The 'Art and Method of Meditation' isn't a very complex book, it has about 100 pages but each page has information that Nick finds invaluable. When Nick finished reading at 1 am, he picked up a pen and paper, trying to sort through his thoughts.
(Meditation is the method commonly used to form and develop the mindscape. From what I've read, the meditation techniques seem no different than spells to me. Spells seem to be the crystallization of the Magician's will through, at first, encoded form using Valteese or some other language unique to the Magician. Meditation is also done using laws made from a language like Valteese and also has to do with manifesting the user's will, the result is the mindscape; it seems to me that meditation isn't just about manifesting the Magician's will but also developing it and/or transforming it. That's probably what causes the mindscape to give the magic energy stored inside it special characteristics - by imprinting a special will onto the magic. That therefore means that laws are our intentions, convictions and knowledge combined into encoded and magical forms. So that's why the academy's generic meditation only gives a basic mindscape without any special characteristics, it probably contains a will that only has the intention of forming a mindscape, that is, there is no special intentions within the laws of the meditation. Hmmm...I first heard the word 'will' used by Rebecca when she was explaining laws and now I see it again when reading this book on meditation. It seems that, to be a good Magician one has to develop themselves according to their own 'will', just using generic methods, whether it be mediation techniques or spells won't get you very far. Of course that's just my speculation but then again that woman, Cindy Reece, told me that the academy's magic spells give off a specific sensation. Could I say that the sensation is some manifestation of the academy's will or the will of whoever designed the spells for the academy? That may not be all the way right but it seems close. Anyway, my goal is to create my own meditation technique and that means I have to design a meditation that nurtures my own will. That begs the question, what is my will?)
All this thinking started making Nick confused so he decided to get some sleep. Nick fell into a deep sleep the second he got into his bed.
RIIIIIINNNNGGGG!
One and a half hours later, Nick's phone alarm rang.
"Fuuucccckkkkk, this 3 am thing really sucks sometimes. Why the hell do I keep doing this to myself."
When he said this, a thought came into his mind seemingly from nowhere. It was a flashback of a morning back at his old home a few years ago. Nick stood in front of his grandaunt saying:
"I don't want to rake the leaves every morning anymore. I'm not going to rake them today."
Nick's grandaunt sneered at him, saying:
"The bible says that a lazy man must not eat, so until you get your priorities straight, I'm not giving you any food or even bus fare, you can walk to school!"
Nick clenched his fist and left the house that morning having not eaten and having to walk about one hour and thirty minutes to get to school. When he reached the school there were tears coming from his eyes but he still went to class, going through the day hungry and tired.
Nick hurriedly pushed those thoughts aside.
(I hated that life, having my life in the hands of someone else. I'm working to control my own life so that I can decide my future and that's why I keep doing this to myself.)
"Ha, ha..."
Nick chuckled, sometimes he had to laugh at himself. Asking stupid questions like 'Why am I doing this to myself?' doesn't help anyone, especially himself.
Nick spent thirty minutes doing pushups and after washing his face he sat down to start reading the book that Norman had given him. Its title was 'Modern Spell Works'. He read it for two hours then Nick turned on his laptop to read one of his math texts which he read for about two hours. Its now around 8 am but Nick wasn't in a rush because today's class starts at 11 am. Nick showered and got himself dressed. Since he was done with the book on meditation, he placed it into his backpack in order to return it to the library. Nick left for the cafeteria where he ordered two egg sandwiches and an orange juice. Nick sat at a table in the corner and observed the rest of the cafeteria while eating. It didn't take him long to notice his neighbor Don Bartholomew sitting in the middle of the cafeteria with an entourage; there were two other young men with him and about eight girls. They were laughing and talking with Don who was at the center of it at the center of it all, he certainly looked pleased with himself. Nick didn't have a problem with people being social, after all, that's probably a human instinct but he didn't see himself being involved in that scenario. Nick finished eating and got up to go to class.
Today's class is once again in one of the main buildings; it's supposed to be 'Introduction to Spells'. Nick took his seat in a very large lecture hall that was already filled by the time Nick got there.
(There should be about one hundred students in here right now.)
Nick decided to take a seat near the front of the class so that he could more easily ask questions if he had any. At 11 am, the teacher noticeably walked into the lecture hall. For some reason as soon as this man stepped into the room the temperature fell to a point near freezing. There was no air conditioning because the lecture rooms had laws in them that kept each student cool enough to avoid temperature related discomfort.
"Good day, my name is Ryan Grayson and I will be your instructor on spells for today."
As he was saying this, he raised his hand with his index finger pointing out towards the ceiling, glowing red. Some blood red writing appeared on the ceiling and the room went back to the normal temperature. The writing remained on the ceiling, glowing red, it was hard not to stare at it. Nick noticed something a little obvious about the spell on the ceiling.
"That spell is not written in Valteese."
Nick said that out loud without thinking. The second he finished speaking Ryan looked in his direction, almost as if he was looking directly at Nick and he smiled.
"You're right, that's not Valteese, its my own little mystical language and I'm using it to control the temperature of the room."
Nick could hear Ryan's voice clearly but Ryan had not moved his lips to speak, he just stared in Nick's direction. Ryan is a white young man and is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans pants with a black polo shirt and a thin leather jacket. He really didn't look like a teacher. The most noticeable thing about Ryan though, is his apparent age, he looked like a teenager. Ryan rubbed his black hair and took a deep breath in, looking away from Nick.
"What is a spell? You should all have some idea of that by now; the textbook definition is that a spell is a collection of laws used to create a certain effect by manipulating magic. I have my own definition though; spells are the use of magic to bring a Magician's desires into reality. That's not as proper sounding as the former definition but it gets straight to the point. Just like how I adjusted the temperature with that spell on the ceiling, all spells are a means of manifesting a Magician's will into reality... "
Nick thought:
(There's that word again: 'will'.)
The lecture went on for two hours with no one interrupting with questions. Ryan was eloquent and spoke in a way that even a child could understand. Nick felt that the lecture was very useful to him though there were parts that he couldn't understand at all because of an obvious lack of knowledge. Near the end of class, Nick raised his hand to ask a question about something that had been bothering him since the beginning, something in regards to what Rebecca had said in her lecture. Ryan motioned for him to stand and ask his question.
"When you walked into the room, the temperature fell so much that the room became almost freezing despite the laws that are already in the lecture hall to control the temperature. Was that the effect of your mindscape? In my last lecture, the instructor said to the effect that divergent and special minsdcapes could give the Magician's magic energy qualitative characteristics that can affect the environment. Is that why you had to use your own spell to fix the temperature."
Ryan smiled at Nick.
"You're a very sharp young man. Yes, the temperature fell so drastically because I have something of a 'special' mindscape that causes the temperature to fall wherever I go if I'm not paying attention. I purposely let my magic do that to create a spectacle so its something I can control to a degree, if you were wondering that."
After hearing that, Nick felt so exited that he almost tripped in place. He asked another question without thinking it through.
"How do I form a special mindscape?"
When he finished asking that question, the whole room went into an uproar of laughter.
"Ha, this guy want's a special mindscape, I have a list of all our year-mates and this guy isn't anything special, not even from a decent family."
"This guy's crazy, asking teacher Ryan that in public. Hmph, if he can form a special mindscape, this daddy here will eat his own shoes."
"Sigh, why are the young ones so excitable these days. Young man, let me advise you, your goals should always be realistic. Do not indulge in fantasies."
....
The room became filled with such comments. Nick felt a little hurt by the comments but remembering his time in high school, he steeled himself and continued looking at Ryan, waiting for an answer. Ryan began to laugh.
"Ha, ha...you're an interesting one, implying your intentions so openly...but I'll answer your question honestly, who knows, maybe you will surprise me. If you want a special mindscape, you need a special 'will' of your own. What does magic mean to you, what are your aims, what do you want and how do you plan to get it?"
With that, Ryan slowly began to disappear and in five seconds he was gone. That was probably the signal for the end of class so people began to leave the lecture hall. Some students looked at Nick with a sneer before leaving the room. Nick noticed them all but he didn't let them bring down his mood.
(A dramatic exit, huh? The faculty at Richter Order Academy really like to show off. Oh, the spell on the ceiling disappeared too. He said I need a special 'will'...that's still so cryptic. How the hell do I get one of those, anyway? Hmmm...my aims...what I want and how to get it.)
Nick knew he had many things to think about so he made his way to the library while trying to sort through his thoughts.