Bell awoke gradually from her strange dream, warm light from the Vatican City train station filling her room through the window.
She rolled over to find that she had failed to change into pajamas before falling asleep.
'I was that tired?' Bell questioned, then a look of realization dawned on her face. 'Oh yeah...'
Bell had realized that the area of the world that she and the other students had travelled to was in a different time zone. Thus, she was unable to get a full nights rest, with that information tied into the events of the day, Bell put two and two together to get that she was actually quite exhausted.
She yawned while stretching, the fabric of her clothing attempting to resist, but failing to properly restrict her movement. Bell didn't understand why some clothing had to be made to restrict movement while looking good.
'There has to be better fabrics for this type of thing, right?'
That gripe of hers led to Bell changing into more casual and loose-fitting clothes. She lazily searched her suitcase for a new outfit to wear. Bell soon settled on a hoodie that was just a bit too large for her and a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants.
As she was about to head to the cafeteria, Bell realized something: She wasn't hungry.
'Hmm...'
She found it strange, the last time she woke up not hungry was at least a few years ago, and that was because she had a feast before passing out for the night.
'I'll probably get hungry later, I'll skip breakfast and eat lunch.' Bell planned.
Just as Bell was about to reach the hatch leading to the rooftop, the speaker announced:
[Good morning, passengers! We have finished our maintenance and restocking! We are glad to announce that the train will be departing for the Heart in the next thirty minutes!]
The announcement had caught Bell off-guard, and she nearly fell off of the ladder.
"Great Lady!" She muttered in annoyance and shock.
She then descended down the ladder and thought to herself, 'Finally.'
She didn't want to be on the rooftop of the bullet train as they were departing, so Bell returned to her room and simply waited. Today, she was going to wait before talking to her friends, the previous day had been a hassle for them all.
'Besides, a small break isn't going to hurt anyone, is it?' Bell reasoned.
She opened the door to her room and headed to the desk where two books laid. One was a fantasy novel with the main character having been transported to a mystical world of wonder. The other was also a fantasy novel, but the main character's goal was to take over a kingdom at the end of the world.
'Hmm.' Bell was interested in both, and had left both at moments of respite in their journeys, so she didn't know which one to choose.
Bell was indecisive, 'Both are so good...'
So she grabbed a nearby coin and flipped it. Heads would be the novel with the transmigrator while Tails would be the novel with the Coup de tat.
The coin landed on Heads.
So, Bell sat down and opened the first novel. The bookmark she had placed was at the beginning of a chapter, right where she had left off.
Bell started to read for the next thirty or so minutes, putting away about a chapter and a half. The main character delved into a mysterious dungeon with his teammates, finding a strange relic that they would appraise at the nearby town.
As she continued to read, the story slowed down and felt strange at times, so, naturally, Bell's mind wandered as she imagined the events of the book.
It hadn't truly been that long since Bell had left her home to reach the train station, but it felt like it.
They had been hanging around when both the Pale Moon's Champion and the Golden Sun's Champion had attacked their bullet train. Then, they were subjected to three more days of complete boredom, and then, when they finally reached Vatican City, they had spent most of their time in jail!
'At least we're not in jail anymore...' Bell thought to herself, turning another page. 'We'd be in a much worse situation if Teacher Brutus hadn't bailed us out... I owe him one.'
Bell had a small amount of time to think about what had happened down in the shawarma shop, and she had no reason to fight. There wasn't a person in danger that she should have been fighting for, there wasn't an oppressive force. They were just fighting for the sole reason to fight.
'Especially me, I just chose a guy to fight and fought.' Bell lamented; her consciousness weighed down a slight bit. 'But I'm not gonna keep on thinking about it, I'm going to be better, not sorry.'
With her spirits lightened through sheer ignorance, Bell slowly became absorbed by the book once more. The plot had become enticing after a small down moment, the main character's mentor had been killed in a large-scale attack by the enemy forces!
***
[We... now departing... the... If you are a Terrarium student, then please meet with your train car's instructor.]
Bell perked up from her reading, just catching the second part of the announcement.
'Where's Teacher Brutus going to be?' Bell wondered for a moment.
She then listed the single location that there had been gatherings, 'The downstairs lounge...'
Bell placed a bookmark at the end of her most recently read chapter. Oftentimes, she was unable to properly remember the events of the chapter she had been reading if she was cut off.
She stood up and stretched for a moment before walking to the door and opening it. Bell headed down the hallway towards the cafeteria.
"Hi, Bell!" Mona's voice rang out from behind.
Bell turned around with a smile, "Hey, Mona."
Mona was wearing her long hair in a loose bun with a large t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She had bags underneath her eyes, as if she had failed to get a good night's sleep.
"You good?" Bell asked.
Mona smiled and replied in a cheery tone, "Never better!"
Her smile betrayed that statement, her eyes didn't portray the same glee that the rest of her face portrayed.
'I won't pressure her if she doesn't want to tell me the truth.' Bell thought, turning around to continue walking.
The two passed through the cafeteria and smelled the wondrous food that the chefs were preparing for the next meal period. Bell smelled various spices and sauces, with the sounds of conversation over the sizzling of beef and chicken on a grill.
Bell smiled, "Smells good, huh?"
Mona nodded for a moment, sniffing the air around them, "Yeah, it does. I wonder what's going to be on the menu for lunch?"
Bell simply shrugged in response.
The two descended down the stairs, accompanied by a few other students having a conversation of their own.
The large lounge came into view, with a group of students already sitting down and conversing with one another. It looked like most of the students down in the lounge had come from the rooms that were on the floor.
Down the hallway past the lounge, another large group was on their way, Torm's silhouette being nigh-impossible to miss.
Bell scanned the room for the Eriksons, quickly finding them sitting around a round coffee table. Bell saw that there were quite a few seats near them, so she and Mona headed to the group.
In her quick glance around the room, Bell had failed to find the four students from yesterday. She quickly shrugged their absence away without as much as a second thought about them.
Teacher Brutus was standing next to the large board that she had seen him stand when she had first arrived at the bullet train, as well as yesterday morning. In front of him were now fifty black cuff bracelets on the board.
He looked to simply be waiting for the rest of the students to gather around before starting his announcements. In the meanwhile, he was talking to Charybdis, the short girl who offered Bell spear lessons, as well as the boy from the rooftop. He looked vulnerable without his sniper rifle, he looked incomplete.
Bell reached the couch area where the Eriksons were sitting, at the same time, Torm and Jude appeared.
The eight greeted one another, Bell looked to be the only one who got a good night's rest. Torm looked as if he were ready to pass out at any moment on the soft cushions of the couches, while Michael was already asleep with his face up towards the ceiling.
Hilia looked wiry, as if she had just drunk several coffees just to stay awake, while Jude was actively drinking a can of some sort of energy drink. The others in the group looked to be doing fine, for now, Mona had a slight sway, like she was drunk off of some sort of alcohol.
Strella looked to be on the same boat as Torm, ready to fall asleep at any moment, while Pyralis was also drinking an energy drink. However, the can in Pyralis's hands had several red warnings on it.
'Oh my gods, these guys look rough.' Bell thought to herself after checking the states of each of her friends.
Over the course of the next few minutes, the rest of the students would gather around, with most looking quite tired. Pyralis and Jude finished their energy drinks, Jude pulled out a small vial and drank its contents, and Pyralis pulled out another energy drink.
Bell wore a look of worry on her face watching the two, 'They're going to die of a heart attack before any monster could reach them...'
Teacher Brutus bid farewell to the two he had been speaking to before clearing his throat. Afterword, he began his announcement.
"Good morning, everyone!" He had started off, giving a weak wave to the group.
"As per the announcement, we're heading up to the Heart as we speak. Over the next few minutes, I'm going to explain the process that we're going to go through."
He started to walk in a small oval in front of the board as he spoke, somehow keeping an upbeat energy despite the early hour of the morning.
"Firstly, the entire train ride up is going to be about three hours, which will place us reaching the Terrarium at around eleven. After we enter, I'm going to lead you all to the forge where you'll be picking up a weapon of your choice from the apprentice smiths."
Teacher Brutus summoned a pair of knuckle-dusters, the right one had spikes while the left one simply looked quite heavy.
"These are mine from a couple years ago when I was in the same situation that you're in. After we pass through the forge, we're going to get you all to your dorms to unload your belongings."
As he spoke, he made eye contact with each of the students, it looked like he was simply making sure that they were all listening properly.
"At noon, we'll be pausing for a quick lunch break for about an hour. After the lunch break, we're going to head to the coliseum for the Welcoming Ceremony. We have a special guest this month, as it's the five thousand and seven hundredth consecutive Welcoming Ceremony."
He gave the Terrarium a small round of applause for the incomprehensibly long streak.
"Now, some of you may be asking 'Teacher Brutus, what are those bracelets on the wall behind you?' To which I'm going to answer you. These bracelets are the work-in-progress Pathfinder upgrades that are unique to the Terrariums. If you already have a pathfinder, you can just slot it into a notch on the bracelet, it'll automatically update and upgrade everything."
He lifted one of his wrists to show that he was wearing one of the cuff bracelets.
"These are actually Marbles, so... you already know. Attune to them, you can summon them whenever you have the Stardust to do so after attuning. I recommend keeping them on at all times, they're quite handy."
Bell had been lost when Teacher Brutus stated the strange concept of Stardust.
'What the hell is Stardust?' Bell wondered. 'I'll just ask someone later on today, I guess.'
Teacher Brutus continued.
"They have access to the internet, as well as the stream, so their handiness is only comparable to duct tape. Anyway, they just came in during the restock, so they're all factory reset, you'll need to set them up in your own time."
He then looked down at the bracelet for a moment before continuing.
"I recommend you set them up before reaching the Terrarium, it'll only help you make things easier."
Just as it seemed that he was about to dismiss the students, he perked up and said.
"Oh, one more thing! They're all monitored, especially their search history, so please. And I mean please don't embarrass yourselves."
With that, he finished with, "Alright, that's everything, you're dismissed to do as you will."
The students all around her, as well as her friends, began standing up. Conversation started picking up and the lounge was soon filled with a cacophony of noise.
Bell saw Pyralis tap Michael on the shoulder, who then groggily woke up and naturally headed back to his room.
'I'll tell him everything when he wakes up... if nobody else does before me.' Bell thought to herself.
A few of the rest of the group headed down the hallway before grabbing a Pathfinder. Most of them looked like they were about to dissolve into dust and pass into the wind before they ever reached their rooms.
Despite the noise in the lounge, Bell was able to hear Teacher Brutus say, "If you need me, I'll be in the cafeteria until we reach the Terrarium."
The myriad of noises soon overtook anything else, and Bell had stood up and was on her way to the board. It was within the next few minutes that she had grabbed the cuff bracelet, equipped it on her left arm, and returned to her room.
'Let's set this thing up.' Bell thought to herself as she sat down before the desk.
Bell tapped the bracelet on her arm and a holographic glass pane appeared before her like a computer monitor.
The holographic screen read:
[Pathfinder Upgrade Model 1.27 Ready For Attunement!]