<h4>Chapter 87: Being Human</h4>


    Sein did not recognize most of the residents who were fervently pleading for his cause.


    Only a few in the front row seemed vaguely familiar to Sein, reminding him of those underground humans he had briefly interacted with during his mission to exterminate Green Plumes.


    At that time, Sein could not carry all the Green Plumes’ remains, so he generously offered them to those humans.


    To Sein, it was merely amodity he could hardly carry back, but for these people, those Green Plumes’ remains had prevented almost a thousand of them from sumbing to starvation.


    True to Sein’s suspicion, those underground humans could not bring themselves to enjoy the flesh of the valuable magic creatures.


    Instead, they sold most of the flesh. The profit was used to buy affordable underground edible moss, enabling them to survive the grim period when their crops were destroyed.


    Under the leadership of these hundreds of people whom Sein had saved, more and more residents who had experienced Sein’s kindness began to rally behind him.


    Mystralora City had a poption of three hundred thousand people. These underground residents were on the brink of being “rescued” as the ck mages were about to be defeated.


    Mages and knights from the Divine Towers and the Orders of the Knight were going to transport them to the surface using airships.


    While it remained unclear whether these esteemed knights and mages truly cared about the lives of these residents, this was part of their mission to exterminate the ck mages.


    Upon the mission’spletion, both the Divine Towers and the Orders of the Knights would document and assess the sess of their operation this time.


    Three hundred thousand people constituted a significant number. When they crowded together and stirred up amotion, the knights who were unaware of the real truth actually believed that Sein had helped all these people in the past.


    In reality, the circle of humans within Mystralora City was exceedingly small.


    They were all like ants, living under the oppressive and cruel rule of the ck mages.


    Amid this dark and grim existence, the ck magic initiate who showed them kindness became a beacon of light, warm andforting as a ray of sunshine.


    Even Sein himself was unaware of the profound impact his unintentional actions had on these ordinary residents.


    In fact, Sein’s acts of kindness toward these residents extended beyond that one instance of charity involving the Green Plumes.


    Throughout his three years as an intermediate initiate, Sein had interacted with the ordinary humans of Mystralora City during his bi-monthly academy quests.


    Having a stronger moralpass than other ck magic initiates made Sein stand out and shine among them.


    As a result, when challenged by these powerful knights, it was the underground humans who were the first to defend him and disy the courage to do so.


    A significant part of this was also attributed to the gentle and non-offensive behavior of these surface knights toward the residents.


    This group of knights was reasonable and principled, respecting the lives of the weak.


    The collective appeal of these underground residents finally reached the silver-armored knight who had been silent. As the leader of the group of knights, he was the one who had the ultimate authority.


    With his spear in hand, he intervened just in time before the yellow-armored knight could put the shackles on Sein.


    He removed his silver-colored helmet, revealing a bald head. He was a stern-looking man with intimidating ck eyes.


    “Not all ck magic initiates have been assimted and corrupted by those evil ck mages. They are also victims. We’ve encountered initiates with kind hearts, some even epted as apprentices by the mages from the Divine Tower of Dawn,” the bald silver-armored knight stated.


    The ck magic initiates he mentioned were mostly the junior and fresh initiates who had managed to survive in Shadow Valley.


    Many fresh initiates and several junior initiates found themselves epted as apprentices by the mages from the Divine Tower of Dawn because they were young and not entirely corrupted by the dark environment of the ck Magic Academy yet.


    These initiates had distinguished themselves through their motivation and discipline, earning admiration from several mages from the Divine Tower who could not help resist taking them under their wing as apprentices.


    These Divine Tower mages asserted their desire to guide these ck magic initiates back onto the right path.


    “Why did you help these civilians?” the silver-armored knight asked as he approached Sein.


    The opponent’s unparalleled strength and suffocating presence were enough topel anyone with deceitful intentions to reveal their true colors.


    The silver-armored Knight was a ruthless man who had participated in internar wars for hundreds of years. He trusted his own judgment on a young man who was only in his twenties.


    In response to the silver-armored knight’s question, Sein did not mince his words and spoke what was on his mind. “I don’t see them as just civilians. They’re human, just like me.”


    His response seemed to freeze the air around him for a moment.


    This was followed by heartyughter from the silver-armored knight. Unlike the group of Rank One knights around him who had mocked theirrade, Zeke, for being injured by a ck magic initiate, the silver-armored knight’sughter was more genuine.


    He seemed like he wanted to pat Sein on the shoulder, but Sein''s height was too short for him to do that. Besides, he was also concerned about applying too much force and unintentionally hurt the 1.8-meter-tall young man.


    In the end, he tucked the silver helmet under his armpit, waved to Sein, and said, “You want to meet a Divine Tower mage, yes? Come on, I’ll take you to Master Medich.”


    “Not only do the mages from the Divine Tower are curious about that Sand World, but I am as well,” the silver-armored knight added, leading the way toward the city.


    Observing the silver-armored knight’s departure, Sein wasted no time and followed suit.


    Before leaving, he made sure to bow to the group of residents from Mystralora City who were still prostrating themselves and pleading on his behalf.


    It was at this moment that Sein found himself pondering something different.


    <i>What is the true meaning of magic? In the pursuit of magic knowledge, must one adopt the practices of ck mages, including the disdain for and disregard of life?</i>


    Sein felt the urge to pose this question to Master Morsidor.


    With Master Morsidor’s wisdom, he could surely guide Sein in the right direction.


    However, the lingering question remained—where could Master Morsidor be right now?


    <i> </i> ***


    Mystralora City, at this moment, had undergone a drastic transformation from Sein’s memory.


    Almost half of the once-majestic city nowy in ruins.


    ording to the silver-armored knight, their next step was topletely overthrow and bury Mystralora City.


    This central hub of the Underworld was on the brink of bing a relic of the past.


    “I’m Baldor, young one. If you manage to be a full-fledged mage in the future, you can seek me out at the Order of Land Sword from the Boundless South Sea of the Magus World. I have very high hopes for you,” the silver-armored knight said before guiding Sein toward a stone building in the eastern part of the city, near to the heart of it.