"What a pity, I'm not adept at your other attributes" Kira said with a sigh and Cairo was a bit disappointed too but didn't show it on him. "It's fine, I can do it myself"
It might be faster if Cairo will be taught by Kira with his other attributes but it doesn't mean that Cairo can't do it by himself. As long as he works really hard, Cairo believes that he will improve overtime
Besides, Cairo already had an experience with blood magic before. He only needs time to practice it more
"Don't worry, we have someone that can teach you. But first, master the sand guard skill, it can save your life in many situations" Cairo nodded his head, he had a great grasp at how helpful sand guard can be. It can give him an all-around guard and offense
Even if an enemy managed to approach Cairo from behind, as soon as he noticed that person, it will be easier for him to defend himself as he is already controlling sands around him
----
July 10 Year 30,765
Few days have passed again and Cairo had a decent mastery in his sand guard skill now. With the improvement in his understanding of magic, it was inevitable that it will also give him a rapid increase in magical might
As of now, Cairo is about to start training his blood magic with another man from Kira's team
The man was named John and his main magic is blood magic. Unlike sand magic, blood magic is a bit trickier. It has greater and harsher demands
John can't just teach Cairo to use his blood to attack. The kid is still skinny and his health will deteriorate rapidly if he loses too much blood
Also, because of Cairo's body limitations, as of now, he isn't suited for close-range combat yet. He can train to control the blood of his enemy but at his level, Cairo needs to have direct physical contact with his enemy
It would be better if he trained first in body strengthening as that will improve his weakness a lot but Cairo has a different thinking
He already has knowledge regarding blood magic and even one practical experience with it. It would be a waste of the old man's gift if he doesn't train with blood magic first
"What I'm about to teach you is preparation for your future. Just like what its name implies, blood magic is done with the use of blood. Yes, you can use the enemy's blood but that would mean you need to injure them first and by injuring means an injury that will make them bleed a lot "
"It would be better if you strengthen and increase your blood production first. And for that, you need a lot of nutrients"
After some more explanation, John took two nutrient pills from his spatial ring and showed it to Cairo
"A normal human only needs one pill and they would not need to eat for a whole day. Some can take two but that will make them feel like they have eaten a lot and the pill's nutrients would be wasted"
"Nutrients are very important and vital in blood magic. If the mage's own blood is weak then they need to resort to using another source of blood. In some cases that will make them stronger but that means you need to always have a blood source when fighting."
John swallowed two pills at the same time and continued his explanation of how Cairo should use mana to help his blood take more nutrients
However, their training was interrupted by the loud voice that entered their ears
"Everyone! Gather in the Townsquare, enemies have come. Protect the townsmen!" The voice said and John immediately exited the house they were in
They saw bird-like things outside that warned both the townsmen and Kira's team
"Let's go!" John said and Cairo followed behind him. Cairo knew that if danger comes, he needs these people to protect him
Reaching the Townsquare, Cairo saw that there are already a lot of people in there
Some mages slammed their palms in the ground and made a sand wall in front of the shaking townsmen. Their lives might be better now but there are still a lot of them that died just weeks ago
They only started having a good life, these people don't want to die yet. How cruel would it be if your whole life you were poor and always starved then had comfort for only around two weeks before dying
Cairo joined the other townsmen where the sand wall can protect them but he still peeks a bit to see what is happening
Cairo saw around a hundred people. Some of them were walking and a lot of them have slave collars on their necks
Those who aren't slaves were riding a giant scorpion that looks particularly menacing. Those people were exuding an aura of great power and Cairo can only wish that Kira and the others are stronger than them
"Who are you, people? What are you doing in this town?" the old granny asked coldly. From the looks of these people, she was almost a hundred percent sure that they aren't friendly
The hundred people parted and a muscular man sitting on top of the largest scorpion around was revealed
The man looks at the sand wall protecting the townsmen and his eyes flashed with a dangerous light
"I'm one of the Elders of Savage Sand Gang, I sent my men here more than a week ago. Are you the one that killed them?"
Granny and others don't show much power yet but since the slave trader didn't return after coming to this poor and weak town, then doesn't that mean she and the others already killed his men?
"Yes, we are. They targeted these poor townsmen and they are now under our protection. It would be much appreciated if you leave them be" Granny answered with a strong attitude
Being kind is different from being a pushover! Granny and the others belong to the former category and not the latter
After he confirmed who killed his men, the muscular man was expectedly angered by it
"Good, good, you had the audacity to kill my men" the man said while clapping his hands sarcastically
"Please leave, we don't want trouble" Granny coldly replied but that just made the other man's countenance to turn colder and darker
"How courageous for an old woman!" The man said before his already big muscles turned even bigger
The gangster jumped in the air and heavily landed in the ground causing grains of sands to spread around. Fortunately, the people around him were all mages and the sands weren't able to affect them
"You already lived long enough old woman, time to die!" The man said before a huge sword appeared in his hand and he used it to smack Adah
Granny wasn't afraid though and moved her hands. Sands immediately rose from around her and they hardened. The hardened sands blocked the gangster's sword before Adah moved away
The physical aspect isn't her forte especially with her old age and it would be unwise if she fights the man in close range
"[Sand Magic: Sand Storm!]" The man waved his sword in the air and sand immediately went to attack
"[Wind Magic: Wind Breath!]" Adah opened her mouth and large amounts if winds were released by her
The sands and winds clashed and they canceled each other. That is an outcome that the gangster doesn't like and he rushed to the old woman's direction with his arms packing a lot of strength
No doubt that one direct hit from his sword will mean death
"[Sand Magic: Sand Golem!]" The sands around immediately formed a two meters tall sand golem and its fist went to give the gangster a good punch
"Hmph!" The gangster harumphed and jumped in the air. Just a single slash of his managed to sever one arm of the golem. His physical strength was reinforced by magic and that wasn't surprising
Cairo's blood boiled when seeing the two clashed. Comparing to the mastery he had in his sand guard and explosive sand ball skill, those two are at a different level
At this time, the gangster's men including the scorpions went to attack too. Kira's side was at a disadvantage as the enemy have twice their number but they still fearlessly charged at them
Unlike the gangster's lawless side, Kira and the others made formation that will ensure no one from them will die
One of the scorpions reached a human and used its long tail to attack. However, the human wasn't a pushover
The man opened his mouth and fire immediately came out from it. The fire and tail met, although the scorpion has a great defense but the sensation of being burned still hurts a lot
The scorpion retracted its tail before John jumped in the air. The man's blood seeped out from the pores of his body and gathered on his right fist
The blood instantly hardened and made a blood gauntlet on his hand. "[Blood Magic: Blood Armor!]" With a single punch of him, a large dent appeared in the scorpion's head
"Tsk, this scorpion is weak yet because of... I can't use my full power" After giving his punch, John made the blood on his body boil, causing his speed and reaction time to increase
One of the slaves throw blades made from sands at John and the man jumped away with the help of his magic
Another scorpion shot a poisonous spray and one of the humans were hit by it as he was busy fighting one of the enemies
Seeing this, Kira made her move "[Light Magic: Purify!]" Kira shot a beam of white light at the one that was poisoned
Fortunately, the scorpion's poison was not powerful enough to not be affected by Kira's magic and the poison was slowly being removed by the woman's magic
The man was covered by his other teammate and they helped him retain his lives
All sorts of magic were used by both sides. The townsmen only have fears in their body while Cairo have that and also a sense of excitement
If that is the extent of what magic can do then Cairo wants to reach that level too!
"[Mirror Magic: Magic Ray!]" Adah said before the sands she was controlling around turned into mirrors. Since the town was highly exposed to the sun, the mirrors were charged instantly and several beams were fired to the gangster's head
The gangster dodged around while occasionally using his sword to block. Fortunately for him, he was adept at body strengthening magic, if not, he might have already been hit by those beams
"[Mirror Magic: Glass Rain!]"
More sands around turned into glass shards and they all have a single target
The gangster gritted his teeth before pouring more strength in his arms and swung it wildly for a complete 360° and a dome of black energy appeared around him that blocked the glass shards
"To think that I will need to use several attacks to such a weak opponent. Just how low have I fallen?" Granny thought in her mind as she can feel a seal that was preventing her to use all of the powers she has
She can release the seal any time but the problem was she cannot do that or else, consequences will follow
"[Shadow Magic: Shadow Tentacles!]" Granny's 'pity' for herself gave the gangster a time to attack her again and several black tentacles flew in her direction
Adah poured mana to her feet and the sands moved her body causing the tentacles to miss
However, the tentacles made an L turn and continued attacking her from the side
Adah just snorted at that and sands blocked the tentacles' attacks. She and the others might have their power sealed but they are still far better than this group of gangsters!