Ranvir did not talk about what happened on the field with his friends, especially not Esmund. He did not need them to have that kind of information on him. Going from shocked, to angry, to crying, and finally to getting comforted by Dovar, of all people.

No, they would be supportive in the moment. He knew they would. But what about a year from now? What about five years? By the Goddess, he could at least spare himself from getting roasted by them.

Thankfully, they were used to him being quiet and watching them rather than speaking and taking part in their games, so they didn’t look too weird at him.

The next day Ranvir set out to once more sense space. Even from brief discussions with his friends and the Masters at the academy, sensing your element was key to gaining greater understanding, which would increase your gains.

He spent much of his free time the next few days searching for it again. And he found it a few times, though he had to remind himself of the encounter with Dovar. It wasn’t a fun experience and even when he remembered, it still didn’t come all the time.

By the second day, he managed to bring it up semi-regularly. By the third day, he caught the trick. Like the snap of wire-cutters slipping through bronze, it suddenly fit in his mind. Space was everywhere. Space was Purple. He just had to sense for Purple. He didn’t pretend to understand it. All he knew was that it worked.

With the ability to freely sense space, he spent as much time as possible just sensing it. He did it between periods, while walking to class, even during physical and weapons. It wore on him as the days piled on. Feeling like he was carrying an anchor with him everywhere he went, trying to drag him down to the lake bottom. It felt like his every step was pushed into the dirt underneath his shoes. He knew no such thing was happening. The ground was quite solid beneath him; it was his legs that were getting weaker.

And he was perfectly happy to make that trade, however after he told his research partner about it, she had a peculiar attitude.

During one of their late training sessions, Kirs caught on to what he was doing and confronted him about it.

“You absolute moron! Are you fucking dumb? A child maybe?”

Ranvir blinked, a little taken aback by her outburst. He didn’t think what he was doing would be so bad, but she clearly didn’t agree.

“I’ll say it louder so the others can hear!” She turned to Sansir, Grev, and Esmund, who was already looking at her distractedly. “Are. You. Fucking. Dumb?”

“No?” Ranvir asked, red globs of anger starting to rise within him, peak through the surface of his mind. “I don’t know what the big problem is.”

“You’ve been more or less constantly working on this for a week now, always using your power, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you expect to do in your duel against Master Grimar’s obsidian if you’re already too worn down from overusing your power? Not to mention you have to hold back your training to avoid worsening your condition.”

But I can feel space! He wanted to yell at her. To explain to her how incredible it was. Even if his sense was limited to his immediate surroundings, there was so much to learn. He’d sensed that connection he’d suspected Figir had manipulated that ended in her death, not that he’d dared try touching it.

Yeah, his condition was limiting how hard he could train, but he was finally beginning to understand things about how his power worked. Not only had he found the connection Figir had found, but it wasn’t as simple as that. There was a part of it that bound him to the ground, but there was also a part that bound him to the surrounding space. He had some theories about that, but currently lacked the resources to test them.

“It’s probably fine.” Grev came to Ranvir’s rescue. “I wasn’t far off from his reaction when I first sensed light. If less obsessive.” He turned to Ranvir. “You just have to keep it in control and tamp it down. You’re letting it dominate all of your time, affecting all your classes and interactions.”

Behind Grev, Ranvir could see Sansir and Esmund nod.

“Fine.” Ranvir grumbled. “I’ll take some time to recover and cut down on space sensing time.”

“Also, don’t you think you’d benefit much more if you dedicate time to sensing space, instead of the constant in-the-back-of-your-mind thing you’ve got going on?” Sansir added.

“You’re probably right.” Ranvir closed his eyes. He was finally beginning to feel like a real tethered, finally. And he still had to hold back. Veil couldn’t come fast enough.

“Go team!” Esmund exclaimed. He got up and high-fived Sansir and Grev, all the while shooting obvious glances at Kirs. Ranvir saw how Esmund barely reeled his high-five for her in to acceptable levels.

“Also, we’ve been doing these exercises exclusively during your training for quite a while now.” Grev said, rolling his shoulder. “I know this is very beneficial and useful, but it’s also boring.”

Ranvir bit his lip. A non insignificant part of him wanted to tell the light manipulator to suck it up, but he also didn’t hold any actual authority over them. Only their respect for the bet kept them from rebelling. And maybe they enjoyed it a little bit. If he pushed it, then Grev would more than likely start pushing back, and he did not want Grevor as an opponent.

“You could take some time to train other things that you might find more entertaining, or just entertain yourself for a few minutes.” Ranvir knew it would stretch beyond a few minutes, but it also wasn’t really his head on the line and they were already training more than all but the most zealous first years.

“Maybe you could show me a few weapon attacks!” Esmund asked, jumping back to his feet. His eyes glanced to Kirs again, before he continued in a slightly deeper voice. “So I know what to protect myself against. It’s important to be prepared!”

Kirs bowed her head, looking away from Esmund, though her cheeks colored. Their eyes met, and he had to stifle a grin at her embarrassment. At this point, even Ranvir was picking up on Esmund’s infatuation, let alone Kirs herself.

“I can make him stop, if you-“

Kirs’ eyes widened, and she snapped at him, “I can handle it myself!”

“Okay, sure. I won’t interfere.” Ranvir dropped it and returned to his training, which it could barely be called. There was a small part of him that felt like an elderly, as he gingerly straightened out his tether. He didn’t even pull at it, just dragged it straight and it was still having a noticeable effect. Stretching his tether would’ve been too exhausting to even attempt.

Maybe I should lighten the load a little. He thought, embracing the pressure. It wasn’t as draining as tether-stretching. So long as he didn’t actively try to sense the space around him, his tether wouldn’t complain too loudly. Behind him, he could hear Grev going through sword strikes with a stick he’d found, showing them to Esmund.

Ranvir tuned their chatter out and just listened to the ‘whoosh’ of the stick swinging through the air. As he fell deeper into that relaxed state, the headache that had been his near constant companion since he discovered the trick to sensing space faded slightly, falling into the background just like the chatter.

The wind danced over his skin, carrying sand from a nearby field with it. It flattened some grass, while others were just blown lightly about as if dancing. Behind him, the stick ‘whooshed’ as Grev sliced downwards in a powerful overhead strike-

Ranvir blinked one eye open, turning to look over his shoulder to where Es watched Grev pulling the stick back from a downward swing, explaining the technique behind as he did. Ranvir pursed his lips as Grev returned to ready posture.

I’m imagining things.

“What’s up?” Kirs asked, quietly. She must’ve somehow sensed his more relaxed mood.

“I thought I ‘heard’ Grev swing the stick down.” Kirs shot a look over her shoulder, looking at the two boys. “I must’ve just imagined it.” Ranvir waved it away. “Maybe I heard him say it, or something.”

“Maybe. Tell me if it happens again, it’s worth writing down, at least.”

Ranvir nodded and returned to his seated position.