“Uh, Ranvir are you sure about this?” Grev asked, as he picked through the basket full of items. In particular, he seemed to be stuck on the subject of the cleaning rag and water. A feeling Ranvir completely understood, even as he was stifling a smile at the uncomfortable look on Grev’s face.

He and Grevor had gathered in their sleeping room, moving the beds to make space for the light tethered to set up a circle. To this day, both he and Sansir had mostly managed to avoid learning the ritual, but with their focus on advancing and Esmund testifying that it worked, there was no helping it.

“Just be glad you’re don’t have to do it out in the forest.” Ranvir replied. “Now, that stuff is for later.” He dropped a pad on the floor before seating himself crossed legged. “Sit down with me first.”

Grev reluctantly pulled away from the basket, throwing a pad down opposite Ranvir. Once he was seated, Ranvir started by taking in a deep breath.

“Long inhalations.” Ranvir said, his voice distant and monotone as he focused on the exercise. “Let your mind run free. Don’t let it linger on a thought or fantasy.”

“Okay.” Grev muttered.

“If you find it catching, notice it and let it go. You don’t have to stop and start over.”

Grev nodded in reply.

They sat together, breathing quietly for long moments, only broken by Ranvir’s muttered. “Exhale.” Or “Inhale.” Ranvir felt the tether twitch in the back of his mind as he centered his tether-sense on Grev. He wasn’t really meditating, since his focus was on his blond student of the evening. But the goal for today wasn’t on Ranvir meditating, it was on Grevor.

Getting up, Ranvir made sure to make as little noise as possible, and quietly brought the basket over next to his student. He didn’t want to disturb the quietly echoing sense of strength emanating from the light tethered, but he still needed him to set the circle up.

Of course, Grev already knew the process, he just needed to know that he was ready to begin. He’d gone through the preparation exercises with both Grev and Sansir a couple times over the last few days to make sure they were ready, but he knew that Grev was liable to break from it quite easily. Especially from physical interruption. Whereas Sansir’s issue was much more internal.

Ranvir centered his sense on the feeling of strength coming from Grev. It wasn’t a particularly powerful thing, not compared to even the constant rumbling Esmund sent out after his advancement, but it was noticeable. And significantly more focused than what Ranvir felt from even the Masters. Most of the time.

Gnawing at his lower lip, Ranvir pressed his sense closer to Grev, trying to get a read for how stable the feeling was. When he was ready for Ranvir to disturb him. Instead, Grev slowly blinked his eyes open. For a few seconds, he stared idly into the empty air, before he seemed to register the basket. Then he started unpacking it, item by item.

Did I cause him to open his eyes? Ranvir idly wondered, as he watched his friend’s slow motions. He’s still in the trance.

Grev paused as all the items had been set out. For a moment, Ranvir felt the center of focused strength waver. Tentatively, he tried nudging Grev towards the obsidian bag. Sending his intent along the line of power coming from his senses was easier than Ranvir’d expected.

Grev’s center settled and he grabbed the obsidian. Ranvir observed his friend as he methodically set out the circle, going through the motions with increasing security. When he’d finally, set up the knives and lowered the fine cloth—silk, Kirs called it—into the circle, he lingered for another moment.

This time the center wavered more solidly, as he poured the water into the bowl. Ranvir felt it shiver with more and more strength. This was always going to be the sticking point. The cold water wash. Ranvir, who was the most comfortable with rituals, still struggled with it at times. He felt it was the most important step, yet it was also the one where they most often fell off.

Esmund had been thrown completely out of the trance the first time the washcloth had touched him. Grev was looking to go the same way. After seeing how much Esmund struggled during his ritual training, Ranvir was a little surprised he’d managed anything on his own his first time.

“You’re opening yourself to the world and its power.” Ranvir muttered quietly, focused on Grev. “The water pulls away what blocks the connection and the circle prepares the energy.”

Ranvir had no clue if it was true, but that was what the priests said to the Masters that would perform the Ceremony on the newly of age people, before they took the bath during their preparations.

From interviewing some of the Masters that went on those journeys, he’d been surprised by the amount of very zealous people among them. Taggir, the Master who’d escorted them, hadn’t ever struck him as especially religious. He’d even on more time than one sworn in the name of the Goddess before the students-to-be.

If Ranvir’s muttered words had any effect on Grev, then he didn’t notice. Grev took off his shirt, then his pants, like he was going to bed. His hand dipped the cloth into the water and the spell broke. Ranvir could visibly see Grev return to himself. The shiver ran up his friend’s body.

“Goddess.” Grev hissed, pulling away. It took him a moment, before he realized he’d fallen out of the right state of mind. Ranvir could tell, because he immediately got a fake look of innocence on his face and turned to him. “Oh no. I’ve fallen out. I guess I can’t go through with it.”

Ranvir didn’t suppress his smile this time. “No, it’s fine.” He waved away his friend’s concerns. “I didn’t expect you to manage it on your first try anyway. You’ll still benefit from going through the rest of the ritual, even if you’re not in the trance.”

Grev’s face fell equally as far as Ranvir’s rose. He barely stopped the maniacal laughter.

If Ranvir had expected Sansir to be better at meditation than Grev, he’d been woefully wrong. While Grev had a relatively easy time entering the right state of mind, even after thirty minutes Sansir wasn’t there yet. Even Esmund seemed to manage it easier.

“You’re sure I can’t use tether-space?” Sansir asked, interrupting the session for the fourth or fifth time.

Ranvir blinked his eyes open, furrowing his brow. “I’m sure. Unless you think you could leave tether-space without breaking from the trance?” He couldn’t, Ranvir knew. Even he hadn’t been close to managing it without attaining the state of mind before hand. Breaking from tether-space, whether simply leaving or embracing the pressure was a jolting experience that required a certain level of connection to smooth out the experience before hand.

Sansir let out a long sigh, leaning back on his hand and staring into the ceiling. Noise penetrated from the common room, slipping under the door and polluting the sleeping room.

“It’s just not that easy.” Sansir ran a hand over his scalp as he seemed to look for the right words. “My mind just gets stuck all the time. And then I have to jolt it loose. Maybe I could embrace the pressure, then leave?”

Ranvir shook his head. Embracing the pressure, while seeming like being in tether-space and in his body at the same time, it wasn’t. In reality they were wholly different states of being. Though, Ranvir’d only been able to notice the difference after spending long hours embracing the pressure, for days at a time.

Tethered carried a tension while embracing the pressure, their power always at the ready. Looking for the smallest excuse to let loose. Not that pre-stages had much to let loose. When simply being in one’s own body, that tension, the energy on a knife’s edge was gone.

It had taken Ranvir hours, to even realize that was happening. He even suspected that was why embracing the pressure for very long periods of time was so exhausting. It was like holding a hand on the hilt of a sword, ready to draw it at all times. In other words, excellent training.

“Let’s try something else.” Ranvir said, getting to his feet. “Close your eyes and breathe slowly.”

Sansir let out another sigh, but did as asked.

“Imagine your tether.” Ranvir continued. “The threads slowly spinning around themselves. In detail, their speed, the strength of the rotation. Each thread in intense detail.”

He extended his senses towards Sansir again, he still lacked the focused edge required for rituals. Ranvir began rotating his sense, to the speed of his own tether. Well, he imagined it spinning, focused his intent on it.

“Follow the paths of the tether in your mind. It’s yours, you’ve spent many hours with it, you know it intently.” Ranvir continued speaking, letting his words flow as he pressed closer with his sense.

Master Svenar had felt like a giant creature passing in the dark, when he extended his senses. Ranvir wanted to be an arrow. He got a little bit of a clearer picture of Sansir’s power, despite his friend not being in tether-space. His vault was shut.

“The tether moving slowly, but inevitably.” Infusing his own sense with the motion of his own tether as he spoke. For a moment, he felt a flicker of the state come over Sansir, before he almost startled out of it. Though, he didn’t react outwardly at all.

They continued the training for another thirty minutes before Ranvir called a halt. Thankful, Sansir left quickly having completely avoiding the cold water. Ranvir slumped onto his bed, exhausted. He felt like he’d gone through all of Harald Stonetooth’s books again.

The chess pieces he’d started storing after throwing the obsidian away, fell into his hand. “Maybe it’s a sign.” He muttered, leaving his powers entirely. Despite being aware of it, he was still surprised by just how much he deflated after the power left him. It wasn’t over exposure. At least, not to the Triplet Goddess’ magic. Just your regular everyday exhaustion. His eyelids slid down, through no will of his own.