The celebrations had begun long ago, King Fellen having announced the human as a guest of honor before allowing the food to begin being served. Mixed emotions ran through the crowd at the announcement of their guest, but one thing they couldn't hold back excitement for was the food. Even Torrin was excited for the feast.

The celebration took place in a forest clearing some few miles from the training hall, deeper into the forest away from the teleporter. Lights of various colors hung from the bridges between the trees, lighting up the clearing in vivid shades of bright colors to set a cheerful mood. A gigantic tree stump rising a few feet from the ground could be seen on one side of the table-dotted clearing as people danced atop it to ethereal music played by exotic instruments Torrin had never seen or heard before.

The Elven people were dressed in ornate, flowing clothing of all sorts. Bright colors seemed to be the prominent choice for most. Torrin finished his meal in complete silence, surrounded by whispering elves who avoided his gaze. The king and queen had sat with him briefly during the meal, before heading off to dance. The atmosphere after the meal was cheerful and people were delightedly chatting away with each other, discussing the news of the human's arrival and his subsequent battle with Ollivel or gossiping about this or that.

Torrin sat at a table alone, grumbling to himself. He hadn't realized before how much he would hate the celebration as it reminded him of his last day on Sole, his failed engagement party where he'd been murdered. Any moment now he was expecting to be attacked once more, continuing his cycle of bad luck. One thing Torrin was glad of was that the elves seemed to avoid him like a deadly plague, so he could at least sit alone while he stewed in his own emotions, praying to every god above the festivities would be over soon.

'I used to love celebrations... Now they just seem so pointless after--'

"Hey, Rin," a cheerful voice called from over Torrin's shoulder, interrupting his depressing thoughts.

Torrin held back a sigh as he turned to face the familiar voice. Tillien stood with the same two elves Torrin had seen him with in the washroom of the training hall. Luckily, the trio was fully clothed this time in matching blue and white robes. Tillien wore a beaming smile, whereas his two friends were awkwardly shuffling their feet back and forth, seemingly avoiding Torrin's piercing gaze.

"Hi there, Tillien," Torrin greeted, trying to seem friendly as he raised a half empty glass in greeting.

Tillien looked around the empty table, "Where is everyone else?"

Nearly choking on the sip he had taken, Torrin replied in a deadpan manner, "Oh, don't worry about them," He pointed towards the large tree stump, "All of my new friends went out to dance."

Looking between Torrin and the dance floor, Tillien's face fell, "That bad, is it?"

Torrin grunted in reply, downing the rest of his drink.

"Well, do you mind if we join you, then?" Tillien asked, his beaming smile returning.

Torrin's gaze lingered on the young elf for a long moment before shrugging his acceptance, waving at the empty seats, "Why not, no one else is using these."

The trio of elves sat at the empty table, followed by an extended awkward silence. Torrin ignored them and listened to the faint notes of music ringing from the platform, wishing this night would be over already. His gaze remained stuck in the distance, thoughts of Perria running through his mind.

"Did you end up finishing?" Tillien cut into the silence, "Your elemental affinity testing that is."

"Mhm," Torrin nodded, still looking into the distance, "Water is my strongest affinity right now."

"Oh, really? That's great! Maybe we can train together some time, then," the elf said excitedly, before a thoughtful look took control of his delicate features, "Wait. Didn't you say you also have an affinity with wind mana?"

"And earth." Torrin answered distractedly, chuckling, "Also fire, though my control is abysmal, I must admit."

The sound of silence brought Torrin's attention back to the table. The three elves were equally sharing a dumbfounded expression, to which Torrin just shrugged.

"I know, only being great with three elements?" Torrin sighed wistfully, "As someone once told me, you can't be good at everything."

After another extended pause, Tillien finally broke, "Are you being serious?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Torrin nodded, a frown marring his face as he continued, "Not sure why fire is so slippery for me. The other three were much easier to get a hold of."

"Not that! You're upset about having a decent affinity with three elements, with even a fourth minor affinity?" Tillien asked, a tone of pleading entering his voice.

"Tillien," Torrin began, his gaze turning onto the elf, brows furrowing, "Am I not being clear in what I say? Or do you always clarify every statement that's made?"

Tillien chuckled awkwardly, "Rin, it's not about what you're saying, it's how you're saying it." the elf's hand scratched the back of his head as he continued, "Anyone else would be thrilled to have affinities with multiple elements when they start their training... Much less having access to all four right away."

"There lies the issue, Tillien," Torrin huffed, staring into the distance once more, "I'm not anyone else. I need to be strong and I don't have time..." After his words, silence reigned once more; the sound of the music and conversations around them but a blur to Torrin's distracted mind.

"Okay, fine!" Tillien said suddenly, "Forget this party, no one will even miss us. Let's go to the training hall so we can practice!"

The glum mood shrouding Torrin faded like mist in the morning sun. A small smile crept its way onto his face as he watched the elf thoughtfully for a long moment.

Torrin finally gave in, his smile beaming, "That sounds like a great idea, Tillien. Lead the way!"

Tillien's companions glanced around nervously as Tillien and Torrin stood to leave. After exchanging a quick glance between the themselves, the other two elves rose to join them as well. The walk through the forest was quick, the miles eaten up by their eager strides, the group soon arriving at the empty training hall.

Torrin stretched in the circle as Tillien activated it. The elf with a seemingly ever jovial mood joined Torrin in the circle as his friends watched from the side. The ring around the two lit up slowly, indicating the protections were in place.

Tillien nodded to Torrin, waving at the containers of elements beside the circle. Torrin spun up his core, reaching out for the container of water, lifting the substance into the air and bringing it circling around him as he'd seen the others do earlier.

The liquid swirled around him lazily as he moved, before sending the water shooting towards Tillien. The elf smiled as he intercepted the incoming water with a step to the side and a raised hand, allowing the liquid to flow down his arm and wrap itself around him. The mana infused water moved as if it were a sentient being as Tillien swirled it around himself with elegant movements, before stepping forward and sending it hurtling toward Torrin.

Torrin tried mirroring the elf's movements, but ended up losing control of the water as he was too focused on his body. Torrin and Tillien looked at each other for a long moment as Torrin stood in his drenched clothing. As if it were planned, they both laughed heartily.

The two trained for an entire hour straight before taking a quick break, Torrin making a bit of progress on making his movements mirror the elf's. After the two finished, they sat on the floor in the circle. Torrin and his training partner chatted about how Torrin could improve, and were soon joined by the other two elves.

"You know, Torrin? I just realized I haven't introduced my friends, here," Tillien said, pointing out his desired target, "This is Jorien, an orange core mage with an affinity for earth." Jorien was a full two heads taller than Torrin with blonde hair that almost seemed green, his face leaned more masculine in nature with a broad nose, rather than the typical delicate, feminine traits of many of the other elves Torrin had seen.

"And this," Tillien began, pointed towards the remaining friend, "Is my good friend--well, cousin, really--Tellivel Velar, who is also an orange core mage, with an affinity to both wind and water."

Tellivel was a tall and lanky fellow with hair the same color as Tillien's--a blondish-silver hue. Now that Torrin took the time to look at the two sitting next to each other, he could definitely see some hint of a family resemblance. Torrin noticed a trend in the naming traditions of the elves.

Torrin nodded at the pair of recently introduced elves, "Nice to finally meet you, I'm Rin. I have an affinity to all the elements," he finished awkwardly.

Tillien smiled at the scene, "Oh, I don't know if I've said what elements I have an affinity for yet, but it's wind and water, as well. And my core is on the cusp of advancing to the yellow stage, but I'm trying to master my control of water before pushing it further."

Torrin's expression became thoughtful, causing Tillien to ask, "What is it, Rin? You've got a look on your face like you want to ask something."

"I'm quite curious, Tillien," Torrin said, "I've not seen many elves practicing with fire... Is that normal? None of you lot have any affinity for it, either. Besides a couple of elves I spied using it earlier, I've only really seen Ollivel use it."

Tillien sighed sadly, "It's quite normal, actually. For whatever reason, the Elven people don't usually develop an affinity for fire mana. Earth and water are the most common affinities we awaken, along with air coming in a close third," he shook his head, "Fire, though? We don't seem to awaken it too often, and hardly ever as our first affinity."

"Is there a reason for that?" Torrin asked.

"No one really knows," Tillien shrugged, "But some people have theories...one such theory is that we live in a damn forest, so our bodies naturally avoid trying to develop the ability to torch it down."

The elves all laughed and Torrin joined in, "Yeah, that might make a bit of sense."

"But no one actually knows. It could just be something our race isn't good at, I'm not sure."

This made Torrin think back to Ollivel's words from before, "Hey, doesn't the princess have a fire affinity?"

Tillien's eyes widened, "The princess, eh?" A cheeky grin appeared on his face, eyebrows raising and lowering suggestively, "Well, she's definitely an anomaly. Unlike any elf I've ever seen, really. Not only is she the most beautiful elf around, the first affinity that awakened for her was fire, actually. Her earth affinity was awoken in her original testing also. I hear she recently passed into the yellow core stage, as well, at such a young age no less."

Torrin guffawed, "Oho! Someone has a bit of a crush, I see."

Crimson suffused Tillien's face as he shook his head as if at a great loss, "Sadly, she is far above my station as a lowly Velar. Though we are considered nobles in Elven society, we are definitely not on the level of royalty."

Torrin nodded his understanding, wanting to switch the subject as the conversation brought back memories of Perria. He looked at the elf curiously and asked, "By the way, Tillien, how old are you? You seem quite young and must be talented yourself, to almost be at the yellow core stage. Ollivel told me some elves take decades to advance from a red core."

Tillien's beaming smile returned once more, "All three of us are about to turn 20 soon, what about you, Rin? You seem quite young yourself."

Torrin took a moment to think. He really wasn't sure how old he was now and his body was no help in indicating his age, as it had grown somewhat when he infused it with Saen.

"Uh..." he answered eloquently, "I'm not sure the exact age I am." Torrin smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The elves stared at Torrin with a myriad of expressions, unsure how to respond. Torrin chuckled nervously as the silence continued, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jorien was the one to answer, "How do you not know how old you are?"

Torrin shrugged, "I got trapped in a pocket dimension for a few years... Kinda lost track of time in there. But if I had to guess, I'd say I'm around 10 years old maybe?"

The three elves stared at the young human boy in shock, Tillien speaking up to voice the group's thoughts, "T-t-ten?! Are all humans as monstrously powerful at your age?"

Smiling softly, Torrin said, "Not at all. You could say I'm a... What did you say before? An anomaly."

Tillien shook his head, "I can't believe that, Rin... What stage is your core at? From your mana fluctuations it's hard to tell."

Torrin shrugged, "It's a long story, but I'm not quite sure..." he took a moment to think on revealing anything, "It's hard to compare."

"What do you mean?" Tillien asked in confusion.

Torrin sighed, "My master, the Silver Witch, that is... She wanted to do an experiment. I was the only available test subject, so... I kind of don't have a standard mana core. She advised me it's one of the reasons that I was allowed to come here. I'm sure I'll have to be examined by someone at some point during my visit."

Torrin decided it was better to just get it out there. These elves had been kind to him so far and he didn't want to deceive them too much.

"What an interesting person you are," a melodic voice echoed from behind Torrin.

As Torrin turned around, he saw Tillien stand and bow swiftly, "Princess, what are the chances that you'd be here at this time."

'So this is the Elven Princess, eh?' Torrin thought, taking in her appearance.

She wore an intricately tailored robe of black and silver-dyed silk that hugged her figure slightly. Crimson gemstone eyes were set in her beautiful face, high cheekbones with a sharp jaw line, her perfectly smooth skin a fair tone, highlighting her eyes all the more. Her hair was set back in an intricate braid that flowed over her shoulder to the front of her chest; Her hair color was unlike what he'd seen on any other elf--Raven locks entwined with her silver hair.

Torrin stood and bowed to the princess as well, "Princess. I am Rin Gram, it is lovely to make your acquaintance."

"No need for formalities in the training hall," she called out, waving away at their bowing as she approached, "I was just curious where our special guest had gone off to before I could meet him."

Torrin raised himself from his lowered position, smiling genially toward the princess. She returned the smile, which took Torrin by surprise--Having met her mother, he hadn't held much hope that she'd be nice to him.

"I am Princess Dawnel," she stated, rolling her eyes at Torrin's raised eyebrow, "I know... My mother has no great talent in naming. Please, call me Dawn."

Torrin chuckled nervously, "Well, as I was brooding alone at my empty table, Tillien and friends showed up and had the wonderful idea of doing something more productive with my time. That's how we ended up here."

The princess laughed, "I find those extravagant celebrations distasteful, myself. I would much rather be training instead."

'What a strange girl,' Torrin thought.

"Would you like to spar with me, Rin?" the words shocked Torrin, making him unsure of how to respond.