COMPLETED! Since she was a little girl, Velvet has been reading stories about great wizards and witches of Rumerra's past, wishing every night to wake up one day and be blessed with the affinity for magic herself. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked...
In the port of Everdale, Arianna and Argus were also boarding a ship accompanied by the royal navy. King Matthew Fredricksen rode in on his personal steed, ten of the best White Knights by his side. He dismounted upon seeing them and walked up to them.
"My king," the headmaster bowed his bald head deeply, his beard almost sweeping the floor. Arianna got a bit confused, but he peeked up at her and winked, signaling her to bow as well. She quickly copied what Argus was doing and bowed as well.
"Rise," Matthew commanded them. He turned to the old man. "Greetings, Argus. It's been a while. I must say you are not getting any younger. I could have sworn you still had a few hairs on your head the last time we saw each other."
"Time does take its toll," the bald man chuckled in turn. "In this case, the toll was my hair."
"Humorous as always, I see," the king smiled. "And who is this lovely young lady?"
"This is Arianna Goldleaf," Argus introduced her. "She will be representing Everdale academy at the Magornis this time around. Arianna, please meet Matthew Fredricksen, our beloved king and ruler. His great-grandfather united the human provinces under one name just before the great racial war ended. We owe humanity's unity to this man and his bloodline."
"It is my honor!" the girl exclaimed awkwardly and bowed again.
"You speak highly of me, Argus," the king chuckled. "What do you want this time?"
The headmaster laughed. "You know me too well, Matthew. I need a little favor from you. But we shall talk about this later. There is a long journey ahead of us."
"Right. Now then," he turned to Arianna, who was still bowing. "Rise up, my child. Let me see the face that will carry the Everdale flag." The girl obeyed and straightened herself up.
"Be honest with me, Argus. Did you hold the competition based on skill or based on looks? Because she definitely has the latter. Not exactly the best taste for clothing, though," Matthew commented after scanning her with his eyes. "You're from a village, aren't you?"
"Y-yes," she admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed. Was she dressed that inappropriately?
"I can assure you, the competition was held as it is every five years," the headmaster replied, a bit disgruntled at his comments. "And it hardly matters where she is from now, does it?"
"If this girl can actually do magic and fight, then count me impressed," he was still skeptical.
The old man was visibly annoyed now. He wasn't going to take him mocking one of his best students like that. "I assure you, there is no one more suitable than Arianna. I vouch for her."
Matthew glanced over the timid girl once more. "If the great Argus Finkleshore says you have what it takes, then I guess I can only take his word for it. Carry the Everdale flag with pride!"
"I will, your Majesty," Arianna bowed one last time before the king dismissed himself.
"He's a kind and prideful man," the headmaster said as they watched him get on the ship. "However, not an easy one to impress. But don't worry, I am sure you will win his heart once he sees you in action. Let us go now. The ocean awaits us!"
***
On the elven ship named after the king's late mother—Princess Cadenza—a relaxed and joyful mood was present as they drifted across the calm southern sea. It was mostly smooth sailing for the first three weeks of their month-long journey from port Imgar to Tournament island. The ship was enormous and had five main sails and many smaller ones—a true floating town. It had everything one needed for a luxurious journey, from a large dining hall to a games area and even a pond similar to the one in Loretta's room, except three or four times as large. Velvet didn't even feel like she was on a ship at all—it felt more like being in a village of some sort. She used the time to practice more with the princess while the royals and academy officials watched them. Their training was limited, though, since earth magic was not the best to use when there was no solid ground under the elf's feet. Most spells would split the ship's deck or otherwise damage it. Because of this, their training mainly consisted of battle theory and revision.
This didn't stop the elven king from praising his daughter to no end. So much so that the princess was starting to get embarrassed by it. Velvet saw what she meant by it being pointless to argue with her father—this man really wouldn't shut up! She also noticed that none of her family members except her mother had magic, so the man didn't have any idea what his daughter was even doing! He was just throwing out compliments left and right every time she did something. Loretta tried to tell him off but to no avail.
"This was just a basic spell, father!" she yelled in frustration. "You don't need to clap!"
"Nonsense, my child!" Varus said in retort and nudged Miss Pampleton, who was also visibly frustrated by his lack of knowledge. "Isn't my Lori just amazing?!"
"Don't call me that!" the girl groaned.
In the end, the two could do nothing to stop him from talking nonsense—he was the king, after all. Apart from Loretta's father being a nuisance, their trip was quite enjoyable. They talked about all sorts of things, from Velvet's adventures in the Kamatayan forest, where the girl conveniently avoided mentioning her fairy friend, to Loretta's childhood and upbringing at the palace. About her oldest sister, who was not with them right now but was coming with the dwarven party, and about the Magornis itself and what they expected from it. The princess had already attended the previous two and told Velvet about the rules and how it all worked.
"So, basically, champions from each of the fifteen academies in Rumerra are placed into brackets and compete in an elimination-style tournament," Loretta explained. "This means I would technically only need to win four duels in a row to win the entire thing! Of course, that is easy to say but extremely hard to do in practice. The fifteen contestants are all champions of their respective academies. They are all expert sorcerers that beat everyone to get there." She exhaled loudly. "Except me. I got pushed ahead by my father without any competition."
"Hey, it's all right," Velvet patted her back. "You'll do fine. We did loads of training!"
"I don't know," the elf was skeptical. "I obviously improved. But there is not much you can really do in only a few months. The others will still be leagues above me, most likely. I am going to get absolutely destroyed there and embarrass myself and my kingdom."
"No, you won't!" her friend tried to cheer her up. "Trust me when I tell you you're good!"
"I hope you're right," the princess mustered a faint smile. Suddenly the entire ship shook.
"What's going on?!" Velvet jumped to her feet.
"I-I don't know," Loretta was confused. "Maybe we hit something? But we're in the open..."
"Pirates!" a voice came from outside.
"Pirates?" the elf shuddered at the thought. Were they going to end up like her grandfather?
"PIRATES!!" the young witch exclaimed excitedly, her eyes beaming. "AWESOME!!"
"What?! No! It's not awesome!" the other girl was appalled at her excitement. "Hey! Where are you going?! Don't go outside at a time like this!"
Thank you for reading this chapter! It means a lot!
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