Some time before Ren accident,
The high-speed specialized academy train, Vekrain, moved effortlessly through the vast expanse of the grasslands, its sleek ashen-colored hull gleaming in the morning sun. Inside, the opulence of the vessel was unmistakable. Velvet-cushioned seats, ornate golden fixtures, and the aroma of gourmet meals filled the air, all carefully curated by the empire to provide the highest level of comfort for its distinguished passengers.
The train, an engineering marvel powered by intricate mana engines, raced toward the heart of the Orianos Empire.
In one of the cabins, the excitement was palpable.
"This is amazing!" Rolan practically shouted, his wide eyes taking in every extravagant detail around him. He grinned from ear to ear, leaning back into the soft velvet of his seat. "I’ve never seen anything like this!"
Across from him, Lucius remained much more composed, though a subtle smile tugged at his lips. "It is impressive, but this level of luxury is standard for nobility. I’ve grown accustomed to it," he remarked, his tone calm, yet there was a sense of warmth in his words as he glanced at Rolan’s excitement.
Shiro and Liana, sitting near one of the large windows, exchanged silent glances, both equally awed by the splendor of their surroundings. Neither of them had experienced anything remotely close to the grandiosity that surrounded them, and it showed. They both felt somewhat out of place yet captivated by the sheer beauty of it all.
Celes, however, was much less concerned about the luxury itself. Her sharp, calculating eyes scanned the cabin with a detached air until they fell on the dessert table, laden with an array of sweets, cakes, and pastries. For a moment, her usually stoic expression softened as she approached the table, her hands immediately going for the delicate sweets, sampling them with a surprising eagerness.
Valis sat nearby, observing her students with a sense of pride. As one of the key leaders in defending the academy during the recent invasion, she had seen each of them grow into capable individuals.
Their success in the battle had earned them this honor, and Valis felt they deserved every moment of the luxury afforded to them on this journey. She had been entrusted with escorting the group to Varden, while Barran and Eslis remained behind at the academy to oversee the rebuilding efforts.
The group itself had been carefully selected—Shiro, Rolan, Liana, Lucius, Celes, and Valis herself. Each of them had played a critical role in the academy’s defense, and the empire had recognized their contributions.
As the train neared the capital, the passengers gathered by the windows for their first glimpse of the capital city. What awaited them was nothing short of breathtaking. The sprawling city stretched out beneath them like a tapestry woven of architectural beauty and technological wonder.
Towering buildings, reminiscent of the Victorian era with their ashen and white facades, stood proudly against the backdrop of sleek modern structures that would not look out of place on Earth. Mana-powered trains and buses wove through the streets, while elegant carriages and advanced vehicles coexisted in perfect harmony.
“This place is huge!” Rolan gasped, pressing his face against the glass like a child seeing a city for the first time. His amazement was contagious, and even those who had seen the capital before found themselves impressed once again.
Lucius stood beside him, his tone more restrained but with a faint trace of amusement. “Indeed, it is.”
Next to Lucius, Celes crossed her arms, casting an exasperated glance at Rolan’s antics. “You could try to act your age, Rolan,” she muttered, though there was no true malice in her words. Despite her annoyance, even she couldn’t suppress the awe every time she felt seeing Varden’s magnificence spread out below them.
As they continued to admire the view, Valis stepped forward, her voice quiet yet proud. "Welcome to Varden, the center of the Orianos Empire," she announced with a slight smile. The capital was not just a city, but a symbol of the empire’s unshakable strength and ambition.
Shiro and Liana were equally impressed by the sight of the capital, though they managed to keep their awe more contained than Rolan. The city itself was a marvel of design, structured in a perfect circle with Varderise, the grand palace, standing proudly at its center.
Once a fortress built in the dark ages by the first emperor, Varderise had evolved into a symbol of imperial power and history. The palace’s medieval roots were evident in its design, with towering spires, fortified walls, and the main road as a bridge, connecting it to the rest of the city. The color scheme of ashen, white, and gold exuded a sense of wealth, authority, and dominance. A large moat encircled the palace, further highlighting its defensive history, with only a single, heavily guarded road linking it to the capital.
“I can see the castle even from here!” Liana said excitedly, pressing her hands to the window.
“It’s massive," Shiro added, his tone filled with quiet awe. "I mean, the other buildings are huge, but the castle is on another level."
Lucius, sitting nearby, was baffled by his classmates' enthusiasm. “Why are you all so excited? It’s just the same old capital and the same old castle. Nothing’s changed here in the last century.”
Rolan grinned, unbothered by Lucius's indifference. “But I’ve never visited the capital before!” he said, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Me neither!” Shiro and Liana chimed in at the same time, their excitement mirroring Rolan’s.
Lucius’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait—what? None of you have ever been to the capital before?”
Rolan shrugged casually. “Well, I grew up with my grandparents near the sea, and the capital is really far. We didn’t have a train station nearby, and the closest one was in the next town.”
Shiro nodded. “I spent most of my time training with my master, living up in the mountains. Visiting the capital just never came up.”
Liana chimed in as well. “I lived up north with my parents, near the tundra mountain range. Getting down to the main road was a challenge by itself, let alone making it all the way to the capital.”
Lucius was left speechless, staring at his friends in disbelief. “I… I wasn’t expecting this at all.” His gaze darted to Celes, the last of his classmates, hoping to find some sense of solidarity in her.
Celes caught his look and immediately understood. “I’ve been here plenty of times before, with my old friends,” she said calmly.
Technically, she wasn’t lying. As an agent of the empire, the headquarters of her agency was located in Varderise itself, and she had trained and completed assignments here on numerous occasions.
“Oh, thank the goddess,” Lucius muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong, Lucius?” Rolan asked with a mischievous grin. “Are you embarrassed that you could have been the only city kid in our class?”
“Oh, shut up! Where else would the son of a duke live other than the capital!?” Lucius shot back, clearly annoyed by the teasing.
Rolan chuckled, enjoying Lucius’s discomfort. “I always forget you’re a rich kid, Lucius. Hey, since it’s our first time in the capital, how about you lend us some pocket money? You know, for the experience?”
Shiro grinned, jumping on the opportunity. “Yeah, Lucius, come on! Help us out a little. You’re the noble here, after all.”
“Oh, screw you both! I’m not giving a single cent to any of you!” Lucius shouted, visibly more annoyed.
“Even me?” Liana asked, her eyes wide and innocent as she tried to pull off her best puppy-eyed look. Rolan and Shiro immediately joined her, making exaggerated pleading faces as well.
Lucius groaned, struggling to keep his composure. “Ugh, no! Never! This matter is done!” He forced himself to look away, but he clearly found it difficult to resist Liana’s expression, grumbling to himself as he slumped back into his seat in irritation.
The trio burst into laughter at his reaction, while Celes walked over to Lucius and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
As the train moved deeper into the city, the group was treated to a sweeping view of the various districts, each with a distinct atmosphere and purpose.
There was the bustling residential district, where homes and small markets dotted the landscape.
The vibrant commercial sector, packed with shops, taverns, and mana-powered trolleys.
The industrial heart of the city, where factories and large complexes stood in neat lines.
The recreational zone, filled with parks, theaters, and entertainment centers, and finally, the castle area, with its grandeur and prestige as the crown jewel of the capital.
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Valis, seated in the corner, observed the group with a slight smile, a nostalgic warmth flickering in her eyes. Their eagerness and youthful excitement reminded her of her own first time visiting the capital, many years ago. But she quickly pushed the memories aside, returning her focus to the task ahead.
“You’ll have time to explore the city later,” Valis said, her voice firm but not unkind. “For now, we must head to the castle to prepare for the royal audience.”
When the train came to a halt at the main station, the group disembarked into a sea of people, the bustling station alive with activity. Dozens of trains arrived and departed across multiple lines, and the sheer size of the place was enough to make them pause in awe. Everything was vast, crowded, and alive with energy, but Valis wasted no time in leading them towards the city monorail that would take them straight to the castle area.
As they boarded the monorail, Celes and Liana sat beside each other, chatting animatedly about the breathtaking cityscape speeding past the windows. Rolan, Shiro, and Lucius, on the other hand, were deep in conversation, admiring the city’s intricate architectural designs and debating the historical significance of some of the older buildings they had seen. Mana-powered cars zipped through the streets, moving smoothly alongside horse-drawn carriages that still held their own on the outskirts of the city.
Valis, seated nearby, allowed herself a quiet moment of reflection as she observed the group. A faint smile played on her lips, though it was tinged with the bittersweet memories of her own younger days—the camaraderie she once shared with her fellow soldiers. But just as quickly as the memory surfaced, she pushed it away.
Before long, the monorail reached the expansive courtyard in front of the castle. The courtyard was alive with energy, bustling with vendors selling food and drinks, entertainers performing for the crowds, and visitors eagerly awaiting their chance to enter the grand palace.
In the center of the courtyard stood a massive statue—a towering figure clad in heavy armor, with a sword raised high toward the sky in one hand and a shield in the other. It was an awe-inspiring sight, the man depicted in the statue exuding power and heroism. This was Ilvario Orianos, the first emperor of the Orianos Empire and the founder of the nation.
Shiro stopped in his tracks, staring up at the statue with wide eyes. The figure of Ilvario radiated a sense of invincibility, legacy, and honor.
Valis stepped beside him, her eyes also fixed on the statue. “As a swordsman, Ilvario was a true hero,” she said, her voice filled with reverence. “His swordsmanship forms the foundation of the empire’s techniques. His legacy continues to inspire our people to this day.”
Shiro nodded slowly, still in awe. “I can see why,” he murmured.
His nod was filled with respect, his gaze lingering on the statue of Ilvario for a moment longer before Valis gently urged them forward. As they moved toward the castle, the hum of the bustling courtyard surrounded them.
"It's such a shame," Rolan sighed, eyeing the nearby food stalls that lined the courtyard. "So many tasty street foods, and I can't eat any of them."
Lucius rolled his eyes “You just ate not even an hour ago.”
"Hey, there's always room for more food! Especially desserts!" Rolan defended himself enthusiastically.
Celes, ever the quiet one, nodded in agreement, clearly on Rolan’s side when it came to desserts.
“We should get ice cream later,” Liana suggested to Celes, her eyes gleaming at the thought.
Celes gave her a rare smile, "Yeah, we should."
But just as they began to move again, a ripple of commotion passed through the crowd. Valis, ever attuned to her surroundings, froze. Her sharp eyes darted upward, scanning the skies. The others, sensing her sudden shift, followed her gaze.
A thunderous roar echoed through the air, and the ground trembled beneath their feet as the sound of engines reverberated. Suddenly, a massive, gleaming figure burst through the clouds above—a silver mecha, speeding across the skyline like a streak of light. Its sleek form cut through the air with an elegance that belied its size, leaving a brilliant trail in its wake.
Shiro, his enhanced vision granting him a clearer view than the others, stared wide-eyed at the sight. The mecha was unlike anything he'd ever seen before—its design was both magnificent and unsettling, as if it was built for a purpose far beyond just warfare.
The crowd around them erupted into panic, murmurs turning into shouts, fearing a possible attack. But the mecha didn't pause, didn’t engage. It soared across the capital at incredible speed, heading toward the horizon as quickly as it had appeared.
Rolan, his voice shaking with disbelief, turned to Valis. “Was that... some kind of empire prototype?”
Lucius, still gazing at the rapidly shrinking figure in the distance, shook his head. “If it is, my father’s kept this a well-guarded secret. I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Liana, still wide-eyed, muttered, "It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time..."
Celes, frowning slightly, spoke under her breath. "No information from the agency about anything like this either..."
Shiro’s gaze shifted to Valis, his voice filled with a quiet urgency. “Do you know anything about this, Principal?”
But Valis, for the first time in front of her students, appeared just as shaken. “I... I don’t know,” she admitted slowly, her voice unusually uncertain. “I haven’t heard of any project involving a flying mecha.”
The group fell silent, standing in the shadow of the colossal Varderise palace as the tension in the air slowly subsided. The citizens around them murmured anxiously, some pointing to the sky where the silver mecha had vanished, others already speculating about what this could mean for the empire.
As they resumed their journey toward the castle, the conversation naturally drifted back to the mecha. They shared theories, wondering if it was a prototype, a secret weapon, or something more ominous. Valis remained uncharacteristically quiet, her mind clearly racing with questions she couldn’t answer, her usual confidence shaken by the unknown.
Finally, after a long and eventful walk, they arrived at the massive doors of the grand castle. The towering structure loomed above them, symbolizing the empire’s might and history. The group paused, taking in the sight of the grand entrance before them. Whatever awaited them inside, they knew it would mark the beginning of something far greater than any of them could have imagined.
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Meanwhile, Ren staggered as he approached the capital, his lungs burning from the relentless run from the lake. His legs ached, and his breath came in ragged gasps, but a grin spread across his face as he finally laid eyes on the city he had only ever seen within the game.
Varden, the capital of the Orianos Empire, stretched out before him—a colossal, sprawling city that dwarfed even his most vivid memories. Towers of stone and steel reached for the sky, and the city buzzed with life, the air filled with the hum of mana-powered vehicles and the chatter of its countless inhabitants.
“Hah… finally!” Ren gasped, struggling against the exhaustion.
But there was no time to take in the view. Ren’s priority was getting to the castle before the royal meeting began. He needed to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, he faced a problem.
“Dammit, I can’t ride the bus or the monorail in this state. With only two minutes on the timer, it’s impossible, and running there would take too long,” Ren said in frustration.
He frantically searched for a solution. As he looked around, he spotted the entrance to the Crystal Garden, one of the main attractions in the capital known for its beautiful flowers and trees—a must-visit tourist spot for those wanting to picnic.
But that wasn't Ren’s interest in the garden. In the game, there was a hidden spot within it that housed a mana circle. To put it simply, it was a fast travel point specifically for Varden.
“That’s it! Please let it be there…” Ren hoped as he ran toward the garden.
Inside, he dashed toward the hidden spot located just behind a massive tree on the garden's western side. Once he arrived, he searched frantically.
“Please don’t tell me this setting isn’t included in this world…” Ren murmured as he scanned his surroundings. All he could see were bushes and flower patches.
“Wait, the bushes… could it be?” He murmured, moving closer to the bushes nearest to the tree. With his hands, he brushed aside the foliage, and his eyes finally caught sight of something.
A circle cracked the ground, hidden beneath dirt and bushes. This was it—the mana circle.
“It looks different, but it should be it. Let’s just try it for now,” Ren murmured. He pressed the timer, reappearing in the physical world. Once he stepped inside the circle, it began to glow, releasing small orbs of light.
“Here we go,” Ren said, feeling both excitement and anxiety as he prepared to try this for the first time.
After a few seconds, a blinding light enveloped Ren's entire body, leaving him momentarily disoriented. In an instant, he felt the ground beneath him vanish. When he finally opened his eyes, he was astonished to see streaks of mana lines flowing around him on a massive scale, brightening the world around him. Looking up, Ren was surprised to see an image of the capital from an underground perspective.
“Wow, I wasn’t sure how this world would replicate the fast travel system, but this is amazing,” Ren said, marveling at the view. But now he needed to figure out how to move to another point, especially the one he was aiming for.
“There should be one near the courtyard, but first, how do I move?” He wondered aloud, glancing at his own body.
His form hovered like a person in zero gravity. He attempted to use his hands to move forward. At first, it was challenging, and he progressed only inch by inch. However, as soon as he used his legs to propel himself, his movements suddenly became too swift.
“Okay, that was scarier than I thought. I need to balance it to achieve the perfect speed,” Ren murmured, contemplating how to navigate this new mode of movement.
After some practice, he began using both his arms and legs to move at a normal pace. “It’s like flying but with extra steps,” he chuckled, amused by the ridiculous pose he found himself in.
Yet, it was undeniably much faster than any vehicle. He could already see the point he was aiming for as one of the mana lines leading there. Just above it was a hidden spot next to the courtyard.
“There you are,” Ren said, spotting his destination.
As he drew close to the point, his body was enveloped once again by bright light, and in an instant, he reappeared above ground in the city.
“Whew, now that’s what I call an adventure,” Ren remarked, taking in his surroundings.
Thankfully, this spot was beneath the main road connecting the castle with the city, so not many people walked through the area.
Curiously, his timer hadn’t run out. In fact, only a few seconds had passed, even though he knew he’d spent far longer in that space.
“Maybe time moves differently there? Fast travel was instant back in the game, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how it’s recreated here,” Ren mused, considering the possibilities. But he needed to hurry, so he pushed those thoughts aside and started running once more.
The sight of the castle towering above him with its magnificent spires and fortified walls took his breath away, but Ren quickly set aside his awe. He couldn’t afford to get distracted. Running through the crowd, he broke into a run.
“Oh, I know this place like the back of my hand,” Ren said with a grin, confident that his game knowledge would guide him.
He sprinted past the guards and through the bustling activity surrounding the castle hangar. Inside, Ren marveled at the sight of the massive hangar filled with military vehicles and towering mechs. Soldiers and engineers moved about, busy with their tasks, oblivious to his presence.
It was a scene straight out of a military base, and Ren couldn’t help but feel a thrill at being so close to the action. Still, he had a mission. He needed to find the access door to get inside the castle itself and make his way to the royal chamber. After a quick search, Ren located the access door and phased inside.
The castle’s interior was just as grand as Ren had imagined—majestic marble pillars lined the hallway, each adorned with intricate golden patterns that narrated the empire’s storied history. The air was thick with the scent of incense, lending an almost ethereal quality to the atmosphere. As he ventured deeper into the hallway, his footsteps silent, Ren heard familiar voices echoing from up ahead.
He smiled in relief. It was Shiro and his group. After everything he had endured to reach the capital, he was glad to see them safe and sound, especially since he had arrived just in time for the meeting. In the distance, he spotted Valis leading the group, her confident stride unmistakable. Shiro, Rolan, Liana, Lucius, and Celes followed behind, escorted by a pair of castle guards. Ren moved closer, trailing behind them as they walked.
It’s finally time for the royal audience.