When A Mage Revolts

"Why are you mentioning him? Come with me, back to the tribe to continue learning magic properly. Help resist the magic tide with everyone else in three months. You will slowly learn more about all other matters in the future."

Hearing this, Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.

Based on his reaction, at this point, Cain and Abel should have had already gone through a very serious parting of ways and would probably engage each other in a final battle soon.

Benjamin still felt extremely confused.

What sort of event occurred in between the breaking up of brothers until the battle in the Abandoned Valley of Gods? From the information he had gathered so far, humans in this era still had to struggle to survive with that magic tide thing around. Could they really afford to have a civil war?

After following Cain silently for about half an hour, Benjamin finally arrived at the aforementioned "tribe".

Cain had called it a tribe, but this ‘tribe’ was even more primitive than Benjamin had imagined. The houses were simple, messily made out of bamboo sticks and lumber, providing little shelter against the elements. Most of the people were almost nude, using only some animal fur to cover up the important parts. Benjamin suspected that only people in high and respected positions, such as Cain, could enjoy a complete set of clothing.

Benjamin could not stop wondering about what era this actually was? Could magic not help advance their society? At the very least... To break free from such primitive standards.

Although he was unsure, he decided against saying anything about it.

Did Cain not say that he wanted to teach him magic? Benjamin wished to wait for a while and see what form magic, in this primitive age, would exist in.

After arriving in the tribe, the people they encountered all bowed to Cain, to which Cain often nodded back to in acknowledgment. Some of the words often mentioned in their conversations were terms such as "magic tide", "sacrifice", "oracle", and of which helped Benjamin to roughly piece together the situation in this era.

Slowly, he came to the conclusion that this was the version of the legend where the problem of whether to sacrifice for the "God of Magic" and the "God of Light" had finally caused the rift between the brothers.

Only... He had yet to see any evidence of the existence of such gods.

Unfortunately, since the space of consciousness was unavailable, Benjamin was now like an ordinary clueless commoner. Otherwise, he would have long used the water elemental sensing technique to dig out every single secret held in this tribe.

"Beast, what are you thinking about? Don’t dawdle about."

Perhaps it was because Benjamin did not seem to be paying attention that Cain suddenly turned around and scolded him. And being unfamiliar with this new name, Benjamin did not even respond immediately.

For a moment, Cain looked somewhat displeased.

"I... I’m coming." Seeing this, Benjamin hurriedly ran after him. "Master Cain, what are we going to do?"

Cain continued walking, "Hunt down five magical creatures and collect their blood to complete your initiation ceremony into the tribe. Only then will you be a qualified member of our tribe."

…...Such a primitive ceremony.

Benjamin was rather helpless but still nodded.

He was unsure about many things. How long would he have to stay here for? In reality, were they still in the Abandoned Valley of Gods? Was his body still present in the other reality?

All sort of unanswered questions caused him to become somewhat agitated. He could not be as carefree as he had been before; now, there was the burden of a whole institution on his shoulders. He could not just disappear for no reason.

And yet, he did not know what he could do to return to reality...

Benjamin dug into his pockets and realized that his magic robe had also vanished. His appearance was now similar to those naked, primitive people; he guessed that his physical appearance had also changed into that of another person.

Had he really, completely taken over this "Beast’s" perspective?

There was no magic and no gingko leaf. Benjamin could not think of any way out. Because of this, he could only obediently follow Cain’s lead, eventually exiting the tribe from the other side and entering into thick forestry once again.

As they walked, he fired off questions one after another.

"Master Cain, how many tribes are there around us?"

"What magic do you know, sir? How powerful are you, can you show it to me?"

"What’s the magic tide?"

Perhaps it was because he had been in the Academy of Magic for such a long time that he had taken after those paparazzi-like students that often surrounded him to ask him all sorts of questions. Cain’s head started to swell from being bombarded with his questions, and although he had been unwilling to speak much at first, Benjamin’s constant prodding slowly managed to coax out some information from him.

This was a very primitive society. Magical creatures were in abundance and the wilderness was harsh. Because of this, the area where they conducted their activities was also extremely small, and they rarely ventured out into the world outside. In the area that they knew about, there were about six or seven tribes. The tribe that Cain commanded was probably the largest - apparently, there were altogether a few hundred mages inside it.

In such an era, it should be quite a powerful force, should it not?

Cain was still very evasive concerning the topic about Abel and the Divine Arts. Therefore, Benjamin was still unable to find out how light magic, which had been part of the series of magic, had been separated into an independent branch before eventually becoming the enemy of mages.

But still, he continued to ask diligently.

"Shut up."

Suddenly, Cain cut Benjamin’s off and stopped in his tracks.

Benjamin was startled.

He could see Cain’s expression become extremely serious as he looked into the thick forest before them. He started muttering to Benjamin, "They are coming. Take this dagger and stand behind me. Wait for my signal; I will beat them until they lose their ability to fight back, and then you will finish them off."

...Magical creatures?

He could finally see how this ancestor of magic cast his spells.

Benjamin nodded his head and took the dagger, standing obediently behind Cain.

A few seconds later, a few humongous wolf beasts rushed out of the foliage and pounced towards them ferociously. It was worth noting that these magical creatures looked rather normal, and were not very different from the typical wild beast.

Benjamin also could not help but ponder about whether something had affected the magical creatures and caused them to evolve into stranger and weirder forms over the years.

Suddenly, Cain struck.

He did not chant any spells as Benjamin had expected, but instead, just snapped his fingers lightly. Following this, a column of fire sprung out of nowhere, and in a moment, swallowed up the wolf-beasts that were charging at them.

After a few seconds, Cain waved his hands and the blaze of fire disappeared as quickly as it had come. He turned his head and signaled for Benjamin to take action; the wolf-beasts, burnt by the fire, were barely alive at this point.

Benjamin was stunned.

What technique was this?

There were no chants, no runes. Cain seemed to only have had willed it, and the fire elemental energy obeyed his directions. This fellow... Could it be that he also used the space of consciousness to cast his magic?

However, the process still did not seem like it.

Benjamin had lost all his elemental energy sensing abilities and was left with only his spiritual energy. Therefore, he could not really detect processes accurately. But he also realized that this might be another way to cast magic that he had never heard of before... in other words, another realm of magic.

How was this done?

"Alright, these are a few of the weakest magical creatures. When you have learned magic properly, you too will be able to do things at such a level in the future." Seeing how still Benjamin was, Cain patted his shoulder and said, "The things we are about to face will be stronger than these."

Benjamin nodded as though he understood and raised up the dagger Cain had given to him whilst walking towards those few wolf beasts.

"I... I’m going now..."

Nevertheless, before the words had barely exited his mouth, his expression suddenly changed. He turned around and suddenly plunged the dagger into Cain’s chest.