- Oliver walked past him, across the table, looking through the papers. He held one of them and read to the end, raising his eyebrow. - This is much more than Ordinary Arcanism.

- 'Logical Archetypes. - Orion drew with his fine brush over the designs of one of his projects, finishing one last layer of a primary circle. - They will be used to date the number of Triangles used in a passive without having to expand their layers.

Oliver sat up, looking more deftly at the design.

- It has been a long time since you have dedicated yourself to a large project.

- I'm thinking about the future here at the Boilers.

- Your future?

He looked seriously at his father.

- Our future.

His face was serious, but Oliver returned it with a sideways smile.

- Worrying about your father like this, is your heart softening? They took my son away and put someone else in his place? - He put the papyrus back on the table and stood up with the help of his cane. - A man came here yesterday when you left. He was one of the Boiler Elders.

- Glauco Vidian. - Orion had seen him coming down the stairs. The man didn't even greet him as he came down. - What did he want?

- He wanted to offer me a position as Scholastic in the Vidian family. - Even though he didn't show any reaction, Orion recognized when a certain anxiety hovered over his father. - He offered a decent salary and a very high remuneration in time.

- Do you want to accept?

- I am thinking about the future. Our future.

Orion put down his brush and turned to his father. That old one-legged man would one day be alone, one day need care that Orion could not offer. The reason for these projects was just that.

- Accept it," he said, firmly. - You must accept it.

- Must I? - Oliver took a small cigar from the desk drawer and put it in his mouth, lighting it with sparks on the tip of his finger. - If I go, who's going to be here to scold you? Or who will be here to challenge you in Arcanism?

- You've been losing to me for years, Dad. - Orion laughed. He seemed to have returned to his childhood, when he had watched his father smoking and talking about Arcanism with such pleasure.

- When was the last time I won?

- Ten years ago.

Oliver nodded, staring at his leg.

- It had been a long time. I think I remember. Yeah, I think it was 'Strings and Magnetic Bonds. We studied it a lot that year because of the Elders' request.

- And they didn't even use our project.

- That bunch of useless old men. - The two of them laughed together. - Time passed quickly. You trained to be a Knight, then to be a Scholastic. And now you are here, doing your projects. I got very old.

- Your face doesn't even have wrinkles, Father.

Oliver rubbed his hand over his face.

- It's just a little bit. Tell me about your project, what are you going to do with it? - He pulled and let the smoke out of his mouth, relaxing his shoulders. - The Scholastics Conjunction is starting next month, do you want to go?

- I want to register, but under a different name.

- A nickname?

- I want to be 'The Teacher'. What do you think?

Oliver stared at him for a while before smiling and appreciating the name.

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- I don't think there is any other name that would suit you so well. Just don't try to teach it to sick minds.

- I know. Medicine doesn't cure dead people.

- Exactly.

I

Orion spent half of the month working on the last ten projects that would be his base. It took longer than he thought possible, because of the many meetings he had with Silena and Cairo Rent.

I didn't want to have to spend so much time with them. Many people in the square had already begun to find it strange that a Vidian was walking around there for so many days in a row. The problem was that Orion always had to arrive much earlier in order not to attract trouble. So he used the back of his uncle's store to work on more projects.

He moved the table to a new place, placing several of his books stacked in a corner and having others open, the ones Silena had brought him. While he read, he reformulated the procedures of his project and then developed the project while remembering perfectly the content of the reading.

- It gives me goose bumps just watching," Raimundo said as he passed behind him a few times. - They are coming.

- Right.

Orion rolled up the papyrus and placed it beside the books, sitting down.

Silena and Cairo entered quickly and sat down. They did not look calm.

- What's wrong? - Raimundo asked, seeing them agitated.

- Felipe sent someone to follow us. - The most irritated was Cairo Rent, gasping. - I had to use a duplicate magic to lose him.

- And did you succeed?

- We stopped feeling his presence after a while. So, I guess we did.

- Still, we don't have time. - Silena focused on the books and then on Orion. - At our last meeting, you had already made your choice. We created the account at the Royal Bank of the Elders, and put in the name you requested. And Ernesto said he wanted to meet you.

- I'm not going there.

- So we will present your work at the Scholastics' Conjunction. 'Communication via Mana' and 'Condensation of Two Circles' have been sent to the Order on the continent. I also made sure to put the name you requested.

- Did you patent both of them?

- I took care of it," answered Cairo. - No one can steal this project.

- So, I only have one more thing to do. - Orion looked at Raymond. - Uncle, you can help me bring that wooden box.

- The one you brought yesterday?

- That's it. - The two of them went to the back and picked up the heavy box, almost a meter long, and placed it on the table. From the smell of it, it was too old. Orion had received it as a present from his father when he was ten years old.

Cairo and Silena stood up. The Old Wizard touched the sturdy surface, scratching his finger afterwards.

- It is a refined wood with metallic elements. - He was as surprised as Silena. - It is rare to find one of these even on the Continent.

- The box is of little use, but inside it is. - The iron locks that connected to a padlock were released by Orion, and pulled back together with the lid. Inside, the smell of old paper suffused the room. - There are two hundred of my old projects, all redone.

- Are you going to send them all for inspection?

- No, I'm giving them to Silena. - Orion looked at the woman beside him.

- That's a lot, Orion. - She denied it with her hand on the spot. - I can't accept this gladly. You said you didn't trust me, why are you going to give me all of them?

- Because they are the most basic ones I have with me.

It threw them both off balance. There were so many schemes, proposals, even dreams that a man could have had. Orion faced his old efforts being handed over without fear. They were for a cause greater than his own.

- Are you sure? - Silena still didn't want to accept, but her emotion, that was impossible to keep inside. - Do you really want to give me all this?

- In order to create a good future, I need to let go of the past. - He pushed the box towards her. - It's all yours.

That box was once the fruit of his efforts. Oliver would repudiate the idea of giving it to someone else even though he knew that this was the box that would bring, in the future, peace to that old man.

II

And the week went by being openly debated about all possible types of Arcanism. The delivery of the 'Communication via Mana', written by the Professor, was widely read by all the people in the Boilers of Islets.

A paper, drawn and explained, led to a very high evolution of one of the biggest pillars of Arcanism: creativity.

Little was seen of the Elders expanding their knowledge to develop, little was seen projects being handed in for analysis within the Boilers. Soon, a person who didn't want to speak up went even further into the matter.

The Professor put his piece on the board that was the world, and as much as his thought had only been to shape his future, he altered everyone's. In the Vidian family, Ernesto Vidian and his two advisors, Mimato and Wares Vidian sat united.

- If you don't find this person as soon as possible, don't even think about coming back here.

The most important and powerful man of the Boilers gave a single mission. To find the Professor.

And the second shipment of the extraordinary. The Professor himself made a note clarifying that he openly supported Silena Vidian as heiress, and that his projects were all funded by her. Which left Philip and the twin brothers in check.

A person of that ability would have a whole world in her hands. Silena Vidian, only recognized for having a good relationship with everyone, acquired an important resource.

- Tell me where the Professor is. It's simple, Silena. - Mimato, fat as he was, couldn't even fit in his chair. - We just need to talk to him. And Ernesto ordered you to give us his location.

Cairo's aura reacted behind Silena with a fury camouflaged on his indifferent face. The two advisors retreated in their actions.

- Asking and commanding are different things," Cairo said in his frown. - She has the support of one of the brightest minds. Do you really want to compete against that?

- No, of course not, sir. - Wares waved his arms several times, cowed. - We just want him to come forward. With his support in various arcane matters, we can take a big step towards ending the war.

- He doesn't care about the war.

Silena silenced them both with a single sentence. Every second that passed in front of those two, the more she felt like winning the competition for the throne. These were the people who could not see who was or who was not suffering, restricting themselves to personal gain above all else.

- The war is important for all of us," Mimato retorted. - Didn't he settle the question debated about Arcane Mechanics?

- He did it because he wanted to take a step forward. His name is important, the Boiler is important. Be content to know his name before you want to poke the jaguar with a short stick.

A knife put to the throat of both of them. Silena had not expected the Professor's name to become so strong within a short time after his birth.

- Tell Mr. Ernesto that as long as the Professor doesn't want to reveal himself, he will not be named. And if something is done, the Elders will know.

And in Orion's house, Oliver was reading one of the newspaper articles with a completely shocked expression. Sitting in his armchair, the only thing on his mind was the genius mind that had been installed in the Boiler Room.

And as incredible as it was, the name Professor was the one described.

He stopped reading, looked at his son sitting at the table, with a pencil in his hand and two open books standing at the other end of the table. Orion stared at the book, mumbled something very low, and went back to writing. From time to time he would turn the page of one of the books and repeat the process.

- Orion.

- Speak, Dad.

The words could not get out of his throat. His boy had really taken a step forward, impressing the Elders to the point that his project was sent to the Order, off the island.

To congratulate, praise or criticize, Oliver had nothing to do at that moment but to say:

- Would you like some coffee, son?

Only Orion's face turned. Oliver saw a giant amount of emotion arising and him smiling broadly. It was as if the boy had understood everything that had been going on in his head, as if it was possible to unravel even his line of reasoning.

- Of course I want to.

I wish he had half the ability of his brother and more sense than me, but it seems he was born with his ass turned to the moon and came out with twice the intelligence of Omar, three times the creativity of his mother and zero sense.

Oliver only took a small step into the kitchen and remembered his wife, who had died eighteen years ago. He stopped at the door and stared at Orion writing.

- They would be proud of you, son," he whispered, low enough not to disturb him. - As I am.