Only if I were born in a better family or a better place... things would be way easier that way.

Wearing a simple tunic of linen, he stepped outside the humble building, in which he used to live for the past three years as a little boy, seeing the long stone fences built along the roads to separate each house's yards from the others. Almost every building in the town was built of cheap limestone and planks, except for two, one in the center, made of red bricks, spread wide but with the same height as the other houses. and one at the edges of the town, circular in structure, clothed by black bricks and shiny white flagstones.

It was such a small town that he could easily see the ends of it from where he stood. The short heights of the buildings failed to block the view of the surroundings. Chains of long, far-reaching mountains restricted the area from one side, and the vast green fields spread wide over the remaining regions.

The people in the town did not provide him with much valuable information. The majority of the men tended to work without rest, and their wives only left the home for the purpose of getting water from the local river or do the laundry, hardly ever interacting with their neighbors. Now and then, a group of children would come and play in the yards, but that was all the activity one would usually notice.

The commoners appeared deeply moralistic, extremely religious, and respectful of traditions, at least on the surface. They worshipped multiple deities, creating a costly temple the best they could to show their devotion to the gods.

The man of the house would take the role of the outside worker, gaining coins and bringing food to the family, while the wife had to perform the household duties and take care of the children. He saw a few exceptions, where some women had to do the work of their dead husband too.

People were protective of their family. The other men had to control their gaze, and the women had to dress modest. These social expectations and cultural beliefs mattered to them a lot, to an extent that any transgression would be condemned as an immoral act and repelled by the majority.

The rural people possessed a limited knowledge of the country, let alone the world in large. Apparently, they lived under a monarchy, reigned over by an old king, whom people didn't have any strong opinions of. The majority of the commoners held no political beliefs. Most of them were even incapable of reading texts, like his father. Therefore, nearly all families looked at books like how a person looks at the dazzling light of the sun, confused, disinterested, and sometimes irritated.

His expectations had dropped tremendously in the past three years. In a place where the masses can't even read, the concept of magic would essentially be too advanced for them to have any idea about. The same could be said about any other fighting skills or abilities unique to this world, which they would be ignorant of.

To be able to read, one needed to travel to the nearby cities, which not everyone could afford, or they had to learn from those rare people in the town. The absence of a proper school made everything difficult. The commoners didn't think it was necessary to build a school. After all, according to their common sense, boys only needed to sharpen their muscles to work harder and be of use to the family, while the girls had to become future wives.

If being taught how to read was this much hard for an average person here, what could be said about learning magic? he thought.

The thought of moving to another place crossed his mind, but he had no idea whether the other towns and villages in the kingdom also have the same problems. Furthermore, Aydem needed to convince his parents, assuming they actually could provide the expenses.

Aydem was forced to live in this place as a child, far away from the royal capital, an environment that would give him a lot more opportunity to grow and show his true potential. He once asked Xander to bring him on one of the nightly transports, which in response he said, "Too dangerous! Stay here and protect your mom for me, will you? Some day you'll become old enough to travel."

He came to this world for adventure, to be on top of the hierarchy. By having the mind of an adult, which was a huge advantage, he could start practicing magic, or hone the other possible mystic abilities at the age of 3, being way ahead of everyone else. However, the time was flying by with no considerable accomplishments whatsoever.

Annoyed by this fact, Aydem sit in front of their home entrance, deeply absorbed in thoughts, failing to notice the sound of steps coming closer to him.

A shadow of a man blocked the light of the sun, bringing Aydem out of the deep thought. The man, possessing wavy dark hairs, wore long chocolate boots and light brown pants reaching the knees. Looking up, he noticed the man's white long-sleeved shirt behind a majestic waistcoat of polished golden fabric.

"Oh, you must be," the man said, wearing a smirk, "Aydem, right? I heard a lot of interesting stuff about you from your father."

His face appeared soft and smooth, free of wrinkles and scars, seemingly belonging to that of a young man in his twenties.

"You seem a bit shy," he said, bringing forth his right hand. "Here, my name is Alicio. Nice to meet you!"

Despite feeling hesitant, he still shook the man's hand, meeting his powerful bluish gaze.

"Is your father home?" he asked.

"N-No," Aydem said.

"Ah, I see. What about your mother?"

Hesitating for a moment, Aydem nodded. Who is this guy exactly? I don't recall seeing him before, he thought.

"Great! May I come in?"

This time he had no idea what to respond to this stranger, resulting in a long silence, but it was broken once he sensed the familiar gentle touch on his shoulders, noticing Alicio's look changing its direction towards someone behind him.

"Why are you here?" said a familiar voice from behind Aydem, carrying irritation and resent, "What do you want, Mr. Eraldim?"

The voice belonged to his mother, Emine, coming out in a long loose chemise. For the first time, he sensed an intense anger and seriousness in her tone, wearing a furious frown and fierce glare on her face.

"Hey, don't be so bitter, Emine," the man said, "I told you before, just call me Alicio, no need to be so formal."

"I said why are you here?" she repeated, louder than the previous time.

"Can't I be here to visit my fellow citizens and neighbors?"

She didn't respond back.

"Come on, don't be so cold," Alicio said, coming closer to Aydem, "by the way, you have an adorable little son. I heard lots of amazing stuff from his father."

Holding her son tightly from behind, she said, "If you have nothing to say, please leave this place immediately."

"Ah, I have lots of things to say. I keep being kind, and you answer my kindness with that cold look of yours. That's not fair, don't you think?"

"Then say what you intend to and go away."

"Is that how you treat a guest?"

"You are no guest. No one's invited you here."

"Have you forgotten already? Your husband works for me. No," Alicio said, his voice changing from tender to stiff, standing firmly before her with a look of superiority, "everyone works for me!"

After exchanging a series of vicious blazing stares in silence, Alicio said, "So, may I come in?"