Kingdom of fire and shadows: Useless magic and Salamanders.

The next day, he was awakened by a knock at the door. Seron was warning him that it was time for breakfast. Xavier felt refreshed. He had never rested so well in his life. It felt as if his muscles and joints had relaxed for the first time. He soon felt a little anguish again. Today, all those nobles and high-ranking magicians would come. After washing himself, he changed his clothes and put on one of his new suits, which cost Clinton a fortune. He saved the most expensive one for the afternoon party.

'Good morning,' said Xavier, sitting at the table.

'Good morning,' answered Clinton's solid stone face mask.

The rest of the family remained silent. Emer had stayed in his room again. The breakfast was delicious and abundant: cheeses, fresh toasted bread with plenty of butter and jam, hard boiled eggs, and tea with milk. After rising from the table, Xavier and Clinton walked around. The waiters were working at an accelerated pace, preparing the mansion for the party. At noon, the guests began to arrive. Carriage after carriage, nobles of different statuses descended. The Van Castin and the Van Feldin were in attendance. Cliford, Samanta, Heigdal, Lugo, several known faces, and many others that Xavier did not recognize.

'Clinton, Xavier, good morning,' greeted Maurius, shaking hands with both of them.

'How are you, Maurius?' asked Clinton.

'Waiting for the day to go to Liev's Tower,' replied Maurius, smiling.

Astrid van Castin approached the trio without an invitation.

'Clinton, Maurius... and the Shadow Mage. Good morning,' Greeted Astrid.

'Astrid,' Greeted the three of them at once.

They made small talk and discussed minor, noble related topics for a while. Xavier stood there silently, like a plant, hearing about new desserts or shops announcing their opening in one city or another. Then they commented on the possibility of a war between two kingdoms to the west, on the other side of the sea, and the possibilities of making money by trading with both sides. There were some conflicts with the kingdom of Veldat. A subjugation squad that had catastrophic results in Orphen's, the neighboring kingdom. Although they managed to destroy the core of the anomaly, there was a lot of damage; several mercenaries, knights, and even some magicians died... Fortunately, most of them were shadow magicians.

Tables with abundant food and drinks of all kinds spread along the courtyard of the mansion. The magicians and noble relatives spoke to each other. Except for Maurius and maybe Clinton, everyone ignored Xavier. The rumor had spread that he was only Clinton's "pet", nothing but the latest whim of an eccentric young man. Emer appeared dressed in a gray suit, occasionally casting a disappointing look at Xavier, as did Sven and the rest of the Van Ferra family. Except for the servants, everyone was better dressed than Xavier. Samanta and Lugo ignored him as if he did not exist.

When the Van Derrama family arrived, Clinton moved away from Xavier and dedicated himself to interacting with the family he might be linked to in the future. Maurius was aproached by all sorts of nobles; he was after all a rarity among all mages.

After an hour of shame and being ignored, Xavier accepted what he already knew: he was not welcome here. That wasn't his place or his environment. Since everyone ignored him, he decided to devote himself to the food. He tried all the snacks. Different dishes and drinks. This was a unique opportunity in his life, and he ate until he felt so full he was about to blow up. He stayed away from alcohol; the last thing he needed was to get drunk and ridicule himself even more or seriously offend a nobleman.

'The truth is, I did not expect the Van Ferra to be so generous as to invite a peasant; you are a very magnanimous man,' Yuri said to Sven, referring to Xavier.

'You must be kind to the less fortunate,' replied Sven, trying to sound philanthropic.

"Surely his family is an example of nobility," commented Velen van Castin.

Clinton was upset that his father was gathering points using his little ploy. This was not part of the plan. However, his face remained a fixed mask. He was having an unnecessary conversation with Yuri's daughter, Davne van Derrama. Her elemental affinity was for land, at eight percent. Clinton had just learned that the young lady would not attend Liev's Tower; she would learn magic at a private academy. Clinton hadn't seen her in a few years. He preferred not to participate in many social events and parties, considering them boring; only the events that included members of the court or royalty drew his attention; however, despite being part of a high-class noble family, he was rarely invited to these events. Davne had gained a lot of weight. Despite the makeup, it could be seen that she had some skin problems on her face.

'No way,' Clinton thought. 'I'm not going to spend the rest of my life tied to this woman; she could eat me while I sleep. I have to find a way to break the engagement.' The girl reminded him of his brother, Emer. Besides, she was a mage with a lower affinity than his own; he did not consider her a suitable mate.

Meanwhile, Sven kept looking at Xavier from time to time. Fortunately, and so far, other than ravaging through the food like a wild beast, he had done nothing shameful. Sven kept his smile, but he couldn't wait for the moment when he could get rid of that cockroach. Sven gave a toast to the new magicians. They started drinking. Some nobles already showed signs of being drunk. Xavier kept himself in the background, silent, concentrating on the food. The evening passed without incidents, dances, drinks, or discussions about politics and the possibility of a war against the Kingdom of Veldat in the coming years. The prospects of the young magicians. Possible family unions and some other topics.

By nightfall, the party was dwindling. The nobles returned to their respective lands. Although roads were dangerous at night, almost all noble families had at least one magician and/or an escort of knights. Criminals or wild beasts shouldn't be a problem. The party was over, and everyone was going home or to their rooms. Xavier and Clinton said goodbye to Maurius and his family. Xavier went up to his room and fell asleep.

The next day, he was awakened again for breakfast. He changed his new clothes again. At the table, only he and Clinton were present. The rest of the family hadn't come down yet. After the apulent breakfast, Clinton and Xavier took a little walk in the garden before saying goodbye. The fairy tale was over; it was time to return to misery.

'I still don't understand why you did all of this,' said Xavier.

'It is very simple; I wanted to upset my father. I think it's not news to you that the nobles and my family see you more like a plague than a person'

'Yeah, I've noticed' Xavier confirmed, lowering his head.

'As a magician, I'm a utility for my family; they want to control me and decide for me, but I am a man who doesn't like to be told what to do. Your presence over the last few days has been very annoying to my family, and that has been a lot of fun for me. I irritate my parents, and you get a taste of the life of a nobleman. We both win.' His arguments were logical and rational. Since breakfast, Clinton's attitude had changed; his face was indifferent, even when he was alone with Xavier.

It was obvious that they were not friends; things between Clinton and Xavier had come to an end. The situation gave Xavier some peace; he didn't want to create false illusions. At the end of the walk, he climbed into the carriage that awaited.

'I hope to see you at Liev's Tower,' said Clinton seriously. Xavier didn't answer; he looked down, and the carriage started moving. Clinton became a blur.

Turning around, Clinton looked at his right hand, with which he had stretched Xavier's during their farewell. His face made a gesture of disgust. When he returned to the house, his family had already come down for breakfast. They had changed the tablecloths.

'Burn the clothes that that stinking rat used,' ordered Sven unwillingly.

'Why have you done this to us?' His mother asked Clinton. 'Sometimes I think you do it just to bother us. We've had to endure that beast for days.'

'That was not my intention,' lyed Clinton with his unexpressive face. 'Now, if you excuse me, I'll go up to my room.' Clinton ignored his family's demands and left the dining room.

After getting to his room, he closed the door with a key and took out a book from his closet. Inside the book, there was a loose page hidden. That was his little secret. He bought it two years earlier on a family holiday. He found a miserable bazaar in one of the alleys of Eltinar citadel, in the kingdom of Orphen. The book was in a corner beside other old books. Normally, the nobility does not attend such filthy places, but Clinton did so only to bother his brother. A fragment of a magic rune caught his attention.

'A magic book, here?' asked Clinton to himself.

His curiosity led him to take the book, but when he opened it, it was not really a magic book. The cover of a shadow magic book had been reused in another book. The new outer layer, poorly placed, had fallen off, and a fragment of the shadow magic rune could be seen.

'I don't know what I was expecting; it's just garbage,' said Clinton, dissapointed.

He was about to throw the book away when the outer layer of the original book began to break apart. Underneath the cover was something written. All the sons of noble families read basic things about magic in their parents' books if they were magicians. Some nobles without magicians in the family bought books of magic and kept them on their shelves in case any of their children woke up as a talent one day. Clinton recognized the runes and diagrams. Although his knowledge was very basic, everyone knew something about the Taboo, the only unforgivable sin in the world of magicians. Only forbidden magic used diagrams, pentagrams, and magic circles.

'Arcane magic!' said Clinton with surprise.

He looked in all directions and thought of throwing the book away. However, arcane magic was the most powerful form of magic known, although the price to pay for its use was exaggerated. Clinton decided to keep the book. He paid ten copper coins for it. The owner of the bazaar was clearly ripping him off, but he did not expect less; no plebey would miss the opportunity to extract some coins from a nobleman. Clinton didn't care though; He paid for the book and left the store.

His family would ask questions if he showed up with a book bought at a bazaar. Clinton looked for an area with a little privacy. He checked the book thoroughly. The only useful thing was the cover. He pulled the cover off. Someone had hidden a page under it. Clinton managed to separate the page with the least possible damage and hide it in his suit. The rest of the cover was useless, and only the front segment served. The rear segment was of another material, from a different book. After making sure he had all the useful things from the book, Clinton returned with his family. The page full of arcane magic runes and diagrams was hidden inside his suit.

'Soon,' said Clinton, returning from his memories as he examined the diagrams, which he already knew from memory.

The original book was a shadow magic book, and the design of the cover coincided with the books in Liev's Tower. He needed a shadow mage in the tower, just in case something went wrong and he needed a fall guy. A misserable peasant like Xavier was perfect for the role.

The Van Ferra family had stalled due to two factors: Sven's incompetence and his low quality as a magician. To make things worse, another incompetent was the original candidate to inherit the leadership of the family. In the world of the noble, power was everything; magic and wealth were power. Many families of noble blood disappeared after falling into poverty. But magic was the summit of power, and arcane magic was legendary, unrestrained, and absolute power. The panic sowed by Warlocks like Van Vatnik, men who brought whole kingdoms to ruin with their own hands, was so great that even to this day, the royalty trembles when they hear their names. Clinton was convinced that he would succeed where others failed and that he could achieve absolute control over arcane magic and the world.