Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

Zeph was lying in bed. Bernard had accidentally called him "Son." And even though he was shocked at first, the boy accepted the sentiment. He didn't know why, but accepting the old man as family felt natural. They had only known each other for a short time, but it was enough for them to understand each other's personality. They were similar in many ways and an outsider would easily assume that they were related. The sense of belonging made Zeph feel relieved. He hadn't realized that there was a burdening sense of alienation weighing down on him. It was strange that he didn't notice it before, but realized it was because of his new constitution. Just because Bernard said that his mind prevented itself from experiencing strong fluctuations of negative emotion, doesn't mean its stops all negative emotion. Any fears and worries he had were ignored easily. Suddenly, Zeph had an epiphany. Those emotions were essential to self-preservation, and he had a dull sense of self-preservation since he came here. He had been treating this world too much like a dream or a quick adventure in a fantasy land. It was like he was a playing a game. After this session of self-reflection, Zeph decided to change the way he thought. He had been taking things too lightly but not anymore. His behavior wouldn't change by much. Why have magic if you didn't use it to have fun. But he would think more deeply about things, instead of just taking everything at face value. Especially spells, they could be dangerous, and he used some without even looking at their description. If he had taken just half a second longer to study the Unblemished spell, he wouldn't have ended up n.a.k.e.d. 'Maybe the old man was trying to teach him a lesson. Nah! He's just a sore loser,' Zeph thought to himself before finally falling asleep.

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It was overcast and the smell of rain was in the air this morning. It was the beginning of a new week, and that meant new training. Bernard brought his grandson back to the same training grounds, but instead of making a target dummy he made a couple of chairs out of the ground. Bernard asked Zeph to sit across from him. They were a bit hard but still comfortable.

"What's with the chairs?" Zeph looked curiously at the old man.

"Well, I'm an old man," he said giving off a slight grunt of relief when he sat down. "While we sit, I'll train you in some more advanced techniques," Bernard said. He had noticed a subtle change in Zeph this morning. It was a slight change, but he felt that the boy was more m.a.t.u.r.e today.

"Are you gonna teach me some more spells?"

"No, you have enough spells for now, and you haven't quite mastered them yet."

"I haven't? I can cast them just fine though. It's pretty easy if I just follow the formula."

"True, but the formulas are there to make learning easy in the first place. That's why we use them. Control your magic the way the formula says and poof. You got your spell. Want it stronger, use more magic power. Want it weaker, useless." Bernard explained to Zeph.

"Yeah, I figured that out."

"Then we got to modifying which is what you've just started doing. You may not know this, but modifying spells aren't taught until children reach thirteen or fourteen. And even then, the modifications are slight."

"Okay, so I'm ahead of the curve." The boy said with a smug face.

"Indeed, now you're going to work on casting speed and flexibility. These will be some exercises that won't be as taxing on you like last week's training. In fact, children your age should already know them."

"Then why teach them to me now. Shouldn't you have taught it to me earlier?"

"I would have, but you surprised me. Your magic power was much stronger than I expected and I thought that control would be a more pressing issue. Children usually develop their control alongside their power. You were an exception. You could already cast spells from a formula with ease, which meant your control was decent. But, it wasn't enough for the amount of power you have.

"Oh, okay. Now, how are we going to work on casting speed and flexibility?"

"Simple, you're just going through the beginner spells you know, and cast them one after the other as fast as you can. The goal is for you to use them with a mere thought." Bernard demonstrated as he lifted up a finger and a small flame flickered above it. Then he held up the rest of his fingers, showing his palm. Instantly, the flame disappeared and a light gust blew against Zeph's face.

"I get it; you want me to be able to switch between spells really quick."

"Yes, but the flexibility comes from switching spells that have nothing in common. It will help you train to change the properties of your magic. Casting speed comes from the familiarity of moving magic. So the more you practice a spell, the faster you get at casting it. In the future, when we go hunting some beasts, you'll need to be able to react quickly and cast a spell at a moment's notice. You may also need to change the type of spells you're using depending on the situation. Switching between attack spells and support spells can be very difficult at first. Once your flexibility improves, that will become easier."

Zeph nodded in understanding. "That does sound pretty complicated. So we start small, with beginner spells. Then when I can switch those on the fly in an instant, I'll be able to move on right?"

"Right," Bernard affirmed. "Let's get started shall we."

"Okay," Zeph said as he created a ball of water. He then tried to cast a light fire spell above his finger, noticed his magic respond sluggishly. "Yeah, I can see how this would be a problem in a fight."

Bernard noticed the boys magic power stutter. "You're doing pretty well, your magic power only stuttered. My practice was more stop and go when I started practicing this way.

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Zeph continued practicing until lunch. They went back to camp and ate some pasta that Eli had made. The sauce was made from vegetables he grew in his garden, and he wouldn't let Bianca ruin them with her cooking. That got him an angry look from the fox lady, but Zeph understood where Eli was coming from. Bianca was a good cook, great even. But, sometimes she didn't always follow the recipe. She said she got bored and wanted to try and spice things up every once and a while. Zeph believed that it was this d.e.s.i.r.e to experiment with cooking that got her hired in the first place.

After lunch, the sound of thunder echoed in the forest, and the winds picked up. Rain started pouring lightly down on the camp. Zeph saw everyone smile as they waved their hands above their heads. It was like they all used an invisible umbrella. As the rain hit the magic barriers above everyone's heads, the boy could only feel jealous. He was the only one getting wet.

"Good, this is what we were waiting for. Shame it didn't get here earlier." Bernard stated.

"We were waiting for rain?" Zeph asked.

"Yes, because it's part of your training. Try and use your magic to shield yourself from the rain."

"But I don't know a spell for that." the boy complained. The rain was starting to soak into his clothes.

"You don't need one; just use your magic power. You should have practiced control enough to at least make a simple barrier."

Zeph grumbled as he closed his eyes. 'Could have told me to make one earlier, why'd he have to wait for it to start raining,' he complained in his head. He moved the magic power in is body and slowly formed a simple curve above his head. He manipulated the properties, giving it some solidity. Soon, there was a thin glowing barrier above Zeph's head shielding him from the rain. He made it just in time. The rainfall started to get stronger. The light drizzle was slowly ramping up into a storm, as lighting could be heard in the distance.

"There, happy?" he said grumpily at his grandfather.

"Very!" he smiled. Now try casting another spell while you keep the barrier up."

Zeph decided to make the old man's hair turn purple, but as soon as the spell started to form, his barrier disappeared. The sudden downpour of water broke his focus and he lost the coloring spell as well.

"Not so easy, huh?" Bernard chuckled. "You gotta work on your focus to use two spells at once. The practice this evening will be the same as this morning. But you'll need to keep a barrier up to stay dry.

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While Zeph was practicing, a small fluffy kitten woke up from its afternoon nap and walked out of Alex's tent. The old dwarf had made a small comfy bed for it to sleep in. As it walked in the rain, the kitten twitched whenever a raindrop landed on its ears. Starting to get fed up with it, the kitten's eyes gave off a soft glow. Slowly a small silver barrier formed over the kitten's body. Satisfied the kitten made its way further into camp. It was definitely going to cuddle up to the fox lady and try to get some free treats. If that didn't work, it would settle for scratches.

When Bianca saw the kitten walking up to her, she was surprised to see it using magic. It wasn't rare for a mage's pet to have some magic ability but wasn't this kitten too young. "Just like your daddy, aren't you?" she said to the little ball of fur. Not only did the boy have talent, so did his cat. She picked it up and brought it over to the gazebo in the center of camp. Alex had set up a sofa and the CV projector there. They could watch some shows or use the Barbecue pit on the opposite side to cook a snack. She saw the kitten's eyes get big when it saw Alex eating snacks on the couch. She decided to sit with him and enjoy the rainy day. Eli joined shortly after, bringing some junk food. When he tried to give the kitten a potato chip, Bianca slapped his hand. He and the kitten looked sad. The storm never came to camp, but the heavy rainfall lasted throughout the afternoon. Sometimes, they could hear Zeph's grumbling whenever his rain shield crumbled. They would look at the boy and his grandfather and smile.

After having its fill of snacks and scratches, the kitten hopped off of Bianca's l.a.p. No one noticed because the movie was reaching its climax, and everyone was on the edge of their seats.

The kitten then made its way over to Zeph. When Zeph noticed the kitten with a barrier above its head, he went slack-jawed. "What the heck?"

"See, so easy even a kitten can do it," Bernard laughed.

The kitten looked at Bernard. He could swear it was smirking. It then jumped up on Zeph's pant leg and clawed its way up.

"Ow, not so rough," Zeph complained as the claws scratched.

"Nya," It meowed triumphantly when it reached the boy's shoulders.

"I guess it wants your attention." Bernard chuckled, "It's probably been missing you since you've been training most of the time."

"I guess so. Alright, just chill right there, I still gotta figure this out," Zeph told the kitten while he tried to cast another spell and keep his barrier up. It didn't work this time either. But as soon as the barrier crumbled and rain was going to pour down on Zeph, the cat made a small noise and used its own barrier to cover them both.

"Good girl," Zeph exclaimed as he started to pet the kitten. It purred in response to his praise.

"That's cheating, and since when is that kitten a girl."

"I figured I'd call it a girl. After all, it's way too cute to be a guy." Zeph replied.

"It's not a real cat, it has no gender."

"Don't care, calling it a girl." The boy started scratching behind its ears.

"Fine, but when are you going to name that thing?" Bernard sighed.

"Not sure, it's fine for now right."

"Well, it's your cat do what you want with it. By the way, have you ever tried changing its form since it became a kitten?" Bernard asked.

"No, what if I can't change it back?"

"It should be fine. If it's what I think it is, a spirit born from a strong d.e.s.i.r.e. Besides, it's linked to you. Now it's like a mage's familiar."

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