It is the job of the conversant to ratify the leadership of each successive reirn over each house. Who exactly are the conversant? Why do they hold such a powerful position over the entirety of world governance? These questions cannot be answered by research alone. Only reirns have the dubious privilege of interacting with the conversant, and they have refused to do more than acknowledge their existence.

There have long been rumors regarding their secret power over every house, or conspiracy theories about their hidden agendas, but they have never acted in any way but with the highest and most impeccable honour. No reirnship has been usurped, no lines lost under their direction.

If the conversant indeed have some other duty, it is known only to them and has no impact upon the lives of those beneath their notice.

-Making of a Leader

I should have realized Pel’s idea of ‘not dangerous’ was skewed much like his idea of ‘reasonable training methods’ and gotten out of there fast.

Alas, his facade of reason and calm seduced me into a false sense of security. I naively believed his claims.

“Aura bubble, now!”

The cube he’d drawn slowly shrank around us. Pel had his own bubble up in an instant, blue light calm and steady.

“It’ll stop advancing when it reaches your bubble,” he explained. “Hurry!”

His bubble held the walls away from him, but I had no such protection to halt the walls’ inexorable approach.

Just produce an aura bubble on command. That was all I had to do to avoid being crushed. But it’s not dangerous.

Once this was over, if I survived, Pel and I would have words. And I would never again trust his assessment of a dangerous activity.

The blue gleam obscuring his eyes only made the whole situation feel all the more sinister.

I regretted my decision already, but I couldn’t back out a second time. Survival was more important than safety. And right now, I’d already wasted several seconds thinking instead of pushing my bubble out around me.

The ceiling brushed the top of my head. The wall behind Pelys distorted, stretching around his bubble as it closed in toward me.

Aura bubble, aura bubble. Come on Astesh, this was trivially simple a couple hours ago.

But on some level, I must still truly believe Pel wouldn’t let me come to harm, because my power refused to slip into hyperactive insanity mode. No instinctive power use for me. Yes, I was afraid, but not to the same extent.

I dropped to a crouch as the top of the cube pressed steadily downward. I glanced over at Pel, safe in his bubble, and scowled.

“Stop. Stop.” The walls immediately sprang back outward to their initial configuration, and Pel dropped his bubble. He shook his head. “You’re not engaging. This isn’t an intellectual exercise. It’s a challenge. Stop staring and thinking. You need to act. We have to break your slow, careless mindset so you can be prepared at any time. Aura, now!”

“But I—”

The cube pressed down, knocking me to the ground as it closed in, way too fast. It knocked Pel off his feet when the wall right behind him pressed forward, and he made a faint surprised sound before immediately crouching and flashing his own aura around himself.

This time, instead of distorting around the bubble, the wall sparked and hissed where the two solid light constructs met, then the bubble thinned and vanished entirely.

Something had gone wrong. Pel flashed another aura, thicker this time, and it lasted almost twice as long before being dispelled as well.

He wasn’t watching me any more, his full attention on the tightening cube around us. He’d started painting new walls, trying to create a static cube inside the compressing one, but those walls fared no better than his bubbles had.

We had to get out. I had to get us out.

But, if Pelys didn’t stand a chance, what use would I be?

Come on, power. Do something!

In. Pull it up. Out. Aura bubble, stretch out, protect us both …

Nothing. Nothing.

Pel’s fourth bubble dissolved, and the space around us was almost gone. We had maybe two feet on my side before the walls started pushing us into each other.

“What did you do? Give this thing a mind of its own?”

“I should perhaps have specified for it not to include me.” There was no sound of panic in Pel’s voice, but something about his tone sounded off. Forced. “Just, focus on your bubble. I’ll figure this out.”

Not reassuring.

His bubble fell faster now, appearing and disappearing within a second of itself. The wall slid closer every time.

Do something.

My power flickered across my skin, the inner glow joined by an outward layer of lightning.

Everything slowed. I could see each pulse of Pel’s aura as it cycled up to full power, then flared against the wall and went out. I saw the faintest ripple of red flowing across the outer blue cube, like a second layer on the outside, pushing the cube to compress faster.

Concern quickly ramped up to true fear.

We didn’t know anything about killer Desten’s accomplice, except their red power. I should have realized. If Desten were nearby, the other might be too.

How had they found us?

Well. Pelys and I had each made a bit of a scene. It would be hard not to notice. And then here we were, talking about what we knew in a public building! Why hadn’t I realized how stupid that was?

Pink lightning flickered faster and to my perception everything slowed further still.

Pelys’s bubble went out again, and this time I could see how its power all diverted to the point where it contacted the walls, strengthening that point at the expense of the stability of the remainder, until too much of its power was exhausted and it vanished completely.

Another replaced it almost immediately; Pel’s focus was incredible. If I had to be stuck in a death trap with anyone, he was a good choice.

But it wasn’t enough. I had to do something.

I hadn’t noticed before, but with it happening in delayed speed, I watched Pel’s aura bubble form, like a single arc of light that spun around him faster and faster, leaving solid light in its wake until the original line and the solid bubble were indistinguishable.

Something shifted as my understanding of the power’s application changed, and instead of trying to inflate a bubble outside of myself, I drew it there. I couldn’t explain the difference, but it worked. My own bubble spun into existence, and where the blue and pink lights collided it was the blue wall that sizzled and faded.

I laughed aloud, as the wall and ceiling pressed against my bubble and then collapsed into nothing. I grabbed Pel by the arm and dragged him clear. Just in time. The three remaining walls continued to compress, until they drew in on themselves completely and vanished.

“You pulled me into your bubble while it was up,” Pel said, sounding surprised. “Most people can’t do that without training.”

“Oh?” I was still laughing, relief overpowering my usual pessimism. “I didn’t realize.” I let go of Pel, then allowed the bubble to disappear as the lightning across my hands slowed and faded.

Pel waited while I calmed down and caught my breath before asking, “Can you bring up your bubble now?”

I did so, pulling my power up, then drawing it in a quick sweeping motion. The aura spun and solidified into a perfect sphere.

Pel applauded. “And you thought we couldn’t train indoors.”

“Wait.” I glanced around, but no one was nearby. “Why are you so calm? We have to find whoever tried to kill us.”

“It was a practice exercise. You did well.”

“No, there was red power on the outside of your box, when it was trying to crush us.”

Pel’s brow furrowed. “No, there’s no one else around.” He paused, and for a moment I thought he’d say something more, but he shook his head and remained silent.

“I know what I saw. And, you know! You were inside, it wasn’t acting like before.”

Pel smiled. “Well, if it motivates you to focus. Aura now!”

I wanted to hit him, but I did as requested. A few seconds of concentration and I drew my bubble into existence around myself.

Pel shook his head. “Too slow. If I attacked, you would never have survived.”

I sighed. It may take longer than Pelys wanted, but I personally thought that going from ‘never’ to ‘three seconds’ was significant improvement. The man was never satisfied.

“Mm. Let’s try something different.” Pelys turned around so he was facing away from me and spread his arms. “Try to hit me. Any way you like, fast, slow, just try to reach me.”

I hesitated, suspecting a trap, but he didn’t move. I gave in and kicked him, perhaps a bit more forcefully than was warranted, but he was truly aggravating. The moment my foot came close, it bounced off the bubble that suddenly surrounded him and I staggered at the sudden change. The bubble flickered into existence just long enough to knock my foot back before vanishing again.

“How? Your back was turned!”

“A combination of awareness and instinct. You’d need to develop similar reflexes if you ever want to be competitive in dueling. But for now, try again. As many times as you want. I need you to get a feel for power not your own.”

I didn’t see the point, but I did as he requested. I spent the next several minutes punching, kicking, slapping, and generally failing to reach him.

After some time, I began to more easily recover my balance whenever his shield flared and knocked me away, but apart from that I saw no improvement.

Pelys talked the whole time while I attacked hopelessly, taking on a lecturing tone. “In competitive fighting, shielding is the most basic of basics. Aura bubbles are the fastest type of shield, but also one of the weakest. It can be increased in power, but that takes time. If you’re deflecting an attack that can come at any time from any direction, it’s invaluable. But you can’t rely on it for everything. It won’t hold up to a determined attack.”

“Is that why—” I began, then cut myself off. I’d almost asked about Fylen using a water/ice shield instead of his bubble. That would be a mistake. “… Fylen could hold out longer against you?” I asked instead. “You said he was good at defence.”

“Yes.” Pelys looked around, then shook his head. “I can’t make a good demonstration here, but once you learn to break basic power constructs I’ll start using more exotic defences.”

Oh joy.

“So, how do I go about breaking basic power constructs?” I asked hopelessly. I wasn’t sure how this would end up being painful and miserable, but I knew it would get there soon enough.

As it turned out, I was right.

Unfortunately.

By the time the Leetan authorities released the field over the building and allowed everyone to leave, I was very glad we would soon be another territory away from Pel and his home in Sarosa.

I had not attained any mastery over, or even basic understanding of, his power disruption techniques. I did end up with a cloak of his blue healing power to aid my recovery from the many aches and injuries accrued throughout our seemingly endless training session. He assured me it would last a few hours before dissolving, no matter how far away he traveled.

Pelys liked his slowly (or less slowly toward the end) compressing boxes far too much for my happiness. They grew predictable, and frustrating, very quickly. I couldn't break them. Past the very earliest and weakest ones I couldn't resist them. It felt the same as being thrown into the river over and over, the same helplessness, the same frustration. Only the specific circumstances had changed.

Though I had to admit, however reluctantly, that it seemed to be helping. My aura bubble did become easier and easier to form; though I never managed the split-second timing Pel wanted from me, I could form it within three seconds nearly every time I tried.

When the time came for us to part ways, he re-iterated his insistence that I message him at least every second night (but every day would be better), set a schedule for when he’d next be able to fly out and continue our lessons, and departed in a streak of blue light that faded into the distance within seconds.

I was utterly exhausted, physically and emotionally. The lockdown had lasted most of the night, and Pel hadn’t let me rest more than a few minutes. I wanted nothing more than to go straight to bed, but our lease on the apartment technically ended in less than two hours. They had new customers coming in, and we were supposed to be away well before then. We would have, if not for the murder.

I found Desten 3, who observed me warily without speaking. I was too tired to explain myself, I’d probably end up slipping up and mentioning something I shouldn’t if I tried, so I fell into step beside him without breaking the silence. He seemed content with this arrangement, and led the way to our apartment to pick up our few possessions before hurrying to catch a sky shuttle to the first Metako city on our schedule.

As we took off, I couldn’t help glancing back at the area of the city blocked off by a huge yellow cube of power. Whatever I’d tried to assure myself with at the time, this was no random mugging. They were taking it very seriously. I wished there were some way to gain access to their findings, but if even Pelys couldn’t convince them to share I wouldn’t stand a chance.

We passed other shuttles just arriving for the incoming Ryshglide event. I hadn’t ever seen a Ryshglide game, or Verdis for that matter. We’d be overlapping with each of those cycles once in coming weeks, and I decided I’d try to go to at least one of each game just to see.

I saw quite a few people reclining or producing pillows of light, and realized that they had a very good idea. I wasn’t sure how well I’d be able to sleep on the flying platform, but within seconds of closing my eyes I woke with Desten poking my shoulder to wake me.

We'd arrived in Metako.