“Zzz… Zzz…”

Back at Tristanian Academy, it was already late at night and everyone was sleeping soundly in their own room.

However, in a certain private room of the Angelwing dorm, someone was still wide awake. “Kuh—! I can’t sleep! I can’t fall asleep! I mean… how the heck can I fall asleep in such a situation?!”

That was my inner thought as I looked to the left, and there it was, the root cause that kept me wide awake; Sheena was sleeping beside me while clinging to my left arm. The soft texture of her breasts rubbed against my arm, her face was really close to mine, and I could feel her breathe against my cheeks.

I immediately flipped my head to the opposite side and screamed in my mind, “KHHHH!!! There’s no way I can fall asleep like this! It’s too arousing! This is too much for a 25-year old virgin like me!”

If I say I don’t enjoy the current situation, that’d be a big fat lie. In fact, this situation is to die for! Just that… I am currently extremely exhausted and is in dire need of a good-night sleep, so I can’t bring myself to enjoy the current situation to the fullest. After all that had happened throughout the day, it was only natural that I would be exhausted by now, it would be strange if I’m not.

Just when I was in the middle of lamenting this bittersweet feeling, Sylvidia suddenly whispered to me, “Psst~ Psst~ Master… since you can’t fall asleep, why don’t you try meditating? I mean… this is a great chance and all. Plus, you’d feel totally refreshed after a good period of meditation.”

“Meditation? How do I do that?” When I heard the term, meditation, I asked interestingly.

“Easy!” When Sylvidia heard me, she gave an immediate answer, “Just clear your mind of any worldly desires and focus on your breathing. Focus on how the air flows in and out of your body. That’s all. Oh, and you may also do it in any position you find comfortable. You don’t necessarily need to sit cross-legged, those are just misconception.”

When I heard that, I could only let out a bitter smile, to clear my mind of worldly desires? Easier said than done! There’s currently two heavenly mountains pressing against my arm, there’s no way I can clear my mind of this so-called worldly desires !

Perhaps Sylvidia have already guessed what I was thinking or that she could really read my mind, she said, “That’s why it’s more effective, if you can clear you mind under this kind of circumstances, you’d be able to master meditation in no time!”

“Mu…” What Sylvidia said was very reasonable, I couldn’t find any words to refute so all I could do was puff my cheeks in discontent.

I tried to clear my mind and focus on the air flowing in and out of my lungs as Sylvidia suggested, but every time Sheena moved a little, those pudding of hers would rub against my arm and cause my mind to go all over the place. It stayed this way until midnight. Instead of feeling more refreshed, I was feeling more exhausted than ever. In normal cases, it’d be easier to get into meditation mode the more exhausted you are, but that distraction was too powerful after all. No sane man could stay calm in the face of two heavenly mountains pressing against their arm.

“Sigh… looks like this won’t work…” Seeing that I didn’t make any progress for the past few hours, Sylvidia let out a sigh. “How about this instead? Since you can’t seem to clear your mind of worldly desires, how about we start with the second stage of meditation?”

“Huh? I didn’t even pass the first stage, how can I skip to the second stage just like this?” When I asked like this, Sylvidia answered with, “There are some people who can’t do the first stage of meditation, but is able to do the second stage with ease. Although the first stage is still very important. I will go more into details about that at a later time, but for now, I will explain about the second stage.”

Sylvidia stopped for a while to gather her thoughts before she continued, “In layman’s term, the second stage is basically what you did at the guild hall yesterday.”

“Wait… You don’t mean—?!” When I heard that, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement anymore and almost let out a shriek in joy.

“Ufufu… That’s right, the second stage of meditation is to analyze, break down, and recompose the elemental laws.” Sylvidia couldn’t help but let out a laugh when she saw my excitement. I mean… how could I not be excited? I’ve been looking forward to this the most.

I listened attentively as Sylvidia continued her explanation, “Although the second stage of meditation is less effective in drawing the elemental essence, it can help you comprehend the essence of elemental magic in the truest sense and increase your proficiency in  the so-called Origin Magic!”

They say that the Origin Magic is the original source of all magic, but that is too ambiguous so I have no idea what they were talking about. However, if I am to use my own interpretation of Origin Magic, I guess it would be tantamount to how the elemental laws work in Coiling Dragon ⌈¹⌋. In other words, we can use magic by simply gathering the elemental essence with our Spiritual Power and materialize them into any forms imaginable of our own liking.

Once again, Sylvidia continued the explanation so naturally as if she could read my mind, “That’s right… As you may have already figured out, the most important part of the second stage of meditation is the power of imagination! In other words… just let your imagination run wild!”

As Sylvidia said that, I immediately recalled those weird skills I used previously;

By now, I’m pretty sure the runes on my hands could help me manifest the Spatial Dimension and Law of Velocity from the elemental laws of the wind. In other words, although I can use powerful and bizarre ability thanks to the runes, if something unexpected were to happen and my contract with Sheena was annulled for whatever reason, I wouldn’t be able to use those powerful attacks again.

That is, unless I didn’t start to analyze them now and make these moves my very own…

As I was lost in my own thought, Sylvidia was surprised at how easily I achieved the state of selflessness and indulged in that state so naturally. I had all but forgotten the two melons that were pressing against my arm and everything in my surroundings.

Sylvidia smiled wryly as she thought to herself, “I never understood why the gods were so interested in the otherworlder, but now I guess I finally have caught a glimpse of it… Does all otherworlder have this much imagination or is she just unique?”

……

“She will become strong… definitely…” As soon as Sylvidia thought of that, she could hear snoring sound coming from me. After losing myself in my imagination for not more than an hour, I fell fast asleep.

Sylvidia had a sweat drop on her forehead as she looked at me, who was soundly asleep. Then she immediately changed her evaluation, “I take that back, she still have a really long way to go…”

Author’s Note:

And so… the training arc begins…

By the way, just saying… since Arifureta has remained inactive for 2 months already, I’ve decided to take turns between writing and translating Arifureta during the weekdays, whenever I can. So with that… we might be seeing less chapters (or not) on Silva’s Diary.

I will try to release one chapter every 2 weeks, but no promises on that, that depends on if I can come up with something to write or not.