Ranvir was working on a write-up of his Abilities, going through their principles as he searched for flaws. They weren’t quite coming together like he wanted them to. Ideally, he should feel slight interactions between them, even if his control wasn’t there to create a full synergy.

He’d originally planned to test out his Abilities in a real combat environment within the fold. A braced measuring their skills under duress was a tried and tested training method. Of course, his attempt had been under slightly more duress than he’d planned for. Due to this, he hadn’t really had time to dwell on them since entering the fold.

He knew for certain that Storm Locust was unlikely to ever deeply interact with anything else. It was too independent, with Loce’s own interactions playing a huge factor. Sandstorm Rage, Sand Barrage, and Sand Strike should be more free to work with.

“It isn’t coming together?” Kyriake asked.

Sometime after Ranvir woke up, a massive rainstorm moved through the area. Kyriake suspected it was prompted by the remaining mana from the Orykto fold. Ranvir was inclined to agree, seeing the strength of the downpour. Unfortunately, that meant the wagon couldn’t travel the muddy roads without getting repeatedly stuck. Ranvir had argued that he was fine to walk, to which he was promptly shut down.

They were currently taking shelter underneath tree cover. Kyriake had turned the wagon on its side to help protect them from the wind. It wasn’t great, but comparatively it was heaven.

“Not really,” he grumbled. Scratching down notes in the margins. “I’m thinking it’s something in one of the core principles that I might’ve messed up, but I haven’t found it yet.”

Kyriake sighed. “I don’t envy you the task,” she was currently leaning back against the tree trunk, arms behind her head relaxing. “I’ve got a surface level understanding, just enough to pull off a couple synergies with my own Abilities.”

“You don’t have a full synergy? All three acting together?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m technically still working on it, but for most braced, it’s a question of luck, not skill.”

“Anyone who says otherwise is lying,” Amalia agreed. Ranvir knew for a fact that she didn’t have any synergies, so he didn’t know if he should believe her or not.

“I imagine the Arkrotasia might have a few suggestions, and there are a few scholars at the Collegia who’re working up some hypotheses.”

“Maybe-“ Ranvir cut off as he sensed the moment he’d been waiting for since awakening. The still broken bracelet flickered with energy. Grinning, he lifted it and activated the item.

For long pain-staking moments, nothing happened. Ranvir’s breath sticking in his throat, his smile wavering as he wondered if she would even answer. Maybe she’d forgotten it somewhere. She was a child, after all. He almost couldn’t bear the idea of not seeing-

“Daddy?” Frija’s voice called out. “Is that you?”

“Hey baby,” Ranvir greeted, looking through the peephole and into what appeared to be Elpir’s kitchen. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, Daddy!” Frija squealed. “I’m so happy you’re not the grumpy old man! Are you coming home?”

“I am, Fireheart,” Ranvir swallowed, tears suddenly attacking his eyes. “I’m coming home. Another day or so.”

“Okay!” she smiled happily, filling the small tunnel with her tiny teeth. She spoke through them, “Look, it’s getting loose,” he saw a flash of her tongue wiggling one back and forth.

“Oh, that’s incredible,” Ranvir whispered, suddenly worried he wouldn’t be home before she lost her first tooth. It took longer than that, though, right? Or maybe she was losing them too early. “Have you talked with Elpir about it?”

“Yeah,” Frija pulled her bracelet away again, pulling it too low, framing her red hair and jaw. “She thinks it’s cool as well. Dad, did you know she did this too? She lost all of her teeth, but they came back!”

“No way!” Ranvir gasped, smiling back even if he couldn’t see her. Elpir being unworried eased his own for the moment. “Did she tell you that?”

They looked like three drowned rats as they finally reached Legea. It hadn’t stopped raining, but Kyriake had run out of patience. She’d dragged the cart until a wheel got stuck. That turned out to be less than three miles. Then she’d dragged it another five, driving divots through the mud. That was when the first wheel broke off. She swiftly turned the wagon into a sled and continued dragging.

Ranvir was impressed by her tenacity, if not her ingenuity. He’d asked why she didn’t generate a cover for the bottom of the wagon to help it slide across the mud easier. She hadn’t thought of it. Apparently, her stats were such that she was just used to brute-forcing these kinds of issues. And it had worked out.

Legea was in chaos. Even before the rains had begun, the rivers had swelled well beyond their borders, which would be troublesome in most cities, but as Legea lay partly on the said rivers, it was a slightly bigger problem. Ranvir thought he finally understood why so much of the harbors were built upon ruins of old harbors.

The rain wasn’t helping the city, either. The down pour was steady and strong enough that the water levels weren’t lowering, though fortunately it appeared not to be rising either.

Ranvir hadn’t seen what the fold looked like after collapsing, but if this was the fallout after the King blunted the effects, he couldn’t imagine the horrors it could’ve caused. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t still have allowed it had he known, but he would’ve thought twice about it.

He’d finished his notes, turning them into a sort of report on his Abilities and the principles and techniques he’d applied to them. With them back in the city, he stopped by the psykimes to send it off towards the Collegia and Faidar, the scholar who’d been studying mana’s reaction to stimulus in different areas of the plane.

She’d written plenty of papers on the theory behind synergies as well, so he figured she might help him figure out what was wrong. It was also a bit of a test, as some of the work he’d done was made by him, extrapolated from what he’d learned. It wasn’t perfect, but his Ability Score was well matched with his Level, if not his power.

With that gone, Kyriake practically dragged him to the Sentinels and a healer. They basically confirmed what they’d already been suspecting about him. His arm was lost, his spirit wasn’t so much injured as violently transformed. When it happened under more normal circumstances, such a change was a good thing, signaling a growth in power. Which it technically was. If he gained access to it, would he have storm mana or just water and wind? They couldn’t be sure until he did something with it.

For now, he was wet most of the time and occasionally had to have a coughing fit to get the liquid out. Ranvir felt oddly at peace with the situation. Theoretically, he knew it was pretty bad, but he wasn’t in the same position as four years ago when he’d first arrived in the Korfyi.

The healer patched his stomach up and put a more permanent protection on his arm before they took off again. On the way, they were stopped by a familiar face. Ranvir still didn’t know what Kyriake had talked with King Phormos about, but apparently it was enough to make both her and the lead Council of the Dawn Rose fall in line.

Alexis had traveled back with the rest of the merchants, from whom Kyriake had gained the wagon. Since they didn’t have nearly as much cargo as they’d expected, there been more than enough to spare.

“Amalia, Ranvir!” Alexis called. She stood next to a plump elderly couple. Her father was a short man with a slightly balding head of hair and a pleasant look on his face. Her mother was much the same, but with a hint of intelligence hidden in her crow’s feet.

Ranvir was feeling pretty out of it at that point. The medication from the healer collaborating with his general exhaustion and he offered little to the conversation. He got the feeling Kyriake knew of them, if not personally. Not surprising, since they’d apparently been selling parts on behalf of the Sentinels.

They got on the potragos and Ranvir passed out. He slept through the entire ride back to Eriene, even though it took much longer than usual. It wasn’t just the cities interrupted by the overflow, the potragodes themselves had to slow down. He wasn’t sure of the details and didn’t care enough to figure them out. All he knew was that the trip took nearly thrice as long. Which still didn’t compare to traveling on foot.

Then, he was suddenly walking down the paved pathway towards the orphanage and a little girl and her kitten came running out. “Daddy!” she screamed.

He swept her up in an embrace, wrapping her in his arm and hugging her tight. She giggled and squealed as he spun her. Menace struck at his heels as he turned, batting at them with its overgrown paws. Speaking of overgrown, either the kitten had grown significantly over his time away, or he’d forgotten how big it was. Menace let out a howling cry as it leapt up his back, claws sinking into the seat of his pants. As big as a cat back home, Ranvir thought as Menace clawed his way until he could look at Frija.

“Daddy,” she said. “What happened to your arm?”

“Oh, that?” Ranvir grinned, relieved that his beard growth and poor lighting were enough to hide the scar on his face from the axe. “It’s a little trade I’m planning. It’s for my next adventure.”

Frija’s face turned, her mood immediately taking a down swing.

“This one, I’m thinking I need a few companions of my own to bring along, though,” Ranvir continued, having planned the line in his head. “Do you perhaps know of a brave girl who would dare go on an adventure? Maybe with a valorous creature of claws and teeth that travel by her side?”

“Me?” she said slowly, then with more conviction. “I do! I have Menace!” she aggressively patted the kitten on the head. It accepted the gesture of love with surprising patience for a cat. “We can go with you!”

Ranvir turned to see Amalia and Elpir fiercely ‘hugging’, their forms partially hidden by Kyriake. “’Trading’, huh?”

Ranvir winked at her, then smiled at his daughter.