Trust Issues

As Edward and James walked outside the tent, he could not help but notice the number of people crying. Some were shedding tears for the family and loved ones that they had lost, and some also for the sheer amount of pain they are going through.

Walking through the crowd they came to an area where the bodies of the dead people were lying on the ground with clothes covering them. Edward paused looking at the dead bodies, one of the people in particular had the face uncovered.

Edward somewhat recognized the person, "But how...is that Devon", He struggled to speak thinking that his eyes were deceiving him. The corpse's face had been mutilated, with one eye missing and the other one hanging out of the socket, dried blood stuck to the face. The person was almost unrecognizable.

Staring at the face, a sickening feeling overcame Edward as his stomach began to turn, he felt like vomiting but held it back as it would be disrespectful to the dead.

During the Soul Arts aptitude test, it was not only Edward that surprised the people, although he got a high score, if they were to be ranked, he would be in third place. The boy on the ground, Devon Caldis would be in first place with his brother Jayce in second place.

The Soul Arts aptitude test judged the candidate based on strength, agility and speed, and finally, intelligence.

In the test it was safe to say Edward was outclassed in every aspect by Devon, and by a large gap at that.

When the attack happened, he encountered one of the assailants, although it wasn't the courageous way to defeat them, Edward was at least able to stand his ground and although cowardly, win. But it didn't matter how he won, in the end the man died and he lived. Which was more than he could say for Devon.

So, he wondered what had happened that had caused the death of someone like Devon, if even he could escape.

What even bothered him most was, from the injuries on the corpse's face, one could tell that ,it's either Devon did not want to fight back, or the person he fought was so strong that the fight was completely one sided.

And as he remembered the masked man, for some reason he chose, in his mind, that it was the latter option as his body shivered unconsciously.

Noticing that Edward had stopped a few meters back, James turned around and approached him.

"Devon, he was a talented young man. It truly is a shame to see him end up like this", James spoke almost talking to himself with a neutral expression on his face. But Edward could tell that he was hiding his sadness.

"What happened to him".

"We are still yet to find out, young Edward.

Now come along. This atmosphere dampens my mood", James beckoned him and he moved forward without looking back.

As they walked along the crowd, off in the distance, a woman was going from person to person asking them something, but it seemed as though she was becoming a bother as some push her away or just bluntly refused to talk to her.

Looking closer, Edward could see that the woman happened to look quit young, she appeared to be in early twenties. She has a nice figure and wore a dark brown dress. But perhaps the thing that stood out about her was her blood red hair.

Immediately as their eyes met, a smile appeared on the woman's face as she approached them in a calm collected manner.

"It's been a long time since I saw you, Edward", she said as she reached them.

" ", Edward was confused and at a loss for words. He didn't think he know the woman, or at least he couldn't remember someone like her.

The woman noticed his perplexed look and simply smiled, as if she was expecting it.

"You are the spinning resemblance of your father " she continued.

"Do you know this woman, young Edward?", James asked staring at the seemingly mysterious woman suspiciously.

"I don't think so"

The woman in question burst into laughter, so much so that the people around them started looking at her strangely. They all wondered what was so funny that someone would have the heart to smile, let alone laugh like that after what had happened.

"I imagined you wouldn't, after all, you were just a baby when we last met", she said with a cheerful smile.

"My name is Fayna, and your father was my brother. So, kiddo.... you can call me Aunt Fay".

If Edward wasn't confused before, now he definitely was. Whenever he asked about his mother about his father's family and why he had been gone for so long, she would just tell him that his father had grown up as an orphan and that he had died on a journey to one of the neighboring kingdoms. So Edward was virtually stunned by this piece of information.

Edward looked at the woman in an odd way, as he wondered why this supposed aunt of his would appear here, out of nowhere and especially at a time like this.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Noble was also observing the strange woman and it seemed as though they shared the same thoughts.

Suddenly the wind around them started to twist and turn as James stood Infront of Edward blocking his view of the woman.

"I will ask you a question and I demand a simple answer...who are you". Unlike the people around who gazed at the scene unfolding with fear in their eyes, Fayna looked at the man in white robes with an amused expression on her face.

Currently, they were in an area surrounded by a lot of people. Most of them being normal commoners- towns people, specifically. With only a few being sages and even fewer being mages.

"Wh... what is Lord Madric doing".

"He failed to protect us, and now he's going to kill us with his magic". Some big man from the crowd voiced out.

The people were scared, most of them had not seen a mage use magic before. Their town's main occupation was farming and because of its location and size, mages hardly got assigned to their area.

But if there was one thing, they were sure off, it was that mages were powerful and magic was dangerous.