Meditation Diagram

Matthew walked out of the teleportation room; it was already night.

He remembered that it was morning when he entered the Winter Realm portal, so the teleportation must have taken quite a while.

I don't know how many hourglasses or days have passed.

Matthew walked along the corridor of the Tide School's apprenticeship area, looking at the familiar scene.

He no longer has the excitement he felt when he first returned; instead, he feels a sense of solemnity.

"They're all dead..."

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, he made his way to the Apprentice Tower.

The person on duty in the academy's main hall was a novice apprentice.

The apprentice exclaimed in surprise when he saw him enter, "Matthew! Weren't you pioneering in the Winterlands?"

Matthew recognized the man; he and Matthew were newcomers to the Tidal School around the same time.

He took out the assessment and certification scroll. "Geralt... I'm back in the wizarding world."

Geralt took the scroll, opened it, and examined it closely, a look of surprise on his face.

"You've successfully verified your research!"

Matthew nodded, not lingering on the topic, and instead asked a question.

"What happened to Alvin and Holz afterward?"

"That's exactly what I want to tell you next."

At that moment, Geralt's face showed a look of sympathy.

"Lord Nord should have told you everything, they're all dead."

"Do you remember the tasks the apprentices were assigned every three months?"

Matthew nodded. This was a rule of the Tide School: except for advanced apprentices, all other apprentices had to complete the tasks assigned by the school every three months.

"They all died during their apprenticeships."

"They all died because of missions?" Matthew remembered that although the school's missions were somewhat dangerous, the mortality rate shouldn't be that high.

"That's right, they all died during their apprenticeship missions."

The school of thought adopts an apprenticeship system based on the survival of the fittest.

"Although you have proven your wisdom, you have returned from the Realm of Winter no longer as worthless apprentices."

However, you spent too much time completing the assessment, and in the eyes of the school, you are among the least qualified apprentices.

"So..." Geralt continued.

"The school of thought will assign you the most dangerous tasks."

"Alvin died in the mouth of the poisonous gland worms in the Bone Swamp, while Holz was used as material by the wizard Locke because he did not collect enough vengeful spirits."

After hearing what the other person had to say, Matthew fell silent.

He knew that even after returning to the wizarding world, the future would still be treacherous, and surviving would be no easier than in the Winterlands.

But he didn't expect the crisis to come so quickly.

Matthew clenched his fist. "Still too weak..."

If he were now an intermediate apprentice, he would be qualified to choose his own missions. Matthew recalled the group in Mold, who had chosen to venture into the Winterlands on their own initiative.

Matthew quickly regained his composure, and a desire for power welled up within him.

"Geralt, I don't have a meditation diagram yet."

"I almost forgot, you came with me."

The Apprentice Tower soared into the clouds, and at the end of its spiral staircase lay a colossal stone hall covered by a dome.

A gray-haired apprentice sat languidly in a high-backed chair.

"Lord Melson, Matthew has come to view the meditation diagrams."

Merson yawned, said nothing, and unlocked the room's protective barrier.

"Come in."

Matthew followed Merson inside, looking around curiously.

The room was filled with more than twenty huge murals, all of which were composed of various runes.

"Choose the meditation image that looks most pleasing to you and meditate on it. If you can visualize the image in your mental space, it means you have succeeded in your meditation."

"Remember, once you have successfully visualized a meditation image, you cannot change it during your apprenticeship, otherwise it may cause a backlash to your mental energy."

Matthew nodded, taking Merson's words to heart.

He came to a dark blue mural.

This mural depicts a mermaid, constructed from countless runes.

In the painting, the mermaid holds a water bottle in her right hand, steadily resting it on her shoulder.

【Name: Meditation Picture】

Ingredients: ...

[Extractable content: Mermaid meditation image]

Matthew did not extract this meditation image because he would feel dizzy if he stared at it for too long.

His gaze then turned to another meditation image.

【Name: Meditation Picture】

Ingredients: ...

[Extractable Content: Campfire Meditation Diagram]

This is a meditation image depicting a dozen or so tiny figures dancing a strange dance around a campfire.

As Matthew looked at the mural, the little figures in it moved faster and faster, their movements gradually becoming distorted and deformed, until they finally turned into a blur.

"It lasted a little longer than the mermaid painting from before."

However, Matthew was still in no hurry to refine the campfire meditation diagram.

Then he looked at other meditation images, and so on, looking at one meditation image after another.

He looked through almost all of the twenty-odd meditation images in the room.

Melson, standing to the side, didn't urge him on, but simply watched Matthew quietly.

At this point, Matthew came to the last meditation image.

Matthew's gaze swept across the scene, and before him was a meditation diagram based on a circle, covered with irregular and strange runes.

He didn't feel uncomfortable looking at the meditation diagrams; on the contrary, he became more and more engrossed in them.

A moment later, when he came to his senses, he went to look at the mural again.

"Wait, why is it a square? I clearly remember it being..."

"What shape is it?"

Matthew tried hard to recall the details of the meditation diagram, but he couldn't remember anything.

He shook his head and looked at the meditation diagram again. This time he found that the runes on it seemed to have changed again, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.

Because Matthew had forgotten what the meditation image looked like, he couldn't make a comparison.

"What's wrong with this meditation image? Why can't I remember the details?"

At this moment, Merson, who was standing to the side, spoke up.

"This is the Forgotten Diagram. This meditation diagram is very special. Its runes will disappear from the observer's memory, and only a very few apprentices can remember its contents."

"The Forgotten Picture?" Matthew mused.

He activated the system and viewed the information on it.

【Name: Meditation Picture】

Ingredients: ...

[Extractable Content: Forgotten Meditation Image]

"Indeed, it can be refined!"

Although Matthew couldn't remember the contents of this forgotten picture, it was the one he persisted with the longest out of the twenty-odd meditation pictures.

In other words, this is his most "pleasing" meditation image.

"Since the system suggests that it can be refined, then using the system to refine it should allow me to remember the content."

"That's the one I've decided on."

Matthew reached out and touched the mural of the Forgotten Image, and Melson did not stop him when he saw this.

Besides repeatedly viewing meditation diagrams to increase familiarity, wizards also use touch to increase familiarity, so it's not surprising that Myerson reacted to Matthew.

However, he simply did not believe that Matthew could successfully meditate on the contents of the Forgotten Diagram.

After Matthew touched the mural, he silently prayed to himself.

"System, extract the forgetting meditation diagram."