Levi met up with Gregory and Sera a few hours later that day, and they talked for hours about the krull. Although the event prior had shaken Levi to his core, he talked on and on about the various monsters of the wild, what kind of habits they had, and weaknesses. Knowledge waited for no man. And if Levi was going to battle what was to come, he needed to know everything.

Sera wanted to take it slow, to take a break. But how could he? If he had known the weakness of the krull beforehand, maybe he could have prepared something. A spell–anything.

And so the trio patiently taught him various beasts and monsters' vulnerabilities, and where they usually lurked. He was certain to forget a few things, but it was better than walking in the dark.

That was how Levi spent the rest of the days until the next stop. If he wasn’t practising his fire control/meditation, he was thinking of different ways to use his spells. He had one in his thoughts, but he struggled making it turn physical.

However, there was one he was making headways with: covering his fists in flames. Thanks to his Golden Titanous Beetle, it also seemed to increase his strength by a small amount. Maybe that was the fire body enhancement effect coming out to play?

He spent some time shadow boxing like he had seen back on Earth. Watching himself in the mirror as he boxed, he couldn’t help but appreciate a hidden effect that his flames had. Blinding. Distraction. The fire encapsulating his knuckles caused the defender's field of vision to be obstructed. It was the same for Levi, at first. But after time, he had learned how to see past his own fire. Not literally, of course. He only felt the opponent on the other side.

Without a proper opponent, the effectiveness was still to be determined, but he was happy with what he had gained so far.

Rumours had also started to spread throughout the train. A 12 year old had fought against an evolved. It was exaggerated, obviously. Levi had just killed a regular krull that was larger than the rest. Much larger. ALthough it had a magical attack of its own, it was simply too slow to prove much of an opponent. The only reason they struggled with it is that its weakness was guarded by the train.

It was hindsight, but they should have sliced the roof open much earlier to gain access to the beast.

As to that rumour, thankfully his name wasn’t being spread for some reason. They just knew it was someone from the Lindar family.

Levi didn’t care for the fame, all he knew was that it would come with a bag of thorns. He was used to staying indoors for most of his life, away from any spotlight. Even when he was walking through a crowd, his palms turned itchy.

***

It was the morning of the 6th day of travelling, and they were approaching their destination. In his seat, next to Rowena, Levi peered his head through the window as they neared. Even from afar, Levi spotted the gargantuan walls. This one was less wounded than the last.

Levi seeped into his thoughts. Was Raven’s Pit more damaged because it was closer to the land of Nothing? That was Levi’s best guess, anyway. And if that was the case, then did the giant monsters originally come from that direction? Spurred on by his neverending notions, he turned to Rowena.

“The walls of Raven’s Pit were more damaged than these ones,” Levi said. “Does that mean the monsters came from the direction of the mountainous range of the Nothing?”

Rowena nodded, but then shook her head the next moment. “Yes and no. There are certain walls that are less damaged than others, Iron Vale, for example. As to where the monsters came from? The Nothing is just one speculated location. Geologists believe that they rose from the earth.”

“The earth?” Levi asked.

“Yes. Actually, we passed one of them. The Crossing. The locals of Raven’s Pit believe that a large monster–large enough to blot out the skies–rose from that crack to attack the wall. The three clawed scars in the wall are rumoured to be a result of that monster. They have named the creature: Cloudrazor. If you go to the Church of Monsters, you can actually see a shrine dedicated to the mythical beast.”

“Wait,” Levi said. “People worship it?”

Rowena nodded. “The Church of Monsters revolves around imbuing oneself with Ingredients from monsters.”

I guess that’s like my insect Ingredient? Levi thought.

“So, I’m guessing it’s easy to make out these people from a distance?”

Rowena giggled. “Not really. Before their transformation, they look just like you and I. Only in battle will you notice their powers.”

“You know a lot about all of this,” Levi said as he gazed up at the nearing wall. Just like it did with Raven’s Pit, Levi felt the imposing material of the wall bare down on him with the weight of a mountain.

“I would hope so,” Rowena said with a smile. “I major in monster habitat.”

“Oh? I thought you’d be more focused on music?”

“No. my passion is music, but… it’s not my only one,” Rowena said as she looked out the train’s shattered window, the wind blowing her white hair wild. She looked like a goddess.

“Right,” Levi said. “You want to join the Rail Slayers.”

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Rowena didn’t say anything for a moment, but she turned to Levi the next second. “Keep that a secret for me? My parents don’t know yet. They’d be livid if they heard I was thinking of joining them.”

“Your secret is safe with me, idol.”

“Idol?” Rowena laughed. “Hardly. When the imperial city finds out that there’s a Tier 2 12 year old, well, there will be quite an uproar. We haven’t had one of those in years.”

Levi sunk further into his chair.

Amused, Rowena said, “What? You don’t like the spotlight?”

“Nope.”

“Then, your secret is also safe with me.”

***

Arriving into the town, bypassing the droves of people and first responders tending to the wounded, Levi and the adult trio broke out on the other side of the station. This town was noticeably larger, but also stank of metal and smoke. Even Raven's Pit, known for its industrial works, smelled a whole lot better than this place.

Levi saw why. Most of the buildings here were fashioned with metal, unlike the brick buildings of Raven’s Pit. It was then that the meaning for the town’s name became obvious, this entire place was near a metal mine, and the whole town used it as one of its main resources. Everything was made from it.

According to Bram, it was one of the main metals used for the train’s defences near the winter. It was incredibly durable. But not only that, it was light, as well. Meaning that it could be used as a common building material.

Here, people could rest easy knowing that even if the monsters did pass the walls, their buildings were also miniature fortresses.

It was in the morning, yet Levi couldn’t even tell. Thick smoke surged through the streets, the only reprieve of light were the magical lanterns flickering down the street. Houses did have electricity, as magical fire gems were a bit on the expensive side. He could see them through the shop's windows.

“Always make sure your wallet is on the inside of your jacket here, Levi,” Gregory said. “Pickpockets run rampant in Ironvale.”

“Really?” Levi asked, but he quickly changed the location of his money, placing it securely within the inside of his jacket.

“This place has a higher crime rate than most,” Sera said.

She didn’t seem bothered by the smoke at all. And thanks to Levi’s fire attributes, it didn’t really bother him either. But the other people on the streets were not the same. The most common piece of clothing people had here were handkerchiefs tied across their mouths in an attempt to assuage the lingering smoke.

It wasn’t a regular smoke that would result from a normal fire, either. It had the tinge of metal through it. Most of the older people here coughed and spluttered as a normal occurrence. It appeared that the fumes had a lasting effect on their health.

“Are there no regulations for the smoke?” Levi asked as he passed an older gentleman too busy coughing to realise that Levi passed by. “It seems to be hurting the people here.”

Gregory laughed. “You must be joking, lad. When profits are involved, you’d have better luck finding a Legendary Ingredient sitting in the middle of the road.”

“People do protest–”

As if right on track, Levi noticed a group of people all standing in front of an enormous building that had four spires all reaching upwards. Just like the buildings around it, they were adorned in dark metal.

The crowd held signs with a variety of messages, such as "Stop the Smoke" and "Halt the Mining." They finished it off with pictures of damaged, and black lungs. The image was striking.

Gregory held Levi’s shoulders as he led him through the crowd.

“They’ve been at it a’ while now,” He explained. “But I have no hope in the government doing much to help them. As I said before, when there’s profit involved, it’d take a mountain to move them from their greed.”

Yeah. Sounds like my world, Levi thought as he took in the sights all around. He asked where they were going, and Sera responded that there was a police division here where they needed to report their findings. Information through radio travelled faster than the trains.

Standing in front of the government building, Gregory turned to speak to Levi. “Right, this is where we part ways for a while. Me and Sera have a lot to discuss with the higher ups. No doubts they have a lot of questions for us.”

Levi nodded along. “For how long? And what about Bram?”

“It’ll take most of the day, I’m afraid,” Sera said. “We also have some other errands to do. Bram will be staying with you.”

“Hey, Bram,” Gregory said. “Why don’t you take the lad on a hunting mission?”

“A hunting mission?” Levi asked.

Gregory nodded. He grabbed hold of Levi’s shoulders once more, and pointed him in the direction of a large metal board. On it were many pieces of paper. A monstrous image was displayed on the upper half of the paper, and words joined underneath it.

“That right there is the hunting board,” Gregory said. “People take missions from it for payment. If you don’t want to kill some time here, you can do it in the wild. You know, get some experience in hunting. Bram can teach you everything you need to know.”

Levi thought of staying here for a while, getting a lay of the land, so to speak. But he turned up his nose at the ever present wall of metallic smoke. Yeah, the wilds sounded a hell of a lot better.

“Hunting sounds fun,” Levi said as he looked around the streets.

“Thought so,” Gregory said. “Well, have fun. And stay safe.”

“I’m having deja vu,” said Levi.

Gregory smiled in response.

“Take care, Levi,” Sera said, her hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Come back safe and sound.”

“I will, thank you, Sera.”

Levi saw the hesitation in Sera’s eyes. Levi could tell it wasn’t mainly concerned that flashed within. He wasn’t that naive. With him being Tier 2 at only 12 years old, he was a high talent that these noble families seemed to want more than anything. If he died here, it would be a great loss to the Lindar family. They would lose a precious gem that was rare to ever be seen.

The fact that Sera was willing for him to go into the wild with just Bram, with the risks that went along with it, told him everything he needed to know about who Sera was as a person.

“Wait, Gregory,” Levi said, catching the man, turning him around. “Your plan is to just make me stronger so that you get more praise, isn’t it?”

Gregory laughed. “Guilty as charged.”

Shaking his head, Levi and Bram headed over to the mission board. He was met with a decision. Next to the beasts were a star rating. Higher the star, the more dangerous the monster was.

Now, what difficulty should he choose?