The Barony of Xeros located in the outskirts of the Megalos county was a place in constant danger. It was close to the Forest, making it a prime target of attacks by the monsters in the forest. This was thus also a perfect place for an Adventurer's guild. This was also the land that was ruled by Sebastian Crowe, the Baron. Baron Crowe was a just and influential ruler and was loved by everyone in the Barony. as he was among the war heroes who had saved the kingdom of Acelfabia. He had also saved the town from monster attacks on multiple occasions.
Sebastian Crowe was named Baron for his war achievements. He was very proud of himself as he was a self-made man. He was the only son of then Count Crowe of Megalos. Count Crowe was a poor leader, he did not pay attention to the county at all. All he wanted to do was to gamble. After losing all his family fortune, he started betting with the treasury of the county. All this led to him being removed from his position and he was also relieved of his noble status. His wife committed suicide after being forced to sell her belongings which were not that many, to begin with. Count Crowe also ended his own life and thus Sebastian Crowe became an orphan.
Sebastian was taken in by the castle because of him now being an orphan. Sebastian hated Count Crowe and considered him a disgrace to the nobility. He trained in the castle with another orphan boy called William Greymore. They quickly became best of friends. What Sebastian wanted more than anything was to return to nobility on his own and prove that his fathers legacy did not define him. He wanted to create his own legacy and make a name for himself as an individual. He trained more than the average soldier, studied more and perfected his magic. He was a model student and also a model soldier.
Sebastian Crowe had become a perfect gentleman, he had flaming red hair with shiny blue eyes and a strong physique. Over the years he had gained a massive amount of respect after the war but he had one regret in his life. He was always the second choice for everything. William Greymore, his best friend was always the first pick for everything. The thing that Sebastian disliked more was that he knew that William had a natural talent, but he also knew that he had trained himself to be this strong, it was his efforts that had taken him to the top. He had the feelings at the back of his mind that he was lacking, that if only he had trained more, if only. Years later, Baron Crowe had married Aveline Clearwater the daughter of a Viscount from the west. She was known for her mastery of water magic.
He had a son named Edward who was the same age as Alex. Sebastian had raised him in a strict environment, focusing on the importance of training and self-achievement rather than relying on the coattails of his father. Edward had his father's shiny blue eyes and his mother's blond hair colour. He had apparently inherited only the water affinity from his mother's side. This did not disappoint Sebastian as he wanted his father's affinity to die out and not continue. Edward also had a tutor and was taught from a very young age about magic, history and even literature. He was a bright student and excelled in most of the fields.
"My old friend is coming to the town so he might come to visit us", said Sebastian to Edward.
"Who is it, father? Is it Count Greymore?" Edward replied.
"No, it is another one of my war-comrades, Mr Hound. He is strong and he might even give you some advice on your water affinity as he has water affinity himself.", Sebastian said.
"I look forward to meeting him, Father. Now, if you will excuse me, it is time for my tuitions.", Edward replied courteously and left.
Edward's tutor, Bernard was a sly and cunning man who only thought of himself, but he had taken a liking to Edward. He had taught a lot of things to Edward but among those things, he had taught him about the history of the Crowe family. This had cemented the hate for gambling and the abuse of power by the nobility. He was proud of his father for becoming a Baron on his own merit and was inspired to do so himself.
"I have so much to learn about this world!", Edward thought aloud.
...
Edward had gone to the town to collect the book that he had ordered from the mainland because he was an independent person and didn't like to leave his work to others. That and also, he loved taking a stroll through the town on his way back to the mansion. He was a huge fan of books and had a massive collection in his personal library. He was disappointed to find out that the book was not yet delivered and would take more time. While returning he saw a boy running towards the main gate frantically, almost like he was chasing something. Edward had heard the uproar and decided to leave it be because this was a common occurrence near the main gate, and was resolved quickly by the guards or more often by the adventurers from the guild.
He had not taken a good look at the boy but he could tell that the boy was strong. He emanated an aura around him that was not hard to miss. The boy looked like he was the same age as Edward. He had medium-length black hair with strikingly green eyes which shone like emeralds. This was the first time Edward had seen someone run so fast. When he had turned around to look at the boy, he was gone.
He decided to follow the boy but had no clue where to look for him. So, he decided to head to the main gate as the boy seemed to be running in that direction. After looking around for a while, he found the guards near the gate in a wounded state. He immediately made an emergency signal using the mana stone from the guard's pocket. He had been taught by Bernard about these stones that the guards carried. Each stone had a different colour, red for alerting the town about a monster attack, green for a defended attack and purple for when a man was down. He took the purple stone and poured some mana into it. The stone started glowing and then sent a beam up in the sky.
He saw the boy once again but this time he was talking to a girl and then lifted the girl and made her sit near the wall. He then dashed towards the forest. Edward recognized the girl, she was the girl from the bookshop! He went over to her and asked her about the situation. After hearing what she just said, he went straight to the forest. The scene that he witnessed that day in the forest would change his perspective of life and would also change his life forever!