Esnor comes from a very wellknown witch family thanks to his older brothers being so successful. Geno basically is redefining the usage of Ink (infusing casting seals into fragile gems that can be crushed to full the hollow section with an ink capsule amd activate spells) and Fresh has all sorts of beast research that no one else has had the patience or instinct to collect before (he does dangerous and stupid shit). Esnor had a lot to live up to, and when he went to study with the same mentor Geno learned under, he HATED it. Esnor has a passion for contraptions, so when he's limited in his creativity and scolded for doing everything to extremes, he fails the first test nearly five times before running away.

Esnor happens to travel through a gate that takes him to the valley town beneath the mountain range housing Oulsoon's tower. He runs off into the peaks looking to prove how efficient his contraptions can be... but he ends up lost. So lost that Oulsoon spots him out on another peak and rushes to go help him. It's rocky between Oulsoon and Esnor for a long while, but eventually Esnor accepts Oulsoon's help and tells him everything. It turns out that Oulsoon and Geno apprenticed under the same master. He'd be willing to take Esnor under his wing if his old master approved. They get everything finalized as Esnor becomes Oulsoon's first apprentice.

Noka comes along a while later. He knows Esnor and Oulsoon and his friends with Esnor because they visit Cinna (Ccino) at the bakery/Cafe whenever they're in town. So when Noka's 'amnesia' begins to wear off and he starts drawing these strange symbols, Cinna goes to Oulsoon about it.

Oulsoon recognizes this to be magic, but it's spells he's never seen before. Plus, Noka has developed a worrying habit of slicing at his palm to get at an old scar tissue. Blood and unfamiliar seals... he should call the Knights Moralis. But instead he offers to take on Noka as an apprentice. Just as a trial run. He can still come see Cinna so often and they can stay in contact and all the rest. He just wants to see if Noka has any magical prowess.

This leads to Noka staying and learning from Oulsoon. Along the way, his memories start returning. So the point he wakes up with nightmares and swears he knows a boy with a face just like his. (<- This is only heightened when the Knights Moralis come looking for Noka under pretenses of affiliation with the Brimhats. They say the boy in question looked just like him, but with blonde hair.)