章節 54: One day at a Time
'Well this is awkward,' Zeph thought. At the moment he was sitting in the back seat of a limousine between Ivy and Lili. Relina was sitting opposite to them next to Eli. The spirit mage was staring at Zeph waiting for an answer. When they left for school this morning, Relina decided to drive them. By drive, she meant 'have a driver take them so she could sit next to Eli in the back seat. ' They were having a pleasant conversation on the way to school when Relina asked if Zeph was interested in dating Ivy.
The poor half-elf had to cover her face in embarrassment, so she wrapped her head in school jacket. Eli was amused, and Lili was trying to get Rin to pay attention to her by offering a small sausage left over from breakfast. Zeph decided to bring Rin to school so he'd have something entertaining to break up the monotony of class.
The awkward silence lasted for over a minute before Zeph finally answered. "No, not right now anyway. Ivy is a nice girl, and we've gotten along so far. However, I'm not in a place in my life to be in a romantic relationship."
Relina smiled. "Hmmm. So, you can't date her because of your own circumstances. It's not because you find her undesirable?"
"She's desirable. I'm just not ready, plain and simple. Maybe in a few years, I'll be ready to try a romantic relationship, but not right now." Zeph was trying to be as gentle with his words as he could. Zeph thought, 'I can't date her cuz she's too young, and I'd rather date someone older like Semara. Wait, why did I think of Semara? Probably because she's the only attractive girl I've met other than Bianca, and Bianca is more like a big sister. Hold on, think about that later. Right now I gotta deal with Eli's girlfriend.' He looked at Relina only to see her give him a wry smile before turning to her granddaughter.
"Hear that Ivy? Zeph thinks you're desirable so have more confidence. Guys dig confidence. Just ask your new grandpa." Relina teased the girl.
In response, Ivy groaned underneath her jacket, "Somebody please kill me."
"I hate to interrupt, but I have to correct you Rel. I'm not Ivy's grandfather. You and I haven't even gotten married." Eli was smiling, but Zeph could see the corner of his mouth twitch occasionally.
Relina grabbed his arm and leaned on his shoulder. "Fine, future grandfather," she looked up into his eyes. "But know this Elliastrad Greenleaf, you are not getting away from me again."
Her declaration was met with silence until a gust of wind diverted everyone's attention. Rin used magic to dash in and steal the sausage from Lili's hand before she could react. Now the kitten was sitting on Zeph's shoulders munching on the sweet taste of victory.
"Well, that didn't work." Lili leaned back in the seat. "I feel left out cuz I'm the only one not interested in lovey-dovey stuff. Can we just sing along to the radio like yesterday? That was fun."
Zeph never appreciated Lili's bluntness more. Relina decided to turn on the radio. The music helped ease the atmosphere. After a couple of songs, Ivy recovered and came out of her 'shell.' Lili started to sing along and gestured everyone to join. So, they joined her and sang along until they were dropped off at school.
After the children went into the building, Relina and Eli started to patrol the campus. Eli brought up Zeph's idea to scan the city for "freaky spiritual auras," and Relina thought it over. She determined that she could do it, but she'd need the help of an advanced scrying device and something to help magnify her powers. The two sent their ideas to Bernard, and he texted them back saying he would get some of his new employees working on it.
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Class was boring. 'One day at a time, Zeph... one day at a time,' Zeph thought to himself. Everything Ms. Davis was teaching was already imprinted in Zeph's mind with the learning gems. Too bad he couldn't use anymore because Bernard didn't make any after he was fired from his last job. He found that remembering the knowledge was becoming more natural as time went on. Bernard and Zeph couldn't figure out why the language gem worked so quickly while the others didn't. It might have been because they affected different parts of the brain, or because Zeph used several in one night. His thoughts were interrupted by Ms. Davis scolding Lili.
"Lili, you should pay more attention to the lesson and less on Zeph's cat." Ms. Davis was annoyed by Lili's constant whispering to the kitten on Zeph's shoulder. The girl had been trying to get its attention for three minutes now. Lili wasn't the only person interested in Rin. Many of the kids in class had been charmed by the forever kitten. Ivy mentioned that Rin wouldn't physically grow up into an adult cat unless she decided to or Zeph told her to. Zeph was happy with the news, because he knew that Rin would be able to change her form in the future. Keeping her a kitten was good for now. Rin was small, easy to carry around, and just plain cute.
When lunch came around, Drew joined Zeph and the girls again. Lili grumbled in shock and jealousy when Rin allowed the new guy to pet her without complaint. Some of Drew's friends approached the group and he introduced them. They were quiet at first, but Rin's charm and Zeph's easy going attitude lightened the mood. By the end of lunch, they were all chatting happily and laughing.
When training class started, Zeph was being avoided again. Ms. Davis told the class that they would be pairing up and sparring with one another so she could gauge their close combat skills and physical ability. No one wanted to fight with Zeph, and his regular sparring partner teamed up with Ivy. Lili decided to help the half-elf with close combat, because Ivy was still shy around everyone else.
Zeph was about to ask Drew to partner up, but a boy with spiky dark red hair and grey eyes intercepted him. James looked at Zeph. "Fight me, I'm not afraid of you." The boy tried to sound tough and intimidating, but Zeph almost laughed at the serious look on his face. It was obvious that James was trying to prove something, maybe to himself or to everyone else.
"Sure thing Jimmy, whenever you're ready." Zeph smirked at the kid's reaction.
James frowned. "Don't call me Jimmy." He sent a punch toward Zeph's face.
"Tell you what," Zeph said while brushing the attack to the side with his left hand. "I win and I keep calling you Jimmy. You win and I'll call you whatever you want." He sent a roundhouse kick to Jimmy's side.
The two continued their exchange, and Zeph quickly realized that this kid was good. He might even be able to give Lili a decent challenge. Zeph tried to bait Jimmy with a feint, but the boy didn't fall for it and hit Zeph in the leg with a low kick. It was followed by a flurry of body blows which Zeph barely managed to block. The kid's attacks were starting to keep Zeph on the defensive.
'Guess I should take this a bit more seriously,' Zeph thought and disappeared from Jimmy's view. Bianca taught him a movement skill. When Zeph asked her what the name of the technique was, she told him it was called Fleet Fox Foot. Terrible naming sense aside, the technique was great. He appeared next to Jimmy's side and sent a powerful right hook to the boy's cheek. The attack was strong enough to partly bypass the boy's spell armor.
Jimmy created some distance while wincing. "Don't think you've won just yet." He yelled and charged forward with his fist.
Zeph countered the attack and kicked the boy in the stomach. Then Zeph began a series of attacks to put pressure on the boy. Jimmy tried to turn things around, but no matter how he attacked, the young lord was ready to block or counter. The other students' attention was caught by Jimmy's yells and grunts. Ms. Davis intended for the children to spar for a few minutes, but the fight between Zeph and James was impressive. She knew that James trained hard, and was most likely in the top three when it came to melee combat. It was surprising to see the young lord not only keep up with the boy, but dominate the fight as time went on.
It wasn't a fair fight. After all, Zeph's strength was higher, and he was taught by a master fighter. From what he could tell, James was a commoner and only learned to fight from the school. Now the school's martial arts weren't bad, but they in no way compared to the techniques that Bianca taught. The fight continued until Ms. Davis snapped her fingers, creating a loud ringing noise with magic. Class was over. James stopped attacking and stared at his opponent in frustration.
Zeph created two glasses of ice filled with water and held one out towards the boy. "Good fight, here have a drink." James didn't respond and continued to stare. Zeph shrugged and drank from a glass, letting the second one go. The second glass didn't fall. It stayed still, floating in the air. "C'mon, I know you're thirsty. It's cool, refreshing, high-quality H20."
James grabbed the glass. "I may have lost this time, but-"
Zeph interrupted, "But you'll get me next time. I understand. Heck, I hope you do. Then I'd have someone to spar with and improve my skills. I don't get what all the hostility is about though. You seem like a nice enough guy. Is it me personally or do you just have a thing against nobles in general." James was surprised at Zeph's nonchalant attitude and didn't know how to respond. Seeing the kid deep in thought, Zeph decided to say a few more words. "Well whatever the case is, I had fun. I'll see you tomorrow." While walking away, Zeph decided to have someone look into Jimmy's background. He was a powerful commoner with a dislike for nobles. If he had a sudden power up in the last year, then he might be connected to the group working in the shadows.
Zeph said goodbye to Lili and Ivy, since they stayed in the field for their elective class. Today, he had enchanting instead of magic engineering. The two courses took place on alternating days. When he arrived, everyone already knew who he was. It was a repeat of yesterday, so Zeph decided to test an idea he had last night. Rin also wanted some attention, so he decided to help the kitten with her magic.
Rin was practicing flight, while Zeph would telekinesis to help when she faltered. Some of the other children looked oddly at the floating cat, but their attention went back to their own projects after a few minutes. While the kitten was working on that, Zeph was trying an experiment. He created a small bit of Aether and formed it into a miniature version of himself, no bigger than a finger. This was a project he could work on when the teachers were going over stuff he already knew. After setting Rin down on the work table, Zeph closed his eyes. A fluttery feeling overtook him. It seems like it worked. When he opened his eyes, there was a giant kitten. Rin was staring at him, confused by her tiny master. Zeph smiled. "I shall call him…mini-me."
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Irksome
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