Two months had passed.
Today was the day they would take the train to Aurevane.
Trafalgar had spent those two months busy, preparing with Caelum's help whenever he could. Caelum would also be present during the trip, though not openly attached to the academy group. If Selara's old master really appeared, making him talk would not be easy, and Trafalgar had no intention of walking into that city with only curiosity in his hands.
Caelum had also inford him of several things regarding House Morgain.
Maeron had his third child recently. One of his wives had given birth not long ago. Trafalgar had not known anything about it until Caelum told him, which was not surprising. The partners of Morgains rarely stayed in the castle unless there was a strong reason for it. Everyone knew the dangers that ca with living too close to that family.
Other things had been moving as well.
The tension between Lysandra and Rivena had grown worse. Rivena had almost vanished from sight, doing sothing now that Valttair was absent and no one could properly impose order. Not her mother, the other wives nor even Maeron. According to Caelum, Lysandra seed to have discovered that Rivena had done sothing she should not have done, and she had started investigating on her own. Trafalgar lay on his bed before dawn, staring at the ceiling while the room remained half-dark around him.
'Argh, damn Rivena… I'm sure whatever she's doing is nothing good. And Valttair is still away in seclusion training. I imagine nothing too serious has happened if he hasn't co out yet and is still training like nothing is going on.'
As for the other mbers of House Morgain, the situation depended on the person. The wives still spent most of their ti in the castle. The heirs had changed in his mind more than he expected. Most of them were now weaker than him. Trafalgar had placed himself above Nym, Darion, and Elira already. Rivena, Helgar, Lysandra, and Maeron were still ahead for now.
Trafalgar got out of bed and checked his luggage again.
Clothes. Spare clothes. Basic hygiene items. A few healing elixirs he had bought himself. A few more for mana recovery. Nothing dramatic. Nothing that would make a servant think he was planning to fight his way through Aurevane.
Which, knowing his life, probably ant he should have packed more.
His thoughts moved elsewhere.
Dravok, Rhosyn, and Caelvyrn.
Rhosyn had finished her part of the project a little over two weeks ago. After that, she had been so drained that even Trafalgar felt slightly bad for her. Today, she had gone with Mayla to relax sowhere, which was probably for the best. If anyone in the world needed a quiet day, it was Rhosyn after what she had spent months doing.
Caelvyrn, on the other hand, had started fulfilling his promise whenever he had free ti.
He was teaching Silas.
As Trafalgar suspected, the boy had already awakened his mana core. He simply had no idea how to use it, which was likely why nothing dangerous happened during his stay at the orphanage. Trafalgar had visited him a few tis in Euclid, and so far, everything was going well. Arthur kept him fed, guided, and watched. Caelvyrn handled the draconic part with much more patience than Trafalgar expected from him.
That alone was almost suspicious.
Trafalgar had also inford Aubrelle and Mayla about where he was going and what he would truly be doing. They told him to be careful. They did not ask much. Both already understood that if Selara's master was involved, this would not be a simple school trip.
There was another thing he had noticed during these two months.
Cynthia had been spending more ti with Aubrelle.
That alone was not strange. Both were in the academy, and they already knew each other. Aubrelle was one year above her, so it made sense that they could cross paths often. What was stranger was that Aubrelle had taken Cynthia to see Mayla more than once.
Trafalgar was curious about what that ant, but he decided not to bring it up.
Friend gatherings, probably.
'Cynthia was also surprised when she found out I was going to Aurevane too. Her face was really sothing.'
He picked up his luggage.
Vivienne had adapted well to the academy too. She had made friends and had begun spending more ti with Xavier.
'They are not dating yet, but it looks like they are not far from it.'
It was obvious enough. They pulled each other's attention every day, even when they tried to pretend otherwise. Whenever Trafalgar brought up the topic, Vivienne blushed because, apparently, romance was not sothing she handled well. Xavier said nothing, but he tried to kill Trafalgar with his eyes.
'And I was only trying to help.'
Bartholow had changed as well.
Becoming Professor Rhaldrin's assistant had done sothing to him. He was still Barth, still awkward at tis, still far more comfortable with old records than with social attention, but he was no longer as timid as before around people outside the group. Talking still took effort, especially with girls, but now he tried more often. He had a schedule strict enough to scare most students, splitting his ti between Rhaldrin, training, the orphanage, and his own studies.
Trafalgar respected that.
As for his own training, the last two months had not been soft either.
He had trained whenever he could. Mana control, swordwork, movent, core refinent. He had also sparred with Xavier thirty tis.
Twenty-eight victories.
Two draws.
The draws had been at the beginning, when Xavier brought out new Echoes Trafalgar had not seen before. Those had actually caught him off guard, which annoyed him for an entire afternoon. After that, he adjusted. Xavier complained loudly. Trafalgar won more comfortably. Their friendship sohow survived.
By the ti Trafalgar left his room, the academy was only beginning to wake.
He traveled from the academy to Velkaris by train, luggage at his side, and reached the station where the rest of the group would be waiting. The air was busier than usual. Students, guards, staff mbers, and a few people clearly connected to the Conclave moved through the platforms with bags, boxes, sealed containers, and nervous assistants trying not to drop expensive things.
Trafalgar stepped down from the academy train and looked around.
Then he saw Selara.
For once in her life, she was properly dressed.
That alone was almost enough to make him stop walking.
Her long platinum-blond hair had been brushed and tied in a way that looked intentional. Her clothes were refined, still practical enough for her, but far from the chaotic laboratory robes she usually wore. White and green fabric, subtle gold embroidery, gloves without stains, and goggles nowhere in sight.
She looked like a director.
Maybe even like a famous alchemist.
Trafalgar found that deeply suspicious.
Selara raised a hand the mont she saw him.
"Chef! Over here!"
There it was.
The illusion broke.
Trafalgar approached her, dragging his luggage beside him.
"Director."
Selara smiled brightly. "You sound disappointed."
"I had hopes for a second."
"How cruel."
Trafalgar looked past her toward the platform.
The train waiting there was unlike the academy line.
It was long, narrow, and elegant in a way that made it look more like a blade than a vehicle. Its body was made from pale tal reinforced with dark mana conduits running along the sides like veins beneath armor. Blue-white light pulsed under the carriage plates, and the front was shaped to cut through air with almost predatory smoothness. Runes glowed beneath the windows, and every few seconds, a low hum passed through the entire structure as if the train itself were breathing.
It reminded Trafalgar of a bullet train from Japan.
If soone had taken that idea, fed it mana engineering, ard it with enough protective formations to survive crossing half a continent, and then made it expensive enough to embarrass nobles.
Selara noticed his attention and crossed her arms with visible pride.
"What do you think?" she asked. "I helped with this thing about five decades ago."
Trafalgar looked at her, then back at the train.
"You helped build this?"
"Partly," she said, chin lifting. "Not the whole thing, obviously. I was responsible for a few stabilizing formulas and so mana-pressure regulation work. Minor contributions, really."
The way she said minor told him it was absolutely not minor.
Trafalgar stared at the glowing train again.
For the first ti that morning, he felt sothing close to excitent.
"Alright," he said. "Now I actually want to ride it."
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