"Did you just conjure that box?" He asked me.

"Yes, it's called an air conditioner. And you can set it for a specific tempeture at will. Unlike your exchangers, this relies on two opposing coils and can be made a heater by flipping a lever, and if I'm guessing right, I'll only need to add Zeon once a week to this crystal in order to maintain a constant temperature." I explained to him.

"I've never met anyone your age that could conjure like that; no motions, no aria, no scrolls, and from what I can tell, no materials."

"Just because you didn't see me pull materials out of a pouch doesn't mean I didn't use any. It doesn't cost materials to move nature. I simply shifted the ores under the ground and brought to me the specific ones I needed. I knew what was there because of the geology surveys at the temple."

He looked at me for a few seconds, as though he was contemplating something. And then nodded once.

"Tasha, could you make another one of those?" He finally asked.

"Not today, what Zeon I didn't use in the conjuration, I used to charge the crystal. If I spend any more today, I will be too weak to walk, and I don't have enough for the conjuring anyway."

"It's your first time doing this, and you already have a firm grasp of the amounts you are able to use. Impressive, that usually takes decades."

"Well now that is out of the way, since everything I've read says that Zeon varies person to person, and you can only teach me theory and understanding, do you have any books for healers, or theory of any kind?"

"True, true, yes, and yes. But I'll not give you any just yet. I want to know your capabilities before we do that. You wear custom made garments, in the style of Demeter's acolytes. Perhaps you would like to learn a way to use those garments to increase the speed at which you are able to draw in Zeon?" The old man looked back at the air conditioner he then began moving his arms as though he was about to start dancing, and mumbled a string of words I couldn't make out. When he stopped, a horn appeared over the crystal on the air conditioner, it's eerie blue color seemed to glow. "That is a collector. It will keep the crystal charged, as well as prevent devices with similar power requirements from siphoning off of it."

"It uses writing instead of Zeon to function."

"In a way. Enchantments work as a logic statement. The author is the only one who needs to understand the exact logic being used. The more failsafes in the statement, the longer it needs to be."

He walked over to one of his cylinders and removed the casing, revealing a metal rod suspended in the center. "This method is simple, and can often times be bennificial to keeping your Zeon in reserve when you need it." He flipped the rod around, and placed the cylinder back over it, then took the thread I had used earlier and held it over the device and I saw it get tugged toward it. He then lowered it to the bottom, and the small ice crystals formed again.

I gave him a satisfied smile and a nod. We then started going over runes and how they functioned for the rest of the day.

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

"Father, why must that peasant be in my class, can't you do something to have her moved without violating the treaty?"

"No, nor will I attempt to. Life is full of things you don't want. You will learn how to deal with Tasha Heart. Her mother is a very respected priestess, and her father was a childhood friend of mine. You will not disrespect his memory in front of me by calling his daughter, a young girl with the gift, I might add, a peasant again."

"Yes, father."

"Charlie, why don't you try to get to know her better? Over these last three months, you've been a nasty character to her. That will take a lot of kindness to overcome, and we both know, you don't have much time until you are needed to help the goddess. Who knows, she might bring honor back to this family. But that's only possible if you stop treating her as the enemy; even if she was born to a priestess of Demeter."

"I doubt Aphrodite has that girl in my cards."

"You won't know, until you stop being a pompous fool to everyone you meet. Your actions do the house of Ironwood no honor. If you can't get her to willingly come here, for no other reason than to see you on good terms, by the time you turn 16, I will disown you, and disavow you in my will. I will not have a son of mine insult the first child born with the gift in this city in 12 years."

"Yes, father."