* * *
I find a seat near the door, to the left of Clara. The interior of the train is nice, classy. Dark wood with brass interior makes the glass windows shine to me. Praise whoever designed this work of art.
Eventually, the doors close and a low hum is heard. A man walks down the isle and towards us, likely a conductor.
"Excuse me, may I see your tickets please?" The conductor asks, extending his hand towards Clara. She doesn't even look that much older than me, but I guess that little bit older is what made him ask her.
"Of course," Clara says, pulling out a dark blue ticket from her pocket. I didn't even know we had tickets.
The conductor examines the ticket before handing it back and giving a bow, walking over to the one other person I saw at the platform. A young man with black hair and blue eyes, an unusually clean appearance despite the fact that he also lived way out here. We're about as far from the capital as possible, so I expected worse sanitation.
Something about the kid is weird... but I can't figure out what. He sits in an uptight manner, as if he was accustomed to school life. He looks nervous, like he shouldn't be here.
"Excuse me, may I see your ticket plea-"
"I-I'M WITH THEM!" The boy yells, pointing at me and Clara. I look at Clara and then at the boy. I'm pretty surprised at how weirdly bold he is.
There's no way Clara will let him get away with it though. It's not like she would just pick anyone out of a crowd to-
"Yep, he's with us," Clara says, waving for the boy to come sit next to us.
You can't be serious... you can't be fucking serious. My face widens with shock and confusion, as does the conductors. He's very clearly trying to get a free train ride! Why is she helping him?!?
"... Are you sure?" The conductor asks, double-checking. Clara nods, and now even the boy himself looks surprised. What the hell is up with this woman?
The boy moves over from the other side of the cart and sits to my left, hands on his lap as he stares straight forward. I just stare at him, waiting for him to make eye contact or anything. The vibe is awkward, yet Clara just has a small smile on her face like nothing strange is happening.
I cough, clearing my throat as if to passively suggest the boy to speak. He looks about my age and his mana level feels about the same as well, meaning this boy must also be a late bloomer.
He throws a glance to the side before snapping his eyes back forward out of... what seems to be fear.
"I-I'm sorry. My name is Gram and I just really needed this train ride," He says, looking at the ground out of shame. "I-I just need to make it to Lumin so I can sign up for the exam! It's really important to me!"
Great, now he's justifying his actions. He glances to the side, as if he was looking at something that wasn't there... weirdo. Now that I think about it, I'm surrounded by weirdos.
"Cool," I say, attempting to sound friendly. I'm sure he has his own little set of circumstances on why he needed to do this. "Just... don't expect any cozy treatment."
I attempt to maintain the silence, wanting the boy to just be quiet at this point. For a few seconds, I succeed.
"Say, Gram. How would you like to know that Arthur here is also entering Lumin soon?" Clara asks, not even acknowledging the fact that I clearly don't like the boy. "In fact, I think you 2 would make great friends!"
How does this situation keep getting worse for me? TAKE THE HINT, CLARA! PLEASE! I'm being a little childish, but I don't care.
"Really?" Gram asks, looking over at Clara and then at me. He sees my less than approachable expression at the moment and looks back down. "I don't think that's really necessary-"
"Nonsense! You and Arthur will get along like pals, first impression be damned!" Clara says, not taking no for an answer from either of us. "Besides, it's a long train ride, so you've got plenty of time."
I grumble under my breath and Gram scoots a little further away, but Clara still smiles. Stop trying to be my mom, lady!
* * *
Gram POV...
It's the second day of the train ride, we should be arriving late tonight to Cleras. It's maybe 2 AM right now, so not terribly early.
I get up from my seat, being careful to not disturb Clara and Arthur. Clara fell asleep on Arthurs shoulder... that's cute. Clara looks maybe 17 and Arthur 15, so they're basically my age.
I walk to the other end of the cabin, opening the door and head into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I splash water on the face that's become mine, taking a deep breath.
"System, who are they?" I ask, calling out the ethereal benefactor that's been guiding me since I came here.
[Clara Holliday]
[Clara Holliday, known as the full moon witch. A highly capable S rank magician known for ice magic. Eternally youthful, aged 36 years old.}
[Arthur Ishviel]
[Arthur Ishviel, information restricted. Aged 37.]
I take a deep breath, leaning against the sink. Neither of them are what I expected. One is an extremely powerful witch and one I just... can't see. Furthermore, they're both way older than what they look like.
This is too much for me, I think I'm about to throw up. In the end, I do throw up. I wipe my mouth off and calm my nerves, exiting the bathroom. I shake a little as I stand before getting on the ground. I start doing pushups, an exercise I've become much accustomed to over the past 2 months.
The darkness of the night is piercing into the cabin, the moon illuminating it just enough to see. Even though the view outside is nice, I keep my eyes trained to the floor in the cabin as I do pushups.
"32, 33, 34..." After a while, I finish up and hit 100. I stand up and promptly begin doing squats, not giving any time to rest. A few minutes later, I finish my squats and begin crunches. After that, I take off my shoes to be quiet and start silently jogging around the cabin.
[Daily quests.]
100/100 pushups.
100/100 squats.
100/100 crunches.
4/20 miles.
As always, the worst mission is last. It's maybe 4:50 AM by the time I finish the miles. I finally stop the constant movement and sit down on a seat, wiping my sweat with my shirt. I look over at Arthur and Clara, now knowing a lot more yet a lot less about them.
Clara is obviously way stronger, I can tell by the mana, but why was Arthur's information restricted? No way I can build up the confidence to ask, I'd just seem crazy.
But the weirdest thing I noticed, or rather felt, was their souls. Clara just feels like a normal denizen of this world, but Arthur... he feels weird, but not fully. Only half weird, I guess... but still weird.
* * *