Chapter 103: Chapter 103

“And that’s how we use elemental magic,” I said with a smile.

Silence. The pit was stuffed with scores of tribesmen, all seated on the sides of the pit, staring down at me. I scratched my chin. It was a little awkward standing here all alone, being stared at by so many people. I wasn’t sure if they were silent because they were trying to be respectful, or if they hadn’t understood a word I’d said. I decided to assume it was the former, and clapped my hands.

“Right, the Roja tribe, who are standing over there by the entrance, have agreed to help teach you all the basics. Just remember what I said about magic being knowledge and wisdom, and you should be good to go. If you have any questions, just ask the Roja tribesmen in charge of your tribe, or ask me whenever I come around to your part of the field. Oh right, that reminds me. We’ll be practicing on the fields below the mountain, so once we’re done here, everyone should follow their elders down the path and wait for their instructors,” I said as I began making my way to the stone path that lead down the mountain. “And remember, from now on, you can’t call me the great one, or the venerated one, or whatever other names you’ve been coming up with. Either call me by my name, Cas, or if you just can’t help it, Teacher Cas. Understand? Good. See you down below!”

Nobody moved as I left the main Bek Tepe temple complex. Even the Roja respectfully stepped aside as I approached them. I sighed and grabbed Kelser by the shoulders. Why did he step aside too? Did he get caught up in the moment? Anyways, I asked him how I’d done out there and he said it had gone well, but he didn’t think anybody would be able to do any magic yet. I agreed, since I’d only gone over the absolute basics of elemental magic, and I was working against centuries of teachings and traditions that governed magic for the tribes of the double river basin. The Jora, in particular, would have a rough time, because they had to be taught magic from scratch. I had no idea how the God of Evil’s magic worked, so the Jora would have to learn my magic instead!

Still, I asked Priest Mal to demonstrate his tribe’s brand of magic to me tonight. I was looking forward to dissecting how it worked, although from what I’d gathered so far, it didn’t look like I’d be able to replicate it even if I understood how it worked.

Once I left the pit, I heard a commotion arise behind me as everybody in the seating area began chatting and murmuring and jostling for their place in the long lines leading down from the temple. I arrived at the base with Kelser and the Roja tribe, and went over the various assignments with them. I’d left Kelser in charge of the Jora tribe, since they needed the most help, and spread all of the other most competent magicians across the other tribes. Their job was to supervise and teach their assigned tribes how to cast elemental magic, and to reach out to me if they ran into any trouble. By the time the other tribesmen arrived at the field, I’d arranged the Roja into seven groups, and told the elders from each tribe which group would be in charge of their lessons for today.

The Roja divided their assigned tribes even further, and began their lessons by repeating what I had said in the pit, and answering a few basic questions. I went around from group to group, whenever I was called by the Roja. Soon, the Roja were demonstrating elemental magic to the other tribesmen, and asking them to give it a try. Nobody managed to cast a real spell all day, since they were no longer allowed to use their embarrassing chants or the power of the God of Evil. Still, I felt like we’d made some progress just by helping them think about knowledge and wisdom. I wrapped up the lesson just before sunset, and answered another round of questions from the exhausted tribesmen.

As the tribesmen lumbered off back up to Bek Tepe, all plastered with sweat and breathing heavily, I asked Kelser to stay behind. I asked him how the tribesmen had done, if he thought there was anything we could improve for next time, and so on. He said it might be helpful to do more demonstrations when everyone was together in the pit, which meant he wanted me to do more lectures.

As I followed Kelser back up to Bek Tepe, he asked me why I wanted to teach the humans magic, anyway. He was especially curious why I wanted to teach the Jora tribe. So far, I had only told elder Kezler and Kelser about what happened on the cave on the mountain at the roof of the world. I left out the part about Noel killing Priest Oxi and knocking out Kelser, but did tell them about my fight with her and how she had left to try and bring down the immortals.

Kelser wondered why I wanted to teach magic to the descendants of the people who had killed my tribe. He said that they had a different style of magic, so I could have said I couldn’t teach them because I did not know their style of magic. I told him that would be a lie. He said it was a pretty lenient way to deal with the people who had done such a heinous crime against my people.

“I tried explaining this to Noel too,” I said, keeping my voice low as we walked up the stone path to Bek Tepe, “but the way I look at justice is very different. The ancestors who did those crimes are dead. I cannot avenge the elfin Jora tribe by punishing the human Jora tribe that exists right now. To do so, in my eyes, would be like punishing completely different people for somebody else’s crimes.”

“But they were also members of the human Jora tribe. The human Jora tribe still remembers and pays homage to those ancestors,” he said. “Shouldn’t you at least make them stop doing that?”

I frowned. “Yeah, maybe I will. But I don’t want to tell people about everything just yet.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because I’ve seen the way they look at me. If the human Jora find out about what their ancestors did, I’m afraid they might do something stupid. Like hurting themselves to atone for what their ancestors did,” I said.

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“I see,” said Kelser. “You really do think in strange ways, huh.”

I shrugged. “I can’t help it. I’ve told you about how I came from another world. I can’t help thinking the way the people of my old world did. It’s what I grew up learning, the same way you all grew up learning about your ancestors and their customs. It is as strange for me to think about things your way, as it is for you to think of them my way. Does that make sense? I feel like I’m talking in circles at this point.”

“Yeah, I think I get it,” said Kelser. “But that still doesn’t answer my question. Why are you teaching them magic?”

I stared at the murals on the walls of the path leading up to Bek Tepe. I didn’t focus on the story this time, and decided to stare blankly at the artwork, admiring its colors and shapes. “I’ve always liked to teach. I used to help out my friends, the neighbor’s kids, younger students, pretty much anyone who needed my help with a question or an assignment. Besides, every time I hear those stupid chants the humans of this world use, I cringe really badly.”

“They’re not that bad,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes they are. Anyway, there is one more reason that I’m helping the humans out.”

“Does it have to do with Noel?” he asked.

I frowned. “How did you guess?”

“You might think differently, but Noel is from this world,” he said. “She probably wanted revenge against the human tribes that killed her people.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I want to give these people the chance to fight back. Noel might be aiming for the immortals for now, but who knows when she comes back for a little revenge. It would be a lot easier for her to kill a few humans, than to kill an immortal.”

Kelser nodded. We reached the top of the path, and went into Bek Tepe. We stopped talking, and walked in silence. By the time we arrived at the Roja tribe’s camp, night had fallen. Everybody was groaning from magical energy exhaustion, but we had a lively dinner, before going to bed.

I awoke the next morning and prepared for the day’s training. The hunters and foragers went out in the morning, returning in time for the day’s magic lessons. I spent the next few weeks teaching the humans of the double river basin the basics of elemental and motion magic. I also gave special lessons to the Roja, although only Kelser had the energy to really learn after teaching all day. Soon, it was time for the tribes to begin leaving for their homelands.

One night, I gathered all the elders together for another meeting around a crackling campfire.