They spent the next few days preparing and making a plan of action. It was decided that they would complete Velvet's task first since it was much easier. After that, they would make their way up the mountain and to the wyvern's nest to complete Arianna's task.

Every student received a map showing them the way to the task they were assigned. Luck was on their side and they realized that their assignments were only a four-day walking distance or a two-day riding distance apart. Still, the first one was also a two days' ride away from the academy, which meant that they had to execute everything perfectly to be able to get back in time.

Neither of the girls knew how to ride a horse, but fortunately, they would be spared the walking regardless. Each pair namely had a carriage and a coachman assigned that would take them to the town nearest to their task, wait for them there, and take them back upon their request.

"If we use the carriage to travel to the first task, complete it, and then have it take us to the second one, we could be done with the whole thing in four days!" Velvet calculated. "Then all that is left to do is to get back to the academy! We can do this!"

"Assuming we can clear both tasks on the same day we get there," Arianna reminded her.

"We will!" her friend reassured her. "Don't worry about it!"

Arianna did worry about it. While Velvet's plan worked on paper, she knew things would most definitely not go as smoothly as they hoped for. Unexpected stuff happened all the time. There could be a roadblock, a rock breaks a wheel on the carriage and they have to walk, they get lost, or the most probable one — they have trouble completing the tasks in time!

Velvet remained more optimistic. On the final day before their departure, she was happily packing supplies and humming a merry tune while doing so, grinning from ear to ear all the while.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Arianna was baffled. "It's like you don't even care!"

"Oh, trust me, I care more than I ever cared about anything!" the smiling girl said. "It's just, I somehow know we will do it! I can't explain it...I guess I just have faith in us!"

"Faith..." the blonde girl mumbled as she glanced down at her almost fully stuffed backpack. Maybe Velvet was right. Maybe all she needed was to have faith in them, be confident in their abilities, and just do her best. Perhaps that is all it takes. She decided to give it a try.

***

"Greetings, future graduates!" Ralph addressed the crowd of students later that day. "Firstly, I would like to congratulate you all on completing the oral and written parts of your graduation exam. Good job! You can be proud of yourselves!" A short applause followed.

"Whether you were successful at it or not remains to be seen," he continued. "But you are not finished yet! As you know, the practical part of the exam is now upon us. All of you have selected an older partner to accompany you and received a random task to complete within seven days. You have trained and prepared with them over the last few weeks and months. And now, it is time to put all your knowledge and skill to the test in completing your task!"

The audience grew restless and the speaker had to wave his hands to get them to settle down.

"Please pay close attention! I will now explain the rules and details! You will receive a small booklet where everything is written down, so you do not forget these things, but I will only explain them once right now!" He cleared his throat and procured a piece of paper.

"Firstly!" he began. "Each pair receives a carriage and a coachman that will drive you to your desired location. The carriages will be waiting for you in front of the academy tomorrow at dawn! That is also when your time officially starts running. However, the coachmen have been given specific instructions to only drive to settlements, meaning you cannot use the carriage to traverse dangerous paths and rocky terrain. You will have to make the final approach to your designated area on foot! I hope that is clear enough!"

Ralph paused and glanced over the audience which had fallen silent. Some students nodded while others were simply looking at him with wide eyes. A few of them appeared to be a bit worried. Pressure was starting to build and the realization that tomorrow things would truly start going down weighed heavy on their young hearts.

Velvet was bouncing up and down like crazy next to a serious Arianna. "Can you please calm down?!" She turned to her.

"I can't! I'm so excited! We leave tomorrow, can you believe it?! Finally, a real adventure!"

The other girl sighed. "I know...that's what worries me."

"Secondly!" the assistant continued. "Conditions for clearing the task! No two tasks are the same and each one contains something you have to recover! Sometimes it is a treasure we planted, other times it is an item or a part of a creature—like a tooth or a head. You clear the task by bringing the required item back to the academy by sunset on the seventh day since you departed! Coming back without the item or coming back later results in failure!"

A boy in the front row raised his hand and Ralph pointed toward him. "Yes? Do you have a question, perhaps? If so, ask away! I will be glad to answer it!"

"Has anyone ever not returned?" he asked fearfully. "As in...died?"

The audience grew restless once again and the scholar on the stage had to calm them down before clearing his throat. "Ehem...that is...an interesting question indeed! I know some of you might be afraid of the tasks you received. A few of them may appear quite daunting. But I am happy to say that there hasn't been a casualty or a serious injury in a long, long time!"

He procured a small square-shaped stone and held it up above his head. "Which brings me to my third point! Apart from your own supplies and equipment, you will each also receive a teleportation tablet, like this one! If you find yourself in a pinch, all you have to do is break it and it will teleport the closest living thing right back here to the academy!"

Students once again started talking to each other and exchanging puzzled glances.

"Teleportation?" Arianna muttered under her breath. "How does that even work?"

"Oh, it's simple!" Velvet grinned and pointed towards a large stone with runic engravements in the middle of the park where they were gathered. "See that thing? It's filled with pure magic!"

"Pure magic?" the other girl cocked her eyebrow. "I can't say I've ever heard of that."

"It was in one of the books I read titled Gone in a Flash," her knowledgeable friend explained. "Apparently, creatures, especially those within the Kamatayan forest, possess a special type of magic that when extracted in large amounts can be used for teleportation!"

"What does that have to do with this stone, though?" Arianna asked, still confused.

"It acts as a beacon!" Velvet said excitedly as if she was waiting for someone to finally ask her this question. If there was one thing she loved to do more than gather knowledge, it was to share it with others.

"I think the correct term is jumpstone," she said, scratching her chin. "A jumpstone is an object filled with lots and lots and lots of pure magic! These smaller stones, called teleportation tablets, are also filled with it using a special process. Once broken, live magic latches onto the nearest living being and pulls it towards the jumpstone! And there you have it! Instant teleportation!"

"Ohh, I see..." Arianna said, glancing towards the stone in the center of the park. "So it does have a purpose after all! And here I thought this was just here for decoration!"

"You should have asked me sooner and I would've explained it to you!" Velvet said.

"How many creatures did they have to extract magic from to do that?" Arianna wondered.

"Hundreds!" the other girl exclaimed. "It's crazy how much of it is needed apparently to just make a single teleportation tablet. That's what the book said at least. It didn't detail the process of doing it, though, so I can't tell you about that. But isn't this fascinating?!"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"It sure is," Arianna agreed. "I knew teleportation was possible, but I had no idea that's how it worked. Makes me feel kind of bad for all those creatures who died just for this."

Meanwhile, Ralph was answering more questions from the students and continued with his speech.

"Oh, no!" The blonde girl jumped up. "We've gotten distracted! What did he say?!"

"Eh, don't worry about it!" Velvet waved her hand. "It's all in the booklet anyway, so we can go over it again later when we get back to our room." This calmed Arianna down a bit.

"...that said," the scholar on the stage concluded, "I wish to now welcome our guest of honor. She is a member of the Council of Mages alongside our very own headmaster! Coming from the elven kingdom, please give a round of applause for the youngest sorcerer to ever be voted into the Council, the esteemed Miss Priscilla Pampleton!"

All the students clapped as a luscious elven woman with long, wavy pink hair walked on stage. She glanced at Ralph and smiled softly. "Thank you for such kind words, my dear."

The sorcerer nodded back. But as soon as she turned around to face the students, he sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering "I just said what that old fart told me to..."

"It's an elf!" Velvet exclaimed, earning a scornful look from her friend. "Don't yell that!"

"Look at that hair!" she continued, completely ignoring her. "She's so pretty!"

This was the first time most of the students saw an elf in the flesh, due to the borders being closed, and thus diplomatic visits like this turned into a very rare occasion. Arianna had to admit that the woman's look was quite exotic. Even her dress was very colorful and bold, filling out all the right areas. It was evident that she cared a great deal about how she presented herself and spared no expense when it came to her outfit.

It was for this very reason that Ralph despised her so much. In his opinion, the only reason she got voted into the Council was because, as he put it, "The horny old bastards wanted someone pretty to look at."

There was no denying, though, that she was an excellent sorceress as well. Harnessing the power of three different elements was no joke in the magic world and only a few managed to accomplish this feat.

"It is an honor to be here among you all!" Priscilla started off her speech. "Let me first say that I am delighted to see so many young people on the verge of graduation! It may be a bit too soon to celebrate yet, but I think you all deserve a round of applause, don't you?"

She started clapping and eyed Ralph to join her. Reluctantly, he obliged and started clapping as well, as did all the students. After the applause died down, she continued.

"There is an old elven saying: 'The future of a nation is as bright as the smiles of its children.' If there is any truth to that, I think Ardor has a great future ahead of it! On that note, I ask you to look at the person next to you!" Students turned to one another, facing their partners. Arianna and Velvet looked at each other and smiled.

"Among you are great sorcerers of the future!" she said after a brief pause. "Who knows? Maybe the very person you are looking at right now will be someone who will be sitting at the table of the Council of Mages! Maybe they will be the headmaster of a magic academy that is for now yet unfounded! Maybe they will even be the first person after hundreds of years to achieve tier five and go down in history! It's all possible! Your hopes and dreams should soar freely on this day!"

Velvet's smile widened when she heard those words. What she would give to achieve either of those feats. It would be a dream come true for the young sorceress!

"Graduating here is only a first step on your journey! Then begins the real quest! The quest for knowledge! The quest of life! In the name of the Council of Mages and on behalf of the elven king, Varus Hoshinov, I wish you all the best of luck on your journey! May the stars guide you and may the gods protect you from all harm!"

A big applause echoed across the park as the elf bowed slightly, having concluded her speech. She winked at Ralph, before walking off the stage and sitting on a bench next to Argus, who was observing the whole event from the sidelines. One would be lying if he would say that the old man wasn't enjoying this lovely company.

"You're beaut— I mean, that was beautiful, Miss Pampleton!" he said with a flustered tone.

"Why, thank you, Argus!" The elf smiled lovingly and fixed a loose strand of hair.

His assistant watched them with a disgusted look. Old fart probably didn't even hear a word that came out of her mouth! he thought and could hardly resist the urge to vomit as he saw the man lean closer to her and whisper something that made her giggle shyly and slap his knee playfully. That woman is half your age, Sir! What the fuck are you doing?! Ew!

Ralph recollected himself enough to step forward and conclude the event, wishing the students good luck one more time and sending them back to their rooms to make their final preparations. To his horror, one of the students didn't go back to her room. Velvet instead walked directly into the headmaster's love nest and interrupted their (hopefully not) intimate talk.

"Hello, Miss Pampleton!" the ambitious young sorceress greeted the elf and turned to Argus after that. "Hey, Argus!"

"Why hello there, little girl!" Priscilla replied in an overly loving tone. "And just who might you be?"

"This is the girl I've been telling you about!" the old man introduced her with a smile. "The one you so kindly gave your vote for at the last Council meeting! My star student, Velvet Crow!"

"Ohh, so you're the one, huh?" The woman was instantly intrigued. "So young and already graduating! How old did you say you were, my dear?"

"I will be fourteen in one month!" the girl announced proudly.

"Oh my goodness! I only received my first mark at that age!" she exclaimed in shock. "You are outstanding, darling! Truly a prodigy in every sense of the word!"

"Thanks!" Velvet graciously accepted her compliment, not really caring either way. "I want to travel the world and meet lots of different people from all races and learn all there is about magic!" she chirped happily.

"I bet you do!" The elf smiled. "You're so sweet. So what can I help you with? I assume you came here because you have a question you want to ask?"

"Yes!" Her eyes lit up with childlike curiosity. "I want to know more about elves! Is it true that you live in trees? And that your ears never stop growing?! How are the elven lands like?"

"Slow down!" The woman threw her hands up and laughed. "I can only answer one question at a time, you know! But I love how curious you are! You came to the right person!"

Argus laughed along with her. "I told you she was! Velvet wants to know everything!"

"Sorry about that." Ralph put his hands on the girl's shoulders and started pulling her away. "My apologies if she interrupted you two. Come on Velvet, let's get you back to your room!"

"Noo!" she shouted and tried to break free from his strong grasp. "I want to talk to the elf!"

"Come on, Ralphie boy!" The headmaster chuckled. "Let the girl go. She just wants to talk."

"She isn't bothering us," Priscilla added and gave him a stern look. He sighed and let go of her before excusing himself and leaving the three of them alone.

Arianna was already sleeping soundly when Velvet snuck into the room on her tiptoes and slipped under the sheets, clenching her staff tightly as she eagerly awaited the sun to rise on the next day.

Thank you for reading this chapter part! If you enjoyed it, kindly leave a rating! It helps other people to find this story!

[https://img.wattpad.com/86975e27fce9fc87ae654633cb7b380c85b7857c/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4f79774457673669666569766f673d3d2d313236373432353734362e313731336563353037326233343235663233343735313235313839342e6a7067]

Did you know? Contrary to what her name might suggest, Velvet's favorite color is actually yellow.