Chapter 65: If It Boosts Mental Power, Why Isn't This Meditation?!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: If It Boosts Mental Power, Why Isn't This Meditation?!
The meditation room seemed to have permanent soundproofing spells. With Spirit Vision active, I could clearly perceive "sound" being blocked by a barrier.
Was there even an anti-peeping spell active?
I wasn't sure why my Spirit Vision could see through such a spell to witness these scenes. Had my Spirit Vision reached a point where it could simply ignore the existence of such magic?
I walked back to the center of the meditation room and plopped down. After some deliberation, I decided to try again.
I wasn't willing to give up. Besides, I still had plenty of time left, and I’d already paid!
Even if I just spent the rest of the session sleeping and dreaming, I was going to use up every second. It cost me a full day’s wages; I’d spent the money, and I wasn't going to let it be for nothing.
As I began to meditate again, even without activating Spirit Vision, it felt as though I had opened Pandora’s box. "Dreams" seemed to have ensnared me.
Once I relaxed my body and cleared my mind, I followed the steps for meditation described in the book. But no matter how carefully I proceeded, I would always—inexplicably—slip into a dream. Sometimes, I didn't even realize it had happened until I was already there.
This was all wrong.
Currently, I was sitting cross-legged within the dream, pondering my strategy. I couldn't stay trapped like this forever, could I?
Was my path to transcendence going to end right here?
I absolutely refused to accept that.
I was beyond frustrated!
Why could all the Senior Sisters here meditate while I was stuck dreaming?
Furthermore, aside from that first time when I saw the Senior Sisters, I hadn't seen them again once I realized I was in a dream. It was as if no second consciousness could exist within my dreamscape.
"You can meditate in a meditation space, you can meditate in a mental space... so can you meditate in a dream space?"
At this point, I was barely aware of what I was muttering. It was only after the words left my mouth that I realized I might have stumbled upon something incredible.
If I could increase my Mental Power and condense Mental Power threads within a dream space, then what was the difference between this and meditation?
There was no difference at all!
Perhaps my direction had been wrong from the start. In this state, I shouldn't be trying to "meditate" in the traditional sense; I should be trying to increase my Mental Power!
I calmed my excitement and began to recall the contents of the books I’d read.
They explained how to condense Mental Power threads and how to increase Mental Power as a side effect.
First, one had to enter a meditative state, then perceive the physical existence of Mental Power, capture one's own Mental Power, and only then proceed with the condensation.
But could I really capture my own Mental Power in this state?
I couldn't feel it at all...
I looked around blankly. The scenery was becoming blurred because I wasn't focusing. The idea of "finding" Mental Power felt far too abstract.
How was I supposed to know what Mental Power looked like? It felt impossible to discover its existence in this state.
After all... this was... a dream.
I crossed my arms, weighing my options. Finally, I decided to use Spirit Vision.
Even though Spirit Vision seemed meaningless here in the dream—with even the information fragments gradually fading away—that didn't mean there was no information.
If Spirit Vision could see information, it meant the dream's existence was "meaningful" within the Inner World. It meant the dream was real, existing in an abstract way I didn't yet understand, and I had happened to perceive it through a method I didn't fully grasp myself.
Once I pushed past the information my subconscious was filtering out, I realized that I had been ignoring a vast amount of data within the dream. And there, among the noise, I found it: the information regarding "Mental Power."
It was abstract compared to the rest, yet it was also the most obvious.
Because everything I saw here—everything I could perceive—was constructed from Mental Power!
"This is Mental Power?"
I pressed my fingers against a wall, my voice shifting from doubt to certainty.
In an instant, the solid wall felt as though it could be pinched between two fingers. I began to peel it away, like unraveling silk from a cocoon.
This was the first time I had ever perceived the existence of Mental Power so tangibly. Amidst the excitement, the methods for condensing Mental Power described in the books rushed back to me.
"Be mine to command!"
I shouted aloud in the dream like some chuunibyou teenager, as if the words themselves could help me focus all my energy and shatter the illusions my Mental Power had built for itself.
My vision distorted. Everything before me seemed to warp as I dragged it toward me.
With the aid of Spirit Vision, I could perceive the changes in Mental Power more directly. It was as if the shift in my own perception was forging the final result of the condensation.
I seemed to return to that void-like dream where nothing existed.
However, there were still many cluttered images, like shards of a broken mirror reflecting familiar scenes.
And now, something new was in my hand.
It looked like a thread. I pinched it with my fingers and pulled it taut before my eyes.
Even though I tried to see it clearly, it remained blurry, as if I were looking through the eyes of someone with myopia.
It was both illusory and solid.
Two contradictory traits manifested in a single object.
Was this the "standard Mental Power thread" mentioned in the books?
I looked at the fragmented images floating around me, which seemed to be struggling to piece together a complete picture. If that was the case, then this "Mental Power" that was not yet under my control represented the surplus beyond a single standard unit.
So, my current Mental Power was only barely enough to condense one thread?
If my Mental Power had been any lower, the condensation might have failed entirely.
That was a lucky break.
I let go of the Mental Power thread. It was now in a completely different state compared to the Mental Power governed by my subconscious.
This single thread was now under the free control of my subjective will. I could even use it to construct a detailed dream environment according to my whims.
As for how to increase Mental Power... that was a good question.
While the Witch Meditation Method covered this, the descriptions weren't very specific. After all, increasing the Mental Power ceiling was considered a secondary effect of the meditation, and the text mentioned that the methods for increasing it could vary from person to person.
But I understood that Mental Power didn't just appear out of thin air. There had to be a way to grow it.
Mental Power was an attribute of my own being. This meant that training my will, tempering myself, and other such methods could increase it.
Therefore, practicing here repeatedly, over and over, and consuming energy to constantly push myself and strengthen the intensity of my Mental Power was indeed a valid method of growth.
But wasn't that a bit too tedious?
I manipulated the Mental Power thread to construct a magnificent landscape for myself. It was an incredibly taxing task, and while the growth of my Mental Power wasn't dramatic, it was visible to the naked eye.
It seemed I would only see significant results through long-term accumulation.
I slowly withdrew from the dream. Having proven that I could achieve the same results as meditation within a dream, there was no need to push further. That single attempt at manipulating Mental Power had already drained a massive amount of my energy.
Drowsiness was on the verge of swallowing my consciousness.
My body felt as though I had just performed grueling physical labor; I couldn't find the strength to move.
Just then, the scent of the incense wafted over. Earlier, I had thought it was just a pleasant smell, but now it felt like a divine medicine capable of soothing my very soul!
So this was the true purpose of the incense... it really was a massive help for meditation.
Thinking back, that faint, clear fragrance had been with me the whole time; I just hadn't realized it while I was in the dream.
Now that I remembered, I realized the money spent on this incense hadn't gone to waste.
After all, this was the scent of a whole day's work.
But that was no longer the point.
The incense seemed to have burned out. I rested my hand on the burner; only a trace of lingering warmth remained.