"Please appoint me as your disciple!"
With his body slightly bowed, Lucas requested with much sincerity.
"No," Though Lucas had half-expected rejection, he couldn't help but feel his heart sink into immense disappointment.
"Why?" Lucas inquired.
"It's a pretty simple reason. I don't want to be embarrassed."
As Lucas didn't manage to understand what Haytham was trying to tell, Haytham carried on.
"Basically, if my student failed to live up to the expectation, wouldn't my reputation become a laughingstock within my folks?"
"What about giving me a chance?" Lucas insisted, inwardly gritting his teeth.
"You want a chance?" Seeing Lucas nod his head, Haytham didn't give an immediate response. He proceeds to sit on the couch and order, "Go perform a meditation."
Meditation? Is it the same meditation I'm presently thinking about?
Assuming it was the same meditation he knew on Earth, Lucas slowly crossed his legs and shut his eyes. He learned this posture from the internet without expecting it'd come in handy in the future.
"Clear your mind from any distraction. You may think of any sort of object such as animals, family, money, etc. As long as it arouses no desire."
"Every person had a different experience. If you succeed in your meditation, you might see an ocean, snow mountain, volcano, forest, etc. This refers to the inner world every person possesses is distinct."
Following his guidance, Lucas tried to empty his mind and gather his thoughts in just one object. Obviously, it's easier said than done. When his mind imagines the future, various pictures start to flood in. It was literally impossible to centralise threads of human thoughts in just one practice.
Just then, a flash image of blinding red and white surfaced inside his mind. As if being enlightened, Lucas immediately uses that piece of memory as the centre of his focus.
As the process continued, his vision gradually changed from pitch black of nothingness into a dark starry sky as in space. In that space, numerous objects appear to be in the middle of travelling in their own orbits at a speed human's eyes couldn't fathom. All noises originating from outside that initially kept disturbing his concentration also ceased to exist.
"This...Is this a meditation world?"
Since it was his first time performing meditation, Lucas didn't know whether this could be called a success or not.
"Based on Sir Haytham's word earlier, if I indeed succeed, then this space is supposed to be my inner world?"
He wanted to explore further, but he was afraid there'd be a risk involved. Hence, he remained fixed at the same spot while observing the surroundings.
It was unknown how much time had passed when a barely noticeable ripple seemed to touch his chest. Then, just before Lucas had a chance to investigate what sort of energy that made contact with him, his head started to throb in fatigue.
"Alright, the meditation session is over." Haytham's voice rang in Lucas's head, serving as a thunderclap that immediately roused Lucas awake. All hustle, as well as furious howling winds, start to fill his senses.
"Was it really your first time performing a meditation?" Haytham instantly asked as soon as he perceived Lucas had opened his eyes.
'This brat… Is he being serious about losing memory?' Haytham mulled skeptically. If Lucas introduced himself as a member of one of the great families, he wouldn't be this surprised.
Lucas, oblivious to Haytham's thought, rubbed his nose embarrassedly. "Was my performance terrible?"
"Just so-so," Haytham said casually before handing over a wooden glass. "Drink this; you'll feel better soon."
"What's this, Sir?" As he sipped the fills, Lucas almost spurted all of the drink out of bitterness.
"It's a medicine worth your life, so don't you dare spill even a single drop of it," Haytham said with a stern look.
*Gulp*
Afraid of inviting Haytham's wrath, Lucas, with much reluctance emptied the glass' content to the point the glass looks brand new.
It didn't take long for the medicine effect to begin kicking in. His mind fatigue, along with his ill physical body, starts to show a sign of improving.
"This…"
"Looks like the medicine still worked." Haytham nodded his head thoughtfully.
"Thank you, Sir Haytham!" Lucas quickly thanked the former after catching his intention.
"No need to be thankful; I just happened to need to cleanse my herb storage. Still, it was fortunate of you. I don't think a herb that has exceeded its expiration date would work as well."
'Did you want to poison me, Sir?' Lucas's cheek twitched in annoyance.
"Haha, I'm just joking." Haytham grinned. "Well, do you have a plan after getting well?"
"I am," Prior to coming downstairs, he had also prepared a set of future plans. However, the plan was created before he knew about the existence of magic. So, there were supposed to be a few changes here and there since he planned to be a magician or at least a person who could utilise magic now.
"Becoming a magician?" Haytham guessed.
"Uhm…Yes." Lucas hesitantly replied. After a bit of consideration, he decided to come up clear with his dream. Anyway, he already revealed his intention by becoming Sir Haytham's pupil, so, he sees no harm in divulging his information further.
'Wait, shouldn't Sir Haytham announce the test result now? He keeps changing the subject that I almost forget about it.' Mulling over this, Lucas couldn't help but silently narrow his eyes at Haytham.
As if sensing his discontent, Haytham promptly answered, "Practice again tomorrow. At that time, I'll give you my answer."
Lucas mentally cheered upon hearing Haytham's confirmation. Although the reply was neither acceptance nor rejection, the fact he was given another day to perform was enough to boost his morale.
"By the way, I'm not a magician." Haytham suddenly stated.
'Huh?' Lucas confusedly glanced at Haytham, detecting the solemnness in his words.
"Then what are you, Sir?"
"I'm Eternal, sounds familiar?" Haytham said while propping his chin.
'Eternal??'