Everyone in Benjamin’s company were shocked.
Weren’t the mages nonexistent here on the grasslands? Why would they suddenly be meeting the mages here on the battlefield?
They headed towards the source of the magical disturbances.
Very quickly they saw what was happening at the source.
Beneath the clear moonlight, they could see two groups of herdsman that made up a total of about a hundred people, facing each other on the field before them. And among the herdsman they could see two mages that looked very young...they could be apprentice mages. Their mouths chanted and conjured a beginner level magic of icicles that looked like flames and threw it at their opponent.
Their magic looked really weak, it looked like they were having a snowball fight. It couldn’t even be described as a "fight".
Benjamin frowned when he saw this.
What are these people doing?
He looked at the mages behind him, and flew to the sky after giving it some thought.
When a hundred people fly in the sky at the same time, it didn’t matter if it is day or night it will still look very conspicuous. The two groups looked up and saw the scene before them, at that moment, the two battling apprentices stopped their magic. Everyone had their eyes wide open, when they came to their senses and saw that it was Benjamin, they worshipped him.
From the looks in their eyes, these people did not forget the mages that came down from the sky and cleared the Tide of Beast in the beginning.
Even though Benjamin did not like the worshipping, even he had to admit that it was pretty satisfying.
If these people remembered him, then his work would be much easier now.
And so, they flew down from the sky and landed in front of the two groups of herdsman. Benjamin waved his hand and the water vapor rolled away with the gentle wind, bringing the kneeling people to their feet.
"What happened? What are you all doing here?" he looked at the people and asked.
The herdsman looked to one another, all of them looked too scared to talk. So, he turned to the two mage apprentices. The apprentices hesitated before walking towards Benjamin.
They bowed to Benjamin first and said, "we are sorry Master Mage. We did not use magic to protect our home like you told us to. Instead we use it to see who is the strongest. We... we are sorry Master!"
As they said this, they looked as though they were going to kneel again.
Benjamin was speechless.
What are they saying?
Why did it feel as though the herdsman of the grassland had a brain transplant and became a completely different person.
"I taught you magic, magic now belongs to you too, there is no need to apologize to me." Benjamin shook his head and said impatiently, "now, can someone tell me why you were fighting?"
The two apprentices looked to each other, before finally one of them opened their mouth and said, "we... were fighting for land, we couldn’t decide, so we used this method of using magic to fight so that we could decide."
Benjamin nodded his head thoughtfully and said, "using magic to decide who wins the fight...that is not a bad idea, did you thought of it yourself?"
The apprentice who spoke shook his head and said, "no, but nowadays, the tribes are starting to use this method. Whichever tribe has the strongest mage would get the best land. Everyone else is doing it."
Benjamin was not shocked when he heard this, instead he felt excited.
The magic really progressed so fast on the grasslands?
How long has it been since he passed on the knowledge to them? The highest level of magic here would not even pass an apprentice. The herdsman actually used magic in their everyday life, slowly becoming part of their culture.
Unintentionally, the ink that they have dripped onto the white canvas has already turned into a pretty decent looking painting.
This really was a surprise.
Benjamin guessed that, maybe the Tide of the Beast really disappointed the people, and that disappointment was taken away by magic. This made them see magic as reverent and something to be worshipped, that was why magic progressed so fast.
And now... the situation was better, he thought that it would only just sprouted, but it turned out that it had already bloomed with beautiful flowers. How could they miss this?
"Then you should continue the match." He smiled at the two mages, "I can give you some tips from the side. We might even choose the one who shows the most potential."
The two apprentices were stunned.
"Chosen..."
The herdsman looked to each other, with excited and happy expressions on their faces.
"What my Lord means to say is that we can learn magic from you?" one of the apprentice asked anxiously but expectantly.
Benjamin nodded his head and said, "of course. At the same time, what is more important is that we can defend your right to fight with magic."
The two apprentices cheered, not a trace of the hostility that they had showed before while battling.
But... it looked as though they have ignored everything Benjamin said after "of course".
Benjamin thought that he should not emphasize on that. He was here to look for the strength to fight against the church, but... this was not something that could be taken lightly. So from the start, he should make it sound nicer than it actually was.
And so, they entered the grasslands to find their first group of herdsman. It was already late, so they camped next to the herdsman. They also took this opportunity to slowly integrate into the daily life of the average herdsman.
"Do you know how many tribes there are in the grasslands?"
"Aside from the two of them, is there anyone else among you who learnt magic? I can meet them and maybe give them a tip or two."
"Are there any fierce beasts around here that I can get rid of them for you."
This was so different from the last time; this time Benjamin was a hundred times warmer towards the herdsmen compared to the last time. He was very sure that they have become his potential champions, just like at the Desert City, this could become his second home.
Benjamin’s overly enthusiastic attitude flattered the herdsmen. So much so that many of them told Benjamin that they were willing to follow Benjamin to the ends of the earth, to sacrifice their lives with no fear.
Of course Benjamin did not want their lives.
These two tribes made up a total of a hundred people. After the selection, he found seven of them who had the natural gift of magic. Among them five were already apprentices, the other two had not tried magic due to other reasons.
Benjamin took the seven into their campsite.
"This is Mage Joanna, she is an expert in fire magic, she can even conjure high level fire magic. If you have any questions regarding magic you can ask her, she will definitely help you answer them."
"If you want to learn wind magic, you can ask Mage Frank to teach you. He has done the most research in this area and will definitely open your eyes to the different things."
"If you want to learn about earth magic..."
Even though there were only seven apprentices, but Benjamin was so focused on them it was like nothing he did before.
Bit by bit, collecting little by little, what they need most now was a steady stream of magical force. If they could get seven people from these two tribes then what about the other tribes?
No matter what, education must not be lacking. Even though Benjamin still had a lot of problems and the pressure on him was great, but he should still look at things from a wider perspective!
The other mages in the group also understood this. And so, when they faced the apprentices, they treated them as one of their own, sharing their knowledge without holding anything back.
"AHHHHHHHH...I have said this so many times, why do you not get it? You are so annoying! I don’t care, let’s do those two moves again, the more you use it the more you will get it!" Joanna’s voice travelled across the campsite.
"Tea, Teacher, don’t..."
Benjamin laughed as he shook his head.
Honestly, this was what magic was to him.
Not everyone has something that they hide about themselves, a secret that follows them to their graves – there is no future in monopolizing magic. Communicating and sharing with one another is the only chance magic has of advancement. And this was also something that was taught in "The Declaration of the Freedom of Magic".
He felt really happy.
The magic in the grasslands were only taking their first steps, but Benjamin could finally use his two hands to build the ideal magical world.