Apolo ascended the spiral staircase and exited the grand tower, heading towards his carriage, where an unfamiliar driver had been waiting all this time.
—Where are we headed, sir?—the driver inquired as Apolo approached.
—Take me back to the mansion...—Apolo replied disinterestedly, entering the carriage.
The carriage set in motion, and before the young man realized it, he was already leaving the Ministry of Magic behind. Meanwhile, Apolo gazed out of the carriage window at the four grand castles and the tall tower receding into the distance, aware that this would be the last time he would be in this place, reflecting on all the adventures and misadventures that had befallen him in this unusual and beautiful place.
When the young man lost sight of the ministry, he snapped out of his trance and pulled out the book he had obtained on this adventure, inspecting it. The darned book had a brown leather cover that looked rather common, but if one considered the book's antiquity, they would notice that the leather was in incredible condition, as if the passage of time had not affected it at all. Moreover, inscribed on the leather cover was a striking title that read:
> "Magic for Distinguished Gentlemen"
With curiosity, Apolo opened the first page of the book to find a description of it; the young man really had no idea what the book was about, as his ancestor had not bothered to tell him why this book was so important for his future. However, the future didn't matter much to the young man, and the main reason for finding the book was to fulfill the last wish of someone who cared for him, even though they didn't know him or hadn't even been born in the same millennium. So Apolo read with unusual attention the description that could be seen in the book's introduction, trying to understand what his ancestor wanted to convey with this story:
> "Pleased to meet you, young acolyte. My name is Calixto, the Archmage of the Black Tower, and in this book, I will provide you with a basic guide to the protocols that a wizard must follow, along with a detailed introduction to the noble world of magic.
>
> I hope for your willingness to learn our noble traditions and that your journey in magic will be as prosperous as mine was.
>
> To bless your beginning in this grand adventure, let me enlighten you with the words that marked my path as a wizard: 'A wizard is one who acts and dresses as such' "
>
> Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
—So it's an introductory book for Calixto's acolytes...—Apolo muttered, picking up his staff that he had left in the carriage. By twisting the knob on it, he opened a secret compartment, revealing that the young man had kept a silver needle.
The young man took the silver needle and pricked his finger, staining its tip with blood. Then, carefully, he crossed out the name of the Archmage and replaced it with his ancestor's name. Immediately, the book began to shake violently and slammed shut, falling to the floor. Apolo picked up the book and realized that it had changed; its leather cover was completely aged, covered in scratches and missing parts, showing that the book had been rather neglected or used. But what was most striking was that someone had taken the trouble to violently cross out the book's title and replace it with the following:
> "Magic for Idiots"
With curiosity, Apolo opened the book and found that the interior pages of the book had also changed: the introduction was exactly the same, but someone had crossed out a large part of it to replace the words with others, and it was filled with annotations, digressions, and poorly drawn doodles scattered across the initial page. The introductory message now appeared like this:
> "Pleased to meet you, descendant. My name is Cosmo, the Fire Mage of the Black Forest, and in this book, I will provide you with a very detailed introduction to the world of magic.
>
> To bless the beginning of this grand adventure, let me enlighten you with the words that marked my path as a wizard: 'A wizard is one who thinks as such' "
—It seems this is his true legacy. I wonder why he never sent it to the castle and instead hid it in the library...—Apolo murmured, flipping through the pages of the book, realizing that the level of obsession with which his ancestor Cosmo had operated was worthy of respect. Every page of the book had been altered, and it had been filled with his ancestor's life experiences. The most interesting thing about these modifications was that it was clear they had been made at various different times in Cosmo's life: there were senseless doodles that he had probably made when he had started reading the book, digressions that contradicted each other a few pages later, and there were also messages that seemed to be his last words, all mixed up and without an apparent order.
Truly, this book seemed to be Cosmo's life's work. Although considering that the wizard Cosmo had earned an honorary title as a Fire Mage, one could assume that this was not entirely true, and that his ancestor had been modifying this book in his spare time, thinking that in a distant future, it could be used by someone like Apolo.
—Well, now all that's left is to see how beautiful the garden turned out, and I'll fulfill your last wish, Cosmo...—Apolo murmured, smiling with bittersweet happiness, thinking that, for better or worse, he was finally journeying to the cliff of his dreams...