All of the incredibly powerful high mages died out centuries ago. Nobody expected one to return. I was just a simple blacksmith apprentice when a visit by the mages of Essalin confirmed what I'd long suspected-I could touch the aether. Destined to be a mage, I'm plucked from my village alongside a feisty redhead so we could journey to the fabled city of the high mages to learn how to control and wield the aether. The road there...