Melee Mage

Chapter 11: The Great Goal

The skill of meditation, difficult to master yet not entirely simple, can be practiced by everyone. The only difference lies in the level of proficiency. At the lowest level, one hour of meditation is equivalent to just an hour of sleep for an ordinary person. As proficiency increases, the depth of meditation differs. The higher the level, the better the quality of rest and the faster the recovery.

So far, Adrian has not learned meditation. Although he can learn spells, his mental power is still too weak to reach the state of meditation. Basically, once he learns meditation, he will have ascended from being a magic apprentice to becoming an apprentice mage.

What Adrian actually wanted to express was the need for rest. However, when it spread to the outside, it became meditation. Although it was just a change in terminology, without a doubt, Adrian's image immediately became grand. At that moment, he was no longer a magic apprentice but a mage!

After a full hour of rest, Adrian reluctantly regained his energy and resumed casting Nourishing Spells. Throughout the entire day, Adrian continued to cast spells and take breaks, until the sun set and everyone reluctantly dispersed, returning to their homes.

Weary, he carried two chairs tied together on his shoulder as he walked towards his home. Between his hands, he held a bundle of white cloth. Despite being exhausted, the feeling of heavy coins in his embrace brought a sense of fulfillment that was incomparable.

From the beginning until nightfall, Adrian cast Nourishing Spells for 176 people. Alongside the considerable amount of money he earned, Adrian was pleasantly surprised to find that his mental power was gradually growing. After the final break, Adrian managed to cast 25 consecutive Nourishing Spells in one breath. This progress was no ordinary feat!

The rewards were not limited to these. Throughout the day, Adrian successfully cast 176 Nourishing Spells. These successful experiences were the most valuable treasure for a mage. Throughout history, countless mages have perished due to their failure to cast spells successfully at critical moments, a number that cannot be calculated.

For a mage to master a spell, the only way is to release it time and time again, accumulating all the experiences of success and failure. When they can instinctively cast spells, where thought leads to intention and intention leads to action, they are unlikely to fail.

Moreover, the more times a spell is successfully cast, the deeper the understanding of that spell becomes. Once a certain level is reached, creating original magic is not an impossible task. There are recorded instances of thousands of original magics throughout history. Unfortunately, all original magics share one characteristic—they cannot be replicated! Aside from the creator, no one else can reproduce them. This signifies the understanding and perception of magic unique to the mage, truly one-of-a-kind.

Carrying the chairs back to the doorstep, Adrian couldn't open the door because his hands were full. Helplessly, he lightly kicked the door with his foot. Hearing the sound, his mother quickly opened the door and looked at Adrian, who was shouldering the chairs and holding something in his arms, with a surprised expression.

In that brief moment of confusion, the woman quickly regained her composure and hurriedly took the white cloth from Adrian's embrace. "You mischievous child, where did you take these chairs? You made me think the house was being robbed."

Although she said these words, there was not a trace of blame on the woman's face. Instead, she smiled gently. Deep within her heart, she always carried a profound sense of guilt towards her son. Three years of illness had deprived him of the opportunity to play with his peers. In reality, how much she wished her son could be like other children, playing without a care in the world and returning home exhausted—that was what a child deserved.

Casually placing the white cloth on the bed, the woman washed her hands and lovingly wiped Adrian's face with a soft towel. She asked gently, "Where did you go to play today? Did you play with your classmates?"

Seeing his mother's affectionate face, Adrian smiled happily. All the hardships were worth it as long as his mother could smile happily every day. Even if he had to endure hardships, Adrian would never complain.

Gently reaching into his pocket, Adrian took out a heavy leather pouch and asked, "Mom, guess what's inside this?"

Curiously looking at the leather pouch in Adrian's hand, the woman smiled, thinking that it must contain marbles or something similar. After all, children liked such things. Her own son was finally slowly returning to a normal child's life. No matter how much suffering and exhaustion she endured, it was all worth it.

Although she wasn't interested in children's things, the woman still opened the pouch to not dampen her son's excitement. She had already planned to pretend to admire those marbles. However, what she never expected was that when she opened the pouch and saw the dazzling golden light, she was truly stunned!

After a while, the woman abruptly closed the pouch and nervously looked at Adrian. "Heavens! Where did you get this money? Don't tell me you stole it, or else I'll be so disappointed!"

"What! Stole it?" Adrian exclaimed in astonishment upon hearing his mother's words.

Seeing her son's surprised expression, the mother, who understood her son deeply, quickly covered her mouth. After all, who knew their child better than a mother? Under no circumstances would he ever steal. But if it wasn't stolen, then where did this money come from?

In her confusion, the woman cautiously said, "Alright, I know Adrian would never steal. Now tell me, where did this money come from? Don't lie."

Upon hearing his mother's words, Adrian couldn't help but proudly straighten his chest and exclaimed excitedly, "I earned all this money with my own skills!"

"What! Earned it with... with your skills! How is that possible?" The woman exclaimed in disbelief upon hearing her son's words.

Affirmatively nodding, Adrian continued, "Yes, I took the chairs to the street, set up a curtain, and moisturized the faces of sisters and aunties. Each of them gave me a gold coin, and that's how I got so much money."

Hearing her son's words, the woman trembled violently, and tears quickly blurred her vision. So, it was like this. This money was indeed earned with his own skills. But dear heavens, he was just an eight-year-old child. He should be carefree and playing, but now he was already thinking of shouldering the burden of the family.

Embracing Adrian tightly, the woman cried, "Child, I'm so sorry."

Looking at his weeping mother, Adrian shook his head stubbornly. "No, Mom... You have already given me the best. Adrian is already a man now. From today onwards, let Adrian take care of you, and you don't have to work anymore!"

"This..." Upon hearing Adrian's words, the woman hesitated. Although she had to admit that her son had indeed developed skills and could take care of her as his mother, it was difficult to accept that a woman in her mid-twenties had to rely on an eight-year-old child for support.

Seeing his mother's hesitant expression, Adrian urgently pleaded, "Please, Mom, promise me. Seeing you so tired and suffering every day, it hurts Adrian so much. Adrian can earn money now. In the future, Adrian will continue to practice hard. Adrian wants to buy a big house for Mom to live in and buy many, many nice things for Mom."

Hehe...

Listening to her son's words, the woman smiled happily. Although... fate hadn't given her a responsible husband, it had not been unkind to her either because it had given her the best son.

Lost in thought, Adrian nestled in his mother's embrace and yearningly said, "Mom, you should rest well and take good care of yourself. Focus on recovering your health. If you still want to work when the time comes, Adrian won't object."

Saying this, Adrian pleaded, raising his head and looking at his mother. "Please promise me, Mom. Seeing you toiling day and night, it's too painful for Adrian. What you have done is already enough. Let Adrian take care of everything from now on!"

Listening to her son's fervent words, feeling his genuine concern, what else could the woman say? As the saying goes, a woman marries her husband, and after his death, she relies on her son. This has been true throughout history. Although her son was still young, as Adrian said, he was already a little man. In that case, what could she, as a mother, say?

With tears in her eyes, the woman nodded and, accompanied by gentle movements, finally let her hot tears flow. With such a good son, her life was worth it.