9 Chapter 8 - Reise

"Damien. Get up, we need to leave."

It had been two weeks since Damien and Robert returned. It was finally time for their ranking test. Katherine had organised for them to leave for the citadel, and it was the day of departure.

"Robert, wake your brother up or both of you will be late."

"Yes, mother.", Robert entered Damien's room with great force and shook him with all his might to wake him up.

"Danny! Get up! It's about time for us to leave. You do have half an hour to prepare."

Robert and Damien had had a party with the knight's children last night on the occasion of them becoming Heralds. They had slept late at night, but the determined slothfulness that Damien displayed at the time was indeed extraordinary.

"Give me 5 more minutes!"

"No! Wake up right now! Or I am going to pour cold water on you!"

Robert told the servant nearby to get a bucket of water. After the arrived, Robert said, "Danny, I shall count till 3 if you don't wake up, don't blame me for what comes next."

Alas! Damien was fated to bathe on his bed.

"WOAAAAAA ITS COLD! WHO THE HELL DID THIS !"

(O: Rhagnar did it tbh)

"Shut your mouth and get ready. We leave in half an hour.", said Robert with a grin on his face, as he marched out of Damien's quarters.

Half an hour, later Damien was running towards the carriage in much haste with his clothes in a mess. Robert and Katherine were already inside. Damien's condition amused them, but both chose silence over Damien's wrath. It is indeed true that children are, at times, capable of scaring even the strictest of mothers.

"I hate you, Bobby, I think I might get a cold..."

"Your fault. I gave a fair warning before taking actions!"

"You!"

"Enough, you two. I need to tell you something more important: how the ranking test works." No sooner had Katherine said these words than the boys were silent and eager to listen. This day would decide their future in this world.

"Listen carefully now... Your teacher must have explained to you the basic procedure of the mage exams."

Damien and Robert nodded.

"Every year, during the first day of fall, mage exams are conducted all over the continent, usually in the business capitals of every noble's territory. Thus, we will be heading to the citadel of your father's territory, which is about 15,000 km south-west of here."

(R: well it is a big continent)

"Isn't that a bit too far away?" asked, Damien.

"We will go by train and reach there in a week. Anyway, after your testing is done, you will receive a certificate which will list down your basic element attributes, mana capacity and, since you two are heralds, your innate 'Skill'. Now here is the important part- the certificate is the proof of your identity and will contain your personal information, so don't lose them. Moreover, there will be different academies over there that will offer you a course based on that certificate. A good academy will give you plenty of benefits, like better instructors, better battlegrounds, experiment labs, more resources, and if you are lucky, you may be able to represent your school next year in the 'Annual Academy Fest!"

(D; kinda cliche but it will be fun I guess O: I guarantee it)

"W-What's that?" Robert enquired.

"All the schools make a team of their bests and engage them into different competitions. This provides a stimulus to the students to work harder for glory and benefits; you will be explained more when you get into one."

"Okay."

"And since you two are Heralds, let me disclose some more information about Neomages. There are in total 3 main elemental affinities- two being basic elemental affinities and one being divine elemental affinity. Same as the basic elements - Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Lightning - there are divine elements. The divine elements are - Light, Darkness, Order, Chaos, Space and Time. However, only when you become a Neomage, will you be able to take the divine element test and know which affinity you have."

(R: there are exceptions tho)

"So why are these affinities important?"

"I was getting to that. You see, you can choose your 'class' according to your mana capacity and 'skill'. However, there are 2 classes which require a specific divine element affinity- Paladin and Warlock." Damien and Robert widened their eyes. "These classes are very powerful. Those in these are no less than one man armies!"

"Umm... Mother, I have read that Necromancers are very powerful too," said Damien.

"Oh! They? Well, they are banned probably everywhere. Angels kill them as soon as they appear, so... No...Becoming a Necromancer is forbidden to you both, as they are regarded as evil and hunted down. However, when the great purge was announced by the Angels, the Transcendents protested about the loss of such glorious heritage, so all the beings modified the spells and ways of Necromancers and a new class was born- Warlock."

"W-Wait what are Angels and Transcendents? I thought they were only in folktales?!"

"Hmm? they are other races you will learn about in the school, anyways if you get your Divine affinity stronger than others and meet the requirements, then don't think twice and change your class before advancing to the Guardian rank... Okay, that was all, choose your class carefully when you get the results."

"We will, Mother."

Both the boys had satisfied expressions etched on their faces, but what Katherine failed to realise was that Robert was not merely listening to her, he was taking in every word.

'Mother did not talk about an assassin. I shall ask father about it,' he thought to himself.

By then, they had reached 'The Wells Terminal', named after the nobles of this territory - the Wells. The railway network was fairly new, invented only 4 years ago, and thus only connected the capital with the other political capitals and the business capitals of all territories. The grand engineer of the emperor - the dwarf Lord Jojen - had invented the steam engine 6 years ago, but it took time for it to be replicated into 30 trains - 15 for regular people; 2 personally at the royal family's beck and call; 5 for the military; 4 for the nobles; and 4 for the economics division of the country to carry out trade.

In a similar way was the division in railway tracks - there was one set for all the nobles and the Royals, another for military and commerce, and the last one for the masses. Damien and party were going to travel in grand imperial railways on the nobles' path.

"Now, remember you two, we are nobles. When we get out of this carriage, you two must act accordingly in front of the people, and treat them well." Katherine had heard that the boys' conduct in the last few days was frowned upon by the people, so she wanted them to retain their respect among the people.

"Yes, Mother.", replied Robert as he opened the door of the carriage to move out. Damien was silent. His silence was his agreement.

Stepping out, the three walked straight to the huge building in front - the entrance to the terminal. Made of solid iron and painted blue, the top of the building had the sigil of the House of Wells.

The building had two towers on its sides which were used by the employees to maintain the railway network. Its floor was decorated with marble and the long corridor to the platform adorned with pictures of the First Train and the grand opening ceremony of the railways. The white marble platform itself was sparkling to the eyes. A few commoners were sitting on the metallic benches, waiting for the train. The Wells slowly walked through the corridor, and anyone who stood in their way moved to the sides and bowed respectfully. Lady Katherine walked with her head held high; Damien and Robert followed her, and behind them, marched the guards.

'Arrgh, that Lawrence! I don't know why he bears with the formalities. I hope his conduct won't get these two bullied by other nobles' kids', thought Katherine.

An attendant who was standing near a pillar approached Lady Katherine and bowed: "Lady Katherine, will you please follow me to the platform where your train shall arrive."

"Lead the way.", said Katherine with great authority. The boys were wondering how their mother kept up with being so variant in her behaviour in the presence of different types of people. They followed the attendant to platform 9.

Platform 9 was much more lavishly decorated, with ivory and blackwood tiles. The benches were made up of ebony and had cotton cushions on them. A faint aroma of sandalwood lingered in the air. Katherine sat down on the bench, while Damien and Robert sat on either side of her. The guards, in their steel armour, continued standing. After twenty long and arduous minutes, the train arrived.

The Train was a monument in itself. The coaches were nearly 25m in length with a width of 4m. This was a special train designed for the nobles which gave as much importance on comfort as on speed. While the public trains were made for speed, the military trains were slow but had a huge capacity for military goods. The economic trains were the most special: they were the longest, fastest and had space magic installed in them for containing goods. Although the space magic was not present on its construction, after the trains were handed to the Chamber of Economics, they had added it to increase capacity. When Katherine was about to enter the Train, the station master arrived to greet them.

"Good day to you Ma'am!"

"Good day to you as well, Station Master."

"Damien, Robert you two go ahead and explore the second coach. It is yours to use. I shall have a talk about our journey with the station master."

"Yes, Mother", replied Damien as he scurried along with Robert to enter the next coach.

They saw the true beauty of the Royal trains when they entered this coach. The walls of the coach were made of teakwood, with carvings of beautiful fairy-like people watering the gardens. The seats were made from the finest leather of the gold black lions, giving the seats a shining aura; the design of flowers on them shined everytime light was cast on them. The table was made completely of Blackwood - so hard that sometimes even fine swords cannot break through it. There was no division of seats; the whole coach was one big room, with 4 beds, one large table, a seating area with 3 couches and a washroom at the end of the coach, just between the division of coaches.

"Just look how beautiful it is... I was too young to remember it from the last time", said Damien, as he walked around exploring. Robert was still standing, mesmerized, but, he wasn't interested in it as much as Damien.

From the outside, the train was a black monster with a gold dragon, signifying the national flag of the country. The train was made from the strongest metal in the country - Dracotherm - almost impossible to break.

The Train started to move after a huge horn was blown by the station master.

Robert sighed, "Our country is too obsessed with black and dragons..."

(O: Rhagnar is the one obsessed with dragons and black R: Love them<3 D: These people smh)

"What happened?"

"Nothing, doofus. Let's make ourselves comfortable over here.", Robert laughed and plunked down on the largest of the couches.

"Hey Danny, wanna check out the other compartments?", asked Robert.

"Arrgh, it is three in the morning. Let me sleep or I will blast you!", Damien moaned and turned away.

"Fine, sleepyhead." Robert walked to the rear end of their coach and opened the gate. The junction between the coaches was trembling and making unheard noises. The air whistled in his ear and Robert gulped. He could see the tracks continuously change underneath the train.

"Well...", Robert considered going back, but, "Oh wait! I am a Herald!"

He jumped over to the other side.

"Meh", he thought, and opened the gate and entered. He noticed that this coach and his coach were quite similar. He slowly walked forward examining the room.

(R: we had added some fanservice over here but then we decided to scrap it off)

"Wait a second!" he exclaimed to himself. "Did I just barge into someone else's room?!"

As if to answer his question a voice came from a door beside him.

"Emily! did something happen?", a young girl's voice startled Robert.

"Emily! where are you? Bring me my bathrobes or I will have to come out naked!"

'Damn it!' Robert thought, and jumped to hide under one of the four beds.

"Fine then..."

The door opened, and a petite young walked out. Her brown hair was wet and stuck to her white, thin neck. As she walked, water drops splashed on the floor. Robert could see her from under the bed, and with every second that passed, his heartbeat grew quicker. The smell of jasmine tickled his nose.

'What the heck? No one walks naked like that!' Robert took a deep breath. 'Calm down; not so hard; not so hard.' Robert thought that his lungs might burst if his heart beat so hard. He tried to control his body, but it was extremely hard. He was sweaty and his face was pink.

The girl stood there and looked around with her hand on her round hips. 'MY NOSE WILL START BLEEDING LIKE THIS!' Robert screamed in his head.

The walk towards the Almirah and took out some clothes. She tried them on and looked at herself in the mirror. With a frown of dissatisfaction, she undressed again.

Robert's wild imagination made his blood boil. His 13-year-old body had already betrayed him.

The girl tried on many different outfits while Robert secretly watched her from under the bed. Some twenty attires later the girl approached the bed under which Robert was hiding. Robert's heartbeat quickened. The girl hummed as she lay there imagining some fantasy.

After an hour or so when the girl was asleep Robert came out from under the bed. He saw that the girl was fully clothed so his young heart didn't lurch anymore. and he sneaked his way back to his coach.

He took a hot shower. After checking that there was no one under his bed, he jumped into his bed.

"That girl gave me a hard time...", he sighed as he relaxed his weakened body and went into a deep sleep.