Weight of Worlds

“I’ve been making a list of different drinking houses we can visit today.” Grev had barely tasted his breakfast, before he began speaking. “Since you’re all being boring and not letting me to take you to any of the gardens.”

Ranvir knew he had to step in then, if he wanted to get anything productive done. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about this. It’s our day-off, and I wanted to air out a different possibility than drinking and visiting the city.”

“No.” Grev’s reply was quick and went completely ignored.

“I think we should at least visit the library, see what they have to offer, in terms of studying. There might be a lot of important information that we’re missing out on.”

Grev let out a long groan as he slid down the bench, nearly disappearing underneath the table.

“It sounds a little boring, Ranvir.” Esmund said, carefully. “I’m not trying to be rude, but shouldn’t we do something fun on our day-off?”

Ranvir wanted to argue that it was going to be fun, but Esmund would either vocally deny him, or simply ignore his opinion. That approach wouldn’t work with Esmund.

“Sure, we could have some fun, while the students smart enough to pick the books for knowledge get ahead. While we laze about in the certainty of our talent, the hardworking students will quietly surpass us.” Ranvir leaned back from his plate, suppressing a smile as he stared his friend down.

Esmund was clearly aware that he was being manipulated. The wonderful thing about emotional manipulation was that it still worked, despite the target’s awareness.

“There better be something good in there.” Esmund muttered, tearing off a bit of dark bread and stuffing it into his mouth.

Ranvir turned towards the last hold-out. Despite breakfast having only just begun, Sansir was already wiping up the last bit of food. He looked up when he sensed Ranvir’s gaze on him.

“Sure.” He said, returning to his breakfast.

“You can’t be serious!” Grev exclaimed, shooting up from his slump and nearly untouched food. “You’re going to the library? On your day-off? What’s wrong with you?”

“Are you going into the city alone, then?” Ranvir asked.

Ranvir stifled a grin as he held the door to the library for his friends, Grev’s grumbling clearly audible.

“This is still dumb. There’s no reason to do this. We’ll learn enough from the teachers.”

“We’ll learn enough to get by from the teachers.” Ranvir tried to mollify him. “We’ll learn enough to be excellent here.” In reality part of him just didn’t want to be studying his books—which were tucked under an arm—alone. Still, he didn’t feel too bad dragging his friends along, as they could certainly learn something useful.

Quick stepping around their group, Ranvir went over to the desk and the librarian behind it. It was an old man, his hair was thin and feathery. White strands moving in the slightest breeze.

Ranvir knocked lightly on the table, getting the man’s attention. He paused as he caught sight of them, staring intently for a long time.

“Are you… first years?”

Ranvir hesitated, looking back at his group to see if others had joined behind them. It was just them, though there were a few older students sitting at a table not too far away.

“Uhh, yes sir.” He said, turning back to the librarian.

“Huh. That’s surprising. What can I help you boys with? We don’t have any books about getting with girls, I’m afraid. You’ll have to talk with the ladies at the gardens, if you want that kind of knowledge.”

“I don’t need help.” Grev interjected, his voice loud and confident.

“Why is it strange?” Ranvir decided to ignore his friend’s boast.

The librarian looked at Grevor for a long moment, before turning his attention to back to Ranvir. “Normally, you don’t start to wise up to the benefits of knowledge until it’s been forcibly kicked into your head. Usually around your third year.”

“That’s dumb.” Sansir commented. “Who would…” He trailed off, his eyes wandering to his friends in front of him, though neither Esmund or Grev saw the path his eyes traveled.

“We’re looking for books to become better.” Esmund said, tired of waiting. “What’s the best warp generator book you have?”

The old librarian sucked his upper lip into his mouth as he stared down the young student. “I have one in mind for you. It was written by Agnur, quite the formidable warp tethered.”

“I’ll take it.”

“What about light?” Grev asked, stepping up next to Ranvir.

“What all are your elements and your expression types for that matter.”

“I’m a light manipulator.”

“Ice generator.”

Ranvir didn’t speak up, he already had his books.

“And you?”

Ranvir waved Figir’s book. “Space manipulator, so there’s not a lot for me here.”

The man rubbed at his clean shaved chin, his thin hair stirring lightly in the breeze. “I might have something for you that could be helpful.”

Ranvir blinked, before nodding eagerly. “Lead the way, sir.” The librarian nodded, stepping around the desk waving for them to follow.

He stopped by a shelf that wasn’t marked with any of the elements. “This was written by quite the prominent scholar. Ragnhild, she was called.”

“What stage was she?” Ranvir asked, curiously accepting the book.

“She wasn’t a tethered at all.”

“Oh.” Ranvir and the others followed the man. First into ice, giving Sansir a book. Then to light, where Grev got his. Finally they went to warp, where Esmund got his book.

“Agnur was a twin master?” Esmund asked, excitedly hugging the book tight to his chest.

“Yes, though it was said that he grew insane in his old age, so be a little skeptical of anything you read in that book.”

“When did he write it?”

“Two, maybe three, weeks before he died, I think.”

Esmund puckered his lips, pushing the book away, examining it. “Oh.”

Ranvir idly traced a finger across the pages of Ragnhild’s book. Figir’s lay closed next to it. He’d briefly opened the book, but it was blatantly obvious she had no idea how she’d first managed to achieve Knife. Her notes regarding her path to the Sword were extensive, more than a little colored by arrogance, but well documented.

Ragnhild’s book on the other hand was a different measure. He’d barely started on it, when she mentioned her ‘theory’ on tethered and determining their natural leanings in Discipline. She apparently ascribed to the long debunked tether pattern type. Which would work if not for the simple fact that there were only three Disciplines, as the Goddess intended it. But there were four tether patterns.

Ranvir had been reluctant to read it, since she had no way of actually knowing anything about tethered, Disciplines, or how to training them. A blind man couldn’t teach a seeing man about the world. It was common saying, Ranvir had heard back in the village. It was mostly applied to apprentices, while studying under a master craftsmen, but he felt it still applied.

He returned to the book, searching for the lines where his attention had wandered for the hundredth time. It took a while as it was in the middle of a paragraph, describing the second patterns affinity. He wasn’t even sure which pattern the second was.

Half-heartedly, he read a few words, before looking at his friends to see how they were doing.

Esmund was absolutely engrossed in Agnur’s book. Ranvir could see him mouthing the words as he read, though when they’d started he’d actually been whispering the words. So he’d made clear progress.

Sansir seemed to be blankly staring into the pages of his book. It was called ‘A Study of Ice’, it was supposed to be some Master’s masterpiece, his ponderous thoughts of ice. At first glance, it seemed Sansir was spaced out, but the look on his face was similar to his chess face. It was part of how Ranvir knew Grev had made a clever move.

Speaking of Grevor, the boy put his book down stretching his arms above his head as he yawned. His book was called ‘Light and Color’ Ranvir didn’t know what color had to do with light, or being a tethered, but it came highly recommended from the librarian.

So did this one… Ranvir thought, looking down at his page, where he’d lost track again. So maybe, that recommendation wasn’t worth much.

“How’s it going?” Grev spoke quietly, without outright whispering.

Ranvir blinked, before clearing his throat quietly. “It’s fine.”

“Really?”

He tapped against Ragnhild’s book for a long moment, before shaking his head. “No, she’s not a tethered, she clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Besides the main subject of this book is a theory, that’s already been ruled as wrong. What’s the point?”

“Bet you’re regretting this now?”

Ranvir winced. “A little. Does that make you happy?”

“Yeah.” Grev smiled wide enough, Ranvir was afraid his head would split in two. “This book’s pretty good, but you regretting this isn’t bad either.”

“It is? Why’s it about color?”

“Light is color.” Grev snuck a glance around the library, they were sitting in a pretty isolated area, shelves covered them on three sides. “Look down.”

Ranvir squinted for a moment, but humored him. He just managed to catch a look of strain on Grev’s face. Looking at his lap, he saw a light bloom underneath the table. The pale white glow wasn’t even as bright as a lantern, but in shadow under the table it was easily visible. With a grunt of effort from Grev, the light suddenly became blue, then green, before fading away.

Grev let out a long breath, as his power faded. Ranvir could see the strain on his face, tiny droplets of sweat starting to form on his forehead.

“Changing the color isn’t easy.” He explained. He recovered quickly and continued his explanation. “It’s generally agreed that better understanding of your element has a significant effect on your progress through the Stages of your chosen Discipline. This Master has spent years thinking of how light and color interact, and finally he’s written it all down for me. Well any light tethered, technically.”

“So how does it work?”

“Light is all colors.” Grev formed a ball with his hands. “If you leave it alone, it’s all colors, which is white. But when you stretch it.” He pulled the hands apart as he spoke, “You change the color. Blue and red are the easiest, since they’re stretched, or squished.”

“You made green though.”

Grev grinned. “I did. All colors lie between blue and red. If you’re good…” He paused for an even wider grin. “Then you can bring forth any of those colors in between. I’ve only just begun but I can already make green, which is the closest color to blue.”

Ranvir nodded. “That’s incredible. I had no idea colors and light worked like that.”

“No, it’s pretty interesting.” Grev once more tapped a finger on against his book. “The Master said, he could even make the light go beyond color.”

“Beyond color?”

“I don’t know, exactly. He’s a little vague on what it means. I’ve already looked and he doesn’t ever really explain it.” Grev’s tone turned particularly petulant towards the end.

“At least you have something to work with.” Ranvir sighed, shutting his book. “Figir writes like she knew exactly what she was doing all the time, yet there are no details of her achieving the Knife.”

Grev squinted. “That’s suspect.”

“I know, right. The whole book comes off like she’s always known what she’s doing, but she completely refuses to go into any detail.”

“What about later books? I think I’ve heard you mention she wrote some later in life.”

“She wrote two-ish in total. Her first one, which is fifty percent patting herself on the back for achieving Sword, and fifty percent how she did it. Then there’s this primer and finally her notes for a book outlining the plans for her future and how she would achieve Lance.”

“Have you read it? The finished one? About Sword.”

“She achieved Sword when she was nineteen years old, which was her fifth year at the school.”

“That’s not especially fast.”

“What if you don’t have a proper teacher?”

“Is it fast then?”

Ranvir shrugged. “I’ve no idea. At twenty-one she wrote the primer. At twenty-four she outlined her plans.”

“What happened then.”

“I don’t know. She stopped books, that’s for sure. But what happened, no idea.”

“Did she die?”

“I don’t know, she just never released anything after that.”

“That’s…” Grev looked around as if searching for words.

“Worrisome?”

“Yeah.”