Velvet's eyes fell to the ground in defeat. This didn't at all go like she expected it would. Everyone seemed to be avoiding her like the plague. Defeated, she sat down on the freshly vacated bench and sighed. "This blows. Why are they like this?"

"Uhm...hello there," a quiet and dainty voice said. She looked up to see an elf girl with long, wavy green hair and emerald eyes staring at her curiously.

"Oh, hey!" Velvet smiled. "Are you not...scared of me?"

"Should I be scared of you?" she asked, tilting her head.

"No, of course not!" the young witch quickly replied and jumped to her feet. "I'm not bad!"

"I didn't say you were bad," the elf replied, a bit confused. "Why would I think that?"

"Well, everyone here seems to be avoiding me because I'm a human," she explained.

"Ah, you're a human..."

"Yes, I know, I know," the girl waved her hand. "This is the part where you run away, right?"

"You're a human!" she exclaimed happily. "That means you must be the human, right? The one we are expecting to come here!"

"I guess I am," Velvet said, not expecting this reaction. "You were expecting me?"

"Miss Pampleton told us an exchange student will be coming from Ardor! So that's you!"

"Yes! That is me!" she smiled brightly. "Finally, someone who actually wants to talk to me!"

The elf held out her hand. "My name is Loretta! A pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

"Velvet," the human replied, shaking her hand. "Velvet Crow, from Everdale academy."

"Everdale, huh? That is where the great Argus Finkleshore teaches, isn't it?"

"It is! Argus was my mentor! He's the one who arranged for me to come here, actually!"

"Marvelous!" Loretta clapped. "I've wanted to meet you since I heard you were coming. I'm thrilled I ran into you before everyone else swarms you."

"I wouldn't worry about anyone swarming me," Velvet chuckled. "I think I just single-handedly emptied the park here. They all left when I wanted to talk to them!"

"They are silly," the green-haired girl giggled. "You seem like a nice person to me! Come, I will show you to Miss Pampleton's office! She is the one you are looking for, I am guessing."

"Yes, actually! That would be wonderful, thank you!"

"This way," Loretta gestured and started walking toward the large building on the far side of the park. "Follow me!" Velvet obliged and picked up her suitcase.

When the elf saw this, she stopped and turned around. "Oh, that looks heavy! Wait, let me help you with that!" She extended her hand toward the ground and exclaimed: "Earth Elemental!"

The tiles of the pathway rose up and a creature made of stone and dirt crawled from beneath them as a part of Loretta's soul escaped her body to inhabit it. It stood about two meters tall and looked rather unfriendly. When the summon was complete, the tiles fell back down, and the path looked like nothing ever happened.

"Earth magic!" the guest's eyes sparked with curiosity. "That's so amazing!"

"It's just a basic summon," Loretta said, remaining modest. "Not all that amazing if you ask me." She clapped her hands a few times and pointed at Velvet's suitcase. The elemental picked it up with one hand and threw it over its back. "But it does come in handy!"

"Thanks a lot!" Velvet said, and they proceeded to walk toward the academy.

"Don't mention it," Loretta replied. She led the girl into the building and up the staircase, the golem following them with the suitcase. Suddenly, the attitude of the students they met along the way changed dramatically. Suddenly they were all friendly and greeted them with a smile, waved at them, or even came to talk to Loretta. She quickly dismissed them, however.

"Wow, you are pretty popular!" Velvet deduced. "They all seem to love you!"

"I am friendly with many people," the elf explained, wearing a delightful smile. The more Velvet looked at her, the more she came to realize why. This girl was gorgeous. Even in the plain grey uniform that seemed to be the standard attire here, her radiant energy could not be hidden. Her beautiful hair and eyes and the intoxicating smile she wore seemed to naturally attract other elves, like bees drawn to honey. Only that to them, she was perhaps even sweeter.

"Here we are!" Loretta chirped, waking the girl up from her daydreaming. They stood in front of a door that had "Ms. Priscilla Pampleton" inscribed on it with golden letters. She raised her hand and knocked three times. "Miss Pampleton! The exchange student is here!"

The door flung open almost immediately and a middle-aged elf stepped out. She was still pretty much the same as Velvet remembered her from three years back. A slender body, long, wavy pink hair, and a seductive smile. "Ah, you're here already! I see Argus wasted no time in sending you over! Oh, you've grown quite a bit since I've last seen you!"

"Hello, Miss Pampleton!" the girl replied energetically. "You look just like I remember you!"

"Aha! You flatter me, my dear," she put a hand on her shoulder. She then peered over at the golem carrying her suitcase behind her. "Loretta! What have we said about bringing your elementals into the academy? Look at this mess!"

Across the entire hallway and down the stairs where they walked, the creature left muddy footprints behind on the crimson carpet.

"Ah! My apologies!" the elf girl bowed. "Velvet's suitcase looked so heavy and I wanted to help her carry it! I completely forgot about this small detail."

"Don't worry," the teacher waved her hand. "I'll have the next water course student that misbehaves clean this up as punishment." She giggled at her own evil idea.

"That kind of makes me feel even worse about this," Loretta replied, sadness in her voice.

"Nonsense! I already know who it will be! Randall, that little mischief-maker! As for you, my dear Velvet," Priscilla looked back at her, "let me show you to your room!"

"All right!" she chirped and followed her down the hall.

Not a few steps later, the woman came to a stop and turned around. Loretta and her elemental were still following them.

"Oh...right," the girl immediately knew what was wrong. "Elemental, return to me!"

The golem fell apart and the part of her soul that was imbued in it returned to the elf. But it only left an even bigger mess. There was now a pile of dirt and rocks in the hallway, Velvet's suitcase sitting on top of it. Priscilla sighed and shook her head.

"Whoops," Loretta smiled sheepishly. "My bad?"

"Just...take the suitcase if you want to help and come with us," the teacher finally said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You are so talented but so clumsy sometimes."

"Yes, ma'am!" she exclaimed, grabbing the suitcase off the pile and running after them. Priscilla led Velvet and her luggage carrier to the second floor, where they went all the way to the end of a long hallway. There, she unlocked a door to a room and gestured for them to go inside.

"Wow! Is this my room?!" Velvet couldn't believe her eyes. The room was gigantic and incredibly luxurious. The bed was three times the size she had back at her academy; in addition, there was a sofa, a couch, and even her own bathtub in it. Many shelves were mounted on the walls, some filled with flowers and others left empty for her to put her belongings on them. A large window led out on a balcony that oversaw the park through which she had entered. It felt like this room was meant for a princess.

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"It's called Eldar Royal Academy of Magic for a reason, you know," Priscilla said, looking rather proud. "Here, we only treat our students to the very best. The best accommodation, the best food, and the best teachers. The cost, of course, is appropriate. Most of our students are from noble elven families of a higher stature that wish to give their children the best magic education possible. We also pride ourselves in teaching many princes and princesses even in times before the great racial war happened. This is the oldest magic academy in Rumerra, founded in the year 458 after the destruction of Eldar. That's more than 500 years ago! Of course, it went through many remodels before it became what it is now," she concluded.

"Amazing!" Velvet was turning around the room in awe. She couldn't believe she would be staying in a place like this. Loretta put the suitcase down. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Velvet replied, throwing herself on the bed. It was as soft as she imagined it.

"My room is just across the hall from yours," the elf girl said happily. "You can come visit!"

"Heck, yes! Of course I will! Oh, this place is the best!"

"Well, I will let you unpack and get comfortable," Miss Pampleton said, walking out. She stopped in the doorway and peeked back in. "Loretta, can I trust you to show her around?"

"It would be my pleasure," she happily accepted the task. Priscilla nodded. "Where do you want this?" she asked Velvet after the teacher left, holding up the suitcase.

Suddenly, it opened, and everything in it fell out on the floor. "Whoops! Sorry about that."

The other girl only laughed when she saw this. "Miss Pampleton was right! You are clumsy!"

This caused Loretta's cheeks to liven up with color. "Ehehe...sometimes I truly am. I admit."

She saw something that caught her eye lying on the pile of things on the floor. It was a picture of two girls. One held a sword and stood on a makeshift head of a dragon and the other held a staff and stood on a makeshift severed head of a goblin. "Is this your friend?" she asked.

Velvet sat up on the bed. "Ah, yes! That's Arianna and me pretending to be adventurers!"

"You both look so happy," the elf smiled. "I wish I had a friend like that."

This confused the other girl. "Huh? But you must have many friends! Everyone in the academy is greeting you and wants to talk to you!"

"It's not the same," Loretta shook her head. "They just do that because..." She paused.

"Because you're so pretty?" Velvet guessed. This caught the green-haired girl off guard.

"Well..." she said, a bit flustered. "...maybe. Possibly. Sort of. Yes. I guess that's why."

"You seem uncertain. I can assure you; you are pretty! At least by human standards!"

"Thanks," she brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. "That's really nice of you to say."

"Don't mention it!" the human jumped up from the bed and ran over to where her personal belongings were lying at the elf's feet. "Want to help me unpack?"

"I'd be glad to!" Loretta agreed immediately.

They started picking up books and clothes, putting them on shelves and into the wardrobe. There was substantially more of the former compared to the latter and the elf noticed that.

"You sure like to read a lot," she commented and read a title. "Wonders of Water Magic."

"I've read all of these books already," Velvet replied. "That's a good one! I recommend it!"

"Why are you bringing them with you if you already read them?"

"To read them again, of course!" the accomplished young witch replied, puzzling her.

"I don't get it," Loretta said after going through a few more. "There are books on all six types of magic here. Do you study all of them? But which one can you actually do?"

"I can do light, air, and water magic," the girl said casually while folding a shirt.

"Wait...what?" the elf was now wholly lost. "No, really...which type of magic is yours?"

"I just told you. All three of those. I'm a tier-three sorceress."

Loretta dropped the book she was holding and darted over to Velvet. She grabbed her hand and inspected it, her eyes widening. "No way...you're actually a tier-three!"

"Why would I be lying to you about this?" Velvet chuckled. "I'm awesome like that!"

"Only our headmaster and Miss Pampleton are tier three at this academy!" the elf girl exclaimed. "No one else! And they are both in the Council of Mages! How did you do it?!"

"Killed some wyverns, fought a dragon, went to the Kamatayan forest for two years, and killed an ursa major," she quickly explained. "Yeah...that's about it. Oh, and I trained a lot!"

"Wyverns? Dragon? Kamatayan forest? Ursa major?" Loretta repeated as if in a trance. What in the world has this girl been up to? She is still so young, and yet...

"How old are you?" the question came out of Loretta's mouth on its own.

"I'm seventeen," Velvet said. "How about you?"

"What am I doing with my life?" the elf let go of her hand and slumped down on the couch. "You're so young and you did all of these things and became tier three, yet here I am rotting away at this academy for the last six years. I'm eighteen and I merely graduated last year!"

"Don't beat yourself up about it!" her human companion jumped on the couch next to her. "My friend Arianna also rather stayed at the academy after we graduated and she still became an amazing sorceress and person either way! Oh, did I tell you? She will represent our academy at the Magornis in eight months!"

"Really?" Loretta propped herself up. "Did your academy already select their champion?"

"No. The competition will be announced in a month or so. But she's just that good! Of course she will win the whole thing! There's no doubt about it!"

"Wow. You and your friend are pretty amazing. I wish I could meet her too someday!"

"Oh, that's no problem! I will introduce you!" Velvet offered. "You'll like her!"

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

They sat on the couch in silence for a bit before the energetic girl jumped back to her feet. "Well...let's finish unpacking! I'm hungry!"

"Right," Loretta nodded. "I didn't mean to distract us. I just can't believe someone so young has already reached tier three. And I'm friends with them! Oh...sorry, that's a bit too early to say."

"No, it's not!" Velvet corrected her. "It's never too early to call someone a friend!"

"Can I call you my friend then?" the elf looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Of course, you can! And you're my friend too! Let's have fun together while I'm here!"

Loretta's lips curled up in a serene smile that could warm even the coldest of hearts. "Let's."

Thank you for reading this part of the story! I appreciate it!

Did you know? Among all the races in Rumerra, elves are the least trusting of outsiders [https://img.wattpad.com/95ade30f15d3a1888964aa78962adf6d47b84c22/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f635171385474454c4747504e6a413d3d2d313239313437303839362e313732643132306635623938663935333435393534323134313333322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Did you know? Among all the races in Rumerra, elves are the least trusting of outsiders.