After a much needed day of rest and a frustratingly cryptic meeting with the Mendicant, the adventurers hit the road, leaving in two separate directions as the cold light of dawn began to drive out the monochrome shadows of the day's earliest hours.

Cadence, Allana, and Tenebres, all dressed simply and functionally, headed north, where they hoped to outrun the reputation of the knights they traveled with and gather some information from some less over-awed villagers. Cassian, their host at the Silver Grain, had even provided the name of Fest, the most prosperous landowner in Cobblestone and the most likely to have any information they could use.

Adeline and Olivia, meanwhile, set out to the south, towards a tributary road that would take them to Millstone. One of the dozen small farming settlements scattered around Valley Hearth, Garol had received reports of attacks there above and beyond those expected for the onset of winter, but had not yet dispatched any of his militia to look into them. That was an oversight, in Adeline's estimation, that begged for correction, even if the attacks proved unrelated to the hag they were hunting.

For a change, the two wore the full regalia of the Argent Order. Adeline was resplendent in a traveling cloak of pure white, enchanted to stay clean and lined with silver thread that delicately traced out runes of defense and dissipation. Under her neck, the cloak was bound with a simple badge, a silver sword and shield engraved with a shooting star, the sigil of a knight-gallant. Oli, in her bright gray cloak, cut a less majestic figure, but standing next to her mentor, there was no doubt that she was Adeline's squire, a position confirmed by her badge–even if hers was only a simple silver shield.

It was, in fact, Oli's first time wearing the badge that marked her as a silver knight-in-training, as Adeline had only gotten the badge on their return to Correntry. She insisted that the delay was because they had to be ordered from the Order's base in Arsilet, and that the innocuous badge contained a subtle but potent magic she refused to elaborate on. Oli was convinced the flighty knight had just forgotten to get around to requesting the simple adornment.

While they hadn't bothered to rent a wagon or any other form of conveyance, the two adventurers were comfortable enough walking, their shared stamina boons and the occasional refresh from Adeline's abilities letting them set a hard pace towards Millstone. Both of them knew that if they didn't make the village by nightfall, it would mean a long, uncomfortable night in the increasingly frigid outdoors, and that motivated every step they took.

The first few hours and several miles rolled by in companionable silence, Oli alternating between mulling over the attacks that had brought them to the valley, fretting over her yet-again-delayed transition, and simply rolling along with barely a thought, the girl falling into an almost meditative state while her body effortlessly continued down the road.

By the time Adeline spoke, the sun was high in the sky, and Keystone was a dozen miles behind them. "Do you mind if I ask you something, Oli?"

Olivia swallowed, feeling anxiety and excitement rapidly breed and hatch a swarm of fluttering eggs in her guts. Olivia hadn't talked about her transition too much with Adeline yet. Despite the knight's general support, she had avoided joining in the conversations when the others brought it up, and the two hadn't had much in the way of alone time since Olivia's meeting with Robin back in Correntry.

In fact, as Olivia got more comfortable with the others, she had found herself becoming more confident around Adeline, too. She had even begun to think that, maybe, she was moving past her one-sided crush on the older knight.

Until now.

Very suddenly and for the first time in a while, Olivia felt the torch she carried for Adeline flare up again.

"O-of course, Adel, always!" Olivia responded hastily.

The stunning blonde knight turned to offer her a smile that made her heart skip a beat. "How are you feeling, since you started taking your potion?"

Olivia smiled awkwardly, and reached down to pat the replenishing flask at her side. "I don't know… Good, I suppose, but it's not like it's made much difference."

Adeline arched a delicate, filigree eyebrow. "Not much, eh? So there's been some changes then?"

Olivia flushed a little. "W-well… I don't know, I think there might be something a little different in my face. And… uhm, I've only had to shave once in the past week." More than that, though she wasn't ready to share it Adeline, Olivia had seen much of her body hair beginning to dwindle. A little more she wanted it to, in fact… She may have always disliked her body hair, but she didn't know how cold she'd be without it!

Adeline smiled one of the crooked, encouraging smiles that looked so natural on her face. "I think so too. But I'm sure you're looking forward to taking the next step too, right?"

Olivia sighed and couldn't suppress an eyeroll. "I'm trying really hard not to, actually."

Adeline tilted her head. "Oh? Why not?"

"Because it's…" Oli trailed off, realizing how immature her answer would sound in the face of what was happening around them. She sighed and continued anyway. "It's just not going to happen. There's always going to be something that keeps it from going through. I just need to accept that. The potions help, at least."

Adeline frowned, the expression marring the perfect features of her face, and Oli silently berated herself. She shouldn't have said that much aloud. Now she could feel Adeline judging her for such immature, selfish–

Suddenly, the knight's arms were wrapped around her. Olivia took a breath before she realized what was happening, and inhaled Adeline's scent for the first time since that last night Correntry, so many months before. She smelled like steel, and road dirt, and clean sweat, because how couldn't she, but there was more. She smelled fresh and bright and crisp despite the cool winter air. She smelled like the roses that lived in her lips and the sunshine that shone from her hair. She smelled soft and feminine and strong and dangerous and like everything Olivia wanted.

"It will happen, Oli," Adeline said quietly. "I know it's hard, and I know it's taken so long, but we'll figure it out. If I have to drag you to Arsilet itself, we will get you this transition."

The knight pulled back, so she could meet Olivia's green eyes with her penetrating silver gaze, and only then did Olivia realize she was crying, as the cold breeze hit the tracks of her tears.

"But for what it's worth… I'm proud of you, Olivia. You've come a long way from the insecure, unsure person I met in Elliven nearly a year ago. You've got a new name, you're using the gender you always wanted, you're emerging from the shadow of your fool of a father. Physical transition or not, you're a girl, and living that truth is more important than any physical change some mage or potion can provide. Understand?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Olivia felt more tears and she nodded, leaning back into the knight's arms, and for a few minutes, there were only tears, and soft reassurances, and fledgling feelings, and quiet pride, and two women who held each other equally tightly, for the first time, even if neither of them quite realized it.

#

No matter how urgent your concerns were or how much quiet time you needed after an emotional moment, winter was winter, and in the heartlands, winter meant monsters. It was less than an hour later that a sharp, jagged cry heralded the approach of a new threat.

"I'm leaving this one to you, Olivia," Adeline told her squire–though a brief flash of gold showed that didn't mean the knight wouldn't be tipping the scales a bit.

Olivia winked, her tears long dried, and she pulled her sword and shield free as the monster cruised into view.

Shardwings bore some resemblance, in their powers, to the squall sparrows Olivia had fought months before on the Flax Road. They were, however, lesser monsters, and this one, apparently an owl affected by the frost-aspected magic common with winter's approach, was quite a bit more threatening than the diminutive water-aspected birds had been.

As the squall sparrows had, the arcane owl flapped its wings and began drawing magic around it into a dense cloud of white mist, one which would allow it to shoot razor-tipped icicles far more dangerous than the simple water projectiles the minor monsters had used. However, Olivia had seen the trick before, and knew from her previous experience how to deal with it. She promptly threw up a hand and released a focused Gust Blast.

[Gust Blast] - Active, Attack - Manifest a gust of wind in a variety of shapes. Inflicts little direct damage, but can disorient or physically move enemies. Lesser to major quintessence cost, depending on size of attack.

With Apprentice level, Olivia's Gust Blasts were far more flexible, and rather than the column of wind Olivia was used to, she instead manifested the burst of wind into a swirling sphere that she shot at the monstrous owl.

The effect was significantly more contained and powerful for the same cost as the widespread burst she had manifested at Novice level, and it hit the frost owl with considerable effect–but the lesser monster was also far more powerful than the flock of minor sparrows Oli had once fought, and it managed to maintain at least some of its cloud of ice magic.

Olivia cursed and got her shield up a mere moment before a half dozen jagged shards of ice rained down on her. Adeline's Shining Barrier flashed into being a moment before they struck, deflecting the first three, but the remainder smashed through the defense and into Olivia's shield.

[Reinforced Defense] - Triggered, Defense - When blocking an attack, your equipment is treated as one tier of potency higher. Each time this is triggered, there is a minor focus cost, but the effect lingers for a minor duration.

Had Olivia tried to fight the shardwing on her previous journey in the southern reaches of the heartlands, the attack would've likely overwhelmed her, even with Adeline's assistance. But she had gained two major advantages since then.

The first was her upgraded Reinforced Defense. Rather than each of the icicles triggering the ability and dragging down her focus, a significant weakness of the Novice level ability, only the first triggered the potent defense, with the resulting effect lingering long enough to catch the other two before fading.

The second was her new shield, a steel kiteshield significantly larger and better made than the small iron buckler she had taken from a bandit's corpse months before. With her new shield and ability, it was simple enough for Olivia to block the shardwing's attack and, familiar with the pattern of the bird monster's attacks, she swung out with her sword the moment the third projectile bounced off of her shield.

[Wind Slash] - Wind, Vanguard - Active, Attack - Use a bladed weapon to make a ranged attack delivered through hardened air. Damage and quintessence cost depend on the weapon used to make the attack.

Wind Slash hadn't benefited from the jump to Apprentice level, but it was still just as important a part of Olivia's arsenal. Even lacking innate potency, it provided her a much needed ranged attack option as she fought her airborne foe.

However, even the pair of rapid Wind Slashes she sent at the shardwing weren't enough to bring the avian monster down, and another cloud of frost magic was already building around its wings, another round of icicles being prepared.

"Let's try something else, then," Olivia muttered to herself, reaching for her quintessence pool once more. She pointed a hand at the owl, calling on Gust Blast again, but rather than the single large sphere of wind she had used the first time, she manifested one, then another, then two more smaller, condensed blasts of wind. Each was much cheaper, thanks to their small size, than her larger manifestations had been, and the barrage of attacks worked much better to scatter the shardwing's magic before it could manifest.

Despite her quickly dwindling quintessence pool, Olivia followed up with another slash of her Wind Blade before the bird could recover, this time aimed right for the base of the owl's left wing. The shardwing let out a surprised shriek as its wing suddenly folded under the sharp impact, and as it fell, Olivia dashed forward, sword humming with potency.

[Critical Strike] - Active, Attack, Luck - Make a special attack with potency increased by one tier. Potency has a small chance to instead increase by three tiers. Moderate stamina cost is decreased to lesser if the critical effect triggers.

The moment before the attack struck, a band of light traveled up and down the length of the swinging blade, and Olivia felt the vibrations of the sword's potency multiply.

[Critical Strike] luck effect triggered

With a strength that surpassed even the Reckless Strikes Olivia had relied on throughout Novice level, her sword passed through the shardwing with barely any drag, slicing the lesser monster into two pieces with ease.

[Gift of the Vanguard] experience gained

Experience: 4%

[Gift of Wind] experience gained

Experience: 3%

Olivia blew out a breath and smiled. That had been easy. For the first time, the squire actually felt like an Apprentice. She had blown through her quintessence, but that was more due to a lack of familiarity with her new abilities than anything else, and her stamina and focus had barely been tapped in the course of the fight. Had she tried to fight a monster like that at Novice level, she would've ended up bloodied, battered, and exhausted, if she had even managed to win at all.

The upgrades Apprentice level had brought her had seemed minor at first glance, but in combat,they had subtly and carefully improved every aspect of the fighting style Oli had refined during her journey through Novice level.

A little laugh of pure, exhilarated joy lept from Olivia's mouth. When she had first arrived in Correntry with Adeline, most of a year before, she had been just beginning to turn away from the lessons that had been drilled into her through her youth, so that she could better learn to use her gift abilities. Since then, she had been hurt and embarrassed over and over again–by monsters too powerful for her gifts, by enemies higher level than her, by friends able to better use their gifts than Oli was.

But all of it had paid off. Now, with Apprentice level, Olivia was truly starting to understand the depths of the foundation Adeline had set in her all those months ago. And speaking of the knight…

"Yes!" Adeline cheered, running over to Olivia. "Olivia! That was perfect!'

Olivia flushed, but shrugged it off. "I wouldn't go that far," she insisted. "I wasted way too much quintessence on my first set of Gust Blast and Wind Blades. If I had missed on that last one, I would've been out of ranged attacks."

Adeline rolled her eyes. "Oli, that was your first time fighting at Apprentice level, and you took on a lesser monster without even taking a hit! And an aerial monster at that–I can count the number of Apprentices I know who could do that on one hand!"

Olivia felt her flush darken a shade at her mentor's compliments. "I… I suppose it was okay. If you think so."

"Well, I do, so there!" Adeline winked. "I'm happy you took my critiques to heart back when you were a Novice, but it is okay to celebrate your wins too, you know?"

"Well… I guess I was pretty great, huh?"

Adeline's smile widened, and Olivia was surprised to realize that the words didn't taste like a lie or a concession in her mouth. Sure, she had room to improve–but then, didn't she always? She had still done something remarkable and maybe, just maybe, Adeline was right. Maybe this was something worth being proud of.

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