Ranvir watched the other students flinging light as best they could. Since none of the students had achieved a rank in any of the Disciplines their range was abysmal, not to mention the time between attacks.

It was a still better than anything he’d managed, though.

He was currently taking a break from stretching his tether, the weakness in his bones fading with each passing second.

He watched as one of the students staggered back a few steps, Master Ayvir instantly appearing supporting him with a hand on the shoulder. The touch seemed to ground the boy and he quickly regained his balance. They exchanged a few quiet words, before Ayvir let go and the student stepped back into line.

Ranvir continued to watch the trainees. Most of them were around the same level, struggling to force out their ability. Only a few of them were any kind of exception. Grev didn’t have any further range with his ability, though, he did manage to do it more often.

Is that a sign of a stronger tether? The thought struck Ranvir as he watched his oddly stern friend, gather and fling light a couple of inches off his skin. Does he have more threads? Or are they thicker? I should probably ask him someti-

Turning at the sound of footsteps Ranvir found Master Ayvir approaching him, his steps oddly loud on the grass.

“I still haven’t been able to figure out an answer to my question.” Ranvir preempted. He didn’t know if Ayvir actually wanted an answer, he had never actually pushed for an answer.

“That’s fine.” The Master replied, sitting down next to him and gazing at his students. “There are questions I asked back when I was where you are now, that I still haven’t answered. Maybe I’ll never find the answer, maybe it’s just a question of how good my understanding is. Maybe it’s completely unrelated to light and I’m just imagining connections where there are none.”

Ranvir felt a little relieved at the reply. It was comforting to know he didn’t need figure out everything immediately. Answering whether space cared about where it was and what was occupying it seemed like a simple question, in theory.

Answering it, however, was proving difficult. He should be able to sense space, that much he was certain of, but even if he could, could he understand it? Right now he could only sense what was happening in the area. But space itself, he hadn’t yet felt, which he knew to be necessary for real manipulation.

“I actually came to ask if you have any questions for me.” Ayvir said, pulling Ranvir back out of his mind. “I know I might not be the best suited for your particular combination, but if you have any questions I’d love to hear them.”

Ranvir paused. He had a thought, something that had been tickling in the back of his mind since he found out both Svenar and Vigo did it.

“Do you actively spend time in tether-space?”

“Yeah, of course.” He gestured towards the students. “I don’t just make you do it because I find it funny.”

A bright yellow flash of amusement ran through Ranvir as a smile appeared on his lips. “Every day? Actually, there’s something I want to know more. What do you think is the most important thing you did to achieve mastery of a Discipline?”

Ayvir gave him a serious look. “I think the biggest thing is the driving force. If you don’t have the will to do the work, then you’ll never get there. Not even if you’re the greatest talent of your generation.”

“Where did you get your motivation?”

Ayvir bit his lip, looking out over the students, then continued in a lower voice. “On my first day after the Academy, I was raised to senior officer.” He held a hand up, predicting Ranvir’s congratulation. “Me and about twelve other fresh recruits—none of had seen more than a single day of war—were all promoted on the spot, due to the sudden lack of leadership. I was with my captain and our group as the Ralith came rushing in, their presence stealing away our power.”

He audibly swallowed. “My Captain, and… my classmates were in the group that got overrun. I barely survived my injuries.” He looked down to his hands, where they were fiddling with a grass straw he’d pulled up. “I was handed my Captain’s bloodstained mark of office and told that it was now my role. I learned that I should always be the strongest person on the battlefield, otherwise I would die.”

Master Ayvir’s words hit Ranvir hard enough that his emotions flattened out into a hollow white.

“What a horrifying experience.”

The Teacher took in a deep breath. “Other than that, I think taking dedicated time to meditate on—and preferably in—your element is one of the most time efficient ways to train. I always find time during the day to sit in the sun and focus on my power. Whether it’s only five minutes I’m able to grab between classes, or ten minutes just before the sun sets I always try to get at least some.”

He got to his feet and approached a student. Ranvir couldn’t tell the difference between him and the rest of the practicing light-tethered, but he must’ve been struggling because Ayvir had hit sit down and rest for a minute.

Which reminded Ranvir that he was actually feeling rested. Closing his eyes, he dove in to his tether-space.

Ranvir was making his way back after weapons. The Master’s words had echoed through his head on repeat since class. Even he could tell his efforts at the days training had been weak, in comparison to normal.

He’d let Sansir and Grev go ahead of him, he wanted the time alone. Not just to think over the words, but also because he hadn’t really been alone since arriving at the academy. There’d never really been the time. At home he would spend most of his time in the workshop with his mother, but she didn’t count, not really.

Also they spent most of the day in silence, only speaking up when she was teaching him or when he had a question. Even then most of the time, she would just tell him to figure it out.

“You can’t always rely on an older, smarter, prettier, and handier Master to teach you everything.” She would say with that smug smile, before hobbling back to her own project. Even then she wouldn’t say it without first looking at his issue. If she thought he couldn’t handle it, or figure it out on his own, then she would give him a hint or an explanation, but nothing more.

Dark purple shadows settled over Ranvir. He pulled his necklace out from his uniform, looking intently at the rings. He’d been so busy over the last few days, that he hadn’t thought as much about his parents. Right now, though, he was feeling how they very much weren’t anywhere close.

Running a finger over the engravings on one of the rings, feeling the grooves. He couldn’t read them without looking, but he knew what they said. He’d not only been there when they were engraved. He’d done most of the work himself.

His thumb caught on a mistake halfway through the word. He ran it over the flaw a couple times. Feeling the sudden departure from the planned captured against his finger.

This is dad’s ring. He remembered feeling that roiling dark blue anxiety as he gave it to his dad, fearing he might notice the flaw and take criticism to it. He hadn’t, of course, he probably hadn’t even noticed it through all the tears.

The next ring he touched had a much shorter engraving on it, which clearly indicated that it was his. The one mother had made for him. He hadn’t known what to look for then, he’d just known that hers came out looking much cleaner and polished than his, with half the effort.

He knew now, many years after making the rings, that he’d been heating the metal unevenly, hammering too hard on some places and not hard enough on others. He’d often had to hammer too many times on the chisel to get the engraving in proper.

Not mom, though. She’d made it look easy. The project he’d been laboring over for a month, she finished in a day.

He moved on to the last and most obvious ring. His mother’s. He still remembered when she’d figured out what he was trying to do. When he’d first starting making the item, he’d told her it was a secret. A mistake, he knew now. Back then, though, he hadn’t been as aware of his mother’s insatiable curiosity.

If he’d just acted like he was trying to make an engraved ring, she wouldn’t have cared. When he told her ‘no’, there was nothing she wanted to know more than what he was working on.

When he stopped working that evening, hiding the ring under on his leather apron, he’d found it melted down to a rod again the next morning. She had not been pleased with his work. If he was going to make her a ring, then he should know better than to half-ass it.

Even now that memory filled him with golden, shining joy, even if it was tinged with a sense of loss for times gone by. She’d been in such a slump for months after the cart… He’d been afraid she would never recover.

That morning was the first hint of his mother returning to the world. Two legs or not.

“Hey Ranvir!” Esmund’s voice rang over the field.

He ran a hand over his face, he hadn’t been crying, but his eyes still felt a little sore.

“Esmund?” He replied, his voice rougher usual, but that could’ve been due to the fact he hadn’t been speaking for a time. He slipped the necklace under his uniform, the rings clinking as they disappeared underneath the dark fabric.

Esmund’s eyes flickered as he did, for a second his face morphed from one of excitement to understanding, before the energy won over.

Ranvir felt a flicker of brightness from his friend’s, his brother’s, understanding.

“My brother.” Ranvir said, Esmund’s smile broadening into a full face splitting grin. “What do you need?”

“Brother? I always wanted a brother.” Instead of stopping, like Ranvir anticipated, Esmund barreled right through sweeping him up in a hug. Lifting his feet off the ground with a grunt, Esmund started swinging him about.

“Fucking stop it! Put me down you idiot!” Ranvir replied, trying to shove him off. Esmund just laughed and hugged him tighter.

In the end, all they accomplished was getting knocked to the ground, where Ranvir finally rolled free.

“Do you need something?” Ranvir asked.