"Reverence Points?" Lucian's eyes gleamed with surprise as he noticed his first system currency gain. Though he didn't fully understand its value yet, the system had described these points as "exceptionally valuable," suggesting they were far from ordinary. Lucian looked at Carrie with growing approval—she was an attentive and perceptive student.
"Mentor Lucian…" Carrie spoke softly, a bit overwhelmed. On the airship, the third-tier apprentice who had welcomed them had explained some basics about wizardry, but now, at the cusp of her new path, Carrie couldn't help feeling a little anxious.
"Just a blank slate," Lucian thought as he observed Carrie's nervousness. Truth be told, this was his first time guiding someone through the foundations of wizardry, and he felt a touch of nervousness himself.
"Alright, let's begin with the essence of wizardry," Lucian said, taking a moment to organize his thoughts. While many mentors simply tossed a basic meditation technique at their students to spare themselves effort, Lucian wasn't about to cut corners. After all, this young girl would likely be with him for a long time.
"So, tell me, what's your understanding of wizards?" he asked gently. Despite his frustration with Norian, he wasn't about to vent his anger on his student.
"The essence of… wizards?" Carrie seemed puzzled, her gaze uncertain. She'd heard bits and pieces before: wizards were mysterious, powerful, wielders of incredible forces.
"Not bad," Lucian said patiently after listening to her answer, nodding to encourage her despite her answer missing the core truth.
Realizing her answer wasn't quite right, Carrie looked at him expectantly, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"A wizard," Lucian began, "is fundamentally a scholar who uses knowledge as a lever to manipulate reality in pursuit of power." This was his understanding, shaped by both his newly acquired knowledge and the former Lucian's memories.
"Knowledge…" Carrie murmured, trying to grasp his meaning.
"Exactly," Lucian nodded, feeling a surprising sense of satisfaction at her curiosity. "Knowledge is the core of a wizard's power to comprehend, understand, and even alter reality. Our meditation techniques and spells are practical applications of this knowledge."
"Imagine a simple example: you know fire can burn. Using that knowledge, you wield a burning torch to drive off an enemy," Lucian explained with a smile. "Here, fire represents reality, knowledge is your awareness that fire causes burns, and the torch is the medium through which you apply that knowledge—in the same way that wizards use spells."
"Reality… knowledge… medium…" Carrie repeated, her mind opening to a vast new concept.
"Wow, Mentor Lucian is amazing…" she thought, awe filling her heart.
[Your student Carrie feels reverence toward you. Reverence Points +2]
Lucian's lips curved slightly; he was beginning to enjoy this feeling.
"So broadly speaking, a wizard could be any intelligent being that uses knowledge to alter reality. But more specifically, the wizarding world follows a defined structure known as the Wizard-Meditation System," he continued, guiding Carrie through an introduction to the hierarchy within the wizarding world, explaining concepts like meditation, spiritual energy, magic power, and spells.
Finally, Lucian arrived at the main topic: teaching Carrie the basics of meditation.
Basic meditation techniques were the foundation for strengthening one's spiritual power, allowing newly awakened wizard apprentices to solidify magical "runic imprints" within their minds. The quality of a meditation technique could vary significantly, however. For instance, the meditation techniques passed down among the commoners or certain rogue wizard groups could only solidify a handful of runic imprints, providing almost no chance for advancement to an official wizard, and making even second-tier apprenticeship a challenge.
By contrast, wizard organizations with official wizards, like noble wizard families, had meditation techniques capable of solidifying dozens of runic imprints, enough to support an apprentice's growth to official wizard status.
The Greybone Academy's basic meditation technique, the "Greybone Meditation Technique," was considered quite advanced, allowing the solidification of up to 108 runic imprints and easing the path toward becoming an official wizard. This was the technique Lucian planned to teach Carrie.
However, he couldn't help but feel curious about how his system would work.
The system had promised that when his students learned new knowledge, he would receive upgraded versions of that knowledge. Lucian wondered what form this "upgraded knowledge" might take.
He had already shared fundamental concepts of wizardry with Carrie, but the system hadn't reacted. But meditation, he thought, must surely count as system-recognized knowledge.
Continuing his lesson, Lucian began guiding Carrie through the basics of meditation.
As a "basic" technique, Greybone Meditation wasn't overly difficult to learn. With Lucian's patient instruction, Carrie quickly entered a meditative state within half an hour. It was clear she had successfully grasped the fundamentals.
[Your student Carrie has learned the Greybone Meditation Technique. Congratulations! You have unlocked the Greybone Meditation Technique (Enhanced).]
Lucian felt a sudden rush of information flood his mind, bringing insights into meditation structures, runic imprints, and more…
Postscript:
Our protagonist leans towards being a "white wizard"—not a saint, but more aligned with order and neutrality.
In this story, wizardry is conceptualized broadly: any sentient being that uses knowledge to influence reality and follows a meditation-based advancement system falls under the category of wizardry. This definition sets wizards apart from other systems like the Divine-Faith System or the Mechanical-Technology System. So, knights (bloodline sorcerers and body-refinement wizards), rogues (shadow wizards), warriors (body-refinement wizards), and summoners (necromancers) are all considered wizards in the broad sense. Even non-human entities like dragons, elves, and sea creatures can become "wizards" within their species.
However, within the academy's starting area, wizard knowledge is limited, so wizardry is narrowly defined here. The broader fantasy world will unfold once the protagonist becomes an official wizard and leaves the academy.