Ponder the Orb
C58/100Web serial by Scribe_Apprentice
When Mark is ripped from Earth and dropped into a realm of wizard towers and magic, he is taken in by an unlikely group of hermits who spend their days smoking halflings' leaf, arguing over spell theory, and quietly pondering glowing orbs. They call themselves the Blue Wizards. The powerful White Tower sect calls them a disgrace. As Mark begins training with them, he realizes something unsettling: their strange "orb pondering" might actually be a lost path to real power. Learning to cultivate mana, unlock spells, and navigate a mysterious inner world that shouldn't exist, he is pulled deeper into a system that clearly has plans for him. Unfortunately, those plans involve overflowing rifts, undead hordes, and a rapidly escalating necromancer problem threatening the entire Middle Realm. It turns out slowing down, smoking pipeweed, and contemplating the universe is a lot more dangerous than it looks.