Usually, the selection of personal belongings was done in the rooms of the respective magicians. However, to give a lesson, Emeral decided to do it right there. Following his order, several knights entered the theater and began to go through the personal belongings of the students. New complaints were heard.

‘Anyone who continues to disobey will be expelled in the act,’ Emeral threatened.

The sons of the nobles with mages in the family had been warned by their parents and relatives.

“Whatever you do, do not oppose the teachers; especially be careful with the conqueror of flames and the lord of the winds. Their titles make them untouchable, and they have no quallms about abusing that power.” This was one of the most common warnings.

However, some young nobles did not listen and decided to rebel.

‘This is an insult; the noble house of the Van Lirian cannot allow such humiliation. Violating my privacy and checking my belongings as if I were a criminal! The Van Lirian are descendants of kings, the third family ascending to the throne of the Kingdom of Orphen. The fact that our family has no descendants of magicians does not make us inferior. I am the only magician in our venerable family. I demand to be treated with respect.’ yelled a boy walking in front of the room.

‘What an idiot!’ whispered Maurius, feeling a little pity for the boy.

‘Oh, the venerable Van Lirian family. As the only magician among them, it is true that you must have a special and privileged position,’ Emeral acknowledged, looking at the boy, who smiled with his head up, looking at others over his shoulder. Asserting dominance was important in the nobility power struggles, and it felt great for the young Van Lirian to demonstrate he was not like the other nobles.

‘Guards, remove young Van Lirian out of the tower. He’s expelled. I think it is a suitable treatment for such eminence,’ ordered the master with a smile. Meanwhile, the boy stood with a face of surprise; his eyes and mouth opened in disbelief.

‘What a shame!’ lamented Robalt. ‘The boy has a decent affinity for the air. Why had it to be one of mine?’ He moved his head from side to side, making gestures of disappointment.

‘The wind is rebellious and hard to control; it is your nature as air magicians,’ said Amelia, winking at Robalt, whose white face blushed like he was a teenager.

‘Expelled? You cannot expel me; I am Donald van Lirian, heir to the Van Lirians; you will regret this,’ cried the boy, as he was being dragged by a knight. His struggle was insignificant compared to the knight’s strength. The tower knights enchanted armor was very different from the basic armor of other knights. They gave the wearer a physical strength much higher than that of a normal person.

A few seconds later, the tower door opened, and Donald Van Lirian was thrown out. The boy landed on the ground in front of the tower door. All his belongings were thrown at him, and the door closed in his face when he tried to come back and protest.

‘I hope everything is clear now,’ said Delfin, looking at the young magicians.

The baggage check continued. All the students followed the instructions. Although many had faces of discontent, none dared to make a scene. Xavier looked at the few mages he knew. Clinton had the stone face he usually wore in public and ignored Xavier’s gaze. Astrid also ignored him; her face indicated how irritating it was for her to have to part with most of her belongings. Of all of them, Maurius was the only one who returned a slight smile to him when they looked at each other.

‘The knights will guide you to your rooms.’ Delfin announced after the inspection was over.

‘You will be put together according to your elemental affinity and sex, regardless of the kingdom to which you belong. You will have to learn to circumvent your differences and work in a team, even if you hate each other. No disorder or disturbance will be tolerated. In a war between kingdoms, you can kill each other as you wish, but in a subjugation squad or in a fight against a monster or warlock, you will work together or you will all die. The monsters and the undead do not understand political differences or social castes,’ warned Delfín. After these last words, the teachers withdrew.

The new magicians were assigned to the first floor of the tower. The first six months used to be the toughest. Elemental affinity was the name of the game. Each group of magicians had been assigned a zone according to their element, and each zone varied with respect to the next one. Within the group of shadow magicians, there were only two members, both poor peasants. Normally, no noble-class shadow magician entered academies unless he was a dual magician with a useful affinity for another element, which was uncommon. The shadow magicians were useless, after all. The nobles considered being a shadow magician a disgrace to the family; they didn’t even claim their mage badges. The shadow magicians who entered the academies generally came from the lowest strata of society.

Xavier looked at his new roommate, who was even worse dressed than he was. They followed the knight without saying a word until they arrived in the area that would be their home for the next year. The door of the living room was made of metal, like all the doors they had seen in the tower so far. Something immediately caught their attention: the place where they were supposed to stay was very dark.

‘This is your area. Here you will sleep and live for the most part.’ Prepare your belongings; you will have to take care of cleaning your own clothes. In the bathroom, you have what is necessary. Dinner is served at eight o’clock, and those who arrive late will be left without food. I warn you that today is a special day and that you will never receive such treatment again. Take advantage of tonight; it will be the best food you will eat for the next two years. The doors will open at dinner time. Any questions?′ The boys stood silent, and the knight closed the metal door, leaving the two boys alone in the darkness.

A gentle noise of gear was heard after the door was closed. Now, with the door closed, the scarce light entering the cabin had disappeared. The boys stood still as their eyes adapted to the darkness. Darkness is a scary thing, and the boys were no exception. Having adjusted to the darkness, they approached the door.

‘We are locked in here,’ said Xavier, tapping the metal door. There was no way out. His eyes had adapted a little to the shadows, and he could see the silhouette of his roommate.

‘What do we do now?’ asked the other boy.

‘No idea, wait, I suppose... I am Xavier de Vonder,’ he presented himself, stretching out his hand after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

‘Aleum de Taeria,’ replied the boy, stretching his hands.

‘You are from another kingdom, aren’t you?’ asked Xavier.

‘Yes, Orphen kingdom,’ replied Aleum.

Some kingdoms had a hostile relationship with each other. Fortunately for both boys, Orphen and the Poem Dynasty were quite neutral towards each other. Although Xavier did not really care at all about the conflicts among nobility, royalty, and kingdoms, it could be a problem to live with an “enemy”.

The boys looked around again; their vision gradually improved, and they began to identify some structures. A table, chairs, and several doors. Two of the doors were marked, each with the name of one of the boys. The ink emitted a slight brightness that made it visible in the dark. The last door was marked as the bathroom. After searching around in their rooms, they found simple beds with a mattress too thin for the taste of the nobles, but for the peasants, it was a blessing: wardrobes, a night table, a chair, and books. For the nobles, the accommodation was lacking; for Aleum and Xavier, it seemed like an elite mansion.

‘Who can read in this darkness?’

In Xavier’s room, there was a book of shadow magic and a second book of fire magic. Xavier held both books in his hands; he felt how his energy passed to the books, and the runes on the cover lit up, shining midly. He left the shadow magic book and kept the fire one in his hand. When he opened it, letters appeared on the front page as his magic energy was drained.

There was a note on the front page of the book: “Shadow magic must be studied first.”

Shadow magic was simple to use and was very effective for practicing the mastery of magic energy. Learning the secrets of one element made it easier to understand another.

Meanwhile, the other young magicians were in the same situation; their rooms were anything but normal. Maurius and the other mages of his element went into the area they were supposed to live in. A stream of wind blew continuously in the living room; there were no windows; the wind could only be magical in nature; it seemed to come out through the walls of the tower. After the corresponding explanation, the knight closed the door. The young mages entered their rooms; beds, a closet, a table, chairs, books, and the continuous blowing of the wind awaited them. Maurius had five books on his table, one for each element.

‘I have a lot to study,’ mourned Maurius.

Clinton and the fire magicians went through the same thing. The lodging place where the Fire Mages would live was burning; the temperature was high, and the air was dry. As soon as they got in, they were sweating.

Astrid found herself in a place with high humidity and cold.

The place where the earth magicians would live was all made of rock; the walls, the chairs, even the bed, everything was made of stone. They received extra instruction.

‘You must always be barefoot,’ the knight advised them. ‘The more contact you have with the earth, the easier it will be for you to master your elemental affinity.’ After he had finished his explanations, he closed the door.

All the boys arranged their belongings in their closets and then sat down to read their books. In theory, the children of nobles with magicians in the family had a slight advantage. Their parents had already attended one of the academies, so they had normal copies of the theory of magic, although the books at the tower were special. The pages were impregnated with ink and paper containing traces of materials with an affinity for magic, similar to those used in the elemental identification tests. To be able to read the books, they had to use magic energy. That unpleasant feeling that they felt was the book extracting their magic; it was exhausting, but it helped them recognize the energy, its flow, and how to use it. The only factors that influenced the speed of study were the magician’s energy reserves and their dedication.

A few hours later, the noise of the doors opening caught their attention. The huge pieces of metal gave in to give them some freedom. The young magicians left their rooms and met the knight at the door. They were guided to the common dining room. Several tables with white tablecloths, napkins, and luxuries similar to those of a noble house welcomed them. The tables were served with abundant food of all kinds and varieties: roasted meats, poultry, cheeses, fruits, and deserts. The masters were also present at a table at the bottom of the room, away from their students.

‘Young magicians,’ Delfin welcomed them. ‘This feast is to commemorate your arrival. Enjoy it. I remind you that Liev’s Tower is a magic academy; your preparation includes getting used to the rigors of war. From tomorrow on, you will receive rations as you would on a battlefield. For many of you, the food and accommodations will not be pleasant... and we don’t care! There are no luxuries in a battle zone; there are no servants or slaves. Enjoy tonight’.

The boys began to enjoy the large menu. Aleum had never seen so much food and luxury in his life, and Xavier had only seen it at the Van Ferra party. He looked again toward his acquaintances. Only Maurius looked back at him; the others ignored him.

It was to be expected... ‘Oh well,’ Xavier thought as he devoured another piece of calf.

‘I was concerned about nothing; there are two shadow magicians at my disposal; now I just have to wait for the right time to complete Van Vatnik’s spell,’ Clinton thought as he ate in the calm and refined style of a nobleman.

Failure to find the rest of the manual in Liev’s Tower would only delay his plans. He would look for some way to complete the diagrams; the word failure didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

After the copious dinner, the boys returned to their rooms and began their readings on magic again.