3 years later...

The city of Wistre was a medium sized trading city close to the capital of the Velian Empire, Zyra. Located on the Allium Route, a major trading route for the kingdom spanning hundreds of miles from the capital all the way to the Elven Kingdom of Aeria

As such, people from all over the nearby towns and villages would come to Wistre to sell their goods to travellers on the route who in turn would buy the products and hope to sell them at a higher price to the elves. Because of the taxes it made from this trade, Wistre became a hub for merchants, craftsmen, and artisans, boosting the economy and making Wistre the city it is now.

But as the moon has its dark side it never shows, so did Wistre its black market. Exotic beasts, rare ingredients, stolen artifacts, and even slaves; anything that could be sold would be sold either in dark auctions or through middlemen and bounties.

Despite this stain on the city, Wistre was still a great place to live. It was surrounded by the beautiful landscape of the nearby forest, lakes, and plains.

The city was divided into two parts, an inner and an outer rim. Although they were named so, the inner and outer rims were not so much based on class but more on preference. For merchants and most residents, they preferred to stay in the outer rim where it was closer to their shops which in turn were closer to tourists and visitors to the city.

Most of the shops, blacksmiths, alchemists, and other craftsmen worked and sold their wares here. They were open-aired and made of solid stone to withstand the heat and occasional explosion from the occasional idiot.

On the other hand, most of the residents in the city lived in the residential district in the inner rim where they could enjoy enjoy the scenery and landscape of Wistre away from all its noise. The houses were built of wood and the clean roads of cobblestone. Small parks and gardens were dotted around the place, giving the city some greenery and the citizens places to rest and relax.

…

During the past three years, Evan had not been idle.

After failing several times trying to use magic by himself, he realized that although he knew a lot about what magic could do from books he had read back on earth, he did not know the underlying principles behind it.

It was like telling someone who did not understand math to solve an algebra problem.

Thus, he watched his sister, Wyra, as she practiced her own magic, trying to figure out what he did wrong.

There were various significant notes he made from his observations. For one, he learned that whenever a mage casted a spell, they would channel mana from their core through some form of artery for mana to the outside world. Then, they would mix it with the world energy, before forming the spell and ‘activating’ it.

Another thing was that mages would also meditate or rest to recover mana, proving that he was on the right track. Also, mages would suffer from mana depletion when they fully exhausted all the mana in their core. Symptoms of mana depletion included headaches, blurry vision, dizziness and extreme fatigue.

However, most notably, magic seemed to follow the law of equivalent exchange. In return for an “effect”, magic took part of a person’s mana.

Following this same rule, the more mana someone used, the more powerful the effects.

The fact that lighter cored mages could produce better effects with the same spell than darker cored mages seemed to support his theory.

This finding did raise the question in Evan’s mind of whether a mage could use another person’s mana to power their own spells. After all, the mage was still following the rule of equivalent exchange. He was just not giving up something that was his.

There were also records of this being done before, well, more like bedtime stories used to terrify children.

Forbidden Magic.

Magic that took the lives of others to fuel a twisted abomination.

But maybe forbidden simply meant too powerful to any regular mage…

…

The past three years were not all work for Evan though. The family often insisted on taking trips around the city, exploring the different sights it had to offer.

Leon and Cara wanted their children to make the most of their childhood before settling down as adults.

Zed was free spirited and eager to please and help anyone he met. Although this was not necessarily a bad trait, Leon and Cara were worried someone might take advantage of their son’s kindness.

Wyra on the other hand was too innocent. Ever since she discovered she was an Attuned, she always assumed the world would work out for her and that she would achieve her dreams no matter what happened.

Her parents were concerned about what would happen if she were to be faced with people who were jealous or afraid of her potential.

Evan, however, was an oddity for both Leon and Cara. Mage Erso had said that his mana flow was quite vigorous for a newborn when he checked on Evan so they were thrilled.

A vigorous mana flow meant that the child would definitely be an Attuned and likely to be a mage.

Attuned were respected by regular people as they could perform feats no regular person could ever hope to achieve so Evan's future seemed very bright. However, he did not seem to share any of the innocence that Wyra possessed, even though he was much younger than her.

He also proved to be a genius. When Leon had decided to teach Evan the maths, reading and writing necessary as a merchant’s son, he was able to learn the basics in just three days whereas it had taken the twins about two years, only occasionally missing the correct spelling or pronunciation.

They only hoped they could send Evan to a proper academy by the time he went through the Attunement Ceremony.

…

On one particular day, a week before Evan’s birthday, as the family was coming home from one of their outings, they found a well-decorated horse drawn carriage in front of their house. The twins, recognizing the vehicle, ran towards it, screaming.

“Grandpa!”

“Kids!”

One other thing Evan had discovered was his grandfather, Maren. He often came to visit the Galien family in Wistre and every time, he always brought gifts with him for the children who loved him for it.

On his birthdays alone, Evan had gotten several expensive looking toys, a book containing this world’s equivalent of fairy tales which added to his knowledge of the world’s lore, and a bestiary.

The world he lived in apparently not only had magic, but also dangerous mythical creatures. Some looked like beasts, others according to lore were failed experiments, but they were all called the same word: monsters. Although both the book of fairy tales and the bestiary were mostly made for children to spark their imagination, Evan could not help but think back on a quote he had read back on Earth.

‘People like to think of these creatures as monsters. Then they seem less evil themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, ignore the beggar, when they butcher an animal with cleaver or turn the last existing dragon into a dead pincushion, they like to think the Baba Yaga stealing children in the night is more evil than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live. Looks like he was right.’ He thought to himself.

After hugging both Zed and Wyra and kissing them both on the cheek, Maren turned to his remaining grandson. Cara put Evan down on the ground and Maren squatted while holding his arms out.

“Come on, come to Grandpa Maren!”

Evan slowly waddled over, trying not to trip over his own feet. When he reached his destination, he got a round of applause from his parents and siblings. Laughing, Maren scooped him up in a big hug.

“Good boy. Reminds me of when Leon and the twins were still babies. They all grow up so fast.” He said with an exaggerated sigh which earned a giggle out of Cara.

“Dad, stop. Not outside the house.” Leon said, red with embarrassment.

“Fine, let’s go in. I’m starving.”

…

"Finally, we've been tailing this old bastard for hours. Gods, my legs hurt but it will all be worth it."

They groaned and pulled out an amulet. Selecting a rune, it connected a call with another person.

"Boss, it's me. The package appears to be there with the target. They're at the Galien family's house."

“Excellent, tell Jerry to get the team ready and that he can take anything he wants from the house. That’ll shut him up about his pay. I swear, I don’t even break even doing this shit. Why do I even bother? At least with this and that elf slave, I will get some money back.”

They quickly closed the call before they were forced to listen to the Boss’s rants.

‘Crime really doesn’t pay. Maybe I should retire.’ They thought with a sigh before selecting another rune on their amulet and carrying out their orders.