Ranvir strode with purpose through the fields. He’d cut his study of Floki’s pocket-space short as he needed to talk with another of the masters. Of course, he’d learned that most of the masters were very precious with their time, and didn’t like to waste it too much.

Thankfully, Ranvir had a weapon. A super weapon, in fact. Master Svenar had just dismissed his class, the student fleeing from the field like one of them had just detonated in an explosion of warp. Es nodded to Ranvir, though, he didn’t stop his rush to the cafeteria.

“Student Ranvir,” Svenar greeted with a nod and a wry smile, “What can you help me with today?”

Ranvir returned the smile with enthusiasm, “You forget yourself, Master Svenar. I wouldn’t help you if I could.”

Svenar chuckled and shook his head, he still met Ranvir halfway with a handshake, “What’s this really about?” he asked, peering into the basket-like container Ranvir’d brought along.

“I had some questions for you.”

Svenar groaned, “About what?”

“Concepts.”

“Ah, yes, the most complicated part of being a tethered, something I’m sure you’re only going to make even more complicated.”

Ranvir smiled and gently put the basket down. He wasn’t actually ready to learn about Concepts yet, however, it didn’t hurt to be prepared. Though, in this case it was actually related to Dovar and not himself. Well, him and anyone else that might eventually have to pick a Concept, but mostly Dovar since he already had one. Ranvir had a rough idea of how to proceed, though, he didn’t actually know much in specific about choosing Concepts.

“How do you choose a Concept?”

Svenar sighed as he straightened. Though he was starting to show signs of his age, he was still a well-built man. He kept his figure better than Gunnor did and Svenar was at least a decade and a half older than Ranvir’s father.

“It’s rarely easy,” Master Svenar continued, “I have a few things that I usually tell my students when it’s about that time in their advancement. The most important, I think, is this: ‘Don’t let it choose you.’”

“What do you mean?” Ranvir asked shifting his weight, the snow crunching under his feet.

The teacher lifted a finger, a bubble of rainbow energy emerged a finger’s width above the digit. The radiance shifted and changed as the power flowed throughout the structure. Ranvir could fairly sense the explosive desire to move coming from the orb, but it remained perfectly still. He’d heard that Svenar started off all lessons with this show once all the students got comfortable working their powers.

After seeing Esmund’s best attempt at mimicking it he could see why. Es’ had been half again as big, it changed shape rapidly, growing spikes or becoming oblong as one side gained an edge or the entire bubble rippled like a disturbed pond.

Svenar looked from the completely smooth orb to Ranvir, “Being a tethered is about control. It’s about exercising our will on powers granted us by the Triplet Goddess. I know it’s tempting, I fully understand that there’s a desire to just go ‘fuck it! I’m powerful enough. Fuck the consequences,’” he licked his lips lowering his finger and letting the orb disappear. “I understand it better than most, I’ve thought about it… I don’t know how many times. Knowing there was a world of good I could do, if I just allowed myself…”

He paused in his speech, staring off into the distance his teeth gritted. Ranvir didn’t think this was rehearsed, though, part of him recognized how much more comforting it would be if it was. Svenar had genuinely considered taking drastic steps at one point or another.

Svenar clenched his fist and seemed to snap back into himself, “But that’s not me. That’s the power speaking. Power wants to be exercised, it doesn’t care about the aftermath. So that’s why I say that you should choose. There are some teachers who believe that you should let the Concept come to you, that if you meditate on your tether for long enough you will get a sense of the direction you should go,” he shook his head, “That’s just you giving the choice away to your tether. You’re the one in control, not your power. You have take responsibility for your actions, especially as a tethered.”

Ranvir nodded thinking over his response. There was clearly a lot of emotions and other thoughts tied up in Svenar’s ideas on the subject. “I guess I understand that, somewhat at least. I know what is best, I know what is needed, I know what the next step should be. The power just knows what it can do.”

Svenar smiled curtly as he nodded to Ranvir’s reply, “Close enough.”

“Good,” Ranvir replied. He sensed that the master was about to dismiss him, so he bend down and opened the basket. He grabbed a folder he’d stuffed between the blanket and the side. “I have some thoughts on honing in your Concept between advancements, is that something you’ve ever seen happen? For that matter, is the Concept a physical in the sense that… you can sense it?” Ranvir winced at his lack of vocabulary.

Svenar’s attention caught on the basket and squatted down next to it, his knees clicking with the movement. “Uhh, not really. It’s more like a sensation than anything, I guess.”

He peered at the dark blue blanket Ranvir’d folded a few times and stuffed into the bottom to serve as a bed, or rather more likely, he examined the little girl who was using it.

Success! Ranvir thought, seeing that he’d bought himself some more time, “So you haven’t heard of anyone changing their Concept between stages? But it has been done during advancements?”

Svenar nodded absentmindedly as he lifted one of Frija’s tiny hands with his finger. He had a complicated look on his face as he cleared his throat, “I’ve heard of small changes, slight adjustments, but nothing major outside of advancement.”

“I was thinking that you could do a certain type of training to prime yourself for a major shift during your advancement.”

Svenar let out an exasperated sound looking up from the cradle, “I don’t know Ranvir, honestly it might be possible, but maybe not. I don’t know, I’m not a scholar, I haven’t done the research.”

“Maybe you should have a scholar with you, then.”

“Maybe…” Svenar said returning his attention to Ranvir’s sleeping daughter. He gently swiped a lock of red hair from her face, it had fallen out of the cap her grandfather had made for her. “I’m starting to realize that experience isn’t all its cracked up to be. Or rather, that all experience isn’t equally usable. I’m without a doubt still the better tethered between us. I’m stronger, I learn well, I’m more talented than you. And yet—“ Svenar waved a hand in the air as Ranvir tried not to get too offended, “You’re better at teaching than I am. Despite your lacking talents and having next-to-no information, you still perform far better than most of the population. You have less raw gift and yet more potential than me.”

He shrugged again and shook his head. He gently took the rattle that had slipped from between Frija’s fingers, even though she couldn’t lift it properly, and put it lower in the cradle where it wasn’t likely to knock around and hit her.

“I didn’t take any steps forwards in my time here, or even at the battlefield,” he gestured vaguely towards the city, “Even out there I haven’t made much progress. I’m not like you, Ranvir. You’ve changed everything. Did you know you’ve got the teachers talking about making plans for their lessons? For more than just a single trimester as well. And most of them are even getting help from administration. I know of at least two scholars here who has started recording the changes that’s been happening in the school, though, I don’t think they’ve traced it to you, yet—“ he winked at Ranvir, “Too many masters with too much ego to give away the prestige.”

Ranvir chuckled but didn’t say anything for a while, before something struck him, “What about your children, Master Svenar?”

Svenar stiffened for a moment, before slouching forwards letting one knee rest on the snow, “I’m not a dad. No matter how much I wanted it…” They were silent for a long time. Ranvir waited sensing that Svenar had more to say, “My wife got very sick when we were both pretty young. I’d just gotten back from the front lines, about to become a master. She was a couple years younger than me and had only recently reached her second-stage.”

Ranvir’s brows lifted in surprise, he hadn’t really thought of students from both the school and the academy getting involved before.

“For a long few months there was nothing we could do, she just kept getting sicker and sicker. Finally, one of the master healers who’d left the academy discovered it was an issue with her ovaries. To make a long story short, she suffered through a long and very painful procedure until finally he had to remove them. She could no longer have kids. We couldn’t have kids…”

“Oh…” Ranvir muttered unsure what else to say or do.

Svenar looked up at him, the wrinkles around his face, the gray in his hair seemingly all the more prominent for his slouched posture. “She still lives in the city, I haven’t seen her in… nearly twelve years, though. We tried to continue making it work for a time, but… I was more than a little bitter and she was in a very vulnerable state. Maybe we both were. I didn’t work out. I spent my youth fighting on the front lines only to return too much a coward to do the right thing.”

Svenar straightened with a grunt, his gaze turned toward the city. There was an edge in the master’s eyes that Ranvir recognized. He’d seen it in the face of the rioters when he’d been defending the clinic.

Someone was approaching them from the direction of the tower, not a combatant from the way he walked. Ranvir turned to see a man in intricate robes with a sigil of a sword slipping through the pages of a book, the cover of said book was emblazoned with the symbol of Elusria. “Master Svenar and… Student Ranvir, I presume,” the man said.

“Master of Education,” Svenar greeted.

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt,” The Master of Education said much quieter as he noticed the cradle, “But I need a moment to speak with Master Svenar, if you please?”

Ranvir nodded, returning the folder to the cradle and gently picked it up again, “Masters,” he said with a small bow and walked away.