Lian sat in the lotus position, closed his eyes, and began imagining himself in a safe, meaningful place.
And there he was, near the well where his family drew water.
Since he was a child, Lian had always trained near that well. It was his most important place. It symbolized training sessions with his father, pranks on his sister by splashing her with water, and his mother's joyful laughter as she scolded him.
That place was filled with indelible memories.
As he stood there, immersed in nature, blue essences began to appear beside him.
Mana.
Lian, thrilled, immediately used his mind as an arm to grasp them and guide them to his dantian.
However…
The moment he tried to imagine his mind as an arm, something went wrong, and Lian found himself drawing twisted lines all around him.
"What the hell!?"
His concentration shattered as the mental image of his cherished place vanished without a trace.
He opened his eyes, finding himself back in the room, exactly where he started.
"Alright, alright. I won't try that again, I get it," he said with a frustrated but somewhat relieved sigh. "I can only use my System to move forward. All that's left is to practice and improve day by day!"
"Geometric Meditation!" he murmured a few seconds later.
Still in the lotus position with his eyes closed, Lian began his true meditation practice.
A transparent line appeared in his mind.
This time, Lian was ready.
Focusing intensely, he used his mind like a brush to trace the line.
It took only a few seconds, and a perfect line, in all its splendor, took shape. It was easier than before. Lian was getting used to drawing with his mind.
A shimmering glow filled Lian's mind.
"I did it!" he whispered excitedly as the glow slowly faded.
An instant later, a warm sensation filled not only his dantian but his entire body.
"Ah!" A sigh of bliss escaped his lips as he savored the moment.
A moment later, another line appeared in his mind, but Lian could somehow sense something different.
The line wasn't identical to the first. It was no longer perfectly horizontal—it was slightly angled.
"Interesting!" he exclaimed, noting this detail.
With that, Lian began drawing the second line.
But this time, it wasn't as simple as the first. Though doable, the effort was evident.
Slowly but relentlessly, Lian succeeded.
Then, the same scene as before.
A glow exploded in his mind before dissipating and flowing into his dantian and body as mana.
Lian could feel it.
The sensation of growing stronger!
Driven by this feeling, the boy continued his meditation practice.
"Huh? What's happening!?"
Lian's astonished voice echoed in the room. If drawing the second line had been tiring, doing the same with the third was proving to be a monumental task.
It was as if his mind had to move a boulder instead of a simple brush.
The result? Failure.
Lian opened his eyes slowly. An overwhelming mental fatigue washed over him.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on?" he whispered, massaging his temples.
He was using meditation to alleviate the mental fatigue already caused by casting spells earlier, but now he was even more exhausted.
"Shit, maybe I just need to stop and rest…" he said, reflecting on how much time had passed.
Mage Patrick had given a one-hour time limit for all raid participants to prepare.
"About half an hour left…" the boy thought, accounting for the time spent.
After all, he had been trained to be an all-around warrior, and being aware of time was a fundamental requirement.
"I'll relax a bit by reading the tome Mage Patrick gave me…" he muttered as he stood and returned to his previous seat.
The more he read, the more Lian learned something new.
"Huh?" he murmured, stunned, his eyes glued to what he was reading.
"So there's no substantial difference between Mage and Knight?!" Shock covered his face. He had always thought mages were stronger than Knights, the ordinary people without access to mana.
But he was wrong.
He was terribly wrong!
The two systems—physical for Knights and magical for Mages—were balanced.
And the more Lian read, the more he understood.
A Bronze 1 Mage was roughly equivalent to an Iron 3 Knight.
A Bronze 2 Mage was equivalent to an Iron 4 Knight.
A Bronze 3 Mage was equivalent to an Iron 5 Knight.
But this wasn't entirely true; much depended on a Mage's abilities.
However, neither a Bronze 4 nor a Bronze 5 Mage matched the power of a Steel 1 Knight.
One had to reach the Silver rank to contend with a Steel rank.
At this point, strengths balanced out.
A Silver Mage had superior magical abilities compared to a Bronze. A larger mana pool, faster spell-casting, greater magical power—everything improved, evolved.
However, a Steel Knight was no less formidable.
Their physical abilities improved exponentially compared to an Iron rank, making them faster, stronger, and more resilient, capable of facing a Silver Mage without issue.
Moreover, Steel Knights gained a unique resistance to magic. On their skin, the effectiveness of spells was reduced.
"Wow, I had no idea… Father never told me about this," Lian muttered with a thoughtful expression as he finished reading those lines. "So even that old man knows little about the world."
While Lian was engrossed in reading about the basics of the world and everything else, Mage Patrick and Mage Sera, along with the other members of their group—the three Iron 5 Knights—were in a room discussing raid strategies.
"Good, let's recap," Patrick's voice commanded everyone's attention.
Even Sera looked at him seriously, proof that what they were discussing was important.
"For this mission, we can't afford mistakes. We must complete it perfectly. However, if I were to intervene, clearing the Gate would be too easy.
So, I'll only step in when necessary—when the Steel-rank monster appears…"
"…if there is one, of course," Patrick continued, looking at his group sternly.
"Soon, the three Knights from Dustwall will join us. Two are Iron 4, and the last is Iron 5.
Your task, Knights, is as follows: fight monsters of your level and protect the two Mages."
The Knights' expressions didn't change. They knew their place. Despite there being no difference between Mage and Knight, this only applied when the Knight was Steel-rank.
Iron Knights were always treated as meat shields.
The world would always favor magic; that was a fact.
"After all, they need experience," the Mage added with a kind smile.