It was a bright sunny day in the small town of Aeria. Being a part of the lush Kingdom of Primoria, the town had lots of natural charm to offer. Even though the town was almost on the edge of the continent and was pretty far away from the capital, that didn't stop mages from all over the kingdom to settle there, making the town quite prosperous in its magic department as well.

A big appealing factor that attracted mages and adventurers all over the place in this particular area was the fact that it had access to more approachable portions of the ginormous forest Primoria was famous for, mothering most of the precious magistones and weaker wildlife that wouldn't be able to survive in the deeper, uninhabitable portions of the forest. The monsters and rare creatures yielded resources that could fetch a good amount of money, enough to make a living around the hunting profession.

Despite the town mostly thriving on hunting the animals and other monsters around it, there were only a handful of hunters in the whole town, shaping their own social status through the sheer monopoly they had over the economy of the town. But that didn't stop younger adventurers to venture into the forest with minor quests and helping out the townsfolk.

On the outskirts of the town existed a river next to a deep cave leading to a bigger underground tunnel system below. Covered by sunshine and greenery, the riverside was the perfect area for the children to spend the day searching for tiny monsters that showed up all over the place.

"I don't think the sun is harsh enough for them to come out." An eight year old boy complained sarcastically, exhausted by the intense heat.

"Stop slacking off Darryl! You aren't looking hard enough. Don't leave any rocks unchecked, any leaves unturned!" A more enthusiastic boy of the same age replied, sitting on a moderately high branch of a tree, scrutinizing the area thoroughly. He was way too focused on his search, resulting in Darryl's sigh pass unnoticed.

"Slimes usually stay in groups." The boy continued, "So if we manage to find one of them, it'll be a jackpot. We can lure its friends out with its help!"

Actaeon, or Eon, as people called him, was always attracted to nature and the wilderness. He loved hanging around the forest, caves, hilltops and so on, often coming in contact with a large variety of magical beasts that inhabited them. He was fascinated with these creatures and would observe them all day long. Before he knew it, he was an expert on the local monster habitats and often ended up helping wandering adventurers with their jobs which involved these creatures. But mostly in his free time he went on expedition with his group of friends to find monsters which they found 'cute'.

"Guys look! I found them!" A girl's voice was heard behind the boulder, bubbling with excitement.

"Get down Eon! Eve found the slimes!" Darryl shouted, as Eon climbed down the tree with relative ease.

They rushed to the girl who was staring at the tiny Fire Slimes near the boulder, basking in the sun and hopping around playfully.

"How did you find them so easily?" Darryl asked, "we spent hours looking for them, and you found them in an instant! You're better than Eon at this!"

"I used a monster locating magic spell my father taught me." Eve boasted, "Magic makes everything so much easier! I can teach you guys too!"

"I'll pass. Magic and spells isn't my thing. They seem too complicated." Darryl sounded pretty discouraged. "I'd rather slash monsters with a sharp sword and such."

Eon decided to stay silent, besides he knew how dangerous it could be if a young kid like Eve tries to teach them magic. Talk about a spell for disaster.

Suddenly a loud explosion spooked the flock of Razorwings and Crimsontails on nearby trees. Eve let out a scream in fear. The slimes hopped away from the site of explosion to take cover behind the boulder. Darryl held Eve by her hand and followed the tiny round gelatinous monsters.

As the chaos settled down the two poked out of their cover to investigate the source of the explosion that occurred no further than fifty feet away.

A group of adventurers were casting magic spells on the outer wall of the cave nearby. By their clothing one could easily tell they were a bunch of newbies and they just wanted to try out their newfound skills. But using the cave wall as their target was a very stupid decision.

"Could you please stop doing that?" Before anyone anyone noticed, Eon rushed to the adventurers. "It's dangerous to keep blasting spells around the cave's opening repeatedly. It could agitate the monsters inside the cave and cause them to come out!"

"Buzz off kid, your elders are practicing magic here." A mage wearing a robe answered. "Stay away if you don't wanna get hurt." He seemed to be the leader of the group.

"Come back, Eon! You should not mess with the adventurers!"

"You shouldn't pick fights with the monsters when non-fighter civilians are nearby!" Eon prioritized removing the adventurers from the spot and decided to ignore Darryl's call for now. "Your actions might even wake up the large Salamander that's believed to nest inside the cave!" He tried.

"That's just stories made to scare kids like you. That Salamander isn't real." Another adventurer replied. He didn't seem to be a mage but rather a swordmaster of some sort. "And even if it's real, it isn't our duty to take care of the bratty kids around and keep them safe from some giant monster. If anything, we'll take prize money from the town to get rid of that monster after it has caused some issues and has a nice bounty on its head."

Eon was furious but he knew very well that stopping them was way outside of his capabilities. He looked around desperately to find anything that could help him in this situation.

Meanwhile a fire slime that had followed Eon unnoticed, jumped in front and used its 'Ember' skill on the adventurers, partially burning the leader's robe.

"My new robe!" He screamed, "You two won't get away with this!"

Soon the leader started chanting a spell and a magic circle appeared. Eon feared the worst and held the slime close to his body almost as a reflex, and turned his back to shield the with his body as he grit his teeth and shut his eyes tight. A beam of thunder jolted from the mage's staff. Eon could faintly hear his friends screaming his name...

A crashing noise of bolt hitting something unexpected startled Eon. "I.. I'm not.. hurt..?" He decided to open his eyes slowly.

He was surprised to see a shining shield made out of mana protecting the two from the magic spell. A person suddenly appeared out of thin air and stood in front of him. He wore blue from top to bottom and had a cape and fedora to go with that color.

"Camouflage skill?" Eon whispered to himself in amazement. His eyes scrutinizing the man who just saved him from what could only be described as a catastrophe.

"Exactly. Nice observation, kid", the person in blue replied, startling Eon and making him wonder how the person managed to hear him, trying his best not to freak out. Whoever this person was, he had amazing hearing ability.

"As the kid suggested, before things get dirty you might wanna leave this place" the man in blue commanded in a heavy tone.

"Don't act all cocky now just because you deflected a weak spell. Let's see how you fare against all three of us!" The last of the adventurers replied, clearly the most inexperienced one.

"Oh well... I did try to negotiate", the man said as he let out a sigh. He took a step back, and opened a magic circle below the adventurers. "Hope this will help clearing your minds a little" he smiled, and summoned a huge whirlwind that sent all three adventurers to sky.

"I loved how you protected the Fire Slime, even when you didn't really need to. I also noticed how you tried your best to prevent them from startling the cave dwellers. I really appreciate that," The man in blue gave Eon a bright smile. "What's your name?"

"My name is Actaeon, people call me Eon."

"I am Leonhart. A Blue Mage." The man observed the kid carefully as he continued, "And let me ask you this as a reward for your actions earlier, would you like to learn the ways of the monsters?"

It was a bright sunny day, a fateful encounter six years ago that changed Eon's life forever. A man in a blue fedora asked him if he was interested in the sacred arts of Blue Magic.

"Yes!" Eon replied.