Stepping into the train, they had the privilege of going into a more secure, prioritized area due to their connection to Central Ergo Academy. In it, there were a combination of students and promising nobles.
The interior was just as beautiful as it looked outside.
Before the doors fully closed, Grace, Ivan, and Rufus, all marched towards empty seats. Immediately, Ivan glanced at the window, his eyes sparkling with amazement. Even though the sight in front of him had not moved just yet--the barrier created by the window, separating him from the outside world of normalcy created a resounding echo of change.
"This must be your first time," Rufus commented, chuckling. "Take a good look, Ivan. You'll be seeing this type of scenery much more often now." Aside from boats and planes, this would be one of their main methods of transportation.
However, to see the ruins and the Northern Continent--boats will often be necessary due to their inherent protection spells. This comes with a multitude of problems, of course.
As the train started rolling, Ivan posed an interesting question.
"How does this train avoid attracting the aquatic creatures?" It was a good question, but there was a simple answer to such a question.
"The Jade Family many generations ago implanted protection spells of the highest grade on the tracks and on the trains itself. It not only wards off lower-level aquatic mana beasts, but stronger mana-beast will not be able to penetrate it unless it rivaled or exceeded the protection spell's grade.
However, that was not a likely scenario.
Unless--
The Leviathan awakened from its deep slumber.
Officially, it was told as dead. However, the truth was that it is merely plunged to the deepest levels of the ocean. And had been put to sleep by the ancestors of the Great Families.
In the future, an expedition would be carried out.
To annihilate it fully.
But that is many years from now. Grace thought, looking at the train as it slithered in a straight line. The trees that surrounded them blurred with nauseating intensity.
As he stared out in the open, the scenery - once filled with lush leaves and oak bark - had turned into an infinite horizon, an endless expanse being revealed.
This ride in this train had much meaning.
It not only would serve as the true beginning of the act one of their first-year, but also the prelude to certain destruction by the end of their first-year.
He closed his eyes for a mere moment, his ears attentively listening along the bustling chats that was occurring around them.
It was almost peaceful.
But...
When Grace opened his eyes, it occurred.
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A shriek.
Everyone present looked at the source of the shriek. Grace and company widened their eyes - so did everyone else - once they saw a girl frozen in utter fear. Her eyes were bulging in surprise as her whole body was clad in various splatters and sprays of blood.
Beside her, a headless stump of what looked to be the remnants of a boy of their year.
Slllchhh!
A head rolled down the train.
~~~
The train had pulled an emergency stop. People were forced out of the train in order to reorder everyone and everything. Everyone was standing in the vast wilderness, the lush grass swaying at medium length.
People from other parts of the train peered into what occurred in their train, their eyes widening in horror at the pained eyes of singular head on the metal floor of the train.
The conductor of the train walked through the crowd, emerging from the vast crowd, his eyes widening as well.
"Holy mother of fuck..."
He muttered to himself, unable to hide his surprise and hold down his composure. He took a step, walking into the interior of the train and looked down at the head.
He turned around and looked at the crowd.
He began to yell out for help from any possible experienced veterans amongst those that were being drowned in the crowd. In doing so, a multitude of men and women offer to clean things up.
Of course, they were able to withstand the bloodshed that flourished beneath them due to their experience in battle and in the art of killing.
Ivan looked at the helpers then at the surrounding people.
Rufus did something similar, though his lingered longer at the helpers more than the surrounding civilians.
Grace, however, was experiencing a turbulent of thoughts.
This did not happen in the novel. Of course... Many things were not aligning with the canon story, making him lose leverage in regards to the overarching narrative slowly.
A head that shot up, blasting like a rocket.
None of that ever happened during this ride to the destination.
Moreover... it happened only to our cart. And it was a student. Grace rubbed his temples, not knowing if the others were able to gain similar sentiments like himself.
Culprit's whereabouts were unknown.
Grace glanced at his two companions, watching as their eyes narrowed while they darted from one thing to another. Then, as if their thoughts were synced, their eyes widened.
"Shit..." Rufus muttered quietly.
"Could the perpetrator be someone on our train..."
In hindsight, it would be obvious to chalk up the idea that the perpetrator was in the same cart as them as it was only in their cart that it happened. However, that is sometimes not always the case.
There are always occurrences where a perpetrator could kill from long distances.
But to kill someone as freely as that, but no one else--restrictions are lathered in techniques. Which probably means the perpetrator is much closer than one may think. However, figuring out the culprit with just this much information was not enough.
Not enough.
Grace bit his lip, now glancing briefly at the crowd of people. Regardless of how it came to be, they won't be able to stay still for too long as the helpers were quickly cleaning up the crime scene.
They could not afford any delays so this clean up was necessary. As there were no authority figures present, they would have to utilize the cameras scattered along the inside of the train to gain a perspective.
Once finished, the journey resumed as normal.
Well... as normal as it could get.
The air within the train was tense, trembling almost. A vast majority of people stayed silent as the rumblings of the train moving at high speeds was all that could be heard. There were a few mutters hear and there, but the overall atmosphere had become dreary.
A few students took quick glances at where the head had once been, before looking away and shutting their eyes closed shut. Soon the scenery changed once more. In the quiet confines of the train, a few gasps could be heard.
They were no longer on land. Rather, the tracks were now floating atop the very top of the water's surface. Water flew to the side, painting the ocean horizon in a beautiful light. People saw ocean creatures swim below, their hearts plunged in certain anxiety.
Before they knew it, the train was approaching a massive structure. A black mega structure that stretched far beyond normal eyes could see, and dove deep into the ocean that blurred the true depths of the structure.
A heavily guards prison asylum.
[Next stop: Obsidian]