Rise of Winter, Week 1, Day 3

Tiltham was not happy when Freddie and she arrived at the training hall. It wasn’t much more than an oversized barn, but Freddie didn’t really mind. She did mind, however, when she realized what they’d be eating. To clarify, Tiltham was unhappy with Freddie, and Freddie was unhappy with the food.

“It’s jerky. And water.” As Freddie looked through the sacks on the floor of the room, she frowned. “Just jerky and water. That can’t be real.”

“My Lady,” Tiltham started before glowering, “We really should discuss what happened.”

“Tiltham,” Freddie interrupted, “Is this for real?”

“The jerky? Yes, it’s standard rations.” Tiltham was doing her best to stay collected, but the woman was hardly used to the new Freddie —how could she be? It’d been less than a day.

“But–” Freddie paused, shaking her head, “No. Nevermind. It’s fine.”

“You cannot do what you’ve just done,” Tiltham continued as if the food were of no consequence whatsoever. “You cannot allow yourself to be injured. I saw you try to fight first—before jumping out of the way or guarding.”

At that, Freddie turned to Tiltham, a harsh look on her face, “Actually, I can do that. I can do whatever I please. That’s the joy of being Awakened.”

Tiltham recoiled at the tone in Freddie’s voice, then recollected herself, “We’ll see if you have the power to back that desire up, my Lady. You’ll need to train for that, though. So grab some jerky, and let’s get started.”

Freddie huffed and grabbed a bag of the dried meat. Ripping a piece off, she ate quickly —with irritation and determination both swirling inside of her. It was a terrible breakfast, and Freddie found herself wishing, for the first time, that she was back in elsewhere. At least when she trained there, it was hot food that kept her going.

Soon enough, the pair were standing at the center of the training hall.

“We’ll start with [Running] and [Fire Step],” Tiltham read off a clipboard, and Freddie frowned and then broke out into a smile upon realization.

“Both at the same time?” Freddie asked with a sparkle in her eye.

“You’re quick. Yes. Both. At the same time.” Tiltham gave a sharp nod.

“Why?” Freddie’s voice was edged with excitement. She was ready to grow, to increase her power step by brutal step.

Tiltham smiled a predatory grin, “To increase the difficulty, of course. Let’s see if you can jump on top of one of your platforms from a run—once you’ve got it down at a faster speed, slower should be a piece of cake, my Lady”

After a breath of them just standing together, Tiltham walked to the edge of the training hall.

“What are you waiting for?” She called. “Start [Running] and summon [Fire Step].”

Freddie backed up and headed toward the back wall, not needing to be told twice.

She closed her eyes and felt it. The magma in her veins coming to the surface, her muscles stretching and shifting.

“[Running]”

Freddie took off at her top speed, her heels thudding against the ground.

“[Fire Step]”

Magma rushed out of the soles of her feet. Freddie could feel the mana pooling and sparking and forming a platform. She could feel it. She knew exactly where it would be. So she jumped.

Pushing off the ground at a speed higher than any child had a right to run, she lunged for the flickering spark in the air—the spark that became a flame—the flame that grew into something more—something solid.

Freddie knew she could do it. Her first try. It was right there. She took a sharp breath.

And then she was falling —the tip of her toe caught on the edge of the fiery platform. The unexpected meeting of her face to flame caused her to close her eyes and roll away from the fire. The heat of the flame licked her skin, and Freddie heard a shattering sound as her body hit the platform. Under her weight, the platform collapsed. Freddie found herself hitting her head on the dirt floor on her first try.

“Are you all right, Lady Fredericka?” Tiltham called, a grin in her voice that Freddie decided she didn’t like very much.

Sitting upright, Freddie climbed back up to standing.

And then she tried again.

“[Running]”

Her body energized, the pace not so bad, and this time Freddie waited until she was halfway through the hall to call out another Skill.

“[Fire Step],” She grit out.

This time, she jumped as she spoke and the fiery platform formed underneath her feet —leaving Freddie’s heels sliding off the edge of the back of the platform, just missing landing. Stumbling on her landing, she at least did not fall again.

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“Closer.” She hissed to herself.

She tried again. Missing the platform entirely.

Again. She landed on top of the platform and shattered it when she stumbled, falling to the ground.

Again. She tripped.

Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

[Congratulations! Running is now Level 2!]

[Congratulations! Fire Step is now Level 2!]

Still, she had not successfully run across [Fire Step]. Tripped, stumbled, slid? Yes. Run? Far from it.

“Level 2!” Freddie shouted, not even bothering to look at Tiltham.

If Freddie had looked at Tiltham, she would have seen the knight's look of shock. It had, after all, barely been two hours.

“Stop!” Tiltham shouted, just as Freddie screamed, “[Fire Step]!”

Freddie heard Tiltham, sure, but she didn’t stop. Didn’t falter. Magma left her and she jumped into the air, stepping solidly onto a flaming platform and running across just in time for the platform to shatter.

“Yes!” Freddie shouted, coming to a halt and clapping her hands together, her breathing labored, “Proof of concept!”

“My Lady—” Freddie turned to look at Tiltham just to find the woman up close and personal, looking at Freddie with a furrowed brow and pressed lips, “Can you see your Divinity?”

Shocked, Freddie nodded.

“What is it?”

“Uhm,” Freddie, taken aback by the knight’s sudden appearance and the seriousness of her voice, stumbled backward, falling to the ground. “Why?”

“No, stop,” Tiltham held up her hand, “Don’t give me specifics. Just nod yes or no —is your Divinity higher than 10? It matters for your training.”

After a moment, Freddie nodded, and Tiltham swore. The knight took a deep breath and stepped back, away from Freddie. Turning her back to the girl, Tiltham held up her clipboard and made rough scratches and sweeping marks across the paper it held.

“Give me a moment,” TIltham said sharply, still furiously writing something down. Freddie could hear the rhythmic tapping of the pen on the paper.

After a long minute, during which Freddie felt bone-deep exhaustion, she sat down. Stretching out, she extended her legs and began reaching for her toes, easily grasping the bottom of her shoes with her hands. Running through several other stretches, she waited for Tiltham to stop furiously writing, but she never did.

White Tiltham was preoccupied with writing a novel, Freddie stood back up. She filled her mind with the thought of a single platform just a few inches off the ground.

“[Fire Step],” She whispered, and a new, smaller, fiery form appeared.

Freddie stepped up gingerly, standing atop the platform easily.

“Wait, then why did it keep breaking?” She muttered, slamming her heel down —promptly shattering the platform and forcing Freddie to catch herself in the sudden fall.

Her heels slammed into the floor, and Freddie laughed.

“I wonder if I can do more than one?” She asked herself, then pulled the magma from her veins.

“[Fire Step].” Freddie stepped atop the summoned platform and, without missing a beat, spoke again. “[Fire Step].”

Another platform appeared just at the edge of the first thin platform. Freddie took another step, climbing another few inches into the air.

Freddie had a mad grin on her face as she went to summon a third platform, “[Fire St—oh, crap!”

The magma in her veins froze painfully, catching Freddie off guard and causing the platform that was holding her up to sizzle out of existence. This time, when Freddie fell through the platform, she bent her knees and rolled forward, tumbling away from where she’d just been hovering above the ground.

Freddie laid out flat, staring at the beams in the ceiling.

I’m out of mana, she decided. The exhaustion that plagued her was refusing to leave, but she reveled in it. She’d been running and summoning fiery platforms for ages. Freddie was owed a break to recover herself.

Tiltham took enough time that Freddie found herself dozing off just as Tiltham leaned over the girl. “My Lady, I’ve adjusted the schedule and sent word to the Duke about the changes. Marasha will not be pleased, but she’s not the one out here.”

Groggily, Freddie cleared the gunk out of her eyes. She’d been going in and out of wakefulness for the better part of an hour, but at least she could feel a bit of mana back in her veins. Freddie brought herself to sit upright and looked up at the knight hovering above her.

“What’s the plan?” She asked, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips.

“Originally, we needed to push all your Skills to their limit with dual usage, but at the pace you are leveling, with a mere two hours compared to the average eighteen, you should be able to get each Skill to Level 5 in a little over two days of training. You have eleven Skills we need to train, so we should be finished in 24 days—just in time for your Affirmation without pushing you to the brink each day.”

Tiltham had a softer smile on her face, then, her relief showing through her voice. “That means you’ll be able to take it a bit easier than we started.”

Freddie nodded, “But we can do it?”

“Can we ever,” Tiltham laughed.

“What do we do when I run out of mana?” Freddie sighed, wrapping her arms around her knees and forcing her eyes open. It had only been two and a half hours. How was she supposed to make it through twelve every day? She simply didn’t have the magic for it.

“Ah, ah,” Tiltham said, taking a vial of blue liquid out of her bag, “Never forget —you are the Daughter of Nemo. And Nemo is a treasure trove of [Alchemists].”

Tiltham gently handed Freddie the vial, “Once every two hours, up to eight times a day, you can take a regenerative Mana Potion.”

Freddie took the vial, popping the wax top off with a flick of her finger, and tipped her head back, “Cheers, then.”

As Freddie downed the potion, Tiltham was once again frowning. But Freddie paid her no mind, instead focusing on the feeling of ice melting in her veins, overcome with heat. Between one breath and the next, Freddie’s veins of magma returned, swelling with energy. The potion itself was pleasant enough, tasting of citrus and berries.

Freddie stood up, stretching her arms over her head, nodding to herself.

This will do. This will do amazing, she thought to herself, another wicked grin forming on her face.

“One at a time, then, right?” Freddie said, turning to Tiltham for confirmation. Once the older woman nodded severely, Freddie was speaking.

“[Fire Step]”

Stepping atop the platform, Freddie spoke again, “[Fire Step].”

Another fiery platform appeared, and Freddie began to climb. Turning fully away from TIltham, she attempted to summon a third platform, “[Fire Step]”

As the sparks formed for the third platform, the first set of flames disbursed into the aether. Still, Freddie climbed, saying to Tiltham as she went, “Catch me if I fall?”

“Always, Lady Fredericka.”

“[Fire Step]”

She climbed up and up and up until she was so high her hands could touch the beams at the top of the barn, so overcome with pride was she that she simply stood there. Looking over the training hall.

Somehow, the twenty-foot drop made her want to climb higher. Higher than the heavens.

But what else was new?

“[Fire Step]”