In the year that followed their graduation, Arianna taught her friend all she knew about air magic. They practiced both together and with Argus as he taught them more advanced casting techniques, new spells that couldn't even be found in any books at the library, and shared all of the knowledge he gathered over the course of his long and exciting life with them.

Velvet's thirst for adventure was never quenched this way, however. She could hardly contain herself within the walls of the academy and Arianna would often find herself left behind as her adventure-hungry friend wandered off into the surrounding meadows and woods.

There was an abandoned castle nearby that Velvet especially liked to explore. An old reminder of the racial war that ended more than fifty years ago now. Velvet wanted Arianna to accompany her on many occasions, but the other girl always made an excuse not to go. Poking her nose in some dusty castle ruins or traversing a forest was not a particularly pleasant pastime for Arianna. She would much rather spend her time reading books on air magic and practicing her spells safely within the walls of the academy.

Summer came and went, as did autumn and winter. It was spring now and Velvet was progressing with her air magic rapidly. She already knew most novice and intermediate spells as well as a few master level ones. They only touched upon grandmaster ones, though, and mythics were not even on the to-do list yet. On the other hand, Arianna's focus lied exactly on those last two categories. For months she practiced the same spell over and over and over again until she could cast it properly and on a consistent basis. Then, one particularly warm day at the start of Jodayn, it finally happened. She managed to cast Gale Hurricane, the mythic spell she cast in the wyvern cave during their graduation exam. Only this time, she did it without the potion she drank back then.

"Magnificent!" Argus clapped as he and Velvet stood far away on a meadow a few kilometers away from the academy, while Arianna created a storm a safe distance away from them.

Once the raging winds calmed down, the girl ran up to them, holding Velvet's former staff, which now became her own. "I did it! I did it! Wow, I can't believe it!"

"You're amazing!" her friend jumped up and down in excitement. "I knew you had it in you!"

"This is quite the achievement!" the headmaster agreed. "You're only fifteen years old and can already cast a mythic level spell! Velvet may have more raw magic power than you do, but your talent is undeniable. You are more than exceptional, Arianna!"

"Thank you," the girl bowed a little before the man. "I couldn't have done it without your guidance and support in this last year!"

"Don't thank me," he laughed in turn. "Thank yourself! After all, it is your hard work and dedication that has brought you this far. This goes for both of you! Oh, I can't wait to see which one of you gets to represent our academy for the next Magornis!"

The Magornis was a grand tournament held on a specifically designated island, aptly named Tournament island. It was a tradition that started with the end of the great racial war. Every five years, students from all fifteen magic academies in Rumerra would host a competition to select a champion representing them on this prestigious event. Any student that graduated in the previous five years was eligible to compete to become a champion of their respective academy.

These fifteen champions would then travel to Tournament island to compete in an elimination style tournament to crown the most promising young witch or wizard. It was an immense honor for any academy to have their student stand on the top of the magic world like this. The Magornis was easily the most anticipated event in Rumerra and the fact that it only happened every five years reinforced that even further.

"That's right!" Velvet jumped up upon hearing her headmaster mention this. "How could I forget! Now that we graduated, we can finally participate in the Magornis, right?!"

"Indeed," Argus nodded, grooming his beard proudly. "I'm willing to bet my beard one of you will get to be our champion. It could be either one of you!"

"It's gonna be Velvet for sure," Arianna sighed. "I'm not a fighter. I don't think I will even enter the competition to become our academy's champion. Ow!"

"Don't talk like that!" Velvet scolded her, bonking her head. "You will enter. And you will fight me in the finals to decide which one of us represents our academy. Whichever one of us wins, the other will support unconditionally! Promise me!"

"But I really don't like fighting," Arianna whined, rubbing her head. "And that's exactly what the Magornis is about – it's all one big fight!"

"I don't want to hear it," her friend was adamant. "You fought amazingly during our graduation exam! Even now when mock fighting me I can feel you still have so much hidden potential. You're not below me, Arianna. You are my equal in every way!"

Argus nodded and smiled while Velvet was giving her less confident friend a lecture on her own abilities. "She's right you know. There's still a lot you're holding back, I can confirm that. And the Magornis is still three years away. You both have lots of time to polish your magic until then."

"Fine. I'll think about it." Arianna resigned to the peer pressure put on her by her friend and oddly enough, her headmaster.

"Good enough for me!" Velvet exclaimed and started running back towards the academy. "Come on, let's go eat! I'm starving!"

***

Later that day, they both sat on the bench in the park again and talked, like they always did.

"Isn't this amazing?" Arianna asked her friend. "We're really lucky that Argus is nice enough to take us under his wing. I heard a few other students are attending his private lessons too!"

"Yeah, it's great," Velvet replied, her voice not carrying its usual spark.

"What's wrong?" the other girl asked her, immediately noticing something was off. "Is this still about the Magornis? I told you, I will think about it."

"No, it's not that. It's just...I really want to go somewhere. We've spent six years here at the academy now and granted, we learned a lot and it was super fun and exciting and I loved every moment of it..." Her eyes trailed off.

"But?" Arianna tilted her head. "I know there's a 'but' coming, right? Tell me. What is it?"

Velvet sighed. "I've been thinking. With this knowledge I have now...I want to venture out into the world and learn more from practical experience. Meet new people. See new places. You know...go on an actual adventure. Not these make-believe adventures I am having just going to some dusty old ruins and into a forest where the most exciting thing that happens is running into a wolf..."

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"I see," her friend nodded understandingly. "Believe it or not, I've had a feeling the day would come when you mentioned this. I saw it in your eyes lately. You are not the kind of person who would be content with living a quiet and peaceful life. You are not like me."

"I was trying to hide it because I didn't want to seem ungrateful," Velvet admitted. "I guess I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Or make you worry about me if I left for a long time."

Velvet felt Arianna's hand gripping hers and lifted her head, only to be met with Arianna's eyes. This was the moment she's been dreading. But she has been postponing this talk for long enough.

"Look, Velvet," the blonde girl finally said, "I know you want us to go on an adventure together. You've been telling me this since the day we met. And believe me, I really wanted to go with you too. At our graduation, however, it became clear to me that this is not who I was. Well, I sort of knew even before that...what happened then only solidified my stance. I—"

"Don't apologize," Velvet cut her off. "I never even asked if you wanted this or not. You are your own person and I shouldn't have been forcing my wants and needs on you. I am the one who needs to apologize. Sorry, Arianna, for being selfish and expecting you to follow me to the ends of the world. I knew all this time you don't really enjoy this sort of thing, yet I still did it, hoping you would change your mind one day. It's really alright. You don't have to."

"So...what does this mean then?" Arianna asked after a short silence that felt like eternity. She felt a pit building in her stomach, knowing the answer will not be to her liking.

"It means we have to part ways unfortunately," Velvet spoke with a strain in her voice.

"P-part ways?" Arianna felt like she was hit with a large boulder. She knew it would eventually come to this. Velvet's thirst for adventure was insatiable and it was only a matter of time before it got the better of her. Looks like this was finally it.

"Don't worry, though," Velvet reassured her. "This will only be temporary. I have a plan already, actually. Want to hear it? If you like it, we can ask Argus about it!"

"A plan? What could she possibly have in mind? A plan that involves them parting ways?"

"Alright, listen to this!" Velvet suddenly perked up again, her usual spark returning to her eyes. "I always wanted to spread magic among the people. You know, teach them like you've taught me this last year! Once I get more experience of course..."

"So...you want to become a teacher?" Arianna raised her eyebrow. "But then going on an adventure makes no sense, does it? Shouldn't you stay here and work under Argus then?"

"I don't just want to be a teacher." The other girl shook her head. "I was thinking..."

"Oh, dear..." her friend intervened, a concerned look on her face. "...that never ends well."

"Very funny!" Velvet crossed her arms. "Do you want to hear my idea or not?"

"Sure, go ahead! Sorry for interrupting."

"Alright, so," she continued, "I got to thinking. There are all these exciting people out there! People from different races that have different cultures and different backgrounds. But the borders are closed, so we can't really cross freely and meet each other. And look, there is only humans here at the academy because of that!"

"Yes...so?" Arianna didn't quite follow. Where was she going with this?

"So, I got a brilliant idea! Why don't you and I start an academy that all the different races can attend? A magic academy for everyone! Because magic shouldn't be limited by borders!"

"I knew something crazy would come out of your mouth!" the golden-haired girl shouted.

"Hey! It's not that crazy! Just imagine! Kids from all over the world coming together to learn about magic! And you and I are there to teach them about it! How amazing would that be?"

"More like, how impossible would that be!" Arianna rolled her eyes. "We only just graduated last year and you want to start your own academy of magic?! Have you fallen on your head lately? We're only fifteen years old! We don't even know what we are doing ourselves yet!"

"That's exactly what gives us an advantage!" Velvet smiled gleefully. "If we start working towards this goal now, maybe five years or ten years down the road we can achieve it!"

"I get it now," Arianna nodded. "You've lost it completely! There is a reason the borders are closed. You read the history books as well as I did! The books about the racial war and why it happened. We can't get along! What makes you think elves would want anything to do with dracons or jakkals with humans or any other possible combination?"

"I think those books are wrong!" the other girl stated firmly. "We can get along if we come together for the same cause! And what better cause is there than learning magic?"

"You read one too many fantasy books, Vel," Arianna tried to bring her back to reality. "It's not as simple as just meeting a bunch of people and making friends with them and then somehow everything will work out the way you wanted it to. That's not how life works!"

"If you meet the right people, it can! Besides, what harm is there in trying? If our plan fails, you can still go back to reading books and living your life in peace like you wanted!"

"You just talked about how you don't want to force me into stuff," Arianna sighed. "And now five minutes later you are trying to force me into starting a magic academy with you?"

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," Velvet backtracked a bit. "But say this was doable. Would you not want to be a part of this? Is this not a goal worth working towards?"

"Well," she said hesitantly, "I did enjoy teaching you over this last year. So I guess I at least like it a little bit. But I never really thought about what I wanted to do in life..."

"You see? You do like teaching! I saw it in your eyes when you taught me!"

"Alright, I admit I like it," Arianna finally gave in. "It feels good giving back to people."

"Exactly!" the other girl exclaimed. "Here's an idea. Why don't we go to Argus and ask him how it's done? Surely he knows it if he founded this academy!"

"I don't know about this..." her friend remained skeptical. This didn't stop Velvet from dragging her off to the headmaster's office right that very day, though.

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

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Did you know? The only magic academy larger than the Everdale one is the elven Royal Academy of Magic founded in their capital of Eldar.