"Follow me, your ship departs in forty minutes" Gilrine gestured at Michael to follow him. Reassured that Gaya is still in the Akilan realm, Michael walked behind Gilrine looking around. The place was simply magical. The rainbows added another layer of charm to the already magnificent Akilan realm.
Michael did not know where Gilrine was leading him to. As far as he could see, there was nothing but grassland and floating mountains. Few of the mountains had small pagodas atop. However, those pagodas did not look like the famous Mazeroth.
"How may I call you?" asked Michael,
"Gil, Gilrine, groundskeeper, fatso as many like to call me" Gilrine chuckled,
"Gilrine it is"
"How many students are in my batch?"
Michael tried to gather information about the Akilan realm and MAzeroth starting from Gilrine since Gilrine seemed like a talkative type.
"Twenty-four. The number is twice in the junior batch. Trust me, this time, we have some monsters. When they leave after three years of study in Mazeroth, they will rule the world"
"Three years? I thought the studies in Mazeroth will be eighteen months" asked Michael,
Gilrine scratched his bushy beard as a few peanuts jumped out of his beard.
"That's for the senior batch which is you kids. The little ones will study here for three years"
Nightmare couldn't take his eyes off the sky where he saw countless people flying. He wanted to check out the new place by flying around. He really missed Vedora. They would have really loved the place, Nightmare thought.
After almost half an hour of walking, they came to the edge of the mountain. Michael stood on the edge, looking down. There was nothing but puffy clouds down. They covered the air as though they were fluffy white blankets.
"You are the last one in your batch and surprisingly you took your time. Normally kids come running here the second after they get the invitation"
Michael could barely see the expression on his face through the bushy beard.
"I had some loose ends to tie up"
For some reason, Gilrine had a weird feeling looking at the calm face of the youngster. He couldn't explain the feeling but it was drilling his heart like a drill.
Choo!
Choo!
The sound of the train in the distance drew their attention towards the sky. Michael was pretty surprised to see a train approaching them. The train was flying rather than running on a track. The train was at least 650m in length. It was painted in black with the word 'Mazeroth Express' written on the side in crimson red. Michael counted five coaches while waiting for the train. He couldn't help remembering the Hogwarts express looking at the train. This whole place and MAzeroth reminded him of Harry Potter. Instead of Harry Potter, he felt like Voldermort since the guardians named him the 'Dark Lord'
As the train approached them, it slowed down and eventually stopped in the air above them. A bridge made of light appeared from the center car to the edge of the mountain Michael and Gilrine were standing on.
"Bollocks" all of a sudden, Gilrine slapped his own forehead.
"I forgot to pick something important" he turned to look at Michael,
"Do you mind going alone? I will meet you at the gateway"
Michael did not know how this entire process works yet looking at the man's pleading face, he nodded,
"Sure thing"
"Great. Here's your ticket"
Gilrine handed over Michael a golden card the size of a credit card and flicked his wrist. A large broomstick materialized on the ground beneath his feet. In a blink of an eye, Gilrine stepped on the broomstick and disappeared into the sky in a rush.
The ticket had the number 34 under the name Mazeroth written in emerald-green ink. The sparkling blue light bridge seemed intimidating as Michael never walked on a light bridge before. Still, he wasn't afraid. Even if he fell, he could fly so there was no need to be afraid.
To his surprise, when he stepped on the light bridge, a loud thunder shaking even the mountains sounded throughout the realm.
"That's ominous" Michael looked up at the sky. The puffy white clouds were being chased by dark gloomy clouds. The colorful realm slowly turned darker and darker.
In the distance, several lightning cracks were splitting the sky. The darkness soothed. He walked the bridge with his head held high. When he finally stepped into the train, the light bridge faded away. He was welcomed by a corridor large enough for two grown men to walk side by side. There were several compartments in front of him and each of them had a number on the door. Not a single compartment had open doors. The door near him had the number 23 and the numbers increased further he walked through the corridor.
"Twenty-five, twenty-eight" Nightmare counted along the way. The train was spotless. The blue rug they were walking on was clean and the place smelled like jasmine. He could not look into the compartments as the doors were made of some kind of redwood.
The coordinator was brightly lit by golden orbs on the ceiling. Finally, several minutes later, he found the number 34.
"There is no knob on the door," said Nightmare,
Michael looked at the ticket in his hand, wondering how to open the door when the door next to his compartment opened. Alluring beauty with silky brown hair stepped out of the room. She wore a warm smile on her face.
"You have to place your ticket on the door," the girl spoke in a melodious voice.
She turned her gaze towards Nightmare while Michael was placing the golden ticket on the door. Her warm smile and beauty mesmerized Nightmare. He was just staring at the girl's face without batting an eye.
Several runes began to glow when the ticket touched the door. A golden knob appeared as Michael twisted the knob to open the door. The compartment was a small room with a single door opening to the long corridor. There appeared to be seating for up to 6 adults or 8 children in the compartment, on two cushioned benches facing each other.
"Thank you"
"Don't mention it, number 34" She smiled, making Michael frown,
"You seem like you don't know it. In Mazeroth, no student is allowed to use their names. Just only by the numbers given to us when they sort us into specialization houses. I am 33 until I get my student number, I'm your neighbor" the girl reached out her hand to shake his hands with a bright smile. She seemed warm and friendly and deep down, she reminded someone of him.
For the sake of manners, Michael shook her hand. She did not linger around to have a conversation as she returned to her compartment. He entered his compartment and sat next to the window. The windows were getting covered by tiny droplets of water formed by the drizzling rain.
As though the train was waiting for him to settle in his compartment, the train began to move only after he reached his place.
"Where is she?" Nightmare asked again. He jumped onto Michael's lap and looked at him with a worried face.
"She's fine," he said before calling the system in his mind,
"System scan this compartment. I want to know if there is something that could spy on us"
[That will be hundred badass points]
As usual, he had to pay the system to get it to do something. Surprisingly, the system informed him there is nothing in the compartment that could spy on them.
"Where are you?"
It took several seconds to get a reply from Gaya.
"Human you're not gonna believe this" Gaya sounded excited,
"I will tell you everything when you come here"
Michael frowned,
"Are you in Mazeroth?"
"Yeah. Holy shit Michael, you have to see this place. This is fucking awesome"
He was stunned because Gaya was extremely hard to please yet even he praised the place and seemed shocked by Mazeroth's beauty.
"I have a surprise for you Mikey. Come sooner, I'll be waiting for you. Shit, I gotta go" the connection broke off abruptly. Although he did not know what was the reason for her excitement, he was relieved to hear she made it into Mazeroth without a problem.
Inside the compartment next to Michael's compartment, two girls were drinking hot tea facing each other.
"Edith, who were you talking to?" asked Victoria, the girl who betrayed Abras and sent a dagger through his heart. Michael was oblivious to the point that he was sitting next to the princess of Thusia and the girl who he just talked to was the younger sister of Lailah Alden.
"Number 34" Edith chuckled winking at Victoria,
"You know, he was pretty okay in the eyes. Good height, awesome body. Regardless of his robes, I was still able to see his muscles flexing out. Plus, he has a dragon for a familiar"
"Let me guess, a forest dragon" Victoria did not even look at Edith. She was still looking outside through the window and calmly taking sips from her cup.
"How did you know?" Edith was shocked,
"Because if he had a Royal dragon, I would have known him and you would have known him" Victoria calmly said. Anyone could see the superiority in her voice.
"So what? I'm telling you, you should find a boyfriend and this is the only place you might find the one who fits your criteria"
"You always ask me to find a boyfriend. What about you? Have you confessed your feelings to your sweetheart?" Edith's face immediately turned red,
"Or you're going to tell me that you and Noah are just friends" Victoria was smiling. As far as she was concerned, nothing could worry her and she and her family were reaching for heaven with the help of Cosmic Stream.
Only if she knew the deadliest man in the world was sitting next to her with a vengeance against her and her kingdom.