Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

Eli and Relina were taking the kids to school again. They were all in the back of the limousine. Zeph wanted to take a regular car, but Relina argued that there wouldn't be enough room. It wasn't because he was embarrassed to ride around in a limousine, or because he wanted to maintain a low profile. The reason Zeph didn't like the limo was simple. He had to stare at Eli's awkward face while Relina clung to his arm. Eli wasn't comfortable with public displays of affection and it turns out that Relina liked to snuggle. There was just something about watching a lovey-dovey couple that made a person annoyed. Lili and Ivy felt the same way.

Since last week, everyone was more comfortable around each other. Ivy was even taking the initiative to talk to Zeph. It was a welcome change to their group dynamic. Lili was happy that her friends were getting along better. On the subject of getting along better, the kids at school were becoming less wary of the young lord. The biggest contributor to their change in attitude was Drew.

Drew started bringing his friends to meet Zeph at lunch, and people were able to see the young lord making conversation and having fun. They noticed he wasn't arrogant, demanding or unpleasant. In fact, Zeph was very approachable. Not all of Drew's friends visited every day. The kids' already had their own established social circles and cliques. There were a few though that stuck around more often.

James Carver was the most interesting. Zeph was surprised to find out that the boy was one of Drew's friends. While Drew was easy going, James was more of a hothead with a chip on his shoulder. Lili and Ivy had started calling him Jimmy when they found out about Zeph's wager with the kid. Needless to say, James was very upset. But despite his cold attitude, he kept coming back to sit with them.

So, it wasn't surprising when James and Drew met the young nobles in front of the school so they could all walk to class. Eli and Relina ran background checks on the two children at Zeph's request. They didn't find anything suspicious. Zeph also told them to investigate whether any children saw a sudden spike in talent or ability in the last year. It would take some time, but Eli said he would do it.

While the children were starting their morning classes, Eli and Relina were patrolling campus and talking. Relina loved holding her boyfriend's hand when they were walking around. He didn't mind, because there wasn't anyone watching them. Eli did love the woman, but he was just embarrassed at how intimate she liked to be. Zeph kept telling Eli to 'Man up.' At the moment, he was listening to his girlfriend complain.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal Rel, noble's keep family secrets all the time. You have a few big ones if I recall." Eli saw his girlfriend's annoyed look and instantly regretted what he said.

"Of course it's a big deal, Eli. Spirits only get a living physical body when they get old enough and strong enough to form one from spirit energy. We still don't know how they do that by the way," she grumbled. "Any other time, the summoner provides magic to the spirit so it can create a false body or tether it to an object. You know, a vessel so it can maintain itself in our plane of existence. And that cat, that cat isn't anywhere near strong enough to have a living breathing body like that and Zeph isn't giving it a constant supply of magic, so the little furball doesn't make sense." Relina was saying the same thing she's been saying since yesterday.

"He already told you what happened this morning. Bernard made him an artificial cat for his birthday, and Zeph ended up turning it into familiar." Eli squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"Well, how'd he make an artificial cat? I could see it if it was a plushy possessed by a wandering spirit, but it's not Eli. That is a living breathing cat." Relina grumbled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Who knows how Bernard makes anything. The dude is a freaking transmutation master. Remember the medi-gel he made. That stuff is insane, and it's one of the few things that he was able to teach other people to make. The reason Zeph won't tell you is that he probably doesn't even understand anything about transmutation magic and wouldn't know where to begin. Bernard won't tell either, because it's his family's magic. Transmutation magic is one of the scariest powers a mage can have. That's why Bernard hardly ever released a spell formula or diagram of anything he's created with it." Eli released Rel's hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Fine, I'll let it go…for now." Relina decided to stop talking and enjoy one of the rare times Eli was willing to get cuddly in public.

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Zeph was looking out the window and he managed to spot the two elves and their moment of closeness. He smiled and gave Eli mental thumbs up. Then Zeph went back to drawing in his notebook. A variety of symbols and runes were scribbled across the page as Zeph was trying to design a spell diagram for his enchanting class.

His first project was due at the end of the week. He was required to make a simple enchanted object. Usually, kids made a magic light, or a fan, or something that heats or cools objects. Zeph decided to make something that cools down things. More specifically, he decided to make a glass that kept drinks cold. That ramped the difficulty up quite a bit, but luckily his grandpa helped him with a few tips and tricks. Glasses like that weren't rare, but they were on the more expensive side of things. It was the first challenge of Zeph's enchanting skills and he wanted it to be something useful that he could keep. Most kids just made a simple object like a glowing block of wood and they were done with it, but Zeph wanted to keep his finished project as a memento.

Ms. Davis was reviewing some basic knowledge, just to kickstart the day. It was early morning and the kids' needed something to get their mind going. Moving down the rows, she picked students to answer questions. "Next question, what is the difference between sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, and witches?" She smiled as most of the children raised their hands, but noticed Zeph was scribbling in his notebook. "Zeph, how about you take this one."

Zeph heard his name and looked up. "I'm sorry what?"

Ms. Davis frowned. "Were you not paying attention?" she said, already knowing the answer.

She was only half right, Zeph was paying half attention, so he was surprised that she called on him. "It was something about sorcerers and wizards right?" Several children giggled.

"I suggest you pay attention Zeph." Ms. Davis gave the boy a warning and repeated the question.

Zeph thought a moment. The knowledge from the learning gems came quicker than it used to. "Sorcerer's are people who are descended from magical beings such as fey. Elves are a good example. Their heritage gives them the benefit of increased magic affinity and a natural and instinctive grasp on how to use magic.

Wizards are mages that work for their talent. They train and study in order to perform magic until they are able to understand and manipulate it. While they need more effort initially, they are still able to become just as powerful as any sorcerer. I would compare the two to people who play musical instruments. Some can just pick up a guitar and play right away, while others need time. Sorcerers just have a head start.

Warlocks are mages who gain their magic from an outside source. They are people who make pacts with magical beings in order to gain power. Most of these deals require the person to do things that are morally unacceptable, such as sacrifice other people to the magical being. That is why warlocks are seen as evil. This is not the case one hundred percent of the time. Some warlocks are contracted to benevolent and kind patrons. An example would be a warlock contracted by a fey to guard a section of forest to keep away corrupt beasts and creatures. Their power is determined not only by their own talent. It also depends on how much power their patron is willing to give to them.

Witches are just sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards who follow a belief system focused on the natural order of the world and the spirituality of a person. They also believe in multiple deities. In many ways, they are similar to druids. I don't know enough about either group to list out how they're different though.

"Good answer Zeph, who's next." Ms. Davis looked around the classroom to see if there were any other students not paying attention.

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Bernard was sitting in the office of his new Research and Development building thinking to himself. He decided to name it Aether Labs. It was a reminder of what he spent the latter part of his life on and the boy who came along and changed it. Aetherite, it was his obsession. Alchemists used transmutation to change the world around them, in a very literal sense. Transmutation magic gave him the ability to turn earth into water, lead into gold, trees into sand and so much more. This kind of power had a way of getting into a man's head, giving him a god complex. The Malston family trained their children and taught them to never get swallowed by their own power.

Unfortunately, Bernard started walking down that path. The only thing keeping him from going mad was Alex, Eli, and Bianca. They kept him tethered to the world, to his humanity. They weren't enough though, and he still focused on doing the impossible. After living through a war, Bernard became a creator instead of a destroyer. He invented new machines and magic. Then he made those blasted learning gems.

It was supposed to move the country forward. Educating the masses and spreading knowledge quickly and easily. Sadly, the magic council saw differently. They brought up all the ways the crystals could be used to manipulate people. Bernard was furious because he designed the spell structure as a way to communicate knowledge, not enforce it. Now that he thought about it, that was probably why Zeph felt the knowledge was separate from his memories, and he had to integrate the information slowly over time. He wasn't sure though.

The boy was the first person other than Bernard to use a learning gem, but they were useless on the old man. He already knew what the gems taught. So, Zeph ended up being the first test subject.

Zeph, that boy, was the result of his obsession. He wanted to push the limits of transmutation, to create something that could become anything. It was like the material equivalent of transmutation magic. So, after he was fired from the government's research and development labs, Bernard started down a dangerous path. Luckily his hubris had beneficial results, medi-gel being one of them.

But, it wasn't enough. He wanted a legacy. Bernard couldn't have children. He had been injured near the end of the war, and would never be able to create an heir. The news was devastating and he closed himself off from the world. Love had already betrayed him once, and after the injury, he felt it was pointless to love again. So, he invented anything and everything to keep himself busy.

The Aetherite was an idea his grandfather had. A material that could turn into anything was the ultimate goal his alchemist ancestors had. They wanted to make it in order to test the boundaries of their magic. Bernard, however, wanted to create it to make a legacy. It would be something to carry on his name, long after he passed. His gift to the world would be a material of nearly infinite possibility that future generations could build upon. If his family line was going to end with him, Bernard decided it would end with the greatest of triumphs.

Then the accident happened, and Zeph came into the world. Maybe fate, god, or whatever cosmic will out there answered the old man's deepest wish. The Aetherite would carry the Malston name into the future, but not in the way Bernard thought it would. The old man smiled when he thought about the incident that happened not long ago.

Everything happened so fast. He accepted the boy so quickly. It must have been his desperation, one he didn't know he had, for a family. The speed at which the boy ingrained himself into everyone's hearts was surprising, to say the least. Bernard watched the boy when he appeared looking and scanning for any signs that he was a being of evil a reason to reject him, to destroy him. But, there were none. Now he had an impossible grandson.

Bernard laughed as he got up from his chair. He remembered the days since Zeph arrived. It was like he was awake for the first time in years. The world was colorful again, and he looked forward to every sunrise. Walking down the stairs and looking over the building, Bernard saw people at workstations designing and building. His heart beating with excitement and he felt like he did when he was a young man. There were things to be made, amazing things. Clapping his hands and rubbing them together, the old man shouted, "Alright who's ready to create the future."