Kingdom of fire and shadows: Useless magic and Salamanders.

The same night that the Van Castin saw their little monster wake up, the Van Felding also received a new magician.

Maurius woke up to the change in his body. As the son of two magicians, he already knew what it was about: his hands covered with frost, the wind currents forming at random in the room and raising his clothes and sheets, the heat that passed through his body... Hours later, it was all over, and Maurius fell asleep again.

Maurius had a strong constitution; he was not fat, maybe a bit overweight; he was one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, straight, black, and short hair. His round face, flat nose, and bright brown eyes gave him a pleasant and charismatic appearance; his smile and relaxed and friendly bodily gestures and movements invited people to approach him.

'Maurius, wake up; it is time for breakfast,' his elder brother shouted as he shook him.

'In a minute,' complained Maurius, covering himself again with the sheets.

But his brother Nadial didn't leave him alone, and shook him again. Nadial was a boy of slightly lighter skin than Maurius, one hundred and eighty centimeters, skinny, with a body of scarce musculature but agile; light brown eyes; crisp and short hair; and a thin nose. He was an active young man. Unlike the careless Maurius, Nadial was very methodical and more intelligent than the other kids his age.

A few minutes later, both Maurius and Nadial sat at the table with their parents. Maurius' mother was the first to notice it.

'Maurius, you?' said Ultria, looking astonished at her son.

Ultria was a woman in her fortys, a low-class water magician, thin and tall, with straight and long hair, a fine nose, and thick lips; she wore a long glove in her right arm and generally had a penetrating and serious gaze, which only relaxed when she looked at her children or her husband, Cliford.

'Mage!' cried Cliford, feeling the abundant and unstable magic that sprang from the boy.

Cliford was a low-class wind magician approaching his fifties with dark skin, one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, strong and muscular arms, a lightly protruding belly, dark brown eyes, curly and thick short hair, a flat nose, a cheerful face, and a well-kept mustache.

'Yes. Last night,' confirmed Maurius, sitting at the table while taking a piece of bread and bathing it in butter.

Both Cliford and Ultria had mixed feelings about Maurius' awakening. On the one hand, it secured his social position and his future. On the other hand, he exposed him to the risk of being his grandfather's target. The family situation was complicated. The Van Felding had a special status in the world of magicians; the family from which they derived, the Van Dekar, although not the most powerful, had produced at least one magician in each generation for the last three generations. With the awakening of Maurius, it would be the straight fourth generation. That had never happened before.

'Listen carefully, Maurius. Don't tell anybody; do you understand? We must keep this a secret for as long as possible,' Cliford warned the boy.

The parents wanted to prevent the information from leaving the mansion. If Maurius' grandfather heard of his awakening, he would try to sell Maurius to other families. It was an opportunity to win a magician in the bloodline, and all the nobles paid well for that opportunity. His grandfather would force him into an arranged marriage, as the Van Dekar did with everyone in their families. It had worked for Cliford and Ultria, but many other family members were miserable with spouses who they hardly tolerated. Their families settled Ultria's and Cliford's marriage without asking for their opinions. Shortly thereafter, they were sent to the battlefield in various wars and battles, in which they fell in love after fighting shoulder-to-shoulder for life or death. They didn't want that future for their son. However, it was already too late; one of the servants of the mansion was a spy of the Van Dekar, and a few hours later he would transmit the information to his master.

'Lady Ultria, you got a visitor' announced a servant entering the office where Mauriu`s parents were arranging the affairs of their territory. The faces of the two parents turned ugly. It had been just a few hours after breakfast, and he was already there. 'Leader Merlo van Dekar has come to the mansion, and he is heading over here.'

As soon as the servant had finished speaking, a man over sixty years old crossed the threshold without waiting or asking for permission.

'Hello, Cliford. Ultria, my dear daughter,' Greeted Merlo, smiling. The servant had barely announced him when he crossed the door.

'I am not your daughter,' replied Ultria with an angry tone.

'What a cold welcome towards your own father,' said Merlo, pretending to be disappointed.

'You are not a father; you are a monster; you are not welcome here; leave immediately,' recommended Cliford.

Merlo was a middle-class magician; the fertility of these magicians was low, so Merlo had several lovers. In the case of procreation, he claimed the children at the age of fifteen and took them home as servants. If they woke up as magicians, he included them in the family and used them as chess pieces in his plans. Those without talent for magic were rejected and returned with their mothers.

'Bah, I didn't come for you anyway; I came for the boy. A talent is a great opportunity for the family and must be managed by someone with skill and experience to ensure his development and growth.' Merlo corrected them, smiling as he opened his arms.

'My son is not a commodity!' cried Ultria. The humidity around her began to condense into fog, and the room cooled down. Frost began to form on her skin.

Merlo had a twisted personality. For him, those who were not magicians were less than insects. Cliford and Ultria's first son was a faulty product for him. Since Nadial was sixteen years old and the months of harvest passed without him becoming a talent, he forgot about him. Merlo was the main architect and promoter of arranged marriages. In his family, low-quality magicians were forced to make absurd mercenary contracts with the army, other nobles, or the royal family in exchange for multiple concessions and benefits. This is what happened to Cliford and Ultria. In the end, the hatred of both of them towards their respective families and the experiences they had in battle united them.

They decided to separate from the main family, change their surnames, and start from scratch. After getting rid of all the commitments the families had forced them to accept, Ultria and Cliford rebuilt their lives. As a pair of magicians with combat experience and various connections, their economic rise was rapid. Although they were low-ranking magicians, they were an asset. At first, their families tried to subjugate them, but after several unpleasant defeats, they understood that they had much to lose and little to gain. Both Ultria and Cliford were as stubborn as mules. They'd rather die than be their families play things again. They now had a mansion with land where rare medicinal plants were grown. Given Ultria's talent for plants and her affinity for the water element, her products were of high quality.

'Please, let's stop this drama. I'm going to take the boy for the good of the family and negotiate a good deal with other nobles...' Merlo didn't have time to finish his words. A piece of ice flew from Ultria's hands. If he hadn't avoided it, he would be stuck to the wall.

'Have you gone mad, little girl!' cried Merlo as his eyes became red and the temperature rose around his hands.

A violent wind gust began to push Merlo back. The doors of the room opened suddenly with the force of the air, and Merlo was pushed out.

'Do you really think you can fight me, boy? I am a middle-class magician and a veteran of war; my elemental affinity is twice as much as yours," Merlo reminded them, ready to throw a flame against Cliford. 'You're a simple low-class wind magician; your element is weak against mine.'

Cliford didn't say anything. With a grin on his face, he pointed to the ceiling with a finger. Merlo looked up. A curtain of fog had formed and covered the entire roof of the mansion. Directly over Merlo's head were huge ice stalactites, ready to fall on his head. Cliford and Ultria had combined their magical elements. No matter where Merlo moved, a rain of ice spears would fall on him.

'If you don't leave my house right now, I'll turn you into a cold skewer,' threatened Ultria.

'As a veteran, you must be aware that there is no way you can win this fight. You are in enemy territory, and the weapons are aiming at you,' Cliford pointed out. ′ You're not the leader in here; we're not part of your family. Don't come close to our son ever again. This is the last warning. Now get your ass out of our house!′

Merlo was furious, but although he was stronger than both separately, they just showed that together they could deal with him. Besides, he had a great tactical disadvantage; they had taken him by surprise. Right now, the whole mansion was a trap of ice spears. He had underestimated the magicians; the area they were covering and keeping stable was enormous to be the work of a pair of low-class magicians. However, there was no trace of fatigue on their faces. Merlo had no choice but to retreat. Merlo turned and left. The fog covering the entire roof of the mansion remained until he got into his carriage.

As soon as they were sure that Merlo was far away, the fog disappeared. Ultria fell down on her chair, gasping, while Cliford lost strength in his legs and sat on the floor. Maintaining the fog covering the entire mansion required a lot of magic and a great deal of concentration on both sides. Although they were a pair of lower-class magicians, they were in the highest segment of their class. By combining their abilities, they obtained much greater power than they would have individually. They had practiced for this situation for years. They knew that if they had a descendant with magic talent, Merlo would come and try to use it as a business tool for his family. They would, under no circumstances, allow that to happen to their children. All the flower pots in the mansion, apart from decoration, were water springs to facilitate Ultria's magic. Since Maurius woke up, the windows have been kept open, and the mansion was designed to facilitate wind currents.

'He will come back,' assured Cliford, worried.

'We will face him,' replied Ultria. 'We will not allow them to use our son. Ultria removed the glove from her right hand. All her right arm was a burn scar, the result of a battle to which Merlo and his families had sent them twenty years ago. They fought on the front against the Kingdom of Veldat. Cliford showed his courage to protect his fiancée and exhausted all his magic in seconds to facilitate her escape. They managed to escape by a hair. They both remembered the past. Cliford approached his wife and kissed her burned hand.

Meanwhile, Merlo traveled back to Van Dekar Land in his carriage; he was furious. 'These two have more power than I expected; it will be tricky to put my hands on the ruggrat.' Gossebumps covered his skin as he thought of the trap from which he had just come out. It still seemed unbelievable to him that a couple of second-class magicians could dominate such a large area.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on Cliford and Ultria's office door. Maurius was entering the room. Now that Merlo knew of his awakening, it did not make much sense to keep the secret, although avoiding the visits of other nobles, invitations to activities, and proposals for marriage would be a pain in the ass. They had to make it public.

'Maurius, come here, son,' invited Cliford. 'Your grandfather, Merlo, just left; he came for you. Do you remember what we told you about him and how to avoid him at all costs?'

'Yes, Dad, I remember. Relax; he will not deceive me. I may be a child yet, and I might not be as smart as my brother, but I am not a fool.' assured Maurius confidently.

'Oh, you will have tough days ahead, son. A bunch of nobles will come here to trouble you. In fifteen days, when your magic stabilizes, it will lean towards one of the elements. In the eighth month, you will have to go to the guard tower, and then we must attend the presentation party. Who will celebrate this time?' asked Cliford.

'For the time being, the Van Ferra. They were the first to make public the awakening of their son in the seventh month,' replied Ultria.

Someone knocked on the door. After receiving permission, Nadial entered the room with several papers.

'Here comes the brain of the family,' cried Cliford.

'Nadial, when will you let your father win the game of stunts?' asked Ultria.

'Never,' replied Nadial sharply.

'You little rascal,' said Cliford, pretending to be angry as he brushed his son's hair.

Nadial was already eighteen years old. Although he was not a magician, thanks to his intelligence, his parents cultivated his skills in management, business, and leadership. Despite being so young, he already knew how to control and manage the family's finances. Under the supervision of his parents, Nadial had become an excellent administrator; he would inherit the leadership of the Van Felding family from Ultria's hands. Now, with Maurius' awakening, the family had funds, administrative capacity, and enough muscle to defend their interests. By the month of his aweakening, he should be a more powerful mage than his parents.

While Nadial and his parents focused on business issues, Maurius left the office to walk through the gardens and fields around the mansion. Soon, his days at home would come to an end. After his visit to the guard tower, he would have to go to the magic academy for a few years. Everything was moving towards a bright future. The only thing that could destroy it all was bad luck. If his affinity happened to be for the element of shadows... just thinking about it made him shiver.