‘This is impossible.’ Sven and the others had trouble accepting what they saw. A magician cannot have energy from two opposing elements. Water and fire cannot be combined. Just as fire dominates the earth or the earth opposes air, it was impossible.

‘And yet...’ said Heigdal, making Maurius do the test again. Like the previous time, the sand with an affinity for water and fire, reacted to him. Another dual magician with opposite elements, although his affinity was very weak.

‘Shouldn’t we try the others?’ asked Maurius, disappointed. Although being a dual magician seemed to be something extraordinary, there were already two in the room at this time, and his affinity was mediocre at best.

‘Yes, we will test them all,’ replied Heigdal, though he knew that the boy might have shadows as a third element. However, when he opened the wind lever...

‘No way!’

After the initial expressions of surprise, everyone remained silent. The crystal sand column had risen up to eight percent. This was an extraordinary event: the only magician in history with triple elemental affinity was the father of modern magic, the legendary Liev.

Cliford, Sven, Samanta, Heigdal, Velen, and everyone else in the room were stupefied watching the wind sand column float. Heigdal was overwhelmed by excitement as he changed the lever once again. The yellow sand column of the earth element also began to move by one percent. He changed the lever again, and the shadow element also moved to two percent.

‘Unbelievable, simply incredible,’ cried Heigdal. Penta elemental magician.

Surprise, disbelief, doubt, confusion, they had all sorts of emotions. This broke all standards and theories about a magician’s ability and elemental compatibility.

“Hum!” Heigdal said.

‘It could be a unique case. In other words, the five elements could be balancing the incompatibilities,’ Heigdal was lost in thought as he sought an explanation for the phenomenon in front of his eyes.

‘Excuse me, my test?,’ bluntly demanded a black-haired girl. Her father’s angry face reminded Heigdal of how unprofessional he had been; he let his curiosity distract him from the work at hand.

‘Sorry! Dorsia de Palet!’ called Heigdal after recovering his composure.

Everyone came down from the stage to leave room for the girl. Dorsia climbed the stairs and stood in front of the glass ball.

‘I’m sorry for the delay, Miss. Please proceed,’ apologized Heigdal.

A few minutes later, the test was over, and all the talents had been evaluated.

“Dorsia de Palet, Earth magician, affinity ten percent,” Heigdal announced, finalizing the assessments.

‘Congratulations to all the magicians who have participated in this event today. It has been an unforgettable occasion. Good-quality mages, two dual magicians, and a magician for afinity for all five elements... Something never seen in the history of the world since the age of magic started. Congratulations to all of you,’ concluded Heigdal.

‘Ladies and gentlemen!’ Sven raised his voice, getting everyone’s attention. ‘The Van Ferra House will hold a feast in honor of the magicians who have just received their evaluation. We will take care of the presentation in society of this group of talented young men and women. You are all invited to our humble abode.’ Sven announced it with false modesty.

The adults approached Sven and began to exchange adulation. Meanwhile, some of the young mages were getting closer to each other. Clinton stood by Xavier, and Maurius approached them.

“Clinton van Ferra, it is a pleasure to meet you at last; your family has become famous among the nobles,” said Maurius.

The Van Ferra were a wealthy family due to their multiple businesses and relations among the nobles. Although it was no secret that Sven did not have the talent of his father, and the family began its decline, they still remained high-class nobles. But what drew Maurius’ attention was Clinton’s closeness to a peasant like Xavier. The Van Felding were humble at heart, at least as much as a family of nobles could be; they did not adapt to the stuck-up behavior of the rest of the members of their social hierarchy.

‘I should say the same,’ answered Clinton, streching his hand.

‘You’re Xavier, right?’ asked Maurius.

Xavier affirmed with his head. The way the nobles acted was too “refined” for him. While he was concerned about his clothes and his future, the others seemed to have more transcendental topics on their minds. He didn’t fit in here, and that made him feel very nervous.

Meanwhile, Clinton looked at his father from time to time while he held worldly talks with the other nobles and magicians and tried to hide his disgust for Xavier.

‘I assume that you both will come to the party in our lands,’ said Clinton.

‘Of course,’ replied Maurius.

Clinton kept staring at Xavier.

‘I can’t,’ said Xavier.

‘For what reason?’ asked Clinton.

Xavier’s face turned red. Pure shame wandered through his being. After being unable to find an excuse, he said what was on his mind.

‘I am a poor peasant; I have nothing to wear; I don’t know how to behave in front of high-class people,’ he replied, stressing the obvious.

‘You fool, you are a magician, and a dual magician to boot,’ replied Clinton, pretending to believe his own words with such mastery that he would put the most skilled actor or scammer to shame.

‘I am a shadow magician with a residue of fire. We all know how difficult my future as a magician is. Even a peasant like me knows how useless the shadow magicians are,’ explained Xavier with a forced smile, as if mocking himself.

‘Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you will come to our party,’ assured Clinton, laying his arm on Xavier’s shoulders when he tried to refuse.

‘I will not accept a no for an answer. The party will be in a week, and I will have clothes ready for you. I will also take care of your transport. You don’t worry about anything and have a good time.’

While the three young men were getting to know each other, Clinton’s father, Sven, forced a smile as he spoke to other nobles. Seeing Clinton treat a dirty peasant so kindly filled him with fury. His son behavior was completely abnormal. He had never seen him so friendly with anyone before. But for the sake of the situation, he chose to be tolerant.

For his part, Maurius was surprised. Nobles like his grandfather seemed deplorable to him. Seeing Clinton be so friendly with a person of lower status led him to think that he was not as hypocritical and classist as the other nobles and magicians. So he decided to approach them first, and the current events made him believe that his first impression was correct.

When Astrid saw the meeting, she felt curious. Although Xavier was, obviously, a disgusting pest with a worthless magic element, Clinton and Maurius were real talents. Maurius weird magic affinity called her attention. He was a five-element magician, a unique case. Clinton, on the other hand, had a ten percent affinity that was the frontier for middle-class magicians. Being on the edge of the ranking did not diminish its value. She couldn’t resist her curiosity, so she approached them.

‘Gentlemen,’ Greeted Astrid, ‘I will allow you to enjoy my presence and my company. Congratulations.’

‘Well, such modesty,’ said Clinton.

‘Lucky us, I guess,’ said Maurius.

‘What can I say? I am just that much of a sweetheart’ said Astrid as Maurius and Clinton looked at each other in disbelief. This girl didn’t understand sarcasm.

During all this time, Xavier kept silent. A poor devil like him was not in a position to seek enemies among the nobles of the upper class; he had to respect her, however annoying she was. Fortunately, Astrid had ignored him like a fly on the wall.

‘Good afternoon, everybody. Maurius, my boy, it is time for you to come with me; the family has great plans for you,’ Merlo van Dekar, Mauricus grandfather, announced, entering through the guard tower door.

Cliford immediately moved in between Merlo and his son.

‘I think I told you clearly enough that we do not belong to your family. You have no control over me or my son,’ Cliford rebuked.

‘You’re wrong; I plan to make good use of a talented penta elemental magician. The agreements that will be signed with other noble families will enrich and strengthen the position of our family for generations,’ Merlo refuted without showing the slightest fear to Cliford. If he was alone, he was easy prey. Ultria had stayed at the Feldings household, dealing with business matters. As the head of the family, she had responsibilities that she could not delegate.

A stream of wind began to form around Cliford as the atmosphere distorted around Merlo’s hands, whose temperature began to rise. Maurius placed himself next to his father.

’I have no intention of accompanying you anywhere, leader Merlo. I do not belong to your family; I am a Van Felding and a wind magician, like my father, and I will always be,” Maurius assured, raising his head and puffing his chest.

‘This joke has gone too far. You belong to the Van Dekars, and you will do as you are commanded,’ Merlo screamed in a dominant tone.

‘I would rather die,’ replied the boy, steeling his resolve and looking at Merlo in defiance.

‘I will teach you both some respect,’ said Merlo, lifting up his right hand as a flame began to form. However, before he could launch the attack, the flame around his hand died out.

‘Who dares?’ Merlo couldn’t end his threat. The air around his body had disappeared. He couldn’t breathe.

‘I dare,’ replied Heigdal. ‘Your ego has become bigger than your brain, Merlo. You must be very brave or very stupid to raise such a ruckus at the Guard Tower on such an important day, in front of a member of the royal magic court who doubles your affinity and who is a specialist in combat magic.’

The air returned around Merlo, who could now breathe normally. When he tried to say something, Heigdal raised his hand and put a finger on his lips.

“Shh! I will let this offense pass for today; however, I must warn you that I have taken some interest in the development of this boy. I recommend that you take that into account in the future.′ Heigdal turned around without waiting for a response and resumed the conversation with the other nobles, ignoring Merlo. His lack of caution towards Merlo made the situation clear; he was not an opponent against whom Heigdal should be concerned.

The defeated and humiliated Merlo turned around and walked toward the exit of the tower. From time to time, he threw angry and hateful gazes at the father and son, who watched him go away. He never imagined that someone on Heigdal’s scale would intervene. Most nobles would seek a way to take advantage of a magician as interesting as Maurius, so it would be in everyone’s interest if he took control over the boy. However, Heigdal valued his dignity more than anything else, and Merlo’s performance at an event that he auspiciated was intolerable.

‘Well, that was interesting,’ said Clinton.

Meanwhile, Xavier was frightened and more pale than a corpse. It was known that a fight between magicians was a very dangerous situation, especially for ordinary people. Although he was supposed to be a magician, he knew nothing of magic; his element was useless, and no one in the room cared about him, nor did he have any relatives to protect him.

‘Well, well, we should start with the paperwork,’ said Elcir, hurrying to Xavier side. Elcir also wanted to get out of there. He wasn’t a nobleman; he was just a knight from a citadel. He didn’t want to be caught up in the noble fights, much less a fight among magicians.

Elcir knew what they had to do; that was why his superiors sent him with Xavier. Although it was a disappointment that the boy was a shadow magician, he still had to fulfill the task entrusted to him. Xavier said goodbye to Clinton and Maurius; Astrid pretended that he did not exist and departed before he could say anything. Xavier and Elcir came out of the tower. A few meters away was a registration office, where some documents were handed over to him. Xavier could read, not very fluently, but good enough to not need Elcir help. The poor didn’t have much time or materials to learn, but his mother made sure that her children, at least, could read, write, and count. In addition to documents, he was handed over a badge with two runes, the largest of which was the rune of the shadow element, shaped like a wheel; the small one was the element of fire, a triangle with the tip upward. In the center of the emblem, there was a space for his family crest. Although he hadn’t received any training yet, he was already officially a magician. Xavier de Vonder, dual magician of Humol.