Master's successor is a status that gives strength, power, knowledge, opens many doors, but also burns just as many bridges. A status claimed by many offspring of nobles from the upper class and no less gifted individuals from the lower classes. Stelan is neither one nor the other. A boy from hostile islands, found in the ashes of his own home. A stranger among strangers. Enemy, competitor and stray. How can someone like Stelan get the coveted status, when there are ill-wishers and envious people around, and the master himself has his own plans and his own no less terrible secrets? Almost half a century has passed since the magical cataclysm, but its consequences still make themselves felt on the lands of the mainland. Magic is degenerating, here and there dark covens rule, and creatures from the abyss still find their way into the sweet world of people. Talented magicians are born less and less often, and among them, masters are looking for successors in order to preserve grains of knowledge of their ancestors. Who can receive such an honor? One of the most talented and skillful students, a descendant of a rich and ancient family, or an upstart without family or tribe? It’s up to the master and the magic itself to decide.