Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

Zeph was in a daze. Watching two seasoned mages fight was amazing. He could feel the attacks through the floor, as the ground shook. Ronan moved so fast that Zeph could barely keep up, and Bernard created shields without even moving a finger. The blinding flash of the electrical storm and the following explosion of ice made him shiver in excitement. His hands clenched when Bernard was frozen. Then the fight ended.

It all happened so fast. The fight lasted only a few short minutes, and it was nothing like what he expected. There were no long drawn out chants, no intricate strategies, and no beams of energy clashing in the air as one man tried to overpower the other. Bernard and Ronan said that he and Liliana should learn something. Maybe that something was the same as a saying from his old world. Simple is best.

Liliana, on the other hand, was standing up and cheering. There were stars in her eyes, and she ran up to her grandfather as soon as he stepped off the platform. His disappointment in being unable to win faded quickly, when his granddaughter started telling him how amazing he was. Bernard stepped off the platform after Ronan and walked toward Zeph.

Zeph could hear his grandfather mumbling, while he brushed ice and water off of his coat. "Good thing I used a heat aura, that old buzzard didn't hold back on that frost grenade." When he got near Zeph he stopped his mumbling and asked the boy a question. "What did you think?" The old man was in mentor mode again, so Zeph tapped his chin thinking.

"It wasn't what I expected. The fight was fast and every move was made in order to achieve your objective. I realize now, that in a one versus one situation, there won't be enough time to cast complex spells. You planned to distract him long enough to cast a wide area spell, but he planned for that and had a counterattack in mind. Then you created a counter when you knew you couldn't dodge. None of the moves were known beforehand. Plans have to be improvised based on what your opponent is doing at that moment.

Ronan didn't use a wide variety of magic affinities and stuck with Ice magic. So, it's best to stay with spells that you can cast quickly and with confidence. I think you were teaching me that I shouldn't overthink when I fight." Zeph looked at his grandfather waiting for an evaluation on his answer.

Bernard smiled and patted his grandson's shoulders. "Good, thinking son. You're right. Often times, we don't get to plan for our battles. And even when we do, it often goes wrong. As you said, improvisation is important. Children watch those CV shows and expect long drawn out fights with lots of flying and explosions. Most of the time, it isn't like that in a real fight. You need to be fast and efficient."

The old man started to rub his b.a.r.e chin. Ronan froze his bear hairs down to the roots and shattered the follicles when he attacked. It wasn't a simple swipe that shattered his beard, but a special type of magic attack that used ice. If he didn't do something, he would never grow another beard in his life. Bernard's hands started glowing, and he cupped his lower face. He started rubbing his chin and cheeks, and Zeph could see white hairs starting to sprout. Soon a short thick beard grew, and Bernard's hands stopped glowing. Then he walked towards his old friend.

"Oh, your beards back. That was quicker than I expected." Ronan only glanced at Bernard for a second before turning back to Liliana. "Then, when I put up the ice-wall, I created a frost grenade and threw it while I formed an ice dome to shield myself." He continued recounting his fight with Bernard to an excited little girl.

Bernard's eye twitched. "Then you know what you did. If it was anyone else, then that beard would be gone for good. I can't believe you used a spell that strong on a beard!"

"Says the guy who shot his best friend in the face." Ronan turned back to his friend. "Take it easy, I knew you could handle it. Besides, it's just a beard." He knew just how Bernard loved his beard.

"Hmpf." Bernard stifled his anger. It was just a beard, but it made him look more like his father. He planned on looking at a picture of his dad in the study, so he could grow his new beard in a similar fashion. Then he looked at his grandson. Zeph was watching the video and was playing it in slow motion. He could tell that the boy was impressed, and that made him feel a little better.

Ronan chuckled a bit. Annoying Bernard put a smile on his face, and his bitterness about now winning was completely gone now. He turned to look at his granddaughter. Excitement was plastered on Liliana's face, and he was sure the little girl was ready to hop up on that stage and cut loose. It was understandable, because he could feel the magic coming off of Zeph. It already crossed the threshold of a tier one spell caster. Aside from Liliana, there were only three other children in the capital that could boast such strength at such a young age.

"Hey, Zeph?" Ronan looked at the boy. "I think I know the answer, but you can cast spells of the first tier, right?

Zeph looked at his grandfather before answering, and Bernard nod. "Yes, but not many. It's just a few attack spells, and I can use spell armor and shields." There was an excited squeak next to Ronan.

"Me too! I knew it, this is gonna be fun." Liliana pulled out a pair of armguards from a nearby bag and jogged up to the platform and jumped onto the stage. The armguards were made of black metal engraved with blue runes and embedded with a large topaz. They were obviously her spell focus, and they looked to be high quality.

Ronan sighed. "Sorry about that. She just hasn't had anyone she could really compete with. Most of the time, she has to be careful around her friends. Our family's constitution causes our magic power to directly affect our strength, so she probably feels excited to have a friend she won't accidentally hurt."

Zeph looked at the girl doing a few warm-up exercises. She threw a few punches and kicks in the air. "Yeah….accidentally." He threw an accusing glance at Ronan.

"Sorry, our family's a little hot-blooded, ironic huh?"

Bernard was silently watching Zeph's facial expressions. For some reason, his grandson's annoyance brought him joy. Why was teasing kids so much fun? "Go on up there, and don't be too worried about getting hurt son. I made sure you were tough enough to handle anything this little girl could throw at you." Bernard paused for a moment and smiled mockingly. "Unless you're afraid, that is."

"I am afraid." Zeph calmly said. "I'm afraid I'll hurt her."

"Phngkrk!" Liliana snorted in derision. "You should be more worried about yourself. I spar with grandpa all the time, and I'm not afraid of a few bruises. Besides, grandpa gave me this." She tilted her head and showed a small group of runes on the side of her neck.

"What are those?" Zeph looked at Ronan.

"It's a glyph. I put it on her to protect her from severe injuries. It'll automatically activate when it needs to." Ronan was proud of that little bit of magic.

"It's like that necklace I gave you when you were training. Don't worry, a similar mechanism is in your new pendant. You two can fight as much as you want. I can fix any injury you might get."

"Yeah, and don't worry about us old geezers. The barrier around the platform will make sure your attacks stay in the ring." Ronan chimed in.

"Who said I was worried about you two. Geez." Zeph let out an exasperated sigh. "It seems like I don't really have a choice; do I." He used TK to lift himself up into the ring.

Ronan whistled. He was surprised Zeph was able to use telekinesis so skillfully. "Your boy must have an affinity for telekinesis. That's pretty rare. He might last longer than I thought."

Bernard's ears perked up. "What was that? You make it sound like your little girl's gonna wipe the floor with him."

"Well I don't really know how strong Zeph is, but you said that he only started fighting monsters a month ago right?" Ronan gave a Bernard a sly smile.

"You didn't." Bernard had a surprised look on his face.

"I took Liliana out on her first hunt when she was seven. I made sure she didn't find any magic beasts, just regular boars, some wolves, and a bear." Ronan's voice was thick with pride. "That girl is a prodigy, in every sense of the word. Her magic, fighting instinct, and intelligence are all above the norm for someone her age. She may seem like a silly little girl that loves to fight, but there's more to her than meets the eye." Ronan was going to brag some more but stopped because he heard Bernard laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that I could say the same thing for Zeph." Bernard chuckled and then shouted at the stage. "You two can start whenever you're ready." He waved his hand toward the stage and the protective barrier started to form again.

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On the platform, Zeph was already thinking of how to end things quickly. Spending his Sunday afternoon fighting a kid wasn't his idea of fun. When he heard Bernard announce that they could start, he created a few small shields between him and the girl. Some were in the air, and some were on the ground. He suspected she would copy her grandfather, and it would definitely slow her down if she tried to charge in like Ronan. To his surprise, she stood still in a fighting stance.

"Where's your focus?" Liliana inspected Zeph up and down.

"I don't have one yet." Zeph wanted to slap himself in the forehead. Shapeshifting took almost all his attention this week and he completely forgot about his focus. He looked over toward Bernard. The old man had a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Don't worry about it, I can cast just fine without one.

"All right, then you can make the first move!" She shouted to him, confident in her ability to take whatever Zeph could handle.

'Good,' he thought. This was his chance to end the match. Zeph took some time to gather magic in his palms and cast a large telekinetic wave at Liliana. It was so large, that she had no chance of dodging it. When Liliana saw the spell with her magic sense, she didn't panic. Instead, she smiled and crossed her arms in front of her to guard against the spell.

Zeph was surprised that she wanted to take the spell head on but didn't underestimate her. Since she seemed confident, he poured more magic into the spell. The wave of force sped forward and slammed directly onto the little girl. She grunted loudly and tried to resist the spell. Magic power poured out of her body, shrouding her in an ice blue aura. Her feet slid across the floor, as she was slowly pushed back.

The resistance she put up was impressive. Zeph felt like he was trying to push an elephant through a lake of mud. He put more power into the telekinesis. Liliana increased her output, and the ice blue aura grew larger. Frost started forming on the ground, and her hair started waving wildly in the wind. The wall of force suddenly shuddered, and Zeph felt it get pushed back. He looked closer at the girl, trying to see past the shining blue glow. "What the hell?" he whispered.

The aura surrounding Liliana's body started to condense, forming a light blue coating of light. Her skin began to pale and her auburn hair faded into a snowy white. She screamed loudly and swung her arms apart. *CRACK* Zeph's wave of force shattering echoed across the yard. He looked at the little girl utterly shocked.

Her aura had completely condensed and turned in to a faint blue glow, and the hair on her head fluttered slightly, as if by a breeze. Icy mist-shrouded her lower body. Zeph felt magic power radiate out from where she was standing. The temperature of the arena dropped, and a thin layer of frost spread out across the arena.

Liliana smirked, "My turn!"

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