When Chetak stopped in front of them, the others, who were still rushing to see what their lord had brought, were met with a new shock.
There were nine people in total. When the carriage had left, there were only four, but now there were five more.
The biggest shock was that the carriage, which should have been filled with goods, was empty except for the people. Everyone was too shocked to say anything and just quietly looked on.
Lucan, who had now woken up, stood and came out of the carriage. Soon, everyone followed behind him: Kenny climbed down, then Kaela, Leo, and the other three.
After they all came to stand in front of the group, everyone's eyes looked once more into the empty space of the carriage, where there was nothing.
It was as if the people who came out of it had just appeared from thin air.
Nors, who saw it, was shocked, but not enough to fail to realize that the Lord had done this, just like how he had made the wood disappear before.
So he said to all of them with reassurance, "Everyone, don't be shocked. You know that Lord is a mage. He can do this anytime. There was probably no space for these five to sit, so the Lord just made them disappear."
Then, as if they had a sudden realization, they all nodded in agreement. The problem of the items not being in the carriage was gone as soon as it came, but the other problem was: who were these five children, and why was that girl holding the Lord's hand?
Marcus, with Elias's help, took Chetak to a place for parking him and after that, removed the reins and hook from him. Ronan and Elara were together, and Ronan went toward her.
Lucan opened his mouth, ready to speak, but Kenny already jumped in, not letting him waste time introducing everyone again. "This girl by our Lord's side is Kaela. She is our Lord's disciple. The Lord will be teaching her magic."
Then he pointed to the girl beside Kaela, who was Alicia. "And this little shy girl is Kaela's younger sister after Leo. Her name is Alicia."
"And the person who is the same age as me with a sword in his hand is Leo. Like I said, he is the second one after Kaela, sis."
Then he pointed to the siblings next to Leo and said, "These two are Jack and Johney. They are the five siblings the Lord has taken with us."
Now everyone understood who they were, but looking at them, they were too poor. The clothes they had on were ragged. Only Kaela had a better cloth.
Everyone who thought Kenny had said it all looked at them, but Kenny continued, "And Kaela, sis, is a mage! She can use magic, like firing balls made out of fire or what she thinks!"
Now everyone was a bit shocked. Lucan had not just picked up a normal girl but a mage.
But then they realized that since Kenny said Kaela was a disciple, it meant Lucan would be teaching her about magic. So he could teach magic to everyone here if the Lord wanted to.
And the three young siblings were covered in dirt, their skin hidden under dust. Dalia looked at them, then at Lucan, and spoke softly. "Lord, can I take these three with me, so I can wash them with the water I have saved for washing myself? These three are looking too dirty."
Dalia said this and waited for Lucan.
Everyone looked at them; it was true they were not in any good condition. Lucan, also understanding it, said, "You can take them with you, and also take Alian and Lyra with you so they can be familiar with one another. They are all the same age."
As Dalia heard it, she gestured to the three of them and, with Alian and Lyra, went to their work. Lucan and the others were talking about where they would sleep, but then they looked toward the empty shelter.
There was no one living inside, so Lucan said to Kaela and Leo, "Kaela, you can go with Dalia, and Leo, you can sleep in that shelter," pointing to a shelter.
Kaela, hearing this, was going, but Lucan said to her, "You can also sleep wherever you want, Kaela, and about your siblings, you can think where they will sleep." Hearing this, she had a joyful smile on her face, then she also walked toward Dalia.
Now that the others were here, Lucan looked at all of them. They were all looking at Lucan, wondering what he would do. Then he waved his hand, and soon, all the items came into view.
The spices, traps, smithy tools, materials to build, forge, and flour all came into view. Now they were shocked once more, but as soon as the shock came, it was replaced by happiness. Now they could eat better food with spiciness in it.
Lucan said to all of them, "Now that we can go and purchase the items we need, we will be doing this every now and then, but for now, store what we actually need right now in a safe place."
Evan and all the others said at the same time, "Yes, Lord."
"And I will take these items for now. Now is not a good time to build anything. Tomorrow, we will build the smithy and have Ronan and Elara make some weapons for us, okay?" Lucan said and looked at them.
"Yes, Lord," Ronan and Elara said, and now they were excited that they would get the smithy built tomorrow.
Nors, who was watching all of this, got sad for a moment, not because of the love and respect but because there wasn't a bottle of wine. Nors gestured to Lucan to see if he had forgotten it or not.
Nors' eyes were kept sliding toward Lucan, hungry for something and it was a bottle. Lucan caught the look and smiled to himself.
Nors, who understood it, was also now filled with happiness. Ronan and Elara, who were there, went back to their shelter after greeting Lucan.
There were now only Lucan, Kenny, Evan, Nors, Leo, and Cedric. These six were the only ones here. Marcus and Elias were with Chetak, taking care of him.
Lucan, glancing at all of them and then at Kenny, said, "Kenny, I will be in my shelter reading a book, okay? When your mom has prepared the food, get it for me, and don't disturb me if there isn't any urgent work, okay?"
"Yes, Lord," Kenny said and now walked with Leo, taking a stroll. After they had gone, there were only four people left.
Then Lucan waved his hand and took out the bottle of wine. He gave it to Nors and said, "Nors, here is your bottle of wine, and also tell everyone that they don't disturb me, okay?"
Nors, taking the bottle, said, "Yes, Lord." Evan and Cedric's eyes were on the bottle; they also wanted to drink it, but they didn't say anything.
Lucan, who had now said what he wanted, walked toward his shelter. Behind him, the three were having a conversation about how they would divide the wine, and here, Lucan now was.
Inside the shelter, the camp noise faded away. Lucan sat on the bed and whispered in his mind, "System, give me the book." In his hand, it appeared. It was a bit heavy with a plain cover. On it were the words, "How to Become a Mage, Part 1." The other book was with the system for now.
Lucan had thought about reading this book when he was inside the carriage, but he didn't get the chance. Now that he had the book and no one would disturb him, he opened it.
The first page was filled with text. "How to Become a Mage, Part 1" was at the top of the page. Then below it were the three chapters.
They said:
Chapter 1: Energy Pool and the Nature of Power
Chapter 2: The Breathing Technique
Chapter 3: How to Make a Circle
Then, after these words, there was the text, "For the next chapter, refer to part 2."
'So the other chapters are in part 2,' Lucan thought. Then he flipped a page. At the top was "Chapter 1: Energy Pool and the Nature of Power."
Lucan read the book's chapter 1 about the energy pool for a few minutes and understood what it was.
He thought about it. 'So, every living being has an energy pool inside their abdomen, and it is a strength everyone has. Also, depending on the person, someone can use it to make it a mana pool or, if someone wanted to be a swordmaster, they can make it an aura. This book here is for the mage, and I didn't even know that it was inside me all the time. I can't feel it now, but…' he stopped his thoughts.
Then he read some more paragraphs. Then, as if he realized something, Lucan closed his eyes. He sat in a meditation position, his hands resting lightly on his stomach. He tried to feel the pool.
Slowly, a few seconds passed, then minutes, and after more than five minutes, Lucan opened his eyes, removing his hand from his stomach. He murmured softly, "Here it is, my energy pool. Now I just need to somehow make it a mana pool." the energy pool's warmth came from his stomach. A light began to feel in his stomach. 'This swirling pool inside me.'
Now Lucan turned the page, and there was the next chapter. It was about the breathing technique. It described Lucan drawing the air inside through his nose, then holding it, and then letting it out through his mouth.
From this, you can get the mana from the world itself. As Lucan read it, he did exactly what the book described. Then he felt the air, thin and cold like a mist, slipping inside him.
It was slowly going toward his pool, and the pool also, a truly small bit, was increased. It now felt more alive. It was the mana breathing technique.
'Now, I can draw mana from the world, but my energy pool didn't even turn into a mana pool,' Lucan thought. Not losing hope, he turned more pages and then, seeing Chapter 3, which was about how to change raw energy like his energy pool into mana and how to form a circle, he started reading.
What the book said in Chapter 3 was to change the raw energy into mana and guide it from the pool toward the heart, because the heart is the will of everyone, and then slowly form a circle on his heart, but it would be painful.
Lucan did it as it was written. He first slowly, in his mind, tried to make the energy pool feel like mana, not a raw power but a pure energy that could be used effectively. Thinking like this, he just meditated.
Then, in a few minutes, he felt that his energy pool was slowly going to be a mana pool, but there was something missing to finish it. 'I need to get a thread of this energy and form the circle.' Realizing the problem, Lucan took the next step.
Slowly, he took a thread and guided it with his mind toward the location of his heart. There was the problem because whenever he tried it, the thread didn't form at all.
For more than ten tries, it did not happen, but on the eleventh try, the thread was formed. Lucan, who was sweating heavily, now felt that his pool was slowly depleting.
So, fully focusing his mind on the thread, he took it toward the heart. Slowly, the thread was going up. In a few seconds of focus, the thread was now near the heart. Then now the real problem was for Lucan to form the mana circle on his heart.