Kingdom of fire and shadows: Useless magic and Salamanders.

Several months had passed since Xavier's exile and Aleum's execution. Many thought the event was barbaric, but no one dared to say so. Despite the tragic event, the classes resumed as if nothing had happened. The students realized how powerful their teachers were, how high their level on the hierarchy scale was, and how ruthless they could be. After some time, they had regained complacency; after all, the students affected were peasants and shadow magicians to boot; they were useless men whose only function was to take risks in the subjugation squadrons. However, Liev's Tower gave them a surprise when the captain of the guard entered the class at the end of the class.

'You've been in the tower for almost a year; you have basic knowledge of magic; it's time to improve other skills. From this day on, in addition to receiving exclusive tutoring from the teachers of your respective elements, your combat training will begin. You will train physically and fight against the knights,' announced Delfin.

Various voices issued complaints and protests.

'Please, there is no need for this; we are magicians; the knights cannot even approach us; a single spear of ice and any knight will end up impaled on the wall. This will be a waste of time; we should focus more on learning advanced magic," Astrid rebuted loudly.

"Oh, I see. Well, let's do a practical exercise. Follow the captain; class is over,′ concluded Delfin with a sharp tone.

With the protests still sounding, the young magicians followed the captain. They were taken to the main gate of the tower. The students had not left the tower for months. The blue sky, the open field, the feeling of freedom... For a minute, the world seemed to be an infinite place. While it was true that this kind of closure training could be detrimental to the mentality of young people, it was a way to subdue and control them; if they could not tolerate this degree of stress, they would be lost in a battle. Many nobles were too arrogant and clever for their own good; depriving them of their liberty was a good tool for the masters.

'Start walking,' ordered the captain, as he indicated to the students that they should proceed to the wilderness of the desert.

'Damn it, they're going to give us a beating,' Clinton and Maurius thought at the same time.

As magicians, their parents had already warned them and told them some similar anecdotes about when they were students at the tower.

Suddenly, they began to feel it; their magical energy was drained quickly. On a physical level, they were still fine, but the magical power lost was enough to limit their use of magic, though not to inflict discomfort by depletion.

However, things got worse when a group of knights came out of their hiding places in the sand. It was an ambush. The students were paralyzed; many thought that the thing would end there, but when the knights began to use their wooden swords and sticks to give them a beating, they understood their situation.

A few minutes later, the students returned to the academy, overwhelmed. Despite their protests, demands, and vengeance promises by their noble families, the knights continued to strike them without compassion. Once in the large main hall of the tower, Delfin addressed them.

'This is Liev's Tower; it is an academy! It is not a school, not a social club; you are magicians, and we are training you to use your skills in battle. You will go to wars and various conflicts; some of you will fight in duels against magicians, warlocks, knights, criminals, beasts, and monsters. You will not always be able to rely on your magic to get out of a bad situation. You'll have a week to recover from your injuries, and then you'll start training with the knights again. Go back to your rooms.'

A week later, after the class was finished, the captain of the guards took the magicians to the training room, and, after an hour of physical work, he made them fight with swords against the knights in the desert. The knights disarmed the magicians very easily and attacked them with wooden swords without restraint. In every war, there were always more casualties among the knights and soldiers than magicians. Their contribution was unequal; the magicians were more scarce and important from a strategic point of view, so they were always in the rear line, and the knights and soldiers did the heavy lifting of the front lines. Many fell like flies when the mages went into action, sometimes by friendly fire, so when they had an opportunity to humiliate a magician, they did not let it go to waste.

'Stupid knights,' insulted one of the young magicians as he threw an ice spear, but his attack did not reach anywhere. One of the teachers always overseed the training. The use of attack magic was prohibited in combat training.

'Well, you guys still don't seem to understand why you have to do these exercises. You can use your armor to show the young magicians what a knight can do,' authorized Robalt.

The knights of the tower had enchanted armor, which increased their speed, response time, and muscle strength two or three times above normal. The difference was immediately noticed, which took the magicians by surprise, and in seconds they were all on the ground.

'Don't think that a gentleman with enchanted armor is useless; that kind of arrogance can cost you your life'.

After that incident, the teachers authorized the knights to open the containers that kept the leech stones, impairing the students magic. It was not cost-effective to use enchanted armor continuously; its uses were limited, so the leech stones were more cost efficient. The fatigue, the beatings, and the constant magic energy draining further weakened the magicians and increased the effectiveness of the knigths attacks.

A few months later, the young mages were already able to defend themselves to a certain degree although it was nothing to write home about. The magicians in general were not very athletic, especially the high class nobles. The physical strength of the knights was far superior, especially if they were empowered by their enchanted armor, even in their base settings. However, the magicians discovered that the masters did not interfere when they used magic to defend themselves or protect other magicians. Although using magic for these purposes was complicated, the leech stones limited their use of magic, and if they tried to use advanced magic, they fell ill with symptoms of magic abuse, and the knights took advantage of the situation to attack. The earth magicians were the most tolerant; their magic was very defense oriented after all, while the wind and fire magicians suffered the most.

Clinton, Maurius, and Astrid were a good team. While Astrid used her ice magic to protect herself or her companions, the boys attacked the knights with their wooden swords. Ironically, Astrid was a good strategist; her authoritarian attitude was very annoying, but she managed to put order in the magician's ranks.

'Today's training will be special,' announced the guard captain. 'We'll go to the desert instead of the training room.'

'Another ambush? It doesn't make much sense if we already know it,' commented Astrid.

'You won't fight the knights. Today, you will fight against monsters. This time there are no restrictions, no security; it is not about training. We'll enter a deeper area of the desert where you've never been. The monsters will try to kill you, and you must survive. Move on, Mages'

After leaving them in the desert, the knights returned to the tower. Meanwhile, the masters watched their students from a distance. Although it was real combat training, a dead magician was an irreplaceable loss for the kingdom. Robalt was ready to use his wind magic and aid the students at any time. From the air, he could invoke thunder capable of carbonizing any monster of the desert or invoke tornadoes and winds that would delay their advance.

'This group is very promising; the quality of the magicians has been good this year, and we even have had just a few shadow magicians this harvest. It would be a pity to lose one of these fine mages, so be alert,' Delfín reminded his colleagues.

'How many worms do you think they will be able to defeat before we have to rescue them?' asked Gaelion.

'Twelve, twenty at best,' replied Delfin.

Each teacher was responsible for the practical training of a specific element according to their affinity. Meanwhile, Delfin was in charge of the theory and generalities of magic. His ability to teach was superior to that of the other masters, although his ability as a magician was inferior to theirs. In addition, he was the only teacher who remained permanently in the tower. The others had to go out to undertake missions of subjugation of vast territories or confront monsters far superior to the abilities of ordinary magicians. The royalty also entrusted them with special missions. Although participating in wars was prohibited for the masters of the major academies, the task of eradicating the disaster zones produced by the miasma was the responsibility of all humans, and their missions also provided rare materials for the development of equipment, weapons, and enchanted armor. Not all magicians could face a basilisk, a blind toad, or a giant golem, among others. Some parts of those monsters were real treasures.

'Should we make a bet on the number of worms they kill?' said Amelia.

'To bet on our students? such a disrespectful act, unworthy of the masters of the tower,' replied Delfin with an indignant face. 'I bet ten gold coins that they will kill about twenty,' he said, taking the coins out of his pocket.

'For a moment, I believed your indignation,' said Gaelion. 'I almost forgot how much you like betting. I'll cover your bet, but I don't think they'll kill more than fifteen worms.'

Delfin had three basic flaws: he liked betting, hated peasants, and, above all, hated shadow magicians. It was his great shame to be a member of that worthless group.

'I would say less than fifteen too,' said Robalt.

'I would say thirty. The earth magicians this year are very resilient. As long as my students do not fall, the group can continue to fight,' said Amelia.

'Well, I don't think we will have to rescue them; get ready for a surprise. Especially with those three,' added Emeral.

Astrid, Maurius, and Clinton had made themselves noticed in the tower. Although their elemental affinity limited them, their abilities were at an elite level. They were very dedicated and intelligent students, and when they managed to overcome their differences, their teamwork was extraordinary. Clinton, above all, was very creative, developing ways to exploit Maurius' multifaceted magic and create true miracles. As the teachers completed the conditions of their bet, the young mages wandered through the desert.

'Nothing happens; I am bored,' complained Astrid.

'Not for long. Something is coming from below,' Dorsia warned. The other earth magicians agreed, confirming her information. 'Get back.' The earth magicians were barefoot on the sand, which made it easy to use their earth magic. The sand turned rock, and seconds later, a few meters further, five six meters long worms came out of the sand. They looked like giant earthworms, with yellowish color scales and the head of a centipede; they moved quickly on the sand.

'Fire magicians, hit them with fire balls. Earth magicians, build a wall after the attack,' Astrid ordered.

Glover and Pirpi did not like to receive orders, but after several failed exercises, they were all aware that Astrid was the best commander of the group. They followed her instructions. The fire magicians threw fireballs that exploded in contact with their targets or with the ground. The earth magicians and their walls protected them from the shock wave of the explosion and stopped the advance of the surviving worms.

'Earth magicians, come back,' ordered Astrid.

After the retreat of the magicians, the stone walls disintegrated. The monsters, instead of moving forward, were feeding on the bodies of the fallen monsters.

'Now the party begins. In the end, they are no more clever than the students of previous years,' Delfín pointed out with a face of disappointment.

'They made too much noise; they should have used ice magic; all these explosions will call a swarm of monsters. They will panic and fail the test. Prepare to intervene, Robalt.' Amelia did her analysis of the situation. She was disappointed.

Robalt used his wind magic to rise in the air and float to a distance closer to the students. He manipulated the wind to attract a small cloud around him, which kept him hidden. For an ordinary wizard, flying so long would be exhausting. Most wind magicians could only fly for about ten minutes and at a limited speed before they exhausted their magic. The elite magicians could do much more; for Robalt, flying was like taking a deep breath.

'Damn it! There are a lot coming' said Dorsia.

'How many more?' asked Astrid.

'I don't know, way too many.'

'Earth magicians, turn the ground into stone once again. Wind magicians, start creating tornadoes in front of the stone. Fire magicians, prepare a fire storm' Astrid kept giving orders.

The plan was simple: once the worms entered the tornadoes, the fire storms would feed on the tornadoes, creating fire tornadoes. The plan was a success. Many of the attacking monsters were eliminated. However, there were still plenty of them left.

'Earth mages...' Astrid looked at her colleagues; they were exhausted. They had been using their magic to keep the walls intact against the attacks of the monsters and their own colleagues. Most of the fire magicians were also exhausted, as the fire storm was difficult to manifest and maintain on such a scale. There were many worms, and they were large in size; covering them in flames required a lot of effort. 'Water mages, prepare all the ice spears you can, and wind magicians, prepare wind blades to give extra boost to the spears.'

Dozens of ice spears were fired at high speed, and the winds further boosted their speed. The attack was a success. The ice spears hit the bodies of the worms, killing them. With this, most of the worms had died, and the rest were injured. Losing the numbers advantage and being hurt, instinct made them withdraw. They bit the bodies of some of the fallen, dragging them into the sand to devour them later.

'Well, that was interesting; in the end, Emeral has won,' Delfin lamented with a sigh. He liked to bet, not lose. Meanwhile, Emeral smiled. They were joking about what the winner would do with her new found fortune. However, everyone became serious when Robalt got out of the cloud and flew at full speed towards the students. That was a bad sign.

'Mages, the training is over. Good job; return to the tower,' ordered Robalt.

'I want a piece of that beast as a trophy,' said Pirpi as he approached the bodies of the fallen worms in an attempt to rip out some antenna from the head or something.

'I told you that...' Robalt thought for a moment. He was next to them, so the students were not in any danger. 'Well, if you like this place so much, you can get ready to fight. A punzer is on his way.'

'Punzer?' asked all the students as they looked at each other. Delfin taught them about monsters and showed examples of many dangerous creatures, but the punzer was unknown to them. Pirpi began to move away from the worms and retreat toward his colleagues.

In the distance, one could see a bright spot flying at high speed towards them. As it came closer, its characteristics could be distinguished. Something like a silver-metal wasp with a thin, elongated belly that looked like a huge metal needle flew towards them. Even the armor of the knights would be useless against it; they would be impaled by the needle like belly of the monster.

'If you wish, I can take care of it,' offered Robalt. "It is good that they learn their limitations; knowing when to surrender and ask for help is important for survival." He was thinking.

'Before that, we would like to try something.' Astrid rejected the help of the teacher.

'Go ahead.'

'Earth magicians, prepare an earth dome in front of us,' ordered Astrid.

'We have no energy,' replied one of the earth magicians.

'It doesn't matter if it is weak; its only function will be to retain heat, create two halves of the dome apart, and you will join them when the punzer is englufed in the fire. Leave small openings in the dome for the passage of air. We'll use the catalytic effect. Maurius, you're going to have to do double work, collaborate with the dome, and infuse the element of earth with fire energy. At the same time, collaborate with your wind and fire magic with Clinton and the other fire magicians to create a fire storm as strong as you guys can. Wind magicians, feed the flames, and we will try to reach the highest temperature possible in a short time. Water mages, we're going to be preparing a zero zone. Come on, get to work!' Astrid gave the instructions for her plan.

Maurius' affinity for the other elements was low, but he could infuse his energy into group invocations. Taking part of his energy increased elemental compatibility; this facilitated combinations and reduced the conflict between magic.

The punzer was coming in a straight line towards them; the tornadoes created by the wind magicians did not change its course or delay its advance; however, when the fire magicians added the fire storm, the fire tornadoes damaged the punzer, delaying it.

"These fire tornadoes will not stop a punzer, they will only make it angrier. These boys are too green," Robalt thought, preparing to intervene.

'Earth magicians, complete the dome,' Astrid yelled. It took time, but the water magicians were ready.

The two segments of the dome moved and closed over the puncher, which was disoriented for a few seconds. The temperature inside the dome rose like a furnace. The earth magic infused into the dome by Maurius, along with his contribution to the fire storm, increased the fire resistance of the earth element. It was his magic, so they were compatible with each other to a certain extent. The wind magicians infused their element inside the dome, feeding the fire. After reorienting, the punzer easily crossed the stone wall of the dome; its semi-metallic exoskeleton was very hot, but it had not suffered significant damage. Robalt was ready to eliminate the monster when Astrid gave the order.

'Now!' cried Astrid.

The ice magicians used all their magic energy to invoke a zero zone, lowering the temperature of the punzer and its surroundings to zero degrees. At first, it didn't seem to make sense, but Robalt understood it immediately. It wasn't magic; it was the effect that some artisans used to break certain materials. The sudden change in temperature fractured the exoskeleton of the punzer, filling it with cracks on all sides. The monster fell to the ground, its wings broke, and a yellowish, viscous fluid escaped from the cracks of his whole body whenever he tried to move. His many legs were bending in abnormal positions when he tried to get up; his whole body was broken. The monstrous insect died in agony a few minutes later.

'That was surprising,' admired Delfin.

'That was a great strategy,' agreed Amelia, as the others nodded. Gaelion and Emeral smiled proudly at their students. Astrid was a great strategist and a competent witch. Clinton was smart, creative, and had nerves of steel.

As everyone celebrated the victory, Maurius collapsed. Clinton stopped his fall; he was expecting something similar. Using three elements at the same time was exhausting for him and immediately led to shock from the abuse of magic energy and sometimes loss of consciousness. Robalt went down to the ground, believing he was hurt.

'What happened?'

'Nothing, Master. He is just exhausted by the magic energy abuse. Using three elements at once is exhausting,' Clinton explained.

'I understand; he may be a five-element mage, but using so many elements with which you have little affinity consumes too much energy for the contribution you can make. He had to limit himself to using his air magic,' Robalt recommended. 'Even if you recover easily from energy abuse, fainting on the battlefield is a death sentence.'

'We know it,' explained Clinton. 'It's a calculated risk, which is why I am always so close to Maurius; I'm his defense; his function is not to increase the power of the attacks; it's to increase its compatibility.'

'That's... it's ingenious. Very ingenious. Maurius is a genius,' recognized Robalt. The teacher had understood the principle of the strategy. Maurius could increase the tolerance of opposing elements by infusing some of his magic into them. Earth magic, with its contribution, resisted fire magic a lot better; its air magic increased compatibility and synergy with fire magic. It improved flame control and raised the temperature. That's why the dome managed to hold for so long.

'You are wrong, Master; it is Clinton's idea; he has the rank of personality and the charm of a rock, but he is a genius combining elements,' said Astrid while she looked at Clinton, as if expecting some sort of reaction. Despite the passive-aggressive attack, Clinton remained unresponsive; he wasn't even annoyed. 'You see what I mean? It's like a potato; it doesn't react to anything.'

Meanwhile, Clinton merely watched Maurius' breath. He was unconscious, but his life was not in danger.

After the events that led to Xavier's expulsion and Aleum's execution, Astrid, Maurius, and Clinton had become close. Astrid was intelligent and a good strategist, albeit self-centered and presumptuous. Clinton was a genius, but he was extremely serious and cold. Maurius was talented at magic and had a very cheerful and open personality. Clinton devised all sorts of combinations of magic that he and Maurius experimented with. Gradually, they had become what the masters called "These Three" and led their generation of magicians.

They had always shown their talent, but today's practice class exceeded expectations. When the other masters heard about the technique developed by Clinton and its usefulness in combat, they were surprised.

'It is a shame that its use is limited by Maurius's low affinity for other elements. The cost of such a skill is too energy expensive and risky.' Delfín assessed. 'An unconscious magician on the battlefield was a dead man.' Everyone agreed with that statement.

'As for Clinton, if his affinity for the fire element wasn't so low, he would be a good acquisition for the tower. He's a genius, but he's not at your level, Master Delfin. Surely he could be an excellent acquisition for a minor academy,' said Amelia.

After this conversation, the masters decided to recommend to "those three" not to use their "magic Catalytic" strategy in battle, as it would put Maurius in danger, and that was generally unacceptable. Although outside the tower, the masters could not prohibit anything, and the students were free to use it if they wanted. At least as long as they were in the tower, the teachers could prohibit whatever they wanted.

To show the seriousness of the situation, they reduced the final grades of the whole class. They really did it for another reason: the young mages had achieved a perfect score; however, only classes with legendary magicians, future masters with extraordinary magic affinities, or future magicians with titles had accomplished such a feat. These young magicians were high quality magicians, but far from being masters, their magic affinities were too low. Bad luck, ingenuity, and effort are not always enough to compensate for the lack of natural talent.

As time passed, the young magicians kept learning magic theory, training with the knights, practicing their magic with their masters, or doing combat exercises with desert monsters.