Opposed to what Lukas once thought of the mages in his past world, where they only pointed their wands and staffs and shoot out spells like a cannonball, the world he was now living in has evolved in more ways past that. Though Meditation has always been the bread and the butter for every Mage since yonder, the current generation has found more efficient ways and methods in which Mages can use Meditation for even higher and quicker achievements than their past counterparts.

And that came in Meditation Arts.

In general Meditation Arts are specific methods Mages and even some warriors could use to pull Mana into their bodies and comprehend the Elements with their Soul, with a few more added benefits. Within his inherited memories the more powerful the meditation arts are, the more obvious their added benefits could be seen. And as a rule of thumbs all of the major institutions in the continent had their own powerful Core meditation Arts that allows them to stand at the top of the Power Struggle. Including the most known ones like the Tabernacle of Flames and the World of Ice both found in the North-Western of the Cathedral under the Twin Mountains.

After spending a few moments familiarizing himself with new and the not so new memories of his new body, he started summarizing most of the knowledge on the meditation arts, its process and the different levels only to find that even though the previous host had a powerful Sister in the inner sect, his knowledge was still considerably low from what he could tell.

In his mind, he found that even for Meditation process there were 3 different levels to it, each one bringing more benefits than the former. The first and the lowest level began with Surface-Level Meditation that involved passively absorbing mana in the air. It was pitifully slowly and basically every mage in the continent could perform it with ease.

Then there was Semi- Conscious level which involved actual meditating and absorbing the mana in the surrounding world under the influence of one’s will. It was more powerful than Surface level as it also allowed comprehending and familiarizing with one’s element. But it depended wholly on the level of the one’s will and determination coupled with one’s talent and power of soul in both taking in mana and understanding the elements. This was where the line was drawn. Mages of high caliber would at most take half the effort and achieve more results compared to low talented mages. The Elemental affinity was classified into 5 talent grades, being Low, Mid, High, Exceptional and Unsurpassed. With the increase of each grade, the more potential a mage possess. It was the main reason why the Cathedral was willing to sacrifice some of their rules for her sister. With her Exceptional talent, she had the most potential to easily become a Heaven Mage and more.

The Third and the last level of the Meditation Art was the Deep-Conscious level. This was the real bread and butter in which a mage can fully and wholly focus on absorbing mana with very high efficiency and form deeper connection to their elements. It involved letting go of their surroundings and delve deep into the realm of being half asleep. Unless one was sure of the safety of their surroundings no one dares initiate this level of meditation. But it was not easily achievable though. Not forgetting the part that one’s mind should be able to let go of the all distractions to be able to experience this in full but once it was achieved it can allow one to take huge strides in increasing their cultivation and their spell casting, as once the respective mage is more familiar and intimate with their elements the easier it is to cast spells and summon more power from it.

Thinking on his previous life experience Lukas wondered if he could basically achieve the same effect as the deep meditation he used to carry out back at Earth. He was deep into training his mind and body back then. It was basically one of the few things that he loved doing that brought him peace and order in his chaotic life. Holding that thought, he calmed his nervous mind and then began reviewing the Meditation arts the previous host was practicing.

Aptly named the Radiance Meditation Art, just as its name indicated this was Meditation Art suitably tailored for mages who awakened elemental light. Although its base level allowed any mage to cultivate it, at higher levels, it was accompanied with various battle skills and many specific spells that mages with Elemental Light could use and grow stronger. The only caveat was that one had to qualify to enter the inner sect and the only way to do so was to become an Earth mage, something which was currently a little too far from his grasp.

Brushing away such thoughts, Lukas snapped out of his meditation before he walked to the walled in cupboard and retrieved a small booklet which was basically a low level copy of the Radiance Meditation Art his host previously practiced. Not only was it enchanted to never leave the Cathedral premises, each mage recruited by the Cathedral was essentially sworn to never divulge such secrets to anyone else.

Regardless the booklet was the foundational level that involved delving into one’s soul altar and visualizing it one‘s mind. A little confused Lukas took his time to peruse the booklet while he mentally reviewed what he knew about soul altars. It didn’t take long for some of his memories o fall in place.

It was common knowledge in the Continent of Lush that any awakened Mages posses a soul altar that indicated their talent and housed their elemental gift respectively. With years of accumulation, Soul Altars were discovered to be mysteriously born the moment one’s potential to be a mage was awakened completely. The Souls altars formed were shaped very differently from one mage to another and later this was learned that it depended on so many variables like races, bloodlines, lineages, special destinies, fates and many others. Soul altars became a norm of for every mage and being able to possess one means one was given a chance to travel the Exalted Journey of Magic.

The Radiance Meditation Art capitalized on that, giving out clear cut instructions in how to visit one’s altar and then form a visualization image in one’s mind palace to attract even more mana and comprehend one’s in tuned elements more deeply whilst increasing their psych power also (psych power being the mental strength each mage was naturally born with). This brought many advantages starting with better control of spells, easier and faster recovery and a more efficient refinement of one’s mana allowing for much easier and quicker breakthrough in the long run. This also provided a subtle chance of awakening natural hidden abilities that one’s altar can offer to the respective mage. Although it very rare, many were in belief that because each soul altar was unique, which meant that each mage had a chance to awaken their own unique abilities. Through the Radiance Meditation Arts, the chance was even higher compared to other meditation arts.

But even though The Radiance Meditation Arts seemed to be of a higher class and powerful it brought a few limitations that every mage was made aware off from the start. Firstly, the foundational meditation arts brought no specific advantages to one’s elemental gift. This can only be rectified once one advanced to the inner sect but never the less it was one of the main reasons why Mortal Priests of the Cathedral of Light possessed a weak reputation. Secondly, it depended heavily on what kind of Soul Altar one possessed. Meaning that if one’s soul altar was low ranked in terms of talent, (though it can considerably be enhanced), it will be severely limiting in comparison to the mages of higher talent. So if one’s soul altar was more powerful and showed more potential, the more this art capitalizes on letting that potential shine.

In addition not every soul altar formed was able to be perfectly visualized in one’s mind palace. There are so many different soul altars formed by many different mages that this meditation Art could not cover them all. The path of Magic didn’t only need a stronger will, higher comprehension and strength to even be able to visualize in one’s mind it also needed a touch of luck as well. Lacking in any of these categories meant that one’s path will be severely limited, that even this foundational art will be of barely any use to them at all.

Looking at the small booklet, Lukas mused. The Radiance Meditation Art in his hands was only at foundational level. Sure the higher levels could be found at the inner sector but he probably would to invest a lot of efforts in return. Rumors of the contribution hall have floated down to lower sector from the higher sector but he would have to reach there to have any hope of obtaining it.

Shaking his head he sat crossed legged and then took a deep breath. The existence of a Soul altar was already a given for him seeing as he could summon his elemental light easily but as he descended into his own version of deep meditation a stray thought passed through his mind.

What would his Soul Altar look like especially now that he seemed to be a fusion of two souls in one body?