Ranvir sat next to Frija. Both of them had their eyes closed as Menace sunned in a ray of light poking through the overhead covering of leafs. In the distance, he could make out the effects of the Shivering as it roved over Legea, despite them being at home.

Another vague crashing sound rushed by, sounding more like thunder than what it probably was. He took in a deep breath and focused on himself, turning his attention inwards. Ranvir drew focus onto his body, the slightly rough feel of leaves and sticks under his rear, the sensation of the breeze on his skin. Slowly, almost reluctantly, his Perception followed the path of Ranvir’s intention, drawing inwards.

As his Amanaris enhanced Perception was pulled away from his ears, the sounds faded until they became no more than a rumbling in the far distance. Then it made a lot more sense why Frija wasn’t remarking on it.

Ranvir chided himself as he realized that, for once, she wasn’t the one failing at meditation. As such, dear old dad set his focus on his tether, watching it spin as he let his mind wander. Many years of the practice didn’t seem to have inured him to the pitfalls related to it. In fact, Ranvir felt certain that the logic puzzles of Korfyi was more distracting for him than anything he’d known from back home. Especially because he could practice them in the safety of his own mind.

“Daddy, I’m bored,” Frija said. His daughter didn’t hesitate to make her annoyance known as she braced herself on his shoulder and attempted to give him a haircut.

Ranvir grumbled and opened his eyes, removing her fingers from her hair. What was that a quarter flare, a little more? He looked towards the sun, but couldn’t see it from their spot.

“Frija, I’ve told it’s not nice to pull on other people’s hair like that.”

“I’m not trying to be nice,” she grumbled, reaching for him again. “I’m trying to do some—“ she cut off with a squeal as Ranvir seized her and jumped to his feet. Their actions awoke Menace, who immediately lunged for Ranvir’s thigh.

The kitten had grown a worrisome amount during their time together. Ranvir was almost convinced he might’ve made a mistake getting the cat as it was approaching the size of its normal cousins.

“What’s going on in that thick head of yours?” Amalia asked, jarring Ranvir out of his thoughts.

He blinked down at his notepad. He’d been brainstorming alternative paths for his build, trying to come up with other Abilities. Well, he was supposed to be brainstorming alternative Abilities, that might allow for synergy.

“Trying to distract myself,” he said, putting the book away.

“Well, the breaks over. Everyone’s getting on the move again,” Amalia thumbed back to the rest of the caravan.

Ranvir swallowed the last bite of his food and got to his feet.

“What were you trying to distract yourself from?”

Ranvir gave her a telling look.

“Still thinking about that?”

“I might not be cut out for this kind of work after all,” he grunted, fighting the gaping maw of a pit that was doing its best impression of a snake attempting to swallow a creature twice the size of its head. Ranvir’s voice grew a little thicker as he continued. “You saw her as we were leaving.”

His mind returned to getting on the potragos, leaving Frija behind on the station next to Elpir. His baby girl clearly didn’t really understand what was going on. She just knew that he was leaving for a long time and she couldn’t come with him. His damned Perception had allowed him to see her tears and hear her cries for a long time.

“Then you’ve got to make sure you get back to her,” Amalia said. “There’s nothing else for it.”

Ranvir attempted a smile, but even he could feel the grimace within it.

“Anyway, now’s not the time to be moping,” she elbowed him in the side while smiling to blunt her words. “We’ve got guests incoming.”

Ranvir looked up to see three people approaching him. From his cursory inspection, he assumed the man on the right to be the leader. He felt the strongest of any member of the mercenary group that was traveling with the caravan. There was a distinct ‘edge’ to his mana. Ranvir would almost describe it like warp, except it more primal. The more Ranvir learned of mana and went to other planes, the more he suspected something fishy was going on with warp.

The man was almost as tall as Dovar, making him one of the tallest men Ranvir’d seen on Korfyi, even if he wasn’t as broad as the wall made human Ranvir knew. He was dressed in armor, mainly a steel or iron breastplate, as well as bracers and greaves. He carried a spear, longer than he was tall, across his back. Multiple scars crisscrossed the available expanse of skin, though the most remarkable one seemed the one peeking out between bracer and his short sleeve.

A sizable chunk had been taken out of his arm, leaving a scar big and wide enough to be easily seen, even from a distance. The divot made in his skin was enough to catch the eye, let alone the imagination.

The man cut an imposing figure with a dominant attitude Ranvir imagined was required to handle so many men and women who fought for keys for a living. However, it was the intelligent gleam in his eyes that worried Ranvir the most.

On the left side stood another member of the mercenary group. He didn’t seem as strong, or that strong at all, if Ranvir was being honest. He’d rate him low- to middle-Urityon, which amounted to about average for the group. If he was with the captain, he must’ve had some Ability or a role that played an important part of their dynamic.

He had longer hair, even longer than Ranvir’s—which he really was needing a cut—and he wore it loosely down to the middle of his back. He had roving eyes that matched his tether-sense, flying just as freely as his sight. His skill wasn’t overly impressive. Ranvir doubted the man had even noticed his own senses poking about. Whatever this person did, he likely relied on Amanaris.

The last man, boy rather, stood in the middle and was the most interesting. Younger than the other two, younger even than Ranvir. He looked closer to sixteen or seventeen years of age, his face pimpled and speckled with the image of the beard that might one day be. He was spindly and, from the pale cast to his skin, rarely saw much activity outside.

“Ho there!” cried the stranger on the left. “You’re the guys from the Sentinels?”

Ranvir nodded, even though he was sure the man already knew as much. They’d been traveling with the caravan for half a day at this point. Perhaps I should’ve made introductions first? Or maybe it’s a courtesy thing? Ranvir glanced at Amalia, who seemed welcoming and pleased. Maybe I shouldn’t overthink it, he determined.

Taking a deep breath, the reluctant diplomat took a step forward, knowing the whole idea was for him to take point. “Hello and yes, we are from the Sentinels. My name is Ranvir, and that is Amalia.”

The man on the left chuckled. “Good to see you. I go by Mihail,” he gestured to the man on the right. “I’m sure you’re already aware, but this is Sabas, Captain of Mercy’s Redoubt and the leader of our little mercenary company. You’ll excuse him for not making first contact,” he leaned in and mock whispered. “He’s a bit of cunt.”

Captain Sabas growled to himself, his face darkening slightly, though he didn’t actually gainsay his employee.

“This guy here.” Mihail draped an arm over the shoulder of the kid. “Is young Alexis. He’s running along on this caravan as something of a favor. I believe he’s the cousin of Spiro.”

“The son of a friend of the family,” Alexis corrected nervously, looking distinctly uncomfortable underneath the mercenary’s arm.

“What we were trying to do,” Sabas said, finally stepping forwards. Ranvir noted that Mihail immediately stepped back and gained a rigid posture. “Is simply to introduce ourselves as we’re presumably going to be working together closely for the duration of this trip and I would hate for us to be grinding against each other unnecessarily,” he offered Ranvir his hand.

Ranvir smiled faintly. “Sounds good to me,” he sensed the tether-sense waiting at the palm of the man’s hand. Though he looked relaxed, there was tension in his spirit. Ranvir hesitated slightly before shaking grips as he considered what to do. He hardened his own spirit, bringing up both his Flesh and tether-senses to protect himself, in case the captain tried anything.

Their spirits ground against each other, and Ranvir was surprised by the strength of the man. His was a power grown through hardship and effort, which gave his spirit and underlying solidity that Ranvir couldn’t remember experiencing so clearly before.

He licked his lips as they let go and stepped back. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

The others nodded, the kid, Alexis, lagging a moment. They turned and left, the group splitting up as Mihail walked away, leaving the captain and Alexis together.

“They are going to be annoying to deal with,” Amalia said, scratching at her jaw.

“Why do you say that?” Ranvir asked.

“For one, none of them even attempted a friendly greeting,” Amalia tapped her jaw as an example. “While it isn’t required, it is considered good form.”

Ranvir hadn’t considered that. He knew the practice originated from a belief that the god’s servants hid in the bodies of men when they intended ill on others. He wasn’t sure how much to believe about that, however.

“Also,” Amalia added. “Mihail is an asshole.”

“As usual, your companions are blind to the truths of the world,” Latresekt commented. “What you really should look out for is the boy.”

“Why?” Ranvir muttered, knowing Latresekt wouldn’t elaborate without prompting. Amalia gave him a look, but he waved her off. He’d had to tell Kyriake about Latresekt. She had said little other than to take anything it did with a grain of salt. After telling her, there seemed little point in hiding it from Amalia.

“You should recognize a kindred soul when you meet them, shouldn’t you?” Latresekt growled. “The boy is fairly teeming with mind anima. I could sense it coming from him without even trying.”

Ranvir bit his lower lip. “What does that mean?”

“Who knows, your kind is always so sporadic with your developments,” Latresekt said with a huffing chuckle.

“Lovely talking with you, as always,” Ranvir grumbled.

Amanaris

***

Name: Ranvir

Age: 3 Years Old

Element: Sand

Tier: 10 (90)

Level: 10

Statistics:

Mana: Draw - 450

Perception - 50

Abilities:

Storm Locust Elemental - 332

Sand Barrage - 273

Sandstorm Rage - 302

Sand Strike - 248