“Abenstadtian mercenary companies formed up into battle formation at 0500 hours on the edge of the Saint’s Peak. It is estimated that seven mercenary companies totalling approximately 6,400 soldiers, alongside four levy companies numbering around 2,300 militia, gathered to face off against a Traxian assault force of 13,000 auxiliaries. Exact details are still unknown, but we do know that the assault force was ultimately repelled after a short, brutal attack. Casualty estimates currently remain unknown, but are rumoured to include almost half the Traxian force left killed or wounded, with Abenstadtian’s almost completely losing most of the militia and the mercenary companies: ‘The Red Company; The Flames of Yr; and The White Tide. ”

- Daniel Arling, Military Advisor to the Chamber of Stalwart Justice, “Report on Traxo-Abenstadt Conflict #273-D”

The first of her assessments was also first of the week on Astra. The deal struck had been simple: if she passed, there would be no need for her to attend the beginner’s class and she can join the advanced class after the break. She had accepted, knowing that she had been seen not just by him, but by multiple Academy staffers.

“Are you ready?” Lieutenant Ulfgeir asked, his hands gripping the hilt of his training blade.

“Ready.” Sophie replied, her hand on her own.

Around them, the class watched with surprise and excitement. They would be witness to a true duel, though they probably did not expect it to be between the instructor and a strange half elf. Sophie almost chuckled at the thought but kept her cool, her palms growing slightly sweatier from the tension.

“Alright then. Beren, read the rules and count us in.” The soldier nodded at one of the students. A somewhat tall if lanky looking boy who sported black hair like the Traxians.

“Ahem.” Beren coughed to get their attention, “Rules are as… uh… as follows. We judge by contact, best out of five bouts. No aiming for the head. Uhh… also all movesets allowed but no magic. Clear?”

Two nods.

“Right… okay… here we go. Three, two, one. Go.” Beren declared and stepped back.

The fight had begun.

He stood ready, sword unsheathed, Sophie following suit. There was a tense quiet as they circled each. Their eyes watched for each other’s muscles, a grin forming on the Trinite’s face.

“Been a while since I felt so tense.” Ulfgeir growled.

Sophie simply nodded, biding her time. Then it happened, his right leg tensed, then his left. A feint. Before she had time to react he attacked from the left. She saw through the attack and parried to the right, catching his blade as he swapped it. She used the momentum of his strike to push herself away from his blade, launching her own counter attack.

* Clack *

She hit his armour. A point.

The two stepped back, offering each other a duelist’s bow.

“P-Point.” Beren called out.

“Magnificently done.” Ulfgeir acknowledged.

“Thank you instructor.” Sophie dipped her head.

The two returned to their starting positions, looking towards Beren who offered up a nod.

“Alright then. Three, two, one, go!” Beren called out.

This time Sophie attacked, a ferocious charge to simply overwhelm her opponent. Ulfgeir appeared unfazed and blocked the initial attack. When she felt the impact, she immediately dropped to a crouch, dodging his counter attack and striking his chest.

“Point?” Beren called out uncertainty.

Ulfgeir seemed more bemused than another and the instructor confirmed for him. “Point for her.”

“Understood. Point." Beren acknowledged before looking at the pair, "Reset… Ready? Three, two, one, go!” Beren called out.

Sophie launched another attack, but this time he was ready. His parry threatened to turn into a lunge against her torso. She reacted instinctively to absorb the blow with her arm, to trade pain for a hit.

“Point.”

Sophie froze, catching the curious glint in her instructor’s eye.

“A curious battle tactic.” Ulfgeir commented.

“Sorry.” Sophie apologised.

“No, no. By all means. This helps me get a better gauge on you as a fighter. Should I end up actually recommending you for the advanced class.” Ulfgeir grunted, “Beren. Ready.”

Sophie nodded, returning to her position.

“Three, two, one, go!” Beren called out.

This time Sophie waited. Only when the instructor moved did she launch into an assault. The sheer speed of her attack must’ve caught him by surprise, for within only a few breaths, it was over.

“Point!” Beren yelled, “Umm… that’s… that’s three to one, student’s favor. Match end.”

Sophie waited until Ulfgeir relaxed, then allowed her own tension to leave her body. Around them, the students of her martial class broke out into uncertain claps, as if they didn’t know how they should feel.

“Fine work there.” Ulfgeir stuck out his hand.

Sophie shook it.

“As agreed. I’ll push you off to an advanced class, for I suspect my drilling might not be too helpful for you.”

“Sorry sir.” Sophie answered.

“Pah, it's always good seeing a fighter in action. Though I will ask one thing before I dismiss you. Well, more like two.”

“Yes, sir?”

“How much of that is practice, how much of that was… let’s say, practical application?” Ulfgeir asked.

Sophie pursed her lips for a moment, trying to think of something to say when she just shrugged, “Mostly… practically, sir.” She answered.

“Huh... and yet you seem so young. Fascinating. And two, you willing to consider joining the guard?”

“The… guard? Like the Guardians or Trinites?”

“Aye.”

“N-not really, sir.”

“Hmm, shame. Guard could use more people like you. Us Trinite’s that is.” He rubbed his chin, “Very well then, go get yourself changed. You earned your free time until you have the advanced class. Well fought, and good luck. Guess I’m getting too used to this cushy posting.” He grumbled under his breath before turning to the other students,”And you lot! Show’s over! Let’s get back to drilling! Come on! Form up!”

“Likewise.” Sophie whispered, extracting herself when she noticed everyone’s attention shift. One assessment down, three more to go.

Civics and mathematics happened the day after. Both were relatively standardised exams. Small packet of papers with questions to be answered. One of the noteworthy things that Sophie noticed was both how quickly Lady Lucia and her posse had quickly absconded from class the moment they finished their exams and the gazes that followed. For a brief moment, Sophie felt pain at their treatment, knowing that she had been quite the odd one out just a few months ago.

It was during math class that she had her most profound revelation however. Upon noticing the closeness of the wolfkin Tavaeia and Aetemo alongside the human Leon, Sophie almost immediately had the realisation that the three were more than likely mating together. The idea just popped into her mind when she waved to them before the exam started, noticing the looks they cast amongst themselves.

Her heart had stilled at the sudden thought, spurring her to observe all her classmates more closely. To notice the signs of intimacy or lack thereof. She found herself almost completely distracted when the exam had started, the weight of change resting heavy on her shoulders. I probably wouldn’t have thought too much about all of this before. But… I can’t help but notice it now. Is it… because of everything with Ary?

Thankfully, the rest of the exam was as dull as can be, doing more than enough to grind any interesting thought into dust. That is to say, her mind was a mushy puddle of nothingness when staring at all the math problems. In comparison, Aryana had easily breezed through the exams, finishing well in advance of everyone else, leaving with a cheery smile on her face as lunch drew closer. Unfortunately for herself, Sophie had slogged on through with the rest of her compatriots, finishing with a muted groan as the feelings of failure and despair intensified.

All of it was then nullified when she met Aryana for lunch. Before she could even speak, Aryana rewarded her efforts with a kiss. Sophie babbled a few incoherent words at the unexpected gift and then just smiled. It's not all bad with exam week, I suppose.

When Phaerus came, Sophie spent the morning with Aryana, the two sharing a tired cuddle and ignoring their club activities for the day. It was a much needed break and evidently necessary one. As Sophie had fallen asleep and only awoke when Aryana brought lunch into the room.

After sharing the meal, the two split off for whatever afternoon student groups were still meeting. Sophie unfortunately, bumped into Moritz on her way to the dueling club. The ducal child however, merely acknowledged her and moved on. Leaving her to remember the horrifying fact that he had also shared a level of closeness with Princess Edelin. Her mind was scarred by her own imagination and she almost buckled under the image those thoughts evoked. The king's daughter and Eva's brother, by the stars! Gah! And Freddie and Eva! Have they... She banished the distressing thought into the recesses of her mind, locking it away somewhere dark. Never think about... it... but... no!

The evening saw her working with Dalgron Silverbrew to develop not just a logistical plan, but also a battle plan for their upcoming assessment match. Victory or losing mattered little, with the emphasis being placed on utilising techniques and strategies that were talked about during class. Their allocated resources this time had been greatly expanded, allowing Sophie to field two units of archers, two regular infantry units, two levy infantry, and four squadrons of heavy cavalry. Dalgron meanwhile, fielded the majority of the line infantry; with six levy infantry units, four heavy infantry units, two units of archers, and one elite infantry unit. Their objective would beat back an enemy force across a ‘wide’ front. Thus meaning that they had to account for even more manoeuvres than they had utilised previously. Still, by the end of the night, the two parted ways, confident that they’d at least not fail completely.

Returning home had brought with it the joy of Aryana jumping up to hug her. It was a wonderful, warming feeling that made Sophie happy, like a soothing balm for her aching mind. Stress was then further relieved when Aryana had slowly begun massaging her shoulders, the waves of contentment flooding her entire being. By the end of it, Sophie ended up being the one who rested her head in Aryana’s lap, curling up with unbridled joy. Aryana for her part, seemed more than happy with the result, lingering for a while before scuttling down to sleep beside Sophie.

Before they drifted off however, one stray thought did cross Sophie’s mind, provoked by the scent of floral vanilla and the thoughts of the day before. What if… she then struck the thought out of her mind as soon as it floated up, never-mind. She turned her attention to the figure beside her and listened to Aryana’s slow rhythmic breaths as the redhead snoozed, smiling at the sight.

“Good night.” Sophie whispered.

Tessus came the next morning and she gingerly pushed herself through her other classes. Trading a few pleasantries with acquaintances before going through the order of battle in her mind. Her thoughts then drifted to the logistics of supplying their force, and what might be required of the baggage train. Gotta get it all down so we can explain it to the professor.

Class came soon enough and so did the main assessment where different pairs fought against each other. For her and Dalgron, the overall plan was simple. His infantry would occupy the enemy; her infantry would be responsible for defending their own supply hub and act as a reserve; her cavalry would aim straight at the enemy base camp to neutralize it in one strike. Though the objective was to simply defeat the enemy army, Professor Ehlrich stated that whoever has no supply hub would be rolling their dice on a disadvantage, taking a lower roll. Without luck, that could be potentially devastating.

Their match started off as expected, no supply route delays and therefore Dalgron’s infantry line managed to clash with the enemy. Sophie’s heavy cavalry manages to use the woodland terrain to sneak past the main battlefield, detaching one of her squadrons to attack the enemy’s flank. It was a devastating blow to the mostly evenly matched infantry battle, tilting the result firmly in Dalgron’s favor. Though they had lost four of his levies and one of his heavy infantry units, overall, it was a smashing success to have claimed four enemy heavy units and three levies for those losses.

Their fortunes soon shifted however, and Sophie’s cavalry squadrons ran up against almost the entirety of the second enemy force. The initial charge saw the cavalry smashing through their lines and taking down two units of archers and two levies. But, they were surrounded and after a series of bad rolls, only injured four infantry units before they were destroyed. The tide then darkened further when both enemy forces combined to rout Dalgron’s infantry. Though his troops held their own, taking down almost the entirety of the opposing heavy infantry, numbers won the day and he was overrun. Sophie recalled the last squadron and had her remaining troops perform a desperate defence of their supply hub.

The game was down to the wire as her own infantry evaporated after some mediocre rolls, taking only a few of the enemy with them. However, her archers and remaining squadron held their own and took double the enemy with them. With one unit of levy left against three, she and Dalgron agreed to concede the match.

Fortunately, since although victory mattered, they were also graded on utilisation of concepts and tactics. In that, despite the rebuke for such a risky strategy in investing so heavily on heavy cavalry, they still passed. Relieved, she and Dalgron shared a hug, the dwarf’s strength surprising her as she was nearly crushed at the sudden pressure.

“Ta nice to work with a pointy ear who’s not uptight all the time.” Dalgron grinned.

Perturbed but not wholly offended, Sophie shot him a hesitant thumbs up, the dwarf returning with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Just like that, it was over. Four exams down and one to go. Mentally exhausted and physically somehow more tired than she was expecting, she found solace in the idea of returning back to Aryana’s embrace. Just one more to go. Once tomorrow’s done, winter break with Ary!

Gratus came and so too did the second last day of this semester. Things were winding down for all of her classes and a generally relaxed mood settled over the campus. A few more still had exams like herself, but the hectic mood that had pervaded the week so far seemed to be vanishing. Replaced by a sense of jubilance that all the students had just one more day of ceremony next Astra and they would be free.

Aetemo had invited them to a party on the weekend after math class was over. Before Sophie could even think, Aryana had accepted for the both of them. Just another thing to do, fun though, hopefully. The group then went for lunch, with the rest of them wishing Sophie good luck on her final exam. After a comforting meal, it was off to history class and her final obstacle of the semester.

It was only now that when Sophie cast her eyes over the Academy’s walls and towards the mainland did she truly feel the presence of the coming frosts. Off in the distance, almost completely hidden by grey clouds were the snow covered peaks of the Highwall. A small trickle of nostalgia washed over her as she remembered living under the watchful eye of the mountains. Felt like a lifetime ago.

By the time she got into class, she was operating without much thought, simply throwing herself into the work in an attempt to finish it. The history exam itself was a brief twenty minute affair right at the start of class. For what time they were given, it was tough and covered some of the more obscure topics that they had touched upon. Then came the rapid fire presentations that everyone had to prepare. All the class topics were divided into different student groups, with each person expected to present one part of their topic. Sophie had spoken about the rise of Carrador and some of its early history as a former Myndiri stronghold within the Highwall.

She was nervous, even now, still feeling uncomfortable whenever everyone was watching her. She was mentally aware that she had started rambling a little during the middle, but there was nothing that her mind could do. A wave of relief then washed over her when Alodie finally took over to detail the first decades of Carradorian history. Dominic then took the center section and Miraevie caught everyone up with major recent events.

They listened to two more groups presenting before Professor Angus finally dismissed the class, wishing everyone a good holiday. There was a palpable sense of exuberance that seized the students once they left the classroom. For most, including Sophie, this would be their last exam. For once she spied Miraevie carrying a twinkle of approval when they made eye contact. But it was brief and Sophie would swear it was a trick of the light if not for the elf’s sly grin afterward

MIraevie and Dominc departed first, leaving Sophie with Alodie as the two chatted about their holiday plans. Alodie was left aghast when Sophie mentioned that she and Aryana had no concrete idea on how they wanted to spend the holidays, the duo more focused on taking things one day at a time. Alodie extended an invitation for the two to visit Ostia and spend Saint’s Day with her family. It meant a week and a half of nothing before taking a week to travel over to spend just under two weeks and traveling back. That essentially took up the schedule for the entire break but didn’t sound too unpleasant.

Judging by Alodie’s somewhat bashful demeanour, Sophie suspected the girl was also just happy to have friends. In truth, Sophie related to the sentiment and said that she’d present the idea to Aryana. Hearing this, Alodie hastily scribbled down addresses and plans in case they didn’t meet in the next few days, claiming that she would be heading back to the city the coming Astra. Three days, damn, that’s not a lot of time to pack for her. My condolences. The two shared a friendly hug and Sophie bid Alodie goodbye as she headed back to Rosewood to reconvene with Aryana.

Walking away, she finally felt the excitement that had infected the rest of the campus. She was done, she had survived one semester at the Academy of Arteria. She suspected her grades would be middling but she would pass. It was a gratifying feeling that made her unconsciously smile, grinning at the sky as she sensed the slow onset of frost across the land. Soon the skies would be blanketed in white and grey, the world would grow colder, and the dangers that lurked beyond the horizon would draw closer. For now however, she was just glad that everything was well for her. That she didn’t need to worry about all the things happening around her.

But a sense of dread tickled the back of her neck, the disquieting sensation that she could never leave behind. Her doubts and fears circling her to wait for the next mistake. Because this peaceful feeling… it’s not going to last, is it? Sophie sighed, her joy vanishing just as quickly as it had arrived. Still, we just keep moving forward as we always have. After all, with everything that the Entity spoke about… I somehow feel like the worst is yet to come. War, demons, civil strife… Anna, Mila, the others… something bad’s going to happen, I just know it. Sophie clasped her hands together, Goddess of Travellers and Wanderers, Mighty Stellesia, grant me your blessing and bring good fortune for the journeys to come. May we be blessed by the Stars.