Chapter 3: Magic, Trains, and Beasts

"Okay, so its offical" Pyr said, as he took a big bite out of the bread and then swallowed.

"Pyr, chew more".

"Sorry" he said, washing it down with water. "That said, I am even less certain of what we read in these experiment logs now. Especially mine, this Live Doll stuff. Most of what was written here appears theoretical. The sheer amount of Ifs, maybes, and possiblies makes me wonder how much they were actually certain of. It might be entirely possible for me to grow. Maybe even both of us...sort of..."

"What do you mean sort of?"

"Well, it might be possible to forcibly grow your body to at least a few years older...probably around two. The issue is...homculus apparently are made as tools, not people, so you lack certain...hormones..."

"...I cant have children, can I?"

"Never happening".

"Thats fine. I have one great child right here".

As he said that, the two looked at each other, and then giggled.

"Okay, I think we need to make that the last time we say that....its just too weird".

"Yeah...im more like a brother or best friend now, aren't I? Anyways, I suppose considering I already grew old once, its fine not to do it again. But you...whats the chance?"

"I might grow at least a bit more. They wanted an eternal puppet king, but it seems they had plans to let me grow a bit at least. So I might be able to reach the teens, at least early teens...maybe..."

"I feel like these books are unreliable since we dont know how to understand them" Arc muttered.

"Well, the magic book was a bit simpler to understand.  It seems that there are actually many ways to invoke magic.  The one we seem to have done is instinctual magic.  Easier to do by those who are well trained or blessed with lots of magic power, it seems that you can invoke basic and lesser magic through will alone.   That said, there are also other methods.  Through words and chants that you link to the spell, or that has already been linked and explained to the spell, one can conjure forth a specific and detailed spell.  Often used for only the most powerful of spells, it assists in focusing and controlling the power and ensuring hte correct actions are taken.  There are also ritual casts, that require a certain arrangement of objects and energies, that one seems to be another powerful one.  But it also seems you can link certain spells to simple body movements and actions, or use some sort of focusing tool like a wand or staff to assist on the casting of a spell.  It seems the spells can get quite complex".

"Sounds like it...at least that is easier to understand though" Arc said, remembering his wind blast.  "So using them can increase the power and focus of a spell?"

"Also the efficiency of one".

"I could use that..." Arc mentioned, as he felt his body ache.  Clearly he had well overexerted himself doing all of those windblasts.  His body was meant to possess great magical ability, and had a high affinity for storm magic, but his own lack of experience and knowledge ended up with poor spell control and efficiency, not to mention backlash onto his own body.

The only reason he lasted so far and for so long was because he was a homunculus and his body was stronger then normal, and possessed higher reserves of mana.  In addition, there was a mix of adreniline and desperation.  However, he doubted he could do something like that again till he learned better. 

Not only that, but I wasn't even using combat magic.  That was simple movement, invoked through instinct and such.  I would last even less in a combat situation like that.

As he was thinking that, the train could be heard in the distance.

"Sounds like its here.  So, what is our cover story?" Pyr asked.

"Right now, best friends.  Caravan we were traveling with got attacked.  We escaped into the forest.  Eventually ended up here.   Thats all we say.  If they inquire further, we act panicked and flustered and confused".

"...we have to rely on your acting skill?"

"Hey, its not that bad.  I should definently be able to pull this off" he mentioned, as the train pulled up to the station.  After stopping, the two of them headed to the doors, which appeared to not be automatic, and boarded after opening them, making sure to close them as they entered.  

The train cars were quite large, much larger and wider then any train they saw on Earth.  They remembered the tracks as well, but it seemed like they could be roughly one and a half to two times wider, and also a bit taller.  The one they got onto had a ladder that headed up to a second story, but on the first one there was a hallaway with rooms on each side to sit in.  Looking through it, they decided to pick the closest one that looked empty, and went inside, closing the door behind them and sitting on the nice, cushioned bench.  The red cushions it was made with were exceptionally soft and pleasant to touch, which was a win for them.

"Well, this is far nicer then I expected...the tickets didn't specify seating?"

"Nope.   Its probably just a general area though, but this seems like the standard so we should be fine here".

In addition to the seats, which could fit probably six people sitting comfortably, there was also a table, and to the side were some beds that could fold out.  From what Arc could tell, it was only on a schedule where one to two trains would pass through the station every two hours, and that the railway network was still in its infancy.  Additionally, the time it would take to get between two locations was still very long, with them not expected to arrive until tomorrow, meaning they would be here overnight.

Pyr decided to look inside the storage closet, where he found a metal basin used for bathing, as well as some containers with water, a sponge, and so on.  There were also other things that one could use to do their business.  As they suspected and feared, the level of civilization here did not include modern piping, so toilets, sinks, and focets in general did not exist.  Or if it did, probably only the rich had them.

"Arc, you did all the pipe work yourself right?  After complaining the plumber is too expensive?"

"Yeah, but...I dont know how to make pipes.  Just replace them and connect the simple pieces...with help from a guidebook".

"I see...well its not like..."

"Pyr, you are taking a bath.  You are not getting out of it..."

"...fine, but neither are you okay?"

"Take one together then?"

As Pyr was about to agree, there was some knocking on the door as it opened.  And standing at the doorway was a boy with blue hair, holding onto the door as he was gasping for air.  Right as he did, the train whistle sounded and it started to move.

"Excuse me...you have a seat available?" he asked.  He was wearing long blue shorts that just covered his knees, a blue long sleeved jacket with an open zipper, a white T shirt, and blue boots.

"Ah, sure.  Was there nothing else open?" Arc asked, as he thought plenty of spaces were still open.

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"Ah, no...are you not used to trains?  Well whatever...if a room is empty but the door is locked, then its taken.  I didn't check, but..."

"I see, you are tired so you went to the first one you saw with people..." Arc mentioned.  Although he thought it might be a bit awkward to bathe with a stranger, the bathtub or whatever it was called was in public view, and at least he was a boy like them.   So, it was probably normal.  Rather, since even the bathing area in the mansion was rather public, it was probably the norm.  "Well, its fine".

"Thanks" he said, stepping inside.  After that, he took off his boots, and put them in a rectangle by the door, and then also took off his socks which seemed sweaty.  Realizing that was the customary thing to do, Pyr and Arc did the same, taking their shoes off and putting them in the rectangle by the door.  Arc faintly sensed magic power eminating from it, likely some method to stop the momentum of the train from knocking them over everywhere.

"I guess that is how you knew it was our first time" Arc said, a bit embarrassed.

"Well, yeah...ah, do either of you have the ability to use fire magic?"

Pyr nodded, raising his hand.  "I can".

"Do you mind if we take a bath together then?  I could really use a hot bath".

"Umm...sure" he said, trying not to look too embarrassed at a stranger asking him that.   He figured it was just the norm here.

"By the way, what is your name?"

"Ah, right!  My bad!  My name is Rel!" he said, bowing a bit as he put his jacket on a hook.  "By any chance, are the both of you heading to Astria Academy?"

"Erm...maybe...its a long story.  But our memories are a bit foggy and fragmented right now".

"Well, you probably were.  A lot of people from all over come to this academy" Rel mentioned.  "Im a bit curious about the story though".

"Ahaha...another time" Arc said, already feeling like the story he made up would be easily seen through.

I knew it...he is a terrible actor...

Pyr thought that to himself.

"So, I suppose a bath after dinner...ah, I wonder what they will serve tonight" Rel wondered while taking out a book.  "Anyways, we have a good amount of time, so maybe you could tell me that story now?"

"Ah, well, its not that interesting.  We lost a good deal of our memories, woke up in a strange place in chains, escaped, ran through a forest running away, got here, got on the train, and that about sums it up" Pyr said bluntly.  At all of that, Rel's book practically fell out of his hands.

"Exactly how much?" he said, his eyes seemingly interested.  

"Lacking various personal details, but we remember a good amount of things like money and language and magic and such" Pyr said.

"I see...interesting" Rel said, picking up his book.  "I guess it was more complicated then long".

There was a bit of awkward silence for a bit, before Arc had a thought.

"So what do you know of Astria anyways?"

"Ah, right...Astria is one of the nicer cities in the Helios Kingdom.  Its known for its academy, as well as its diverse trade industry.  Its also the second largest despite only being about two hundred years old.   Its a rather diverse place for sure, with lots of nobles having estates there.  Though not all of them play well with others.  Ah, since despite various clearing attempts there are still a lot of monsters in the area, it has a wide variety of dishes it serves as well.   Furthermore, the Academy, one of its prime attractions, is open to nobles and commoners alike, and even royalty.  Many children attend it across the continent".

"Heeeh.  Thats pretty good".

"Yeah.  Also, since so many come from out of the country, there are even dorm rooms and accomodations for students.  Children between the ages of ten and seventeen go there to learn...well, mostly".

"Mostly".

"Some go there to earn money, some go there to keep up appearances as nobles, some go because their parents made them...stuff like that happens as well".

"Well, that figures....it might be good for us to attend".

"Great!  Want to be roommates?"

As Rel asked this, Arc caught onto something.

"Rel...by any chance, is there something behind all of this?" Arc asked, causing Rel to avert his eyes for a moment.  However, he sighed, as if resigning himself.

"Yeah.  My brother goes there.  He is five years older.  He told me that his first year, he got paired with some roommates that were rather...unreasonable and mean, and would constantly prank and embarrass him.  Also they were three years older".

"Well, we are all probably the same age...but you dont know our personalities".

"I think the odds are in favor with me though" Rel mentioned with a smile.

Does he know something we dont?

Suddenly, the trio heard a woman scream outside.  Arc immediately jumped to his feet, while Pyr stood and placed his hand on his sword.  Rel also seemed to ready his hands, with a feeling of mana channeling through them.

Without taking the time to put on their shoes and socks, they rushed out into the hall, and saw a group of four thugs facing down two women.  Both appeared in their mid twenties, but one was on the smoothed wooden floor against the wall of the train car, inbetween the two doors on either side that would lead to the train car in front.  The other one was standing defiantly between the four thugs and the woman.  Notably, only one of the other doors here was open, the rest of the rooms in this traincar were still closed, possibly either empty or by people who didn't want to get involved.

The woman on the floor was wearing a uniform that likely indicated she is an employee on the train, while the other was wearing a cloak, a hat, and soemthing that looked like a mix of normal clothing, wizard robes, and combat armor.  That said, unlike any of the web novels that Arc knew of, although her body looked fantastic, her outfit was not especially revealing or provocative, but actually looked like it covered well and applied good protection.  By comparison, they were probably revealing more skin.

"Hey, you bitch" one of them said.  "How dare you defy me?  The customer is always right after all.  And you, dont interfere!  This is between us and her".

Wait, hold on a second... Pyr thought, realizing something.  That is strange...

"Arc...just the one on the right.  Take him down" Pyr mentioned.  

"You sure?"

"Yeah...I dont feel its right to walk away from this, but...we shouldn't interfere and become the aggressor either.  And something is odd".

"Alright" Arc mentioned, thrusting out his palm at the man on the far right.  A wind blast was shot out, and the man who didn't expect it or brace for it was sent flying into the wall with sufficient force to knock him out, while not doing any real damage to the train.  "There..."

Whew...I wasn't sure if I managed it well that time...lucky...

Arc thought that, but then the one he was sure was unconscious got up, groaning in pain.

...Ah, I didn't get it right.  I didn't use enough force...

"Hey, who did that?" one of the thugs said, turning around.  But the moment he did, the two others next to him suddenly collapsed to the ground, their consciousness robbed of them as there were signs of serious bashing injury to their heads.   Before he could realize what was going on, his legs were kicked with sufficient force to make them give way and fall to the ground.

"Who hired you?" Pyr asked before the one responsible, the woman who had stood between the thugs and the employee, finished him off as well as the guy who was just getting to his feet.  "Who hired you, and who were you after?"

"Pyr?" Arc questioned.

"Only two room doors are open on this train car.  We rushed out the moment we heard the scream, leaving only seconds between the two events.  Which means everyone else here came from this train car.  However, leaving aside the employee, there are three parties here.  The foolish thugs, the woman who opposed them, and us.  There is no reason to come to this car unless you are staying here though.  And I seriously doubt the woman was riding in the same car as those thugs.  Which means one group was staying in that car, and the other came here for some reason.  Since it would make no sense for a reacting party to randomly show up, it means she was staying in that car, not the thugs...which means the thugs, for some reason, came to this car, and began to harass that specific person" Pyr explained, going into a lot of detail with his thoughts.  Arc and Rel both praised him in their minds.

"So in other words, they came to this train car for a specific reason when they made a fuss" Arc summerized, thinking back to everything that happened.  Pyr had some suspicion maybe they were hired by the people who were holding them in that abandoned mansion.  Arc realized that was the case, and remained wary.

However Pyr, thats too simple.  In that case, the woman could be the actual lure, and those were the decoy.  They did create two artificial humans of different types.  We cant underestimate their thinking abilities.

Arc thought that, becoming vigilant of the woman as well.  However, she saw through Arc instantly, and was silently interested and pleased.

Oh...that one boy, Pyr I think they said his name was, has a good deductive mind...but that other boy with him, the cute blonde haired one...he immediately became wary of me, considering the idea of a setup maybe?  Thats a rather mature line of thinking, comes from age or experience normally...how interesting...however, he hasn't assumed he is correct either.  Vigilant, but not paranoid or jumping to conclusions.  And the one behind him...oh, well that is interesting.  Seems there are some good, promising young boys here.

While the woman thought that, she pressed her finger against his neck, using magic to give him a sense of pain and pressure.

"You should answer the question.  What idiot hired you?"

"N-no one..." he muttered in a forced voice, full of fear.

"How stubborn of you...but whoever hired you wont be able to protect you, or harm you, with me in the mix" she said, adjusting her hat and letting her platinum silver hair flow down, while also revealing her pointed ears.  The ears of an elf.  "After all, I am Marquess Elina Sera, the headmaster of Astria Academy, and therefore someone you do not want to mess with".

And so, that was their first encounter with the existance known as Elina Sera, the Silverwind.