Since the knowledge is already in Cairo's mind, it would be easier for him to comprehend it. The youth even retrieved a book about Sand Magic in his spatial ring to assist him in his study
Cairo will sometimes flip the pages of the book or close his eyes to comprehend the memories on his head. He doesn't know it at that time but the combination of his own talent, memories from his past life, and reading the book made his comprehension speed to skyrocket
If other mages knew how fast he learned, they would have surely cursed the world for how unfair it was. It was easy to become an Acolyte, one only needs some time to absorb enough mana and they will automatically become one
However, using magic is different. Some may take weeks, or even month/s to be able to use even just the simplest form of magic
The youth spent hours and hours of his life studying. He almost didn't rest, when his body is too tired to continue, only then will he stop
Cairo became the epitome of how a hardworking mage should be. The world is broad and vast, just how much knowledge is there for mages to understand?
If one didn't start from a young age and became hardworking, they have no hopes of reaching higher heights
The next day, Cairo woke up early so that he'll have more time to practice
The youth focused all his attention to his right palm. His limited amount of mana gathered there and gave it a slight blue glow
Cairo used the knowledge he had learned yesterday and tried making a ball of sand. This time, there was finally some change. Small bits of the blue mana turned into grains of sand but it was not enough. Cairo can even count how many grains are there
Cold sweat dripped from Cairo's forehead and his face turned pale before the sand and mana on his palm dissipated. Hard! It was hard!
Even with the memories, it would still take Cairo some time to use his first-ever magic. And since he has a very small amount of mana, just one try was enough to make him tired
Using almost or all of one's mana will exhaust the mage. Cairo took a bottle of water from his spatial ring and gulped a mouthful of it and waited for himself to recover for a while before continuing his non-stop learning
The second, and third day arrived with Cairo doing his usual routine. On those days, he had a lot of improvements but still failed. This made him a bit impatient
Although he can hide from people for some time, that doesn't mean he can do so forever. Being discovered would be a huge trouble for him. The proof is now in front of him
As Cairo was too focused on reading, a man was only a few meters away from him when he noticed its presence. Cairo immediately stood up while looking at the man with caution
Cairo might have been taking nutrient pills the past days but he was still starved for too long. His body is slightly better now but is still too skinny
His muscles don't have enough power yet and he can't protect himself with his feeble strength
"Kid! What book are you reading? That looks interesting" The man asked with an evil smirk
As Cairo lived his whole life in Blood Sand Town, he naturally knows how things worked there
The people that can use magic had an easier time as they have a certain level of strength. These magic users can team up and kill edible desert monsters
If someone has a book containing magical knowledge, that would spell their doom if they don't have the power to protect it. People will either want the book for themselves or sell it for food
The man might also be skinny but Cairo is sure that his young body cannot win over his enemy. Just why would this man need to discover him when he still can't use any magic?
Nonetheless, Cairo has a greater will to live now. With the books, he can learn magic and have a good life. He is unwilling to lose his life early
Cairo did his best to run as fast as he can with his short legs. His life literally depended on whether he can run and successfully flee from the man without gaining too much attention
The sand in the town made it hard for everyone to travel fast especially to Cairo that is still a weak child, his speed was not enough to let him flee from a full-grown man
"Don't think that you can escape from me!" The man said and used his longer legs to chase
In just a few seconds, the man already catch up to Cairo and he grabbed the youth in the wrist
Cairo panicked and he tried removing the man's hold on his wrist but was unsuccessful. "Let me go!" Cairo said with a pale face but the man's answer was only a punch in the face
The youth felt like his nose broke and blood dripped down from it. His mind became disoriented and his vision turned blurry for a moment. Just a single solid punch in the face was already enough to heavily injure him
"Heh ... how stupid! After I kill you, you would be a good fertilizer for the sand around you damned kid!"
Hearing the man's words, Cairo's will to live was aroused again. His blood boiled and his hand moved on their own
The thick book that Cairo was actually still holding (because of how much importance he puts on it) went to slap the man's face that made him dizzy. Cairo felt that his wrist became free and he used this chance to flee as far as he can
However, it seems like he underestimated the damage he received earlier. He only took a few steps when his head turned dizzier than before and he loses his balance causing him to fall to the ground
Cairo's face was covered by sand and some even went inside his mouth that gave him a bitter taste
His frail body cannot take being punched in the face while moving his hand at a fast speed and then run. It made his head heavier and he became even weaker
"Damned kid! I'll kill you!" The man cursed with some blood leaking on the side of his face. Cairo's arm strength is too weak for it to kill the man
The man grabbed Cairo in the collar and gave him another punch straight to the face as a way of venting out his anger. He can't believe that he was injured by a small child
Cairo wants to use his arm to block but he can't. His body felt powerless at that time
The youth can feel more bruises forming on his face from the second punch that he received today. The hateful man wasn't finished though as he threw punches to Cairo with almost no time interval
The poor kid's head turned dizzier and he can only let himself be used as a punching bag. His mouth and nose were already bleeding hard and his face is extremely swollen
"If this continues, I will die!" Cairo thought despite him slowly losing consciousness. "No! I won't fall here! I can't let that happen!"
Cairo's blood boiled for the second time, his hazy mind gained a moment of clarity and he immediately used his mana
This time, instead of making sands from the scratch, the life or death situation gave Cairo an inspiration
Who said that he should imitate the past him at a hundred percent? The past him have enough comprehension and is not starved like him
Cairo only started learning magic for about a week. Making sand from scratch is still a hard thing to do for him. What Cairo can do is to make good use of his surroundings
Instead of making his own sand, Cairo tried controlling the sand all around him. To his delight, grains of sands started gathering on his palm
Cairo does not have time to be joyful about him finally being able to use magic and he gathered as much sand as he can into a ball
The man noticed the moving sands on Cairo's palm causing him to be stunned and his mouth went wide open
"M-magic!" The man said incredulously
Cairo knows what kind of situation he was in and moved his hand after gathering as much sand as he can. The ball of sand he made was smaller than the past him but it was enough!
With a power that Cairo doesn't know he has, he controlled his arm and shoved the ball of sand inside the man's open mouth
The man's eyes turned wider from the sudden turn of events before he felt something inside him exploding
The ball of sand exploded on the man's throat and it harvested his life as blood continuously leaked out from his mouth
Cairo and the man both fell on the sand below at the same time. The former is exhausted and injured while the latter is completely dead
It took Cairo a few minutes to recover some of his clarity again and when he realized what he had done, he found out that he doesn't feel guilty at all
This is Cairo's first time killing someone but he doesn't regret it. The feeling of his life can be taken away by that man is horrible. He hates it and he never wants to feel such a thing ever again
He realized that he doesn't feel repulsive about the idea of killing even just by a little bit. In fact, Cairo is still angry with the now dead man on the ground
Cairo looked at his hand that isn't even trembling after what he had done. It has some wounds because he still wasn't able to properly control the sand ball but aside from that, nothing abnormal can be seen on it
The simple mind of the youth just ignored that he had killed for the first time as a sense of crisis grew on his heart. He needs to become stronger as soon as possible so that a similar situation like this one will never happen to him again
Cairo looked around him and discovered that no one discovered the killing yet. Well, even if they do, the townsmen won't feel much about it. They are already numb at the concept of killing
Perhaps, they would wonder what is the reason for the killing and see if they can get benefits from it. Thinking of that, Cairo stored the book on his spatial ring and dragged his exhausted body away
It would be bad if someone discovered him. The killings in the town were mostly done because of food or other resources that someone has. Cairo cannot let himself be discovered now
The youth moved as far away as possible from the crime scene while trying his best to avoid encountering other people
That one magic from before already used up all of his mana. He doesn't have enough fuel anymore to use the same magic
Acolytes might have the ability to use magic but they are still weak among mages. Mages in the same rank as Cairo has a limited amount of mana. One or two magic is already their limit
Cairo entered another trashcan and hid inside it to rest. He searched for medicines on his spatial ring and he was lucky he found one
It was a cream-like thing inside a wooden container and have a paper on the cover explaining how to use it and also its effects
Cairo felt like his decision of hiding inside the smelly trashcan was the right choice. When he opened the cream, a strong medicinal scent wafted into the air
The youth didn't waste any more time and scooped some cream using a wooden spoon. He can't use his bare hands in fear that it will contaminate such a precious thing
Cairo spread the cream on his face and he immediately felt its effects. A cold soothing sensation spread on his bruised cheeks and to the youth's surprise, the pain instantly vanished
It also seems like his face was already back to normal. "A mage's item is really amazing!" Cairo said while sighing inside him