9 Chapter 9: Helping the Townsmen

Cairo decided not to say anything. The woman might not be showing any form of hostility to him but he's afraid that if he says one wrong thing, she would be angered and Cairo will have an enemy

Cairo doesn't want to have enemies as long as he is still weak. That would just be a huge trouble for him

Kira shakes her head helplessly at the unresponsive kid before she thought of a way to get the kid's interest. "I'm a bit good at magic, do you want me to teach you?" Kira 'tempt' and gently waved her hand that caused Cairo to raise his guard even higher

Grains of sands floated and they formed small human-like figures that have exactly the same facial features as Cairo. This naturally made the kid shock and he lowered his guard a bit

Now that Cairo witness how skillful Kira is at controlling the sands, he knew that if the woman wants him dead, she could do so easily and he won't be able to resist

Besides, Cairo woke up without finding a slave collar or anything wrong with him, they can harm him when he was still unconscious but they didn't do so

Cairo was interested in the woman's offer. Reading books and having access to his past life's memories of cultivating is not enough. Cairo just literally watches himself, it would be better if he gained a formal teacher

Seeing the interest from the kid's eyes, Kira controlled the small figures and they energetically dance in the air. As Cairo is still a kid, he can't help but be amaze and his eyes followed every movement of the sand figures

"What do you think? We are actually planning to help the other townsmen to learn magic but you can have early access" Kira said and winked to show her friendliness

Cairo was greatly tempted and his mind is in a dilemma. He doesn't know Kira but if she really wants to harm him, she can do so while he was still unconscious

"Come on, Big Sister won't hurt you, okay?"

Cairo's goal is to become a strong mage and he knew how hard it is for him to comprehend everything by himself. To raise his strength in the shortest time, Cairo decided to trust Kira a bit

Cairo nodded his head with an unsure expression on his face and Kira gave him a gentle smile. "Follow me"

The kid did what the woman said and picked up his book first before trailing behind her. "You can store your book in your spatial ring first" Kira suddenly said and that caught Cairo off guard

"Y-you ... h-how do you know?" Cairo asked with wide eyes and Kira chuckled at him. "I just confirmed it just now. I already saw your ring when you are still unconscious and since you have a book about magic, I figured that you might have a spatial ring or you stored your book in another place"

Cairo's heart trembled at that. Seems like he still has a lot to learn. It was him that confirmed that he really has a spatial ring

Since his ring's presence was already discovered, Cairo didn't say anything and stored the book he was holding. The book was quite thick and heavy, it would be better if he doesn't walk around the town with that kind of book in hand

The two arrived at one of the now-empty houses in the town due to how many people were killed. The room was quite simple and only have the basic things that one needs

Kira placed two worn-out chairs in front of a table that is also already old and had Cairo sat next to her

"By the way, what's your name?" Kira asked and the kid just gave a simple answer. "Cairo"

"Alright, let's talk about general magic first"

Cairo nodded his head and started receiving the woman's teachings. He can't help but feel that his decision was right. Simply reading a book and having a teacher was miles apart

The knowledge he already had but doesn't understand fully was explained to him much clearer. It even patches some holes that Cairo's comprehension have and the kid was focused on everything that Kira said before trying it by himself

After a few hours, Kira stopped and stretched her body. "Alright, it's already late. You must sleep first, it won't do good to your body if you stay up too late"

Cairo felt that it was a pity. Kira made his progress increase so much in just a single session. However, Cairo is still not that too thick-skinned to ask for an extension, besides, Kira also needs to sleep

Seeing Cairo's reluctance made Kira feel bitter. She hopes that Cairo will open up to her and be like the other kids but the kid was too focused on the knowledge she imparted to him

"Come again tomorrow, we will announce something that will be able to help all the townsmen. After that, I can continue teaching you, alright?"

Cairo can only nod his head and gave a 'silent' thank you before exiting Kira's room

----

July 1 Year 30,765

The next day, Cairo woke up a bit late as he stayed up even after the 'tutoring session' finished to practice more

When the youth reached the town square, he saw that many people were already gathered around. The townsmen were looking at Kira and the old woman's group with gratitude and were waiting for them to talk

The townsmen were always starved but this group of people gave them food. They can't thank them enough

Kira seeing that Cairo already arrives, whispered at the old woman in the middle that is acting as their leader

"Everyone please listen up!" The granny started and all the townsmen turned their focus on her. These poor people have so much respect for them to not listen attentively

"We saw the situation in this town and to be honest it was horrible!" The townsmen don't even felt any bit of anger towards her words as they all agreed at that. They are the living testimony of how horrible the town is

"I and my group are all mages. We can help with the town's situation but that is only if all of you are willing to work hard to increase the quality of life you have!"

Even if the work is hard, to starved people, they will do everything they can!

"We are planning to open a class for you to learn magic. Everyone can attend it but it would be better if the others will help our mages to make the land suitable for planting a few types of crops"

"The younger ones have better chances to become strong mages and the older generation can help them. When the time comes that the younger generation gained various abilities, the next generations will benefit from it"

"Imagine your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren having peaceful lives with enough food on their tables! If we all work hard, we can make that possible!"

The blood of the townsmen boiled at the woman's words, especially the old people. Those people don't have much ambitions, they only want to have and eat enough food

If granny and her people can really help them make their lands suitable for planting, then they are willing to work really hard for that. Besides, there are still some of them that are affectionate, they want to see their child and grandchildren happily eating every day

"Those who want to become a mage, go in the side. Gamba is there to teach you the basics first. As for the few that are already mages and wants to improve, you can ask the others what their main type of magic is and have them teach you "

Before the fight between the townsmen and slaves were stopped, there are only more than a hundred people, a hundred and fifty people to be specific that are still surviving

Fifty-five were the townsmen and the population of kids is a bit higher. A lot of kids sat on the ground while crying while the adults do everything they can to kill the slaves

That enabled more kids to survive. How can the slaves even kill those kids if they need to defend themselves from the adults?

About thirty-five of the remaining townsmen are kids and they all went to the side. After all, who didn't dream of learning magic and becoming a powerful mage?

The granny was relieved that her words had great effects. The adults decided they should just help with making the future generations prosper

"Adults followed me! We already know the parts of the town are most suitable to be developed!"

Some adults said goodbyes and encourage their kids first before they followed the woman and only the kids remained that were fidgeting in fear

The adults know that if these people want to make them slaves or simply kill them, they can do it easily just with the old woman, much less with the help of other mages. That's why they aren't that afraid to leave their kids in their care

However, kids are kids. Most of them will be scared of people they don't know

"Hello, please be patient first. We were still not able to build a proper classroom but watch this, kids, this is what magic can do!"

Four people surrounded the kids on all four corners and that made them more scared. The four people controlled the sand and hardened it to make a tall pole before other mages made their move

Cairo immediately exited the range of those men and was ready to attack when Kira went to his side. "Don't be afraid, they are actually helping the kids" the woman reassured and Cairo continued watching but he was still cautious

All the mages have a spatial ring with them and they took out pieces of fabric before they used magic to sew them into one big single piece

The fabric was then tied in the poles of sands and it serves as a roof to these kids. The sunlight stopped baking their skins. It was still hot but they are not in direct contact with the sun anymore

Thus, a simple shade that can protect almost forty kids if they are side by side was erected

"Let's begin our class by talking about the terms mana, magic, and knowledge first"

"Knowledge is information about things like blah blah blah ....."

"Mana is a special kind of energy that is present everywhere. A place can have high or low mana blah blah blah ..."

"Magic is the application of the knowledge that we comprehended and is fueled by mana to make a supernatural phenomenon blah blah blah ...."

The man named Gamba explained patiently. Some kids immediately understood it while the others have question marks on their faces

Gamba was kinda gentle and explained things in a clearer and slower manner when he saw that some of the kids still didn't get it

"Come with me, you already know some basics unlike the other kids" Kira said and Cairo followed her to where they studied last night

"Let's have a recap first of your lesson yesterday" Cairo nodded his head and stared at Kira expectantly

The pure thirst for knowledge that Cairo has warmed Kira's heart. Learning magic doesn't only need the mage to read and learn things. They must genuinely desire to learn the truths of the world, if not, they would not be able to reach greater heights

After the recap, Kira started explaining things about sand magic. It wasn't actually her forte but compared the comprehension she has to what Cairo has, the distance is mountain apart

After some basic information, it is now time for the most important part of learning. And that is a real-life application!

"I'll teach you a magic skill, listen properly" Cairo eagerly nodded his head and Kira started demonstrating her magic

"Magic can have a similar appearance. For example, a sand ball might look ordinary but depending on the amount of mana and principles behind it, it can cause great damage. You must first understand that the magic's form is only its outside appearance. The most important thing is how you execute it! "