Soon I finally took apart the watch and picked up what seemed to be a nondescript plate of an unknown material. Meanwhile, Bertram continued.
- It could be anything, I had a similar feeling with the spell models in the books. But information inside can be of any kind. However, it is possible that whoever left this created a protection so that only his descendants could use the plate or something similar. Although this is not necessarily the case, I must warn you.
On the other hand, judging by this watch, a lot of time has passed, this precaution has most likely lost its effect, perhaps earlier I would not even be able to feel the mental fluctuations from this thing. - Bertram said.
- So how do I get information inside? - I clarified.
- Should work the same as transmission crystal balls, those things in academies were originally meant to be used by mortal students. Just take it in your hands and put it on your forehead. But don't do it here, if your mental energy is too low there can be serious consequences. Even if your Magician talent is negligible, as long as you are not mentally retarded, there is a chance that you will survive.
And in general, inform your people about what you are going to do, if your corpse is suddenly discovered, I do not want to bear the consequences. - Bertram wailed.
Thanking Bertram for the analysis, I went home.
Returning to my quarters, I was convinced that I was in optimal condition, after which I decided to try and put the plate to my forehead.
For a while nothing happened, but soon I felt a sharp pain in my head. My brain was filled with various images and my body began to tremble, my hands dropped helplessly, but the tablet remained on my forehead and shone with white light.
Soon Sam was on the bed. His body twitched in a fit and foam came out of his mouth. When the process was finally completed, the tablet crumbled to dust. Sam lost consciousness and continued to lie on the bed, the seizures gradually subsided.
Waking up in the middle of the night, I felt dry mouth and terrible weakness throughout my body. The body was completely emaciated as if I had been starving for months. Is it possible that the work of the brain can deplete the body in such a way?
At first, the dizziness and headache were unbearable. Trying to remember the information I received caused inner fear in me, so I decided to save it for later. With difficulty, I got up and rang the bell and soon a maid ran in.
- Food and water. - I said hoarsely.
- Yes Lord. - she answered quickly.
Without asking questions, she ran off to carry out the assignment.
When I finally had enough and calmed down a bit, I again tried to remember exactly what kind of information appeared in my head.
An advanced meditation technique called Soul Shield.
It was advanced because it was divided into different parts for each stage, respectively, starting from rank 1 acolyte and so on. In addition, with the level of progress, mental stamina increased and the soul strengthened.
To reach rank 1 I had to understand and fix one rune in my mind. Three runes for rank 2 and nine for rank 3 acolyte.
It is interesting that the first rune was already imprinted in my mind, I just had to close my eyes and I could imagine its vague image. It seemed that I could only gradually comprehend this rune and at the moment when I finish this process, I will reach the 1st rank.
I couldn't yet judge how rare this meditation technique was, but I didn't care. Anyway, I finally found what I was looking for. This knowledge is imprinted in my head and I will not be able to forget it even with all my desire.
With these thoughts, I fell asleep peacefully again.
A week later, I returned my body to a healthy look and felt better.
Sitting on my bed, I closed my eyes and began to study the rune.
Gradually the rune came to life in my mind, step by step I focused on every detail of it, studying every pattern and curve. Complicating the matter was that as the rune was studied, it began to move and its structure constantly changed from one state to another.
The general structure of the rune resembled a spherical pendulum with endless spheres constantly moving in a chaotic manner. In this way, endless images of various patterns and formations were created. It was impossible for me to understand any of this. All I could do was to gradually activate the rune in a predetermined pattern in my mind.
Half an hour later, I opened my eyes again.
It really drove me crazy and it was not possible to continue meditation for a long time, when I felt wildly tired I had to take a long break. Sometimes I got too carried away and had side effects like nosebleeds and severe dizziness.
In general, I was able to meditate twice a day, although it still overwhelmed my mind, so I often had to limit myself to one meditation per day.
It was difficult for me to judge what my Mage talent is and whether it exists at all, but to be honest I didn't give a damn. In addition, I have already read that the Knights are more likely to have the talent of a magician.
Becoming a Knight Apprentice in itself improved a person's bloodline a little, so becoming a True Knight gave a good chance of magical talent appearing even if it was absent before.
Even if the chance wasn't great, I didn't intend to remain a Knight's Apprentice anyway. Perhaps in academies with many spells and artifacts, novices are indeed stronger than Knights, but here in the mortal world, the True Knight was a weighty argument.
I tried to look for the positive in my situation. Perhaps students in the schools of magic could gain a lot of knowledge and opportunities, but nothing is given just like that. On the other hand, I was extremely wealthy and my network of acquaintances and information extended even beyond the borders of this kingdom.
Given the growth of the city, more and more people flocked to it. There have already been cases when other acolytes visited my auctions to buy or sell something. In the city itself there was one of the most extensive markets in the region, many different shops, workshops and other establishments.
It seemed like I pushed a small ball of snow off the mountain, which became more and more rolling down with little need for guidance.
In a way, I had even more opportunities than a student in a magic school.
A year and a half later, I was back in my quarters trying to finally complete my study of the first rune.
Although the rune gradually accelerated as it was learned, I noticed that my mind also became stronger, so my rune learning speed simultaneously decreased due to the increase in difficulty and accelerated due to the strengthening of my mind.
Finally, I looked at the sparkling rune that shimmered with colors in an incomprehensible way and spun in a chaotic rhythm at such a speed that even just looking at it was hard. However, albeit with difficulty, I comprehended the final touches of this wonderful rune.
When the rune was fully activated, it emitted a bright light. A mental vibration surged from it, and I felt the three magic crystals in my hands crumble to dust. From now on, this rune was forever imprinted in my mind and became a part of my very being.
Opening my eyes, for some time it seemed to me that I plunged into an endless sea and everything around shimmered in blue, but this feeling quickly passed and I looked in the mirror.
Sweat dripped down my face and my hair was matted. This time trickles of blood clearly appeared not only from the nose, but from the ears, mouth and eyes. The eyes themselves seemed to have acquired some kind of elusive brilliance. I have seen this before with other acolytes.
But the main thing is that by closing my eyes, over time I was able to feel the various elements around me. In my mind they were dots of every possible color.
Now I have definitely become a rank 1 acolyte and become part of the world of Mages.
The black magic crystals contained mental energy. As far as I knew Mages could not use them to replenish their own mental energy. Commonly, crystals were used in magic formations, magic traps, advanced artifacts, and so on.
Judging by the meditation technique, these three crystals were necessary because the first rune was extremely difficult, and the mental energy of a rank 1 acolyte was not enough to complete it.
In the future, when moving to the level of a 2nd rank acolyte, I will also need three crystals, one for each rune. But when you move to the 3rd rank, there will be no need for crystals at all. It will only be necessary to use a special technique to block all the senses of the body, as well as a means of stimulation.
After cleaning myself up and having a good night's sleep, I again tried to feel the different elements. Gradually, I began to learn how to lure them to me using mental energy.
Even without being a Magician, all these years I fanatically absorbed a huge amount of information about the various elements of their use and interaction.
Although Bertram and I had only one full-fledged model of a 0-level combat spell at this point, but in addition to combat spells, there were many auxiliary spells for which there was enough theory to use. Of course, it was too early for me to try to use them.
A week later, I could already use particles of fire, water and wind. Of course, for now, I could only create moisture and heat, or create a light breeze. It required a lot of time practice and master the various elements.
However, there was an element that clearly stood out from the rest, it was the particles of this element that I controlled more easily than any others, and I felt them everywhere around me. At first, I really could not understand what kind of element it was, perhaps it was some combination of them.
With the accidental use of these particles, some kind of chaotic wave effect arose around me, which did not manifest itself outwardly. However, if I collected these particles in one small sphere and activated, a wave of energy resembling an explosion radiated from the point of incarnation in all directions, accompanied by a strange muffled sound resembling a beat on a drum.
The speed of this blast wave was huge, but the strength of the impact depended on the distance from the starting point, but in general, this force was rather weak. Nevertheless, I was extremely pleased even with this effect after a week of training.
Presumably it was an element of sound or some variation of this element. Unfortunately, this was clearly not a very common element, so in the future I will have to experiment on my own.