From what Cairo learned in the book, mages can use other elements outside the ones they have the most affinity with. The only difference was the amount of effort one needs to perform a similar thing using a different kind of magic
"I have four attributes, is this high or low?" Cairo asked himself before he continues reading the book. It doesn't matter if he could be called a genius with four affinities or not, the most important thing is that he now has a chance to become a mage
Cairo will just do his best to become a mage as strong as he can. For that, he needs to study!
As the Town have a low population now, Cairo was able to stay for hours in his place without meeting anyone. He spent those hours just reading and reading
His mind was suddenly occupied by learning magic. Every sentence that Cairo had read made him more amazed than before. He was too engrossed in the book to the point that the passage of time was ignored by him
Only when Cairo felt the fatigue from non-stop reading did he stop to rest his mind and eyes. There was too much information that he read and he needs time to digest them
A cold wind blew by and it caused Cairo's body to shiver. He cannot believe that even the cold temperature was ignored by him
Cairo just shook his head and went to find one of the trashcans. The smell was something he is already used to and he placed his body inside it to rest. Since Cairo was starved his whole life, it was not a problem for him to stay in a small and narrow place. There was simply not enough nutrients on his body to make him tall and bulky
The night is cold and only the trashcan can shield some of the coldness for Cairo
-----
June 8 Year 30,765
The next day, Cairo woke up a bit late as he was exhausted by reading the book. Fortunately, his mind felt refresh now and he took a piece of bread while he is still inside the trashcan so that the stench from it can mask the mouth-watering scent of the bread
Cairo took a small piece from the bread before returning it inside his spatial ring. He learned from his mistake yesterday and didn't eat the whole thing
The piece of bread he ate was so little but it can't be helped. Cairo needs to be stingy as he doesn't know when he will get foods again. Even then, Cairo still happily ate the bread before drinking a bit of water
Cairo's meal was in low quantity but it was more than enough to satisfy him. The bread tastes heavenly and the water brought a wave of comfort all over his body
The youth exited the trashcan and the heat coming from the sun, baked his body for the nth time but since he's already used to it, he just ignored the burning sensation on his body
"I'm still lacking in knowledge but I need to have some strength as soon as possible" Cairo muttered before sitting in a meditative posture
"The book said that mana is an amazing thing, I should try to cultivate and absorb some today"
The youth closed his eyes and tried feeling the mana that is present around him. As this is his first time cultivating, Cairo should have a hard time sensing mana
However, maybe because he was talented or it was the old man's works, Cairo managed to sense mana a few minutes after his first try
"Woah ...?" Cairo sensed an uncountable number of dots surrounding him. He tried using his mind to control some mana and few mana particles went to the tip of his fingers
The mana entered Cairo through his fingers and the youth can feel warm energy in that area. Cairo controlled those few particles and they circulated around his body
"I s-succeeded?" Cairo asked himself in disbelief. He opened his eyes and looked at his hand
Cairo tried sensing the few mana particles he absorbs on his body and controlled them. The small stream of mystical energy flowed back to his finger and it glowed with a dim blue light
It was just a small light yet Cairo acts as if it was as bright as the sun. "I-I really succeeded!" Cairo exclaimed before excitedly closing his eyes again to absorb more mana
Mana particles entered the youth's body that can't stop himself from moaning as it felt comfortable for him
Cairo forgot the passage of time for the second time and cultivated until his mind felt tired. The youth opened his eyes as a sense of weakness spread all over him
"W-what happened to me?" Cairo was confused at why he suddenly felt this tired. But since he doesn't know the answer, he can only rest in hopes that he will recover
After hours of rest, the youth can feel strength on his body again and he retrieved the Introduction to Magic book on his spatial ring
He searched for something in the book for a while and soon found what he was looking for. It was the answer to why he suddenly felt tired earlier
Turns out that mages cannot cultivate all they want. Cultivation uses one's soul to control mana and too much use of soul will result in great fatigue
"I guess, I became too impatient" Cairo said with a sigh before taking a mental note of this mistake. For Cairo, it is not that too bad to make a mistake as long as he will immediately learn from it
Cairo just continued reading the book to expand his knowledge so that he will have lesser mistakes in the future
----
June 10 Year 30,765
Just like that, three days have passed since Cairo's encounter with the old man that he cannot be more thankful for. He spent all his time staying away from people to protect his secret and treasures while cultivating in secret
A bottle of pills appeared on Cairo's hand and he took one of it. The youth put the pill inside his mouth and took a bottle of water to drink
In the past days, Cairo scanned the ring for the things that he can use. He doesn't know why but the items inside the ring actually contained information on what they are used for
It was as if the old man did that in consideration to him which shouldn't be possible. Who would have known that the two will meet at that time?
The pill that Cairo took was a nutrient pill. It is a substitute for food and is useful for mages who spend their time studying the truths of the world
It was common for mages to lose track of time and eating can be kind of a hassle. Nutrient pills are essential for them and the pills contained even more nutrients than normal food
As it was only days that Cairo had his fortuitous encounter, he was still a bag of skins and bones. He hoped that taking the abundant nutrient pills on his ring can make his body be in better condition
He is insecure at how small and skinny he is. It would be too easy for people to kill him with that kind of body
Cairo sat in a meditative posture again and closed his eyes to sense the surrounding mana for the nth time. Cairo already learned his lesson
As soon as he woke up and his mind is in its best state, Cairo will start the day with few hours of cultivation. After that, he will rest for thirty minutes before reading the book
When noon arrives, only then will he cultivate again and he will repeat the process until evening arrived
The surrounding mana was drawn towards Cairo's body and they entered him. Cairo circulated that warm current of energy throughout his body that brought great comfort to him
Cairo took a liking to the feeling of raising the amount of mana he has on his body. He is slowly becoming addicted to that feeling
After an hour, Cairo's body trembled. His mana moved on their own and they all went to his brain
BOOM!
It was like something exploded inside Cairo's mind and he turned deaf for a few seconds because of that. The youth felt like some sort of barrier inside him broke
Cairo sense something inside him and when he tried to see it, he entered a strange space
The place was mostly empty and only has one thing. It was a small human-like figure that is naked from head to toe
Cairo was shocked to see that the figure looks exactly like him albeit it was much smaller
"W-wait .... i-is that my soul?" Cairo asked himself incredulously
A soul can only be seen by a person when the amount of mana on their body reached the required amount to become an Acolyte
Acolyte Rank is the first step to becoming a mage. It was the weakest kind of mage but for Cairo, a mage is still a mage! Now that he broke through and became an Acolyte he can finally start wielding magic!
Having mana and being able to use magic are two completely different things. Mana is just like the fuel and without the machine or in the mages' case, magic theory understanding, they won't be able to use any kind of magic
Once a person becomes an acolyte, that means, they met the lowest requirement to use magic
Cairo instantly turned excited at finally being an acolyte. If he focuses on learning theories, it wouldn't be long before he can really use magic
Cairo focused on his soul for a while and saw a black diamond on its forehead. "What is that?" Cairo tried probing that diamond and a scene that gave him a sense of familiarity played on his mind
The scene contained a youth that has similar facial features as him. The only difference is that the youth was clearly fed with enough food
He wasn't as skinny as Cairo and is in a much better condition
Somehow, Cairo felt some familiarity to that youth and he watched as the man that looks almost like him actually uses magic
Grains of sands started appearing on that youth's palm and he condensed it into a small ball. The youth stared at a nearby tree and threw the ball of sand to it while droplets of sweat dripped from his forehead
Cairo can feel how much effort the youth exerts to make that ball of sand. He suddenly had a feeling as if he was watching his own memory but that shouldn't be possible ...
Cairo suddenly remembered the comment from the old man that he unconsciously ignored. The old man said that he has an interesting past life yet with his current state, he can't help Cairo remember all of his past life's memories
"C-Could it be ...?" Cairo was in disbelief but his theory sounds plausible. But is that really possible?
Cairo stopped thinking as he saw that when the ball of sand hits the tree, it actually exploded and a huge hole formed on the poor tree
"P-powerful!" Cairo exclaimed before the scene ended. His mind suddenly had the memories of him practicing the magic that the man on the scene uses
Cairo returned back to reality and looked all over his body. He doesn't find anything that changed on him but he can feel that his mind is clearer than before
In excitement, Cairo tried doing what looks like the past him did and focused on his hand. He controlled his mana to gather on his palm and it glowed with a blue light, the color of a raw mana
Cairo did his best to turn the mana into sands but ultimately failed. His mind is familiar with the process but his body isn't
He was less skillful than the past him on the memory. Also, the theory behind the magic was only inside his mind but is still not fully ingrained in him
It was like he watched how the magic is performed including the theory behind it but it was only 'watching' and 'listening' how to do it
Cairo still doesn't fully digest every knowledge and process and that is the next thing he turned his focus on!