Of course, geniuses like Astrid or Glover managed to control their magic relatively quickly. After them, some more managed to pass the exercise.

‘This is more difficult than I thought,’ Xavier said to himself. He was always trying to keep his magic energy as high as possible; his only option in life was to find some way to use his scarce affinity for the element of fire in a useful way. He never thought of suppressing his energy.

While Xavier was trying to reduce his magical presence, others like Astrid, Glover, etc. were trying to control their movements and breathing with the mugrirer. None of them managed to pass the test, except Clinton. His movements were very slow and gentle, and his breathing was superficial. By the time his ten minutes of exercise had passed, Clinton’s face was a few inches from the mugrirer. This was dangerous, but Master Delfin was alert at all times. Just a move of his hand and the flames would wrap the creature, turning it into dust.

‘Enough, Mr. Clinton, step back very slowly,’ ordered Delfin. ‘I remind you that the mugrirer is a dangerous monster.’ Clinton followed his teacher’s instructions and retreated slowly. Most failed the test with the skeleton; the rest failed with the mugrirer. Suppressing their magic when they had been exercising it every day turned out to be more difficult than expected, even when their magic energy level was so low.

Classes ended on a high note; it was exciting. However, things became boring again in the dining room; the low quality food and the lack of variation irritated the nobles.

‘This thing again, every day the same, hard bread, this ground meat like thing... only heavens might know what this is. I think even the quality of the water has been declining’. Astrid complained for the tenth time. Her face looked thinner.

Meanwhile, at the table at the bottom of the dining room, the two shadow magicians were enjoying their meals.

‘Have you gained weight?’ said Xavier to Aleum.

‘Yes, the clothes are starting to squeeze me a little,’ replied Aleum. ′ I’ll have to go on a diet.′ The two burst into laughter.

The other magicians in the dining room seemed angry at their giggles, but the young shadow magicians ignored them. Since the day of Master Delfin’s class on the uselessness of the shadow magicians, the other magicians ignored them or directly repudiated them; they became absolute pariahs.

At the end of the meal, all the young mages had the same idea: to explore the tower. One of the most visited places was the library. All the textbooks were at their disposal, and many students decided to take advantage of them to satisfy their curiosity. The library was huge. Shelf after shelf extended into a maze of volumes and pages. From magic books to literature or even classical tales and novels, the tables, chairs, and sofas were more comfortable than those available in their quarters, all in order to facilitate their study. A couple of knights in light armor were bookkeepers; their presence reminded everyone that this was an academy. The first few days, the library was full; it was one of the few forms of entertainment in the tower. It was open from morning until midnight. You could only extract one book at a time to take it to the bedrooms. Damage to manuals or books was an offense whose consequences no one wanted to face. After a few weeks, the novelty passed. After a month, only a few students remained in the library, among them Xavier, Astrid, Clinton, Maurius, and Glover.

‘It is not this one either,’ thought Clinton, putting another book in his place. He had reviewed all the shadow magic manuals and related books in the library, but he didn’t get the manual he wanted. The second part of the arcane magic spell he was looking for should be somewhere in the tower. There were only two shadow magic books left to check. The two manuals in the hands of the shadow magicians, Xavier and Aleum.

Checking on Xavier’s manual was easy; Clinton just sat next to him in the library and, after a few minutes, spoke to him: ‘Xavier, can I borrow your book for a second? I don’t want to go to the bottom of the library to look at just one page,’ Clinton asked casually. The excuse was perfect. The shadow magic manuals were at the bottom of the shelf.

‘Yes, of course,’ said Xavier, passing the book to the inexpressive Clinton. He had already become accustomed to the human mask. Generally, Clinton only ignored him, not as incisive and straightforward as other nobles or as Astrid, who directly despised both shadow magicians. Although his benefactor’s cold attitude was unpleasant to him, Xavier held no resentment; after all, it was thanks to him that he had obtained his actual clothes and made the decision to go assist the tower. Although they were not friends and would never be, he felt in debt to him. Maurius was a particular case; he was more pleasant and open; he treated the shadow magicians as people and not a pest, but still kept a certain distance.

It was easy for Clinton to discard the book. With a simple movement of his finger, he touched the inner part of the rear cover of the manual. Nothing. The book he was looking for would have a border on the inside because of the hidden paper sheet. Minutes later, Clinton gave the book back to Xavier. The book of Aleum would be a bit more difficult, but not impossible. Aleum was becoming more and more irresponsible; it was obvious that Master Delfin’s strategy had worked. He showed very little interest in the classes and spent almost all day sleeping. Clinton just needed a chance to bait him, and he got it.

One day, after leaving classes, the hallway towards the shadow magicians quarters was empty. This was not so common; there used to be a lot of movement around in the first days after the door to the living rooms was opened, but things calmed down when the library ceased to be interesting and the young mages sought other ways to entertain themselves. The proximity and continuous interaction among the students led to the formation of couples. Unfortunately, the low fertility of the magicians prevented pregnancies, especially in the early years, when their magic was not entirely stable. Clinton had spent several days pretending to read his manual as he walked slowly through the hallways, traveling several times a day between the bedrooms and the library, waiting for the right moment. One day, Aleum came out of his room and walked down the hallway when Clinton approached him.

‘Mr. Aleum, may I have a minute?’

‘What does a great noble fire magician want of a humble servant?’ replied Aleum almost in a mocking tone.

‘A business offer,’ offered Clinton without being affected at all by the provocation, and getting a silver coin out of his pocket. ‘Are you interested?’

‘It depends on the proposal,’ replied Aleum, smiling.

’It turns out that I am studying the magic of illusion in detail, among other things, but the schedule of the library and the fact that I can only take a book out limit me. I’d like to rent your shadow magic book for a few days.

‘You got yourself a deal’ accepted Aleum without thinking about it, and, grabbing the coin, he turned around and returned to his room, bringing back the manual shortly thereafter.

‘Don’t damage it; I don’t want to have to deal with the master’s wrath,’ warned Aleum.

‘I will bring it back in perfect condition. You have my word. I just hope our transaction remains absolutely secret. I do not know if there is any kind of rule against it in the tower, and I don’t want to find out; it is better to be discreet.’ Clinton recommended.

“Of course, the secret remains between us. If you need anything else, let me know. I’ll see what I can do to help. For a fair price, of course,” Aleum explained.

‘Of course,’ answered Clinton, smiling and turning around.

Aleum was having a good day. A silver coin was several months’ salary for a peasant like him. He could save that coin for when he came out of the tower in two years. He hadn’t thought of it before, but maybe he could find a way to make money in Liev’s Tower before leaving. Although the amount of coins inside the tower was limited and were all in the hands of true nobles and magicians, no one really had use for them. He could think of some business to provide his services to the nobles. Wash their clothes, for example, or do some similar chore. He went back to his room to think about his business options.

‘This is my chance.’ Aleum dreamed of getting out of Liev’s Tower with a small fortune and congratulated himself on his brilliant idea of going to the academy while playing with his newly acquired silver coin.