Trip

It was the next morning, and Bernard was getting ready for the day when he heard the doorbell ring. It was the stuff he ordered for Zeph. After signing for the package, he made his way to the boy's room. Knocking a few times and hearing no response, Bernard opened the door. To his surprise, Zeph was asleep sitting on the floor in a meditative pose. He smirked. Zeph must have stayed up all night refining mana.

"Wakey, wakey my boy, you've got a delivery!" Bernard shouted. Zeph was startled awake and fell over. Bernard smirked, "Your new wardrobe just got delivered, so now you can stop wearing those baggy old clothes of mine and start looking halfway decent."

"I only look stupid cuz they're your clothes." Zeph playfully snapped back.

"The man makes the clothes my boy," Bernard said as he sat the large box down on the ground. "Now that you've got something normal to wear, we can head to the city and show you around."

"That's surprising," Zeph said as he started to rummage through the package looking for an outfit. "I thought you'd want to do more tests.

"I thought we'd take a break today, can't use you as a guinea pig all the time. And now that I've got a grasp on your personality, I'm not afraid you're going to lay waste to the populace anymore. I'm pretty sure you're curious about our world. After all, you haven't even stepped one foot out of the compound.

He was right; Zeph was starting to get a little antsy. Sure the testing was fun; checking out his power and using magic was pretty awesome. But, he was still curious and ready to get out and see more of the world. So he cleaned up, got dressed, ate breakfast and took his first steps out into the new world. After walking a few feet out of the front door, he looked at an enormous yard, the kind of yard rich people have. It even had a fountain centered in a circular driveway. He decided to look behind him and saw a large one-story building stretching into the distance. It was a simple, yet elegant design. Bernard wasn't kidding when he called it a compound. Taking a few minutes to look at the garden like setting, the fountain and overall beauty of the front yard, Zeph took a calming breath and said. "I've got to say, you have a great place, Bernie."

"Not bad right," he said, walking towards what could only be assumed as their transportation. It had four wheels, a windshield, and a nice interior. Zeph looked at it. It was a truck. A huge estate, who knows how much money, a highly renowned mage, and he drove a beat up old truck. There were dings, dents, and dirt all over this white beater. Zeph couldn't hold himself back and had to ask, "Is that what you're driving?"

"That's right, this old gal has been with me for a long time, takes some work to keep her going. She might not be the prettiest girl at the ball, but Cecile's worth it." Bernard had a caring smile as he talked about his truck like it was an old friend.

The only reaction Zeph had was to facepalm. 'Yeah, makes sense, I mean the guy needs a truck to carry stuff. After all, he probably needs to transport a lot of heavy junk. Being an inventor and all,' Zeph thought while trying to rationalize the situation. He reluctantly got into the truck.

Twenty minutes later, Zeph was sorry for every bad thought he had. Bernard looked over to the boy. Zeph's eyes were shut, a satisfied look upon his face as the massage chair worked its own kind of magic. "See, looks can be deceiving," Bernard said. Zeph just opened his eyes and picked a cold soda from the center console between the seats. The interior of the truck, or Cecile as Bernard called it, was created for luxury. The chairs were as soft as a cloud of cotton candy, and there was a center console that also doubled a cooler. There were monitors on the dashboard for entertainment, and the sound system put large theaters to shame. They were currently cruising smoothly down the road while enjoying a cold drink, a massage, and a relaxing tune. When Zeph asked Bernard why there wasn't a steering wheel, the old man just said he controlled it with his mind. Zeph wondered how, but Bernard just said it was magic and winked at him.

The city itself didn't differ too much from the ones in Zeph's original world, hell he could easily believe he was still on Earth. It was the occasional floating "skateboard" or displays of magic on the streets that reminded him he was in another world. He turned from the window, as he got bored of looking at children throwing glowing balls of energy at each other in what he could only assume was a game.

"Is that safe for them to do in the middle of town?" he asked Bernard. Bernard looked to see what Zeph was talking about.

"Oh don't worry about it, that's just kids playing bolt." He said dismissively.

"Bolt?" Zeph asked

"Yeah, you hurl bolts of magic at each other. Each team has a different color. First team to cover the other side in their colors wins." Bernard explained.

"Oh, okay. By the way, where are we going?"

"First stop is the Citizens Municipal Building. Remember the call I made yesterday?" Bernard asked. Zeph nodded. "Well, I talked to an old friend who works in the government and set up your identity. You're going to be my long lost grandson."

"How's that going to work, I don't look like you, and what if I have to take a blood test?"

"Well, I can just pull some strings to have any test results tailored to our needs. The story is that a woman I had a short relationship with had a daughter. Now, I have made a few enemies over the years. So, I hid the information and supported the family in secret. The daughter eventually married and had a child, you, and later died in an accident."

"That's kind of elaborate. You think it'll work?" Zeph said doubtfully asked.

"Should work fine. My friend has some experience making fake identities." Bernard said.

"That sounds kinda sketchy. Why would you know someone like that?"

"Well, I wasn't always a quiet old man who loved inventing things. When I was younger, I and some of my friends worked for the government. Let's just say that our duties were....need to know."

"Wait, you were a spy!! No way, really" Zeph said with an excited look.

"Well you could call it that, I took more of a support role, but we were very successful. In certain circles, I am fairly famous. But as long as I don't go into another country and keep a low profile, I'm pretty much out of sight and out of mind.

"You just seem to get cooler and cooler don't you Bernie." Zeph looked at the old guy and wondered just how many more surprises there were to be discovered.

Bernard nodded confidently, "Let's just say that being my grandson has a few benefits for you." They made it to their destination and waited to fill out some paperwork. It took over an hour signing. When they finally walked out of the building, Zeph was holding his new I.D. card and was staring at the picture.

"This is weird; I look a lot better in this picture than I thought I would. They change the photos on these things so people don't look funny?" he asked.

"Huh? didn't you look in the mirror this morning? That's how you look." Bernard stated.

"That doesn't seem right. Not to blow my own horn or anything, but this picture shows me as a pretty damn handsome dude. I wasn't bad looking before, but this. It looks like I could be a model when I grow up." Zeph said with doubt.

"Oh, didn't you realize that absorbing mana helps invigorate the body, helping us to reach a better version of ourselves. It should be in the information that you "downloaded" into your brain the other night. Magic changes a person on a fundamental level. It makes us smarter, faster, stronger, and of course better looking. Many believe that this change is to make mages more attractive to the opposite sex, helping to promote more mages being born in the future. That's why you'll never find an ugly practitioner of the mystic arts." Bernard explained.

Zeph could only listen with a stupefied face. "You mean I got good looking by practicing magic?"

"Yep. I'm also pretty sure that things are only going to improve. Your body isn't fully developed yet. According to the tests, you are growing at the average rate of a normal person. I think that by the time get past puberty, you'll be the target of many a young lady." Bernard said jokingly.

"Well, I don't see how that's a problem." Zeph smiled.

"Then you don't know the aggressiveness of the magic clans. They are always looking to bring in new and powerful blood into the family. Since your body is...unique and you have the potential to be the most powerful mage alive. You will definitely be on the top of their list. Being hounded by suitors can be very troublesome." Bernard sighed as he was recalling his own past hardships.

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