Rumerra - The Journey Begins

Chapter 3 - Arianna, I choose you! (part II)

Argus only laughed at that. Of course, Korvak could have no idea. The average age to receive a mark is between twelve and sixteen, after all. Most of his students were only starting out at the age Velvet and Arianna were about to graduate!

"Velvet received her mark at just shy of nine years old and Arianna at ten years old," he said, causing a commotion in the room that the Grand Magus had to address to maintain order.

"That's unheard of!" one of the mages shouted. "You're making this up aren't you, Argus?"

"Now why would I lie about this?" He chuckled. "I can show you their records and when I signed them into the program if you don't believe me! I'm telling you, these girls are special!"

"That is indeed highly unusual," Korvak sounded intrigued. "Highly unusual indeed. And you want us to allow these two girls to be partners in the practical part of the exam...why?"

"I believe we are squandering their potential with all these rules," Argus replied. "While I do find them mostly beneficial to normal students, for someone as extraordinary as these two young ladies, they are more of a hindrance than anything. Let's allow them to spread their wings!"

Korvak groomed his beard, appearing deep in thought for a few moments before he raised his hand and spoke. "I vote in favor of this. Providing we can guarantee their safety, of course."

The old headmaster smiled upon hearing this. "Wonderful! You are a good man, Korvak!"

"I did not call for a vote yet!" the Grand Magus raised his voice, nipping Argus' preemptive celebration in the bud. "There are still a couple of months until the practical exams take place at the end of the school year. This is an emergency meeting centered around the new rules that are to be put in place regarding the use of some large-scale effect spells. As you all know there has been an incident where seventeen innocent people died when a fight between two sorcerers broke out in a tavern and one of them used the 'Volcanic Eruption' spell. Nearly a quarter of the village has been destroyed as a result. This meeting was called to discuss the prohibition of such devastating area-of-affect spells. Nothing more, nothing less. Trivial matters such as this one will be addressed at our regular annual meeting on the 1st of Madayn."

"With all due respect, your excellence," Argus stood up, visibly distraught, "at that time the students will already have their partners assigned! I need to give them an answer now!"

"You should feel fortunate, Argus," the man on the podium eyed him sternly, "that I am even considering putting this up for discussion! This matter shall wait until then or I shall dismiss it right now, so we can move on to what we actually came here to talk about!"

Visibly annoyed, the bearded man seated himself again, muttering something about how things were better in the old days when there were not so many rules.

"Now then," archmage Tolpenheim cleared his throat and readjusted his tie, "let's continue!"

***

"So, have you talked to Headmaster Finkleshore yet?" Arianna asked when they were eating lunch in the dining hall a week later, slowly sipping her vegetable soup.

"I can't," her friend replied, pushing an empty plate aside and starting on the main dish. "He's not here. They have a Council meeting in Everdale, so he is away at the moment. Wait a bit."

"But all the good partners will already be taken if we don't pick!" the blonde girl slammed down her spoon and exclaimed. "Then we will be left with only bad options!"

"I know, I know. It's bad timing, but don't worry. I will sort this out for us."

Arianna sighed. "Look. Even if you do talk to him, there's a very slim chance he will allow it. Why would he? Let's just give up on this and pick our partners while we have options."

"No!" Velvet impaled her steak aggressively. "I told you I am not giving up on us!"

"Jeez, relax." The other girl was taken aback by this outburst. "I guess I can wait a bit more."

At that point a young man walked up to their table and peered down at them, smiling brightly.

"Good day, ladies!" he said, bowing slightly while maintaining eye contact with a surprised Arianna. "Sorry to bother you during your meal. I couldn't help but overhear that you still have not picked your partners for the final exam. My name is Daniel Tucker, but you can just call me Dan. Pleased to make your acquaintance! And you are...?"

"Uhm...hello?" the blonde girl replied, a bit confused. Why did he suddenly come up to them and introduce himself out of nowhere? What was his intention?

"What do you want?!" Velvet gave him a scornful glare. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something here? In the middle of lunch, that is." She was still annoyed because of the whole partner situation with Arianna and the last thing she needed was random people butting in.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood, I see." He straightened himself up and turned to her, looking rather amused. "I already apologized for that, haven't I? As for what I want...I want to help!"

"Thanks, but we don't need your help!" Velvet dismissed him for the second time in a row. He chose to ignore her and turned to her friend instead. "Do you also feel this way?"

"Well, I..." Arianna started but was cut off by him before she could really finish. "Hold that thought. Before you answer that, tell me your name. Please."

"My name...is Arianna," she said, sounding a bit unsure. Why is he asking for her name?

"That's a really beautiful name," he replied, giving her an energetic grin. He leaned forward and put his hand up, as if wanting to whisper something only to her. "To be completely honest with you, I came here because of you. Not so much your angry friend over there."

"Because...of me?"

"What was that?!" Velvet wasn't sure if she heard that correctly, but didn't even really care either. She just wanted him out of their faces. However, he did exactly the opposite and sat down on the bench next to Arianna, making her a bit uncomfortable with how close he was.

"I'll cut straight to the point," Daniel said, turning to the girl. "I noticed the mark of air on your hand." He reached out and gently grabbed her wrist, guiding her arm closer. He put his other hand right next to it, so they were practically touching, revealing that he also was an air magic user. Of course, this made poor Arianna even more uncomfortable.

"Ah...so you are...an air m-mage too," she tripped over her words, which seemed to only further amuse him. Going a step further, he cupped the petrified girl's hand with both of his, inching even closer on the bench and staring directly into her wide green eyes.

"I graduated top of my class last year," he spoke softly. "It was a real breeze, might I say. If you want to, I could be your partner. I promise I will take real good care of you."

"She doesn't need a partner!" Velvet slammed her fist on the table, causing the plates and eating utensils to rattle. "For your information, I will be her partner!"

Dan looked at her, a bit surprised at first, then after a few seconds started laughing out loud. "You? Her partner? That's rich! You're not even from the same course! And judging by your size, I bet you haven't even graduated yet either!"

"None of that matters!" the furious girl yelled. "I will soon talk this through with Headmaster Finkleshore and for your information, he will allow it!"