage, and 3.1e+52 years for a God humanoid cultivator; it’s a different case for magic beasts and sentient beings. Of course, beings in the universe don’t have this much time to explore, which is why most take advantage of naturally-occurring spatial structures, such as wormholes and space tunnels.

For now, Xander was quite content with the increased stability of his pocket dimension structures. He ensured that his table and chair weren’t affected by his time acceleration, before leaving the classroom after saying his goodbyes.

According to Ms. Lim, the current lesson plan would discuss the second part of Magic meditation for 2 weeks, this week and next week. The 3rd week would be devoted to Magic selection. In the 4th week, it was going to be their midterms. He didn’t really need to attend these classes since he already passed the midterms for these. However, the peace of just entering the school campus and then sleeping on his own was quite a comfort for him.