The Black Iron Glory
Claude on the Roof

Chapter 66

Claude on the Roof

Amidst the desolate void, Claude used his mental strength to trace the hexagram in midair, leaving a trail of dim light behind. Immediately, countless light spots appeared in the surrounding space, peppering into the star-like void in the night sky. The lights are multi-colored and move endlessly towards the hexagram.

So this is the photon of essence. . . I usually can't see them with vision alone and can only detect them with mental strength in an empty state. . .

The speed of the essence photons Claude saw moving slowly increased. They seem to be rushing for hexagrams and he doesn't understand why hexagrams will attract them so much.

The red one should be the essence of the fire element and according to the diary, the green one should be wood. What is blue? Of water? White is light, but what is dark? Dark or earth? No, the yellow one must be ground, so that means the black one is dark. . . What about the silver ones? Which gold should be lightning, and what color is the essence of the wind element?

After staring for a long time, Claude began to wonder. Wait, what elements do I align the most? After many observations, he noticed that the number of photons of fire essence attracted to the hexagram was the most numerous compared to other essence photons. Apparently, he was also very familiar with fire elements like Landes.

Why does that save so much trouble, Claude happily thought. Having a high fire affinity means that he can practice according to Landes diaries using the same insights and concepts. He was initially concerned that if he was more familiar with some elements other than fire, Landes' diary could only be used as a substandard reference. He won't be able to train according to Landes' own experience.

Following the instructions on the diary, Claude began to use his mental strength to slowly rotate the hexagram to apply some sort of filter around that outside, which was, let only the red essence photons light up through and keep the others out. It didn't take long before the six triangles in the hexagram were gradually filled with flaming red.

Not long after, the six triangles turned bright red. Even in an empty state, Claude could feel the heat coming from the fire element. He felt himself amassing fewer and fewer photons of essence with each revolution. That's enough, isn't it?

Claude then connected the six red triangles with his mental strength and guided the photon of essence into the hexagon in the center of the hexagram. It was the conversion of the photon of essence into mana.

It wasn't hard at all. The essence photons in the six flaming red triangles were quickly sucked into the central hexagon. However, triangles are dim in color whereas hexagons appear like bottomless holes. Although so many essence photons were sent into the hexagon, it did not appear as red and bright as a triangle. Instead, it was dark as if nothing had changed. Claude noticed that the hexagon boundary was indeed slightly thickened, giving the impression of volume.

All the photons of fire essence had been moved to the hexagon. But at that moment, there were no more fire essence photons available in the nearby space to replenish them. The empty void no longer gave the fire essence photons for him to attract.

This ended his first meditation. Landes mentions in the diary that people should not meditate too often at the beginning of training. Otherwise, overemphasizing one's mental strength would create a headache. He seems to be suffering himself.

Claude felt nothing at his mental strength, but he did not want to risk anything, so he did not continue. Instead, he returned to his attic and looked at his sand glass. Only half an hour had passed, including the time it took for him to climb onto the roof and calm down. It seemed that if his mental strength could support him, he could meditate four more times if he wanted to.

So, Claude came out of the attic and started the Hexagram Meditation again. But this time, when he drew the hexagram in an empty state once again, he discovered that the three-dimensional feeling of the hexagram he saw first was not a misunderstanding of him. The hexagram he had just outlined seemed a little thicker, like how he left it after his first meditation.

As the bells of the wargod temple echoed throughout the city, Claude only noticed that he had been meditating all night. He had forgotten how many times he meditated, but it was definitely over five. He did not feel any damage to his mental strength, nor did he feel any fatigue from staying up all night. Instead, he felt somewhat excited and energetic.

Landes forgot to note the important points in that diary, and it was the gradual increase in hexagram volume during training. No wonder he described the hexagon in a hexagram like a well. When it was filled with mana it converted from essence photons, which marked a successful transition to the first rank magus rune stage.

Maybe it was an honest mistake on Landes' side. Recalling that he had written the diary only after he became a third rank magus rune after he finally got his own room in the basement of the magic tower, it was no wonder that he would forget to state some things that he took for granted.

Throughout the training night, the Hexagram that Claude had imagined in his mind had turned into a flat image into a solid form. It was like the size of the 'pen' tip he used to draw an enlarged hexagram. Apart from the six triangles on the side of the hexagon being able to store more fire essence photons, it also gave Claude the impression that filling a hexagonal well in the middle would not be an easy feat, though, and it's gonna take more time than that.

So that's why Landes made the point to write that it only took three months to become a first rank magus rune. . . It's really something to be proud of. In addition to having talent, he also tried hard. . . But compared to the average apprentice who takes about a year or two to achieve the same feat through meditation, the study found, the female Magus who spent five years at that stage was even more worthy of sympathy. . .

As an apprentice magus, he had to do nothing but meditation. If he could not channel mana out of his body, there would be no point in learning any other magical skill. Landes noted clearly in his diary that during a time when magical resources were plentiful, apprentice magi could use all sorts of supplies and talismans to cast spells. However, in an age when magical resources were dwindling, apprentice magi would not be able to cast spells with anything other than mana stored in their own bodies..

Claude was in the same situation. He would not be able to start unraveling the mysteries of magic just because he learned the Hexagram Meditation and became an Apprentice Magus. Although Landes wrote down some magic spells and techniques in the diary, he would not be able to test the effects before he became a first rank magus rune and gained the ability to channel mana out of his body.

As for using magical resources to cast spells. . . Claude had no idea what it was, let alone find and use it. Landes wrote diaries, not encyclopedias. There was no way he would show what kind of magical resources could be used to level up. He only noted down some of the types he used as magus rune assistants when he helped with some experiments.

Claude decided to focus on training in his meditation techniques and relied on the accumulation of time and effort to become a first rank magus rune. Only then could he follow the information on the last page of Landes' diary. Rice must be eaten sip by mouth, like how a path must be passed step by step.

Since the overnight meditation did not make Claude the slightest bit uncomfortable and instead increased his energy over the next two days, Claude decided to use meditation to replace sleep. That way, he could save even more time.

But during the third night of doing that, Claude woke up from meditation only to notice that the lights downstairs were on and there were a lot of people outside his house. All the rooms in the large house of red bricks were lit by oil lamps and people chatting about it could be heard.

What the hell is going on? It's late at night. . . Is there a fire? Claude still couldn't see what was going on.

But soon, he could hear the confused footsteps rushing into his room and the sound of his siblings crying after being shocked from their sleep, sandwiched between the bark of an unrelenting affair.

The hasty footsteps grew louder before his attic door was almost slammed open. His father immediately called out, "Claude! Claude …"

"I'm .. I'm here!" He's really flabbergasted. What's wrong? Am I known to meditate on the roof?

"You ... what are you doing on the roof ?!" morssen shouted as he realized that everything was normal in the attic.

"… The attic was a bit too stuffy, so, I .. I climbed the roof to get some fresh air and fell asleep," Claude said, hurriedly looking for an excuse for himself, "Dad, what's up? "

"What's going on? You dare to ask ?!" Morssen bellowed furiously, "Get in first and we'll talk!"

Claude obediently walked back into the attic and only found out what was going on after a lot of commotion.

The whole thing played out simply. At midnight, one of the guards patrolling the city passed by and accidentally saw someone lying on a red brick roof and started to feel anxious about it. This is the residence of the chief secretary of the city, Morssen! A thief actually dared to climb the roof ?! he thought, before he gathered his men to surround the mansion and knocked on the door to conduct a search just in case the thief who was suspected of having someone else work with him.

Claude was severely reprimanded by his father. "yeah? You're telling me that you're on the roof just because it's colder there? Putting aside how you managed to wake up all the residents of the mansion, you even fell asleep on the roof! What if you accidentally fall under a roof? This is ridiculous .. From where do you get that kind of courage … "

Morssen was enraged with anger, but the patrol captain looked extremely regretful. "Umm .. Mr. Morssen, since it's a misunderstanding, we're leaving now. Apologies for interrupting your night."

"Don't apologize. What you did was right," said Morssen, maintaining his rationality before his subordinates, "Thank you very much for your efforts. If it wasn't for your vigilance in paying attention to this, my foolish son would probably have 'I really ended up in big trouble. As a father, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. "

After sending the patrol captain away, Morssen reassembled his angry face. "It's four in the morning, so go to bed! I'll deal with you in the morning!"