The next day Ranvir bent all of his focus towards his training, in an effort to not think about what had happened the night before.

It was towards the end of light. Ranvir was sitting alone at his area of the class, the rest having moved to the practice field next to sitting area. Carefully, he embraced the pressure letting it inside, sliding into that half-way state between tether- and real-space.

He lifted his hand in front of him, the tether speeding up its rotations as he sensed the tiny area in front of him. It was filled with three objects, just as noise and wind filled the area around him.

Closing his eyes, he focused intently on that space. “Freeze.” He thought, though the words also slipped out his mouth. With his focus as sharp as he could manage it, it willed things to stop within the area of his palm.

For a single quarter-breath, a unique moment, the three matters halted above the palm of his hand. From the tip of his thumb to the point of his pinkie, the world stopped.

His tether spun so fast it twisted out of form, and the world was suddenly wrenched into motion again. The pressure was pushed out and he fell through tether-space back into his own body, like he’d just fallen out of a tree.

Ranvir winced at the too sharp light hitting his eyes, as he collapsed onto his back. Letting out a long low groan of pain. Towards the end, it turned into mutter of pleasure as the light darkened.

“Well?” Master Ayvir’s voice made it clear he expected a reply, and that he was eager for it.

Ranvir lifted his hand away from his face to reply, but lost track of his words. Master Ayvir wasn’t standing in front of the sun. Instead, he was standing off to Ranvir’s side, the Goddess’ eye hovering in the sky above him. Yet as Ranvir looked around he saw a dim spot that definitely glowed, though, not with the force of the sun.

“Whu-?” Ranvir muttered, wincing as his own voice caused his head to throb.

“I’m just dimming the light reaching you. Don’t worry.” Ayvir’s casual display of power was drawing a few looks. Some of students even reached into sky, cupping their hands similar to how Ranvir would when practicing manipulation.

“I did it.” Ranvir muttered. “I stopped space.”

“And how would you say it went?” The Master asked.

“Hurts.” Ranvir once more closed his eyes, as he let the whisper soft words escape his mouth.

“So maybe next time, you don’t try to stop space. Let’s try… stretching it, or shrinking it. That sounds like it might be easier.”

“Not today.” Ranvir didn’t groan the words, couldn’t really, since he was afraid it would make his head hurt more.

“Not today.” Master Ayvir clapped his shoulder.

It took Ranvir half an hour to recover, while drinking a lot of water. Even then he was well into weapon class before he was able perform any movement without the need for excess care.

The rest of the class went well despite him performing below his usual. As he refined his current tactics of being just enough of a thorn in the eye of his friends, it required less effort. He didn’t win any matches that evening, mostly because they’d grown extra wary of him and held off on their own efforts.

This slowed the combat way down, instead of relying so much on speed it became a match of the mind. Instead of quick exchanges then darting away, either Sansir or Grev would capitalize quickly and take the other out of the fight, or they would disengage after a couple attacks.

Ranvir could see his friend’s minds work as they figured out the new combat environment. He felt no small amount of pride at that fact. Both in his friends and in himself. Despite being severely lacking compared to them, he was still making them better combatants, not so much by pushing them physically as pushing them mentally.

Of course, once one of them won their fight, he would quickly get picked off. Which wasn’t great but he could manage.

The next day as Light class shook themselves out of their trance, Ranvir considered joining them. He didn’t know for sure if he should, or if he even could. Considering how freezing the space in his palm had taken him out a long time, he was hoping there were less fatiguing ways of manipulating space.

As the others got in their line and started flinging light, he let the pressure in and sensed the space above his palm. He still wasn’t sure if he was able to feel space, though, he was getting increasingly certain that the constant background element, underneath the wind and sound, wasn’t space but something else.

Both since it disappeared almost completely, when he sensed the dirt, but also because there was something wrong about it. It felt hollow, though, that didn’t explain it properly. Closer to thin, maybe.

Focusing again, he sensed the space above his palm. The wind, the sound and the constant presence. He focused on it narrowing down, shrinking it until it was no larger than a pinch.

Sh- He paused before enacting the command. He was trying to shrink the space above his hand to something size of a pinch. Remaking his mental image he imagined his mother’s smaller—but still reasonably sized—hand overlayed on his, shrinking the space to fit on her palm.

Shrink! His tether spun to life, though much less violently than before. He felt the space grow narrow, the area shrinking. Except that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t really narrowing, but more like he was folding it away, instead. Touching the space with one finger, he didn’t dare open his eyes for the fear of breaking his concentration. It felt normal, if couldn’t sense the shrunken space he would’ve never noticed a difference. Sensing intently, he felt how the space had been folded into a smaller area using many small folds.

Golden shimmering joy burst through him and his concentration faltered immediately, shocking him all the way out to his body.

I did it! I actually did it! He jumped to his feet, swaying slightly as he landed. His bone’s held that odd weariness again, but it wasn’t incapacitating. “I did it!” He exclaimed, stopping every student within hearing range and causing them to turn towards him.

He immediately felt a little self conscious, but the sheer giddiness, wouldn’t be contained. Master Ayvir went over, slapping him on the back and congratulating him.

“Well done!”

Ranvir heard a few murmured snicker and comments of ‘Cold front’, but he found that it didn’t matter as much. They could stare and call him anything they liked, as long as it was due to his achievements.

“Go, join the others.” Master Ayvir continued, nudging him along. Ranvir nodded, jogging over to Grevor.

His friend was as usual standing slightly apart from the other boys. Ranvir had no doubt that Grev was further ahead than the rest of the students. Not because he was flinging his light farther, they all disappeared just a few inches from their body, similar to where his senses stopped.

No, he judged his friend to be ahead due to how often he threw light, compared to the others. And if Ranvir wasn’t misjudging, it was just a tad bit brighter than the others’. Though, he could very much just be wrong about that, since it was light and therefore blinding.

He nodded to his friend, a bit of his uncomfortably stoic and serious mask falling away as he grinned enthusiastically.

Ranvir eagerly began experimenting with his powers. He didn’t dare attempt freezing space again but shrinking and stretching it was possible, though shrinking was the easiest. When stretching he ran into both the limit of his own senses, and the pressure of the space around what he was stretching.

He wanted to try a few other things, like bending space, but either he couldn’t quite figure it out, it wasn’t possible, his senses were too limited, or he lacked the power to get it done. In the end, he still spent more time fantasizing about using his power than actually doing it.

Even after only a little while of manipulating space and his tether was exhausted. It wouldn’t force him out outright, but he was uncomfortable and weak kneed, when he left. However, that went for everyone on the line, even Grev spent most of his time sitting in the grass, with his eyes closed.

Ranvir doubted he was within tether-space, since that should only tire him further.

“You’re so much better than me.” Ranvir commented, after their last round of throwing light and shrinking space. He’d had to stop a good while before Grev, maybe thirty seconds. It didn’t seem like a lot, until he realized most of the students, didn’t even last a full thirty seconds.

“I’ve been working at it longer.” Grev replied. His voice, too, was flatter and without the mischief Ranvir had come to recognize it for.

“Sure, but have you been working at it longer than the rest of the class? They’re aren’t as far ahead of me as you are.”

A little smile twitched across his features, before they stilled. “I’m doing okay.” He muttered, barely loud enough for Ranvir to hear.

“You’re doing better than okay.” Ranvir said, just as loudly.

“Sure. These guys aren’t who I’m competing against, though. I’m not going to be compared to any of them. I’m going to be compared to the real talents of the academy. People like Dovar and your entire monster of a village.”

“Our village?” Ranvir asked, a sparkle of white wonder tinkling through him.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” Grev’s voice gained some energy as he hissed the words quietly. “Let’s start with Esmund. He might not be worth much if you put a weapon in his hand, but he’s already getting private lessons. Do you know how rare that is? I’ve never heard of a student below third year getting private lessons.

“Then there’s Sansir. He keeps pretty quiet about his tether classes, but from what I’ve gathered he’s performing towards the top. Not to mention his mind. Sharper than any axe he could wield. When paired with his clear determination, I’ve no doubt he’s going far. Despite lacking the training resource Dovar and I have been afforded, he’s still performing on par with me at tactical games, like chess, and in weapons practice.”

“Wow.” Ranvir muttered, he was a little overwhelmed hearing Grev’s true thoughts about their friends.

“And even if we’re being so reductive as to say you’re the least talent the academy picked up from your village, you are still better than what most villages produce in a year.”

“No… I’m really not.”

“You’re a rare spatial manipulator. A once in a lifetime tethered. You could’ve easily taken up a simple job under one of the noble houses and lived in decadence for the rest of your life. Instead you’re forging your way forward, largely on your own. Tell me what other village could match that.”

“Achievement and action is what determines the man.” Ranvir recited, repeating one of the doctrines of the Triplet Goddess’ church. It was a shortened and simplified version his father was fond of.

“And you’re telling me that you’re not going to add crucial work to the library? Become one of the most influential members of your ability? Are you not going to attempt to be the first book the next spatial manipulator reaches for?”

Ranvir hesitated.

“Of course you are. Compared to your village, I’m barely average. I’ve been training for this my entire life. I grew up with stories from my father about his time in the academy and on the front lines. Of the friends he made there. I was always going to fight. Whether as a tethered or a soldier was up to the Goddess, but I was always going. I’m the second son of House Star-Rise, there are no other paths in my future.”

Grevor let out a long sigh, slumping his head forward. His entire body seeming to fall together. “I’m not matching up to my potential. I can’t even keep up with my peers. Dovar has always been a better swordsman than me. After his last growth spurt, it’s not even a fight.”

Ranvir remembered how he’d seen Dovar and the Master depart in the evening, when he’d been with Esmund, though he decided against mentioning it.

“We’re not as different as you seem to believe, Grev.” Ranvir grasped his shoulder. “We keep our noses down and work at it.”

They exchanged a long glance, before both stood up to continue their training.