“The Triplet Goddess bless your futures!”

Ranvir let out a sigh as blue-white sparks of relief filled him, the representative from the Royal Academy of War had finally wrapped up his speech. It had, thankfully, been short. The representative obviously knew his audience. Seventeen-year-olds were rarely the most receptive audience, especially nervous ones.

“You first!” He waved the first kid through. Though his speech was short, his enthusiasm made up for it, as he swung open the gate to the ceremony hall. Ranvir had never been inside, as it was only allowed for priests and seventeen-year-old boys or fourteen-year-old girls, accompanied by their respective representatives from the Royal School or Academy.

Slowly, they all filed past the older man as he held the gate open. Ranvir examined him as he passed by. The man was tall, standing almost head and shoulders above Ranvir. With a bald head and face-full of beard, he was an odd dichotomy to the youthful boys that he was shepherding this morning.

He gave a playful wink as Ranvir slipped past, obviously having noted his intense stare. The man’s general shape was tough to make out through his large, cumbersome robes, but the hand and forearm holding the gate, were lined with muscle.

Ranvir kept at the back of the pack of boys, letting the others lead the way. With Esmund in front of him he could easily look over his small friend, allowing him to examine the chamber they’d entered.

It was enormous. High ceilinged, with enough room to easily fit forty people, if not for the large pool taking up the middle of the room. The basin was long enough to hold two men laying length-wise without touching the walls, with five men lying shoulder to shoulder.

“Let’s not make this anymore complicated than it already is.” The representative said. He’d definitely introduced himself at some point, but Ranvir had forgotten his name, yellow sparks of nervous jitters affecting his memory, or at least his ability to pay attention. “Make a line in front of the water, and I’ll call you over one at a time. Do not enter the pool until it has settled and I call you over.”

He rolled up the sleeves on his thick gray robes, until they sat around the middle of his biceps.

“I will judge your Manifestation. If it’s strong enough you go to the left. If not, you go to the right.” Then he stepped into the pool.

He’d called it water, but it didn’t move right. It was too sluggish. It seemed more like cooking oil to Ranvir, than water. He descended into the center of the pool, where the ‘water’ hit the middle of his shins.

Then he waved over the boy in front who stepped forward. He slipped his own ceremonial robe off leaving him in only a pair of pants.

Esmund, who’d stepped sideways out of the line to see what was happening, turned to Ranvir. The crunch of the crushed black stone under their feet, mixed with the excited chatter of the other kids.

“I can’t wait!” His wide eyes and excited smile telling Ranvir once again, that Esmund wasn’t completely right in the head. He seemed to have no relation to the words nervousness, fear, or anxiety, nor their associated emotions.

“Psychopath.” Ranvir muttered, watching as the representative muttered a quiet few words to the boy, then handed him something. The boy popped it in his mouth, before being lowered into the water with the older man’s assistance.

“Emotional ass-wipe.” Esmund playfully replied, his boyish smile spreading across his face. Ranvir thought he saw the liquid move slightly when the boy was submerged, but he was pulled up too quickly to tell for sure.

He shifted his feet, digging his toes into the loose stone. “I’m not emotional, I’m just sensitive to the fact that everyone isn’t controlled by their excitement like a puppy.”

“Everybody loves puppies though!”

“They can also be loud, annoying, and piss on your floor.”

“It was one time!”

The bearded representative had guided the first kid over to the right side of the hall, where he was leaning him against the wall, muttering to him. As he stepped back into the pool, Ranvir noticed how quickly the ripples died out, disappearing as the ‘water’ became still once more.

He clenched his fists taking a shaky breath.

“It’s going to be fine, Ran.” Esmund clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly as the next guy stepped up. San- something, Ranvir couldn’t quite remember. He looked like a drawing from the representative’s past. Tall, not quite as broad shouldered or as muscular, but thinning on top. A part of Ranvir felt bad for him, already bald at seventeen. The other part was envious of his height.

After he slipped out of his robe and joined the representative in the liquid, Ranvir watched as he was given the same little something, a speech, and then lowered into the pool.

The moment his nose descended below the liquid the pool froze entirely still, his submersion leaving no ripples on the surface. The representative rocked back upwards, pulling the younger man to his feet by raw might. As he did, the ‘water’ roiled wildly.

Ranvir swallowed nervously, feeling more sparks of yellow run through him as he fiddled with his ring.

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A symbol began glowing on the young man’s upper back, before intricately curving lines emerged from it.

“Not bad! What’s your name again?” The bearded representative said.

“S-Sansir, sir.” The boy muttered, shaking visibly as the lines faded.

“You are strongly tethered Sansir, you’re gonna be a powerful ice generator!”

Then he guided Sansir to the left, where he stood alone opposite the first boy.

“That was incredible!” Esmund hissed, gripping Ranvir’s sleeve excitedly. “Did you see that?”

Ranvir turned slowly to look at his friend, blinking once. “Yeah.” Despite his antics, no small amount of lively blue and yellow flows of appreciation ran through him as his friend diverted his attention and nervousness.

“This is gonna be great.” It didn’t sound like Esmund had ever considered the chance that maybe he wouldn’t Manifest.

It is gonna be great. Ranvir tried telling himself. It wasn’t like he had a lot to lose. If he didn’t Manifest he would go back to his family and help them, probably end up taking over his mother’s jewel-working.

But if he did Manifest, then what? He wouldn’t be able to help at home anymore, his mom would have to figure something out, his dad would probably stress even more. Even if he sent them money from the academy, it couldn’t replace the physical labor he could do that his mother couldn’t.

“Snap out of it.” Esmund nudged him pointedly in the ribs.

Ranvir blinked. He’d fallen into his own head again. Four more boys had joined the first kid on the right, while Sansir on the left was standing alone. He seemed to have recovered well from the weakness that had settled over him after Manifesting.

Another boy was pulled out of the ‘water’ by the representative, and it roiled slightly in slow unnatural undulations. “A weak Manifestation. I can’t invite you to the academy, but you could earn a good job almost anywhere. Especially with a Domain like Space.” The representative said, leading him to the others on the right.

The next people didn’t Manifest at all, quickly joining the right side. Until finally, the only ones remaining were Ranvir and an Esmund so excited he was basically vibrating.

The representative looked intently at Esmund, as the pool settled. Once the liquid moved no more Esmund almost jumped into it without even removing his robes, but somehow managed to catch himself.

The representative quirked an eyebrow. “Get in here.”

Esmund’s robe flew into the air, as he threw himself into the pool. The representative handed him a small item, like he’d done twenty-three times before that. He spoke briefly and Esmund popped the item into his mouth. Ranvir caught a glance of it this time. It looked like an oval made of glass or crystal.

Then Esmund was lowered into the pool. Ranvir watched with bated breath, reflexively fiddling with the ring.

His friend’s reflection warped as he sank underneath the surface of the liquid. From this close Ranvir could see Esmund jerk, before the ‘water’ came alive. It was like a thousand pebbles were suddenly thrown into the pool. It went from placid and calm to frothing in seconds. Ranvir instinctively took a half step back as it splashed towards him.

The representative heaved Esmund up from the pool by main strength. Lifting him to his feet, watching intently. A symbol grew from his back made of the same eerie light as Sansir’s. Intricate swirls extended from it surrounding Esmund, almost like a shawl.

“Very good, very good. We can always use a Warp!” He slapped Esmund happily on the back helping him towards the lone tall youth on the left.

For once, Esmund wasn’t shaking or shivering with uncontainable energy. He looked… deflated, like the ceremony had punctured him and he’d leaked all his energy into the water. Sansir received him and helped Esmund lean against the wall, making sure he didn’t fall over.

“Remain standing, it’ll pass faster that way.” The representative clapped him once more on his bare shoulder, before stepping back into the pool. The liquid had mostly calmed down, but he still waited in silence as it finished.

He nodded to Ranvir that he may proceed. Ranvir shifted, breathing in deeply, trying to grab onto one of the tiny stones underneath his feet. Opening his robe and throwing it down so he could easily distinguish his from the other’s, he stepped forwards.

“No need to be nervous now.” The bearded man’s face split in an encouraging smile as Ranvir stepped into the pool. The ‘water’ wasn’t cold like he’d expected it to be. Rather it was warm. Not hot, but warm. In all honesty it reminded him of playing outside and waiting too long, before searching out a bush to pee behind.

That was not the memory he thought he would relive, as he began one of the most pivotal moments of his life. But the feeling of warm piss running down his leg and sticking to him was unfortunately stuck in his mind as he closed the distance to the representative.

At least the bottom of the pool wasn’t covered in the tiny rocks. Though he figured there must’ve been a few in there somewhere, they stuck to the feet quite a lot.

The representative held out his hand to Ranvir, snapping him out of his thoughts. In it was an acorn sized oval of smoothed crystal. It held a slightly gray tint to it, but was easy to see through.

“Hold this on your tongue as you descend. Do not bite or chew on it.”

Ranvir nodded, slipping it into his mouth. It was cold, especially compared with the warm liquid swirling around his shins. He reflexively reached for the ring on his finger.

“Ready.” Ranvir got the sense that the representative wasn’t asking. Then the older man grabbed him and lowered him.

Descending into the warm ‘water’, Ranvir focused hard on a spot above him, where the vaulted ceiling came to a point. It had been shaped so smoothly, he couldn’t tell if it was a master craftsman or a tethered that’d made it. Mostly, because he didn’t really know the limi-

His mouth was covered in the liquid, and he closed his eyes as the rest of his face followed. He wondered briefly, if he should try to get one last breath in, before his nose was covered.

With an ear-splitting crack, the stone in his mouth broke apart. He felt impact all over the inside of his mouth reverberating into his jaw and up his skull, as he felt tiny splinters hit his gums and tongue.

Then the water moved around him. It didn’t feel as violent as what had happened with Esmund, but he was still suddenly yanked to the side, before something massive loomed over him. He knew immediately that this wasn’t the representative. It was too big, too much.

A string emerged and from it a thread. A single filament split from the thread reaching down and touched Ranvir. His world exploded in moving lights and shadows. The world rushing around him. Something was gripping him around the upper arm. A hand? Another appendage was supporting him underneath his armpit.

“Spatial Manipulation?”

Ranvir blinked, he was standing over the pool. Well, he was mostly being held over it. Even when he tried, he could barely get his legs to hold any weight. Then he was moving again. Another pair of hands grabbed him, and he felt smooth stone against his shoulder.

“I got him.” Someone else said. This voice was higher pitched than the representative’s.

“You’ll be fine, just give it a minute. Try to keep on your feet, it’ll help it pass.”

Ranvir didn’t want to stay on his feet, he wanted to collapse against the wall. Looking around he saw Esmund. He was still standing. Gritting his teeth, Ranvir pushed with his legs, forcing himself to remain somewhat upright. Sansir was next to him and he was already looking a lot better, so hopefully this would pass quickly.