Arturo opened his eyes again. He was under the monster, at the bottom of the water in the flooded room. He was almost out of air and so much blood had drained out of him that his vision was blurry and he felt dizzy, but he was ready. Instead of continuing to strain to keep the monster from devouring him, he concentrated on the water around him to guide it.

Several meters up, the two girls were trapped in spheres of water, which Saponcio made sure to keep away from walls and surfaces so as not to give them a chance to escape.

Then, out of nowhere, the octopus-fish flew out of the water and crashed into the wall behind the old man. He followed it with his eyes, astonished. Then the water in front of him began to swirl around, so fast that it formed a whirlpool that rose into the air. At the top of the whirlpool a boy emerged, standing in the water thanks to the power of the current.

—It can't be!...— cried the old man.

Arturo looked at Saponcio from above, then at his friends, trapped in the water spheres.

He immediately aimed at him and shot two powerful jets of water from both sides. However, the old mage deflected them against him. The jets hit him in the stomach and knocked him out of the whirlpool. Arturo fell and sank back into the water.

The old man prepared to receive him when he resurfaced, but the boy did not show himself on the surface. Only after a few seconds did Saponcio realize that Arturo was not going to appear where he thought he would. He quickly turned around, but it was too late. Arturo jumped out of the water like a dolphin. In mid-air he took control of the ground at Saponcio's feet and sent a pillar of rock straight to his jaw. The old mage fell backwards, bleeding copiously from the mouth. At the same time Erica and Liliana's bubbles busted. Both girls fell onto the platforms at their sides.

—Great job, Arturo!— congratulated Erica, ready to jump on Saponcio to break his neck.

However, in that moment, the octopus-fish roared from behind the teens. They turned around to face it, but the monster rammed into Erica and took her with it. Arturo turned to Saponcio to hit him again, but Saponcio was faster and sent him such a powerful torrent of water that he pushed him against the wall and held him there. Liliana jumped to save him, but at that moment she was enveloped by another bubble of water and rose into the air, unable to act.

Saponcio then retreated back into the water and held himself at surface level, controlling the currents to propel him upwards. In that way he moved several meters away, without removing the pressure on Arturo. The monster was flailing and fluttering energetically, doing its best to devour Erica.

Arturo couldn't see what was happening because of the water pressure, but he guessed that in those conditions his friends didn't have the advantage. He tried to control the water that Saponcio was throwing at him, but not even with all his strength could he suppress the jet that kept him immobile. He couldn't breathe, it was getting harder and harder to think.

—I have to get out of here!— he cried.

He quickly thought of several possibilities: he tried to control the jet of water not to stop it, but to propel it in a transverse direction. However, the speed was so great that the change of direction could hardly take effect. He also thought of sinking inside the wall to avoid the jet, but then he would open a hole towards the sea and not even with all the magic in the world could he repair the wall in such a way that it would be the same as before.

—If only Erica could take care of that monster and come to my rescue quickly— he thought.

Then he had an idea. He remembered several times when Erica used her timitio to transport herself through walls.

He quickly formed rock claws in the wall that held his ankles, wrists and back. Then he separated the plate against which he was pinned from the rest of the wall and slid downward. In a second he sank into the water, but he didn't stop there; he broke away from the plate and carried it with him as he launched himself like a torpedo toward Saponcio. He then sent the rock plate towards Liliana, circled the old mage and jumped behind him. Saponcio noticed him, turned around and deflected his lunge.

—Silly boy! Do you think we're on the same level?!

Saponcio formed two whirlpools that rose from the surface of the water. Arturo threw more jets of water at him as best he could, but they only deflected before touching the old man. At the same time, he inserted the rock plate into the water bubble that had trapped Liliana to help her escape.

—You can never beat me!— declared Saponcio.

Both whirlpools rushed at Arturo like the arms of a giant. The boy prepared to receive them and suppress them as much as possible. He had to resist for his plan to work. The water torrents struck him, but at that precise moment, a black, curved blade appeared from behind Saponcio and pierced him through the middle.

The elderly mage fell face first into the water, the whirlpools unraveled. Behind Saponcio, standing on the plate Arturo had carried with him, was Liliana. She gave him a shy smile.

—Excellent idea, Arturo!— she said.

The boy also smiled.

—Thank you. Now let's go rescue Erica!

As soon as they turned around, however, they noticed the octopus fish hanging from one of the stone platforms and Erica's head peeking over the surface, swimming towards them with her timitio.

—You two beat him already?— she said, a bit disappointed— oh, I wanted to fuck him up so bad.

Liliana and Arturo smiled at her. The mage stretched out a hand to help her, but before touching her fingers, something went wrong. Liliana and he fell into the water.

Liliana was the first to get out. She poked her head up for air. She looked for the stone plate to steady herself, but it was sinking fast, farther and farther away. Then she looked at Arturo, who did not move or take his head out of the water.

—Arturo!— she exclaimed.

Both girls together lifted him up. They patted him on the face, but he did not wake up. Somewhat worried, they took him to one of the platforms to let him rest. Then they looked at his legs: they were bleeding profusely.

—He is weak. We have to go out and take care of him— stated Erica.

—Yes.

Erica laid him on the ground, took off his pants and with the same piece of cloth that Arturo had used on her, bandaged as much of the area on his legs as she could.

They also saved Saponcio. Erica would not have minded leaving him alone to die, but Liliana did not plan to do something so terrible. As they finished tending to Arturo, Papel jumped from Erica's clothes to the old man. He sniffed him all over curiously, until he stopped and began to call out to them shrilly.

—What is it, Papel?— asked Liliana.

The little animal pretended to dig in a pocket of the mage's tunic. Liliana put her hand in there. To her surprise, she found a remote control.

—What does this do?— she asked.

She pressed the most conspicuous button, a red one in the center. Suddenly the fountain in the ceiling closed. The water stopped flowing into the room. The inner lagoon began to swirl around the center, draining. Soon a whirlpool formed, carrying all the water downward.

—Excellent, Papel!— Liliana congratulated him— How did you find this?

—Who would have thought that Saponcio kept something like this— Erica wondered.

The girls looked for a way to get down from the stone platform they were on, which at that moment looked like a huge tower. It didn't take them more than a minute to find some ladders attached to the side, where they climbed down. Erica carried both mages, though she too longed for some rest. They quickly reached the hole in the center of the room, which led to the room with the three waterfalls. There was no way down except by falling.

—What do you say?— asked Erica.

—It's better than going back the way we came— admitted Liliana.

Erica threw Saponcio carelessly, who fell with a splash into the water. Then she jumped in with Arturo in her arms. Finally Liliana followed them. They landed on the water with no problem. To their surprise, the waterfalls had been cut off. The water in that room was also draining slowly. At the end, the floor was completely exposed revealing a dome at the bottom, with a handle. Erica and Liliana opened it by the handle, inside they saw a luminous sphere, just like the one that had led them there. It was a bridge.

—Is this the exit?!— they observed in disbelief.

------------------------------------------

It was already daylight.

There was relative silence, enough to feel calm.

Then Arturo woke up completely and sat up. He noticed immediately that he was in a bed, not a hotel or an inn, but a bed at home, in someone's room.

His mouth felt dry and his stomach was empty. He was very hungry.

Somewhat confused, he got up to go to the door. He immediately noticed some pain in his legs. He looked at them, he was naked, except for bandages. They were not improvised bandages, they were well put on, by someone who knew how to do it.

He continued to the door. On a hanger was a robe that fit him well, so he pulled it over himself and went out. He crossed a carpeted hallway that led him to a dining room, with a table full of people. From before he saw them, he could recognize the voices of his friends and the squeals of Papel fluttering with joy. Then he peeked in, noticed four more faces; a big fat man, a lady a little shorter and also fat, and two chubby little boys of seven or eight years old. All seven of them were eating and laughing heartily.

—Arturo!— cried Liliana, as soon as she saw him.

They all stood up and turned to him. The girls hugged him, and to their surprise, so did the strangers. Then, when he approached him, Arturo recognized the obese man: he was one of Saponcio's prisoners, he had seen him in one of the tubes in the laboratory, sedated.

They quickly sat him down at the table and served him a huge plate with all the food groups. He was very hungry and the food smelled delicious, so he grabbed a fork and began to swallow before he was given permission.

As he ate, he was told what had happened: After he fainted, the girls discovered the way out of the lab. The rest was simply carrying the prisoners and transporting them through the exit to the island. There, Guerek was reunited with his son. One of the mages, who had awakened, headed towards the city to ask the police for help. The girls and he had had to hide from the authorities for a while, but the mages were so grateful that they took them with them as soon as they had the chance, and put them up in the house of Firolio, the obese mage the boy was next door to. Firolio was the head of the department of science and magic. He was a big, old man, with small, bulging eyes, a round nose, a fluffy mustache and a full beard.

—It's a good thing we found him awake in the laboratory— Liliana recalled— it turns out that you fainted from hyper... hypo... What was it, Mr. Firolio?

—Hypoglycemia— he said— the worst enemy of every mage.

—Yes, he revived you with an injection— Erica explained— you were about to die.

—It was the least I could do— Firolio downplayed it— Saponcio is an old and experienced mage, there was no doubt that he had a couple of syringes ready, in case he needed them.

Arturo ate everything he was offered and nodded to everything he was told, attentive. Suddenly Erica patted him on the back.

—Hey, and you finally learned how to use water magic!— she celebrated— That was impressive! How did you do it?

Arturo ran a hand over his head as he thought about how to explain it to her. After a few seconds he looked up to answer her, but at that moment he realized that everyone was staring at him in complete silence. He was nervous for a moment, but he pulled himself together.

—When that octopus-fish was taking me down and I thought I was going to die, an owl took me to some kind of mental dimension.

—An owl?— repeated Liliana, puzzled.

—It said it was a judge— remembered the boy.

Hearing that, Firolio choked. He had to cough for a long time, but finally he managed to calm down.

—What's wrong, is it something bad?— Liliana asked.

—No, no, it's nothing bad— assured the mage— please, young man, go on.

—Ah, well. Then the owl made me dance with an earth woman and a water woman. With the earth woman I danced perfectly, but with the water woman it was more difficult.

As he spoke, he took out some of his juice to make it flutter over his head, showing how his dance with the water had gone.

—I realized that I had to guide the pattern in which the particles flow, unlike solids, which I can take and mold almost as if I were doing it with my hands.

—I always knew you could do it— Liliana said to congratulate him— well done, Arturo.

He smiled too. Erica, the lady and the two children didn't look very impressed either, but Firolio looked as if his eyes were going to burst with shock.

After lunch, he and Arturo went to the study to talk about magic, about books, and about the "Judge" the boy had seen near death.

—Did you really see a Judge?!— asked the man, dumbfounded.

—Yes, he was very kind.

—That's impressive, kid! Do you realize the significance of this event?!

—No. What does it mean?

—Wow! A judge! They say only the most impressive mages can summon Judges.

—Summon them?

—Yes, because you see, Judges don't appear to everyone. Not because they're picky, but because not everyone has the mental stamina to stand in front of them. It takes years of training and preparation... or a spectacular mind.

Arturo scratched his nose, flattered.

—I have something to show you.

Firolio showed him his shelves full of books. There he pulled out one that Arturo had seen before and passed it to him. It was the Rublirem atet Largaste.

—Isn't this Saponcio's book?

—What?! Is that what that bastard told you?! —Pfff! No! This book is from the center of science and magic!... well, it was. Now I'm giving it to you.

Arturo opened his eyes wide in surprise.

—Are you sure? Isn't it something rare and valuable?

—Oh, I'm quite sure. Don't worry, we're the science and magic center, we'll get another one, eventually. Besides, we're all old, no one has the energy to learn any other kind of magic, and also....

He searched the shelf again and passed him another book, it was almost as big as the Rublirem atet Largaste, titled "Fontramel atet Sengaste".

—And this?

—It's a book of medicine— Firolio explained— magical medicine.

—Magical medicine?!— repeated Arturo, excited— Does such a thing exist?

—Yes. In fact, it was with that that I cured you of your wounds— indicated the mage— You see, magic has two main branches: the Magiorbis, which controls the world in its different forms; and the Magivita, which controls life— then he put a hand on the book, to prevent Arturo from opening it yet— I am giving it to you not as a toy, but because I have heard some of the things you guys have gone through. I think you three really need someone who can heal wounds in your group. I know we don't know each other well, son, but I wouldn't feel right about letting you go like this.

Arturo nodded.

—Thank you, I think we needed it too, although I didn't know about this kind of magic.

—Your little friends told me that you haven't had a teacher— Firolio recalled.

—That's true.

—Would you like me to help you a little with your magic? You've just learned the control over liquids. You still don't know anything about medicine.

Arturo looked at him with sparkling eyes, so excited that he could scream, if only he were a more expressive person.

—Yes, please!