Rumerra - The Journey Begins

Chapter 1 - The Girl who loves Fairy Tales (Part II)

Miss Reinard walked into the class with long, determined steps. Closing the door behind her, elegant as always, she strode directly to her table in front of the blackboard and turned towards the class.

There was quite the commotion going on, even more so than usual as most pupils had not yet realized that she was there. Some were talking and laughing, others showing off the things they brought with them for today's assignment. Four boys in the back were playing some sort of card game to which no one else really knew the rules—maybe they just made them up themselves. Two of them were chasing each other between the tables. It was pure chaos.

"Ahem!" the teacher alerted them to her presence, but most of them didn't seem to hear or care about her and simply continued doing whatever it is they were doing.

"AHEM!" she repeated again, much louder this time. The class slowly quieted down, children returning to their seats, the boys laying down the cards and turning around to face her. Miss Reinard was not particularly strict nor did she like to shout a lot, but the children respected her and for the most part she had no trouble getting them to listen to her. She gave them a minute to completely settle down before she started speaking.

"Good morning everyone! Let us start by checking if you are all here. Please raise your hand and shout 'here' when I call your name. Now then, Lisa Artridge!"

"Here!" a black-haired girl in the second row responded.

"Nicolas Avern!"

"Here!" a boy with a white shirt and leather straps raised his hand. She called about three or four more names and after that...

"Velvet Crow!" Her call remained unanswered. The kids were turning around, looking at an empty table at the back, next to the window.

"She probably got lost looking for fairies on the way here!" a girl with neatly combed blonde hair, a silver hairpin, and a pastel-pink blouse with a white collar sitting in the first row commented. The class started giggling.

"Velvet Crow, are you here?" she repeated, ignoring the snarky remark. Just as she did the door flung open and an out-of-breath Velvet stumbled into class.

"I'm here! I'm he—" she took another step forward only to trip on her oversized cloak and fall flat on her face, both the wooden staff and the apple she was given rolling across the floor. The class exploded in laughter.

"Now that is an entrance!" the snarky girl commented and clapped her hands wearing a huge grin on her face. "You know, it's called a show-and-tell, not a trip-and-fall. And what's with that get-up?"

"That's enough, Penelope!" the teacher said looking at her sternly as she helped Velvet up. "That must have hurt. Are you alright?"

"It's nothing...I'll be alright." She winced a bit and rubbed her nose. A little bit of blood was trickling down from it.

"You're bleeding," Miss Reinard said with concern as she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped off the blood from under her nose. "Hold it and keep it pressed here. It should stop after a while."

"Thank you," Velvet said as she took hold of it. She then proceeded to pick up her staff and apple and went over to her desk, the kids giggling as she passed them. Penelope looked especially pleased by her misfortune.

"Alright, let us continue." Brushing it off as if nothing happened, the calling of names continued. Once everyone was confirmed present, the true assignment could begin.

"As you all know, we are doing things a bit differently this last week of school. You have your grades already, which means we can have a little fun before the end of the year. Today we will be talking about what you want to be doing when you grow up. You all had the assignment to interview your parents and prepare a short presentation. I know not all of you want to go down the same path as them, which is completely fine. We need to each follow our own dreams after all. My father was a merchant, for example, but I always wanted to spread knowledge to others. That is why I became a teacher.
I also told you to bring props and tools to help you with your presentation, if you wish to do so. So let's get started, I am very eager to hear what you have to say. And remember, this is just for fun, so there are no wrong answers! Tell us what you want without hesitation!"

"Without hesitation..." Velvet muttered to herself. She wanted to volunteer, but the blood still didn't stop completely and she didn't want to go in front of the class like that, so she had no choice but to wait.

A kid named Marco took the stage first and he was carrying something heavy, wrapped in a leather cloth. He laid it in front of himself as he stood before the class and wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking visibly relieved that the item has finally reached its intended destination.

"Whenever you are ready, Marco!" The teacher smiled at him, encouraging the boy to start.

"My name is Marco and my father is a blacksmith," the boy started. "I watched him work a lot and I really like how he can make beautiful swords, shields, and other things from metal. I help him sometimes with small things, but he says I am too young to hold a hammer. He says it's dangerous and I could get hurt. I know he is just looking out for me. I eat as much as I can every day because I want to grow big and strong, so I can hold the hammer.

My father says he is the happiest when someone takes his sword and compliments how sharp it is. When I grow up, I want to be a blacksmith like my father. I want to make swords and shields and all sorts of things. And I want people to compliment them, just like they do his," Marco concluded. He was a bit shaky when talking and stopped a couple of times to remember what he wants to say, but other than that he was quite fluent for a nine-year-old.

"Bravo! Good job!" Miss Reinard clapped and the entire class joined her. "But what did you bring us there, if I may ask?" she pointed at the item wrapped in cloth at his feet. Marco proceeded to unwrap it and a round shield was uncovered, made out of iron and wood. He lifted it, albeit with a bit of struggle.

"This is a shield that my grandfather gave to my father before he passed. My father said it will belong to me one day. It has been in the family for over 150 years," he said proudly.

"That's a beautiful shield!" the teacher said. There were some comments from the class as well.

"Wow, amazing!"

"Awesome!"

"Can I hold it?"

Marco passed the shield around, but made sure to tell every single person to be careful and that it is heavy before he let them hold it. The boys were far more interested in this than the girls, to no surprise. The class gave another round of applause before Marco returned to his seat.

Next, a girl named Natalie came up and talked about wanting to become a tailor. She brought a doll she sewed herself along with some sewing utensils. After that, a boy named Horace talked about wanting to be a knight.

Penelope talked about becoming a merchant. Her family was pretty well off. Not exactly rich like the dukes, but they made quite a bit of money being merchants and it showed. Most of the other kids' parents were farmers or worked somewhere in or around town. Naturally, she thought she was better than them. What was more bizarre is that the majority of kids actually looked up to her despite her selfish and presumptuous behavior. Others followed Penelope, talking about all sorts of things.

Velvet listened to their presentations and was getting increasingly nervous—no one, not one of them talked about magic or wanting to become a wizard or a witch. This baffled her as magic was not that uncommon in these lands. In fact, it was almost all around you, if only you looked in the right places. The town of Simula did have a strikingly low amount of wizards though.

Maybe it was because most of the wizarding families moved further north, leaving only the markless behind in these parts. The markless is what people without any affinity for magic are called. Either way, Velvet felt alone in her aspirations. Her classmates had no understanding of it. And no interest in understanding it either, as it seemed. For her though, magic was everything. She was hooked from the first time her mother read her the tale of Thoracc the light wizard. Many tales followed that one.

After her mother passed from an illness, her father took on the role of storyteller. As soon as she learned how to read, she was borrowing books on magic from the town's library, studying them deep into the night. It wasn't even just fairytales anymore. Actual books on spells, potions, and magic equipment landed in her hands and were devoured by her eager amber eyes. Magic was her world and she wanted to be a part of it, not just an outsider staring in. But the more she thought about it, the more doubt began to creep in.

What if I'm not blessed with an affinity for magic? What if my mark never appears? What if I really am a fool for thinking I can become a witch?

"Velvet!" She suddenly snapped back to reality as she heard her name. "You're the last one left. Would you care to come forward?"

She pushed the gloomy thoughts away and took a deep breath. Without saying a word she picked up her wooden staff, which was resting at the side of her table, readjusted her pointy hat, and stood up, making her way to the front of the class. A muffled giggle or two was heard as she passed her classmates once again, but it hardly fazed her. Onward she marched, with her head held high and determination in her eyes.

As she reached the front of the teacher's desk, she spun around on her heel to face the class and slammed her staff to the ground with a loud thump, coming to a stop. The room fell into total silence for a few moments. You could hear the birds chirp outside and the wooden clock ticking away on the back wall.

"My name is Velvet Crow...« she started before Miss Reinard even had a chance to give her the go-ahead "...and I am here to talk about my passion—magic. Most of you know already that my father is no wizard. My mother was not one either. So why do I want to become a witch then, you are probably asking yourself?"

She paused for a brief moment and scanned the class with her eyes. "The answer is simple," she continued. "I have no idea why, I just love magic!"

"Go figure," Penelope rolled her eyes. "That is the stupidest reason I ever heard."

"Penelope!" the teacher intervened, but Velvet did not allow herself to be thrown off by her comment and simply carried on. Or so it seemed on the outside. On the inside, however, something snapped. She had enough of this girl. It was always like this. Penelope was rude to almost everyone, but to her even more so. It boggled her mind how anyone liked her at all. But not today. Not today!

"It's the truth!" Velvet continued, ignoring her remark. "I want to become a witch because I fell in love with magic. It's exciting, mysterious, and beautiful. It has been my passion ever since I can remember." Then she pointed her staff towards Penelope and smirked. "But you wouldn't know anything about passion, would you?"

To no one's surprise, this really set the girl off. She stood up. "How dare you talk to me like that! Who do you think you—"

"NO!" Velvet cut her off, "Who do you think you are, interrupting me like that? Did I do that to you when you were talking?! I did not. Now sit down and let me finish!"

"I..." Penelope wanted to say something in retort.

"SIT. DOWN." The cloaked girl looked her straight in the eyes with flames in her own. And sit down she did, without saying another word. The whole class was in shock. Even Miss Reinard was at a loss for words. Velvet was always the quiet girl who read fairy tales and magic books between breaks. Not talking much, if at all. But the one who was standing in front of them right now was not the kind and timid girl they all knew. She looked toward the teacher's desk and cleared her throat.

"May I continue?"

"Go ahead," the woman said after a brief pause. It looked like she was still processing what had just transpired before her.

"As I was saying," Velvet carried on, "magic has been my passion for the longest time. Ever since my mother first read me the story of 'Thoracc the light wizard,' I wanted to learn everything I could about magic. I already learned some spells, but they won't work until I get my mark."

"Excuse me for stopping you, but if you don't mind, would you care to explain to the class what you mean by that?" the teacher asked. The girl's eyes lit up. Of course she was eager to explain. She could do it for hours and hours if only there was someone who would listen.

"A mark represents an individual's affiliation with a specific type of magic," she stated gleefully.

Miss Reinard raised her brow. Those are not words that a nine-year-old uses, she thought to herself. She must be citing one of the books she read. And how right she was.

"There are six types of magic in Rumerra, each tied to their own element—air, water, fire, earth, light and darkness." Velvet continued her explanation, completely absorbed. "A wizard can only cast magic to which he carries an affiliation to. If I have the mark of light, I can cast light magic. If I have the mark of fire, I can cast fire magic, and so on. But you are not born with it. A mark usually appears between the ages of twelve and sixteen. It is also possible to have multiple marks. This means you can cast multiple types of magic. Wizards are divided into tiers based on how many marks they have. If you have just one, you are called a tier one. If you have two, you are a tier two, and so on, all the way up to tier six. There were only four wizards in history who got five marks and no one has ever become a tier six."

"I see you are very knowledgeable about this," her teacher cut her explanation short and smiled at her. "But I have to remind you to keep it short. Class is almost over."

"Right." The girl nodded, a dash of disappointment in her voice. "Anyway, I can't wait to get my mark so I can start practicing for real! After I finish here, I want to go to a magic academy and meet other witches and wizards. I want to see the world, go on lots of adventures and learn all there is about magic. And when I have, I want to help others understand magic better! That is what my dream is!"

"So you want to become a magic teacher? That's great!" Miss Reinard clapped. The class joined her.

But not Penelope. She was looking down at her table gritting her teeth and crushing a pencil in her fist. How dare she humiliate me like this in front of everyone! I'll teach her to mess with me! 

She was so engrossed in her revenge plotting that she didn't even notice when the teacher dismissed the class and everyone around her started running towards the door to enjoy their break. Velvet was the last one at the door when Miss Reinard spoke up.

"Can I have a word with you, Velvet? You too, Penelope."

Thank you for reading this part of the story! Velvet is proud of you!

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