4 Chapter 4: Stealing

June 17 Year 30,765

A week has passed and Cairo steadily grew his power. All his time was spent studying and sleeping. It was the only thing on his mind

He also learned from another mistake of his and mostly read behind a trashcan. He won't be able to read easily if he does that inside the trash can and decided to just block himself with it

In that case, a lesser number of people can notice him. Even if they do, Cairo would have more time to store his book back in the spatial ring

The kid was currently still in the more secluded part of the town while controlling the sand around him. He was unskillful before and injured himself using his own magic. Cairo needs to learn faster to have a power of his own to protect himself

Fortunately, Cairo found out that he only needs to will the diamond on his soul's forehead, after that, more memories of the past him cultivating and learning will be transmitted directly to his mind

It gave his comprehension speed a rapid increase. He now has more time to absorb mana and train his magical control

The kid moved sands around him and with the increase of mana, he can now move more sand and shaped them to his will

"This won't do. I can still only attack a few times before my mana runs out. My weakness is making me feel unsafe" Cairo said with a frown

Cairo tried to think of a way to at least have some security. He doesn't need much, he just wants something that will add to his power in times of emergency

Maybe he can use two or three explosive sand balls at a time but after that, he'll be weaker than even a full-grown man. It is also not guaranteed that he will hit the enemy with his magic

Cairo replayed the things he remembered in his life or death experience with the man a week ago. He examined every angle to see if he will find something

After some time, Cairo realizes something. His arm strength is too weak and was not able to do much but what if he was holding a weapon at that time?

Things would be different if he has a weapon. It'll make him feel more secured

Cairo's mind worked to find a way on how he can gain a weapon. He searched for all the things he knew about the town and after a few minutes, he successfully remembered something

There is an old forger in the town that lived a better life than the others and will make any weapon that the townsmen want. The only payment was the materials itself

The old forger will then used the materials to make his own weapon and sell it for food. Not everyone has the ability to forge, he is one of the rare ones and it gave him a livelihood

If Cairo wants to gain a weapon, he needs to give more than enough materials to the old man as his payment. However, he immediately shook his head at that idea. He currently doesn't have the ability to secure the materials needed

"Wait!" Cairo said to himself before an evil idea popped up in his mind. "What if I steal the materials or the weapon itself?"

From what Cairo knows, the old man charged a high price on his creations. The townsmen only need to give him materials as payment but they need to pay enough materials for three weapons

Just imagine how much profit he will have because of that. The old forger is also not a kind-hearted one. Cairo remembers that he was kicked by the old man when he begged for food

"S-should I s-steal?" Cairo asked himself in an unsure tone. He is still a kid and was having second thoughts about doing something 'bad'

However, his will to live soon won over his childish innocence. He remembered that the most important thing for him is to stay alive. By staying alive, he can continue making himself stronger and who knows, there might be a hope to revive his parents

Cairo steeled himself and started formulating a plan on his mind. He doesn't know why the old forger was not taken advantage of by the townsmen even with his old body. But Cairo will use that as his own advantage

The old man has a small stall where he sells his weapons. Cairo decided to steal one of them

Cairo controlled the sand around him to grab random trash around. However, since he's still new to magic, the sands were shaky and he needs to put a hundred percent of his focus to do it

The reach of his sand is also not that far. Even if Cairo wants to steal, he still doesn't have the ability

"Train! I need to train!" Cairo became even more hardworking than before and his magical abilities swiftly improved

----

June 24 Year 30,765

A whole week has passed and Cairo felt that his magical ability is barely passable. Although nothing wrong happened in the past week, not having any weapon on him is still making him feel insecure and unsafe

Cairo stood not far away from his target. Unlike where he usually stayed, this area has more people than normal but the population is still sparse

A black tattered robe covered the entirety of Cairo's body. In case he failed and was discovered, he at least has some chance to flee without people recognizing him

The robe came from his spatial ring too. He did his best to give it as much damage as possible. Wearing brand new clothing in this town without any power is a death seeking action. Cairo doesn't want to be careless

If one looks inside Cairo's robes, they will see that his hands and legs were trembling. This is Cairo's first time stealing, he is nervous about what the results would be

Cairo took his time and hid while looking at the traffic around. He judged that there are still too many people and he continued the waiting game. However, he is still a child and he became impatient after some time but he stopped himself from making a reckless move

When night arrived, the temperature turned cold and a lesser number of people strolled around

The old forger was sitting on a worn-out chair with sleepy eyes. He will sometimes close his eyes until the sleepiness finally overcome him

Cairo felt that this was his chance and moved as quietly as he can to get closer to the stall while being mindful of his surroundings. He made sure that his position is a place that he can run without any hindrances

Cairo was only five meters away from the stall and hid in a large wooden barrel outside the forger's house. The barrel was used to store water on the rare occasion of rain

The barrel would be Cairo's helping hand. The youth raised his hand and stared at the sands below the stall. The sands slowly rose from the ground and went to the nearest weapon

Cairo's hands were shaking heavily while his heart seemed as if it wants to jump out of his chest. Even then, Cairo still forced himself to continue the 'operation'

His sense of security would only be satisfied if he has a weapon he can use

Cairo didn't even choose what weapon he should steal. He just wants this thing to finish so that no unexpected variables will appear

The sands covered most parts of a sword and moved it slightly. Cairo is not used at the weight of the sword and he felt that he can't carry it using magic

Cairo frowned before moving his hand and changed his target to a knife. The knife is smaller and Cairo would have an easier time carrying it with sand

Besides, it would also be a practical choice as he can easily hide it on his clothes. A sword is too long, he first needs to retrieve it from his spatial ring. Doing that will just make Cairo a hot piece of meat on the townsmen

Cairo steadily and slowly carried the knife using his sand and he had the sand inched closer to him. When the knife is finally in his hand, Cairo heaved a sigh of relief

The stealing process might look simple and easy but his young heart was beating too fast and it almost caused him to lose consciousness

Cairo felt tired from the tension and rested his head on the wooden barrel on his side. However, the same barrel that helped him hide was actually going to be the reason for him to be caught in the act

The barrel fell and made a sound that is loud enough to wake the forger. Cairo's face instantly turned pale while he watched the rolling barrel before turning his gaze towards the old forger that now has a furious look on his face

"Oh no!" Cairo thought. Fortunately, his face was covered by the robe and it was hard to properly see his facial features

"Fucking thief!" The old forger shouted, arousing the attention of the few people around that were clueless about what happened. "Give me back my knife!" The old forger demanded and a man came out from his house

Cairo knew that the situation is dire, his body secreted adrenaline and he immediately runs away. "Chase and kill that thief!" The old forger ordered to the man that came out from his house

The man immediately nodded his head and ran in the same direction as Cairo took

The youth turned into a corner while pressuring his mind to remember the town's geography. It would be bad if he went to a dead end

Fortunately, the slight increase in his soul's quality improved his thinking ability. Cairo did his best to have his pursuer lose sight of him

However, he still miscalculated his running speed. He has starved his whole life and was even on the brink of death. Even when he gained the spatial ring and finally had some nutrients on his body, he is mostly in a sitting position to read

Cairo didn't train his body and his legs can't run fast enough. Seems like he needs to spend some time exercising. With the nutrient pills, it wouldn't be a problem for him to exercise all he wants. His body's nutrients can cope up to that

Too bad that he didn't do that before, the man chasing Cairo managed to catch up to him. The man holds him on his clothes before slamming him on the sand below

Pain spread from Cairo's senses, fortunately, he closed his eyes and mouth before his face met the ground

"Consider yourself an idiot for stealing on someone you shouldn't have!" The man said before pulling Cairo on the wrist

As the kid's head was dizzy from being slammed on the ground, he was not able to stop the man. When he regained some senses, his face was already seen by his pursuer

"This is bad!" Cairo thought to himself. Even if he successfully fled, it would be over for him. He might be hunted as the man can easily recognize him

"What should I do?" Cairo's mind speedily worked before he remembered his killing of the last man that harmed him. He never likes being in this kind of situation yet he felt like his life is in other people's hands again

Cairo hated that feeling!

Since the man already saw his face then Cairo needs to do one thing and that is to kill!

Cairo bit the man's hand and that caused the latter to cry out in pain. The youth waved his hand and this second life or death situation increases his ability again

The sands moved with his will and they gave him the knife that he stole. Cairo didn't waste any more time and he stabbed it on his pursuers' chest

The guilt of killing someone didn't come to Cairo again and he was just happy that he will be safe as he's fortunate that there are no other people around him

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