Chapter 35 35. The Troubles of Happiness
There is no specific posture for meditation.
Stand, sit, or lie down, just make sure it lasts.
Annan initially chose to sit down, but after three consecutive days of turbulence, the bed beneath him felt like he was standing on a swaying deck. And along with lying down, it’s really easy to fall asleep while meditating when you’re tired.
Annan gave up staring at the cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling, and his first meditation ended in failure.
Cobwebs, money and secret societies mingled together and he had an indescribable dream.
A spider wearing an apron hung from the ceiling and landed on Annan's chest.
"Little Annan, you live here alone, you need to get rid of your bad habits." The spider said softly, struggling to pull the sheet to cover the exposed feet.
The spider crawled along the undulating sheets to the edge of the bed, pulled out the silk thread from its abdomen, stuck to the edge, and dropped down between the two shoes. After a while, the scattered shoes moved bit by bit and slowly came together.
"The spider is old, has no strength, and can no longer take care of you..."
The panting spider poked its head out from the side of the shoe, then picked out three copper coins from its apron, and carefully placed them beside the shoe, "Spider stole this from a drunkard. Don't be dissatisfied with the small amount of money, and don't use it." Worry about spiders, spiders don't eat much..."
Annan, who was watching everything happening from a third-person perspective, saw "himself" sleeping on the bed slowly waking up.
"Myself" discovered the spider beside the shoe, was startled, muttered where the insect came from, grabbed the shoe, and patted the spider that was showing comfort and gentleness——
"No!"
So Annan woke up at dawn.
Soon, the door was shaken by a knock, and Tasia who heard the shout was outside the door.
"I'm fine."
Annan sat up, put on the shoes scattered on the bottom of the bed, and opened the door.
Tasia ducked into the room with her head lowered, followed by Soruman Bronzebeard.
Close the door, Soruman Bronzebeard said he would take Annan somewhere later.
"Where to go?"
The female dwarf pointed to his pocket. Annan took out the piece of paper with the address on it.
"But Mr. Fast said that he would go to the address only if he encounters trouble."
"He didn't say that he can't find it unless he encounters trouble." The female dwarf said to Ananga who was still hesitating. Put the weight on, "That guy is a warlock."
"Okay, I'll get dressed."
Soruman Bronzebeard and Tasia went out after searching the room. Annan put on his coat, and when he raised his head and got out of the collar, he saw a short-legged spider lying in the dusty cobwebs on the ceiling.
Annan's black eyes gradually narrowed.
……
A few minutes later, Annan came downstairs. Some hotel guests were having breakfast.
Soruman Bronzebeard sat at the dining table and waved to him, Tasia was also beside him.
"How is our warlock meditating?"
"Can't feel anything..."
This puts Annan in a bad mood. Without the assistance of magic materials, it is difficult to enter a meditative state...and The book says that only ancient wizards used such backward meditation methods.
"I can lend you another sum of money." Soruman Bronzebeard said generously when he learned that Annan needed magic materials.
Annan accepted Soruman Bronzebeard's kindness, and he should be able to pay back the money soon.
After breakfast, Andrew Luna asked the boy to bring the carriage and acted as a groom to take them to the address on the note.
"Although Luna is a deserter...he will never betray us." Soruman Bronzebeard explained, and said to the boy, "First go to the street where magic materials are sold."
Annan got into the carriage and found Tasia leaning against the wall, lowering her head and taking a nap. "You haven't had any rest, okay?"
"The pub is very noisy."
On the left side of Annan's room was Soruman Bronzebeard, and on the right was Tasia. They helped Annan isolate the sound of the war in the tavern.
This reminded Annan of the heavily made-up girl he met lying on the guardrail and saying hello to him when he went out, claiming to have one-tenth of the elven blood. Annan could tell at a glance that she was talking nonsense - the power of 2 could not be divided into 10.
The carriage was driving on the brick road, Tasia was napping, Soruman Bronzebeard was counting money, and Annan was looking at the street scene.
As the carriage drove into a long street with unique and strange-shaped buildings, Annan saw merchants wearing gray robes symbolizing the status of wizard apprentices, selling weird and novel products, magical auras and wonderful things. Runes, a carriage also printed with the family emblem, and a mercenary group standing on the street corner loudly recruiting mages.
Annan felt like Harry Potter who had broken into Diagon Alley.
Although both his parents died, he did not inherit any inheritance.
The man parked the carriage in front of a magic materials store. Annan tried to pretend to be well-informed, but the eyes that glanced at the materials still gave him away.
The clerk did not treat Annan as a lucky civilian just because he was wearing a linen coat, and asked him politely what he needed.
"Magic eagle feathers, fluorescent grass, the naturally shed teeth of the jackals, the dew condensed at dawn..."
What Annan was reading was the cheapest material needed for the meditation ceremony. The magic materials required for advanced and advanced meditation rituals are often the mane of a unicorn, the tears of an underage elf... these sound expensive and precious.
The clerk recorded the materials Annan said, and then calculated the price: "16 gold and 60 silver coins."
"16 silver and 60 copper coins?"
"16 gold and 60 silver coins." The clerk helplessly said Said: "Basic meditation ritual, right? This is the weight of a month."
Now, Annan has a deeper concept of "the cost of a spellcaster".
"Are they fresh?" Tasia asked.
The clerk ignored her, but Annan asked again before saying: "They are all within the best before date."
"I'll pay for it, boy."
Beautiful and generous Solu Man Bronzebeard said in her melodious voice, took out the heavy purse,
got the magic materials, and they continued to the address on the note.
Tasia became much silent because of neglect - the atmosphere in Breeze City seemed to be relatively tolerant, and no one pointed at Tasia's appearance, but it was just an illusion.
Humanity's rejection of aliens is deeply rooted.
When we arrived at the address on the note, a simple wooden house with a sloping roof appeared.
Soruman Bronzebeard jumped out of the carriage excitedly, smashed open the door, and shouted at the stunned bearded man:
"Asshole! Don't think about it anymore. Avoid me!"
Annan blinked and realized that he was being used as an excuse?
Fortunately, the female dwarf did not forget her and asked the warlock to give Annan a warlock's notebook recording his experience.
Annan accepted his experience, wisely got on the carriage and returned to the Morrowind Tavern.
Meditation requires a quiet atmosphere. Therefore, Annan did not waste expensive magic materials and still insisted on ancient and traditional meditation.
He slept soundly.
……
Early the next morning, Annan took the glass jar containing the short-legged spider, got into the carriage with Soruman Bronzebeard and Tasia, and headed to Winchet Manor.
Annan also prepared gifts for Aunt Susan and her family on the way.
The gate of the manor opened, and a carriage slowly drove out, and then they merged and left the city.
Annan looked back at Breeze City, wondering if he would have a new identity next time he came back?
(End of this chapter)