Prologue: Sweet moments and a new outlook

9-year old Eric Sholon was a son of a Baron. He had a very vivid dream. In this dream, Eric was an ordinary high schooler living in a world called "Earth", and he lived an average life. He had a decent family, he had a few close friends, and he had relatively normal interests. His life was cut short tragically when the bus he took home was hit by a car running a red light.

Eric opened his eyes in the middle of the night. The room was pitch back. As he was sweating from the horrific end of his dream, he started to remember its contents. Suddenly, all the memories from his previous life streamed into his head, melding with his present reality. Eric's eyes went wide as he realized how ridiculous his situation was. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember his old name or the names of those he loved in his old world, but it didn't matter. He was determined to live his life to the fullest.

From his past memories, he seemed to be in a similar situation to the many web novels and other stories he had watched or read. But he knew that unlike those fantastical stories, this world was perfectly normal, or not, as there was a bit of magic. The magic in this world, Velna, wasn't strong, and only a few people could ever hope to harness it. Thus, mages were treated as abnormal by the general populace and they had to be taken care of by the government most of the time. Comparing Velna to Earth, Velna seemed to be in the age of enlightenment. However, some magical artifacts did make the quality of life better.

Now armed with the experience he had gained, Eric felt confident in excelling in his classes at school. He also felt fortunate that he was privileged enough to be born into a noble family. Eric resolved not to complain too much.

-POV Eric-

The next morning, I woke up early. I am eager to face the new day. I look out the window. The flowers are in bloom and the birds are putting everything into their song. The gardener was certainly doing an amazing job.

"Young master, it's time to rise and shine!" Mella, my maid, came to wake me up as she knocked on the door.

"I'm already up Mella."

"Oh wow, you're definitely growing up! Get ready quickly. Rocca is coming over."

I could hear her smile through the door. Rocca is my childhood friend. She and I quickly became best friends as I was one of the few who didn't care that she was a mage. I thanked myself for being a good person, it would suck if I had to clean up a mess that old Eric left before the merge.

I open my wardrobe to change out of my nightwear. What greeted me was a relatively handsome face, brown eyes, and short brown hair. I quickly change and go through the rest of my morning routine. I walk down the grand staircase and great mom and dad.

"Good morning father, good morning mother." I greeted my parents who were already at the dining table. I took my seat.

"Early today aren't you?" Dad chuckled. He was Paul Sholon, the Baron of Telana. He was a handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair.

"Good morning Eric." Mother smiled at me. She was Elaina Sholon. She was a beautiful woman with brown eyes and black hair. It seemed like a perfect coincidence that I took major facets of their appearance in equal parts.

Breakfast was good. I envied my past life a bit, remembering that I had to make do with what was in season and what preserves the servants could get. I poked at my food while my parents talked about business and the affairs of our estate. We lived in the kingdom of Maeortz, a series of loosely connected large islands. In a larger scale, we lived in the continent of Ilfret. Our nearest neighbors in the large landmass up north were the kingdom of Cloven, a trading partner and occasional enemy, with a navy that rivalled ours. While to their west was the kingdom of Kalan, a small kingdom with big ambitions. To the east of Cloven was the kingdom of Norough, or at least the two halves that are embroiled in a civil war. There were many more countries to the east and north of Norough but they were not much of my family's concern.

After we finished breakfast, we sat as a family on a couch in the reception room, waiting for Rocca, and her parents, the Earl and countess of Uregard to arrive.

A while later, a butler opened the door to let the guests in and we stood to welcome them. A cute girl with blue hair and blue eyes ran over. She wore a nice white dress. I felt a strong impact as she wrapped her arms around me into a tight hug. Yup, that was Rocca alright.

"Haha, it's been so long since we were able to visit." The Earl said.

"No worries, we know how busy you must have been." Dad replied with a knowing smile. "Why don't we take a seat while our children play? Let's get the small bit of business out of the way first before we enjoy a nice lunch together shall we?" he said while gesturing to a table and two couches. They walked off while making small talk.

"I miss you so much Eric. It's been so lonely." Rocca pouted while still hugging me. I hugged her back.

We made our way to the garden, the servants keeping a watchful eye over us. Rocca and I had fun playing with insects, running around, and reading a few stories that were brought out for us.

"And the cat then jumped on the roof, staring down the bird that took its mouse." I paused to turn the page of the picture book. Before I could reach it, Rocca pointed her finger at the book and the page flipped. We both started laughing. It was a simple day, and I knew they wouldn't last.