Once upon a time in the world of Mana—
In the Kingdom of Altis of the Rein continent, there were five great noble clans that stood as the pillar of its civilization. These families were: Willow, Reborn, Maroon, Hope, and Pace—ordered from strongest to weakest. The Pace and Willow families had been allies for a very long time; hence, Richard Willow decided to marry his eldest daughter to Antonio Pace’s only son to solidify this friendship.
What did the Willow family get from the Pace family? Well of course, vast wealth and numerous treasures that would help a man train his magic. What did the Pace family get from the Willow family? Why, power of course! Willow held the ultimate strength above all the other families, which the Pace family could borrow in times of need. The most powerful paired with the wealthiest, this was the best combo.
Richard brought his daughter, Runia, to meet Antonio’s son, River, for the first time. After a span of many weeks, River and Runia eventually became good friends. Later on, the two fell in childish infatuation; hence, promising that they would marry each other when they grow up—at this point they did not yet know that they were engaged. At age seven, Richard and Antonio revealed to the two of them the truth, which River and Runia celebrated with jubilee.
Age eight—the two were about to take their appraisal.
Three months passed—the results came in.
Results—Runia was a powerful caster, with the base size of her inner orb reaching a hundred meters in diameter from the get go; this meant that at such a young age Runia was already eligible to use magic.
River however—one foot. Yes, the size of his inner orb was merely one foot in diameter; forget magic, he couldn’t even study alchemy, rune engineering or other fields related to magic that didn’t require the qualifications of a mage. A meter should have been sufficient for him to train in these other areas, but one foot? One foot? Preposterous.
Stolen novel; please report.
Learning about this, wanting not to stain their family’s bloodline, Richard cancelled the engagement, keeping Runia from ever seeing River again.
This brought great shame to the Pace family. As a result, Antonio was forced to exile his own son to the outskirt city of Peace to live with his aunt in order to calm the protests of the other lower families that wanted to take over their fifth spot. Thankfully, after a year had passed, Mara—Antonio’s daughter—received results from her appraisal, telling of her genius talent as a caster, thereby barely saving their family’s public image and interests.
River was supposed to live a normal life in the city of Peace, but he couldn’t accept the results—no, he did not want to believe it. He sank deeper and deeper into great sorrow and despair that he wanted to kill himself. Having lost all hope, he climbed the top of Mt. Peace, located north-east, outside the stone walls of the city. He stood on a cliff, about to jump and end his pitiful existence.
Suddenly, Abbot Gregory Mendel, monk and sage of the Temple of Peace, passed by, carrying a basket full of wild herbs, and happened to see him.
“If you wish to kill yourself,” stated the gentle Abbot. “Would you mind going to my temple and having a cup of tea first? You can’t kill yourself on an empty stomach after all.”
Monks were wise and intelligent sages who had chosen to live in seclusion, they offered their guidance to the kingdom whenever certain grave threats arose. This time, Abbot Gregory saw a great threat: that of losing such a young man to the hands—not of death, for death comes naturally to mankind—but of despair. There were other sages too, those that lived in the world or better known as honorary sages.
Eventually, River himself would become an honorary sage and would prove to the Kingdom of Altis that even the magicless can become powerful heroes.
— Prologue is brought to you by the Ministry of Magic. Written by Historian and Professor, Martin McMagic and proofread and edited by Lady Fantel Imoria, descendant of River Pace.