Days went by since that horrid fog storm. And while there was none other like it after they restarted their journey towards bloodhaven, it was clear that it wasn’t the only outlier…

Fog Storms were supposed to become far more common the further east they went, and far more dangerous as well. The further they went, the more homes were replaced by mini castles, and the smaller the windows of said homes became. It was as if the entire land conscripted itself to fend off the constant attacks by the fog…

The houses weren’t the only thing different in the east. Entire forests and plains were warped by the constant erosion of the fog storm. What the fog didn’t uproot or take away, it changed and twisted what was left behind…

Tall spiraling trees with electric currents dazzled the eyes. Boulders rolling in air, round and round, caught in some sort of magnetic trap, to which changed them from the inside out with electric blue spikes of ethereal ore. It became more common for animals, even as small as rodents to hold a jolt or two of electricity, shocking the unwary and changing their appearance and personality to be more aggressive. Plants also changed into wondrous bioluminescent pieces of art with long tendrils like a jellyfish, shocking any that came too close. Packs of wild undead became more common, with death wolves roving around in mini hordes and in far greater numbers than was common in the west. The very ground and air felt magnetized, making hair sometimes stand on end at weird moments or angles, only to fall back into place within a few seconds.

Van was once more caught in awe at the strange scenery before him. Without any explanation as to why things were the way they are. None of his books had prepared him for this. Sure they alluded to it, and sure he understood it logically, but seeing and reading were two completely different things…

He peered into the distance, hands on the railing once more, same place as last time. It took him some courage to come back here after what happened just a few days ago. But he felt that if he hid away until they arrived at the school, then he would have lost something…

Arkina walked and then stood next to him, also gazing out into the distance. The two of them had gotten a bit more acquainted with each other since that day. He still wasn’t sure what she was doing right outside his hallway, but her explanation that she was simply heading back to her own room was just as good an explanation as any he supposed.

She now looked up to him, as if reading what was on his mind. She searched his face for a bit, as if committing it to memory. Making Van wonder if she really did have a crush on him…

Finally she spoke. Hesitant at first. But clearly wishing to start a conversation of sorts with him.

“You know…” She began, dragging her words a little. “Fog storms are a lot more common in the east than in the west. Do you know why?”

Van gave her a glance, head tilted a little to the side. His silent question written on his face, offering her to continue.

Arkina looked nervous now, hoping what she had to say would interest him. “It’s because of the old Nilfan capital.” She began. Now actually gaining more of Van’s attention for such an odd out of the blue reason.

Seeing that, she began to talk with a bit more confidence.

“As you know. The Nilfan fled to their capital where they committed to their ritual in the hopes of reversing their inevitable downfall and gaining victory over their former slaves turn rebels. But what you probably didn’t know, was that the ritual they casted to create a break of such magnitude to allow… whatever they were planning to summon… allowed the strange energies of that dimension to seep into this one. Effectively calling the fog storms we know today.”

“The fog storm isn’t just some sort of natural phenomenon, but it’s a byproduct of the huge hole in reality that is at the very center of the capital! It’s more like… Alien phenomenon!” now looking a little excited by that, as if talking about aliens and esoteric and extra-dimensional physics was something she loved.

“These fog storms don’t just cause a cloud of condensed energy that allows some living things to live inside of it. But also acts as, well, in some circles, as some sort of terraforming for whatever entity lives on the other side. Meaning, our nation, has slowly over the course over a thousand years if not more, been changing to better suit whatever lies on the other side of that break!”

Arkina then realized she might seem a bit too excited by this, and tried to backtrack a little. “Of course that’s not a good thing… or something that has a lot of support amongst the scientific consensus, though it also can’t be knocked down or dismissed either… but it’s still pretty interesting right! How we take for granted something that seems such a natural part of our world and it turns out it’s actually something quite alien! Cool! Right…?”

Looking up at Van with eyes filled with hope that he won’t think of her as a weirdo.

He had to admit, it was pretty interesting… and worrying… what he heard, but he thanked her all the same for the piece of information. It was probably something he wouldn’t have learned without reading a bunch of books.

“Ya… pretty cool. Though I hope we won’t have to deal with something like that in the future. I don’t think some alien influence slowly terraforming our world to better suit itself is a very good thing. No matter how interesting it is. Hopefully, someone will fix it one day…”

“Oh! Of course! I totally agree with you! I wouldn't want my home terraformed either!” Arkina was quick to agree.

Van chuckled and patted her on the head. “But thanks for telling me that. I always enjoy learning something new.

Arkina blushed, but accepted the head pat happily.

“Hey Van~! Let's explore the train some more! I heard they have like, a bar or something!” Luna yelled, running up the stairs and calling his name. Upon noticing Van patting Arkina’s head, she immediately rushed up to him. “No fair! I want head pats too!” And quickly ate the distance between them to hug him hard, looking up at him with upturned eyes begging for a petting.

“Alright, you get head pats too,” Van said. Patting his wife’s head gently, much to her joy.

“Well… I better get going now. I have some things to do. See you two next time!” Arkina said with a smile, though it didn’t entirely reach her eyes. As if a little put off that Luna barged in on her head patting time.

As she left, Luna turned to watch her go, head still being patted, until Arkina went down the stairs and was out of sight. “I don’t know if I want you to fuck her… or to never be near her…”

Van was surprised by this. Usually, Luna wanted him to do it with anything or anyone that had two legs and moved. He was so shocked he actually asked why. “Why do you say that? I thought the two of you got along quite well?”

Luna gave it a moment's thought. “I… don’t know… she’s great, don’t get me wrong… but there's something… off… about her…” her eyes narrowed. “I think she’s trying to steal you from me…”

Van actually chuckled at that. “Sounds like someone is just jealous. Besides, there's no way I’ll ever leave you. Not only do I love you, but I’m soul bonded with you. So don’t worry about something silly like that. You're the only one for me…” He turned her head and cupped her cheeks, giving her his best loving smile.

“Well… maybe you're right…” She said, looking up at him.

Van leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, then pulled away. “Try to make friends with her. It would be good if you had someone to lean on in school. And she knows a lot about a lot of stuff. She may even be able to help tutor you. Which I have a feeling you might need. Have you even decided on all the classes you're going to take?”

Luna hesitated, then sighed… “Ya… I suppose you're right.” then gave him a determined look. “I’ll do my best to be friends with her!”

“Thanks Luna. Now… you said something about a bar?” Van asked, genuinely curious, though also looking like he wouldn’t be completely surprised by the fact there might be one here.

Luna nodded happily. “Yes! And so much more! There's even an area for games and stuff! It’s so cool! You have to see it!” now trying to drag him with her excitedly.

Van played along and allowed himself to be dragged by his wife. Thinking to himself how after this he should go to the back and check on Karmine and the others to see if they were okay. “I hope they are doing okay… I probably should check on them considering everything that happened.” an image of his troop flashed through his mind.

---

Van and Luna explored the train some more to see what it had to offer. Considering they were students of bloodhaven and nobles on top of that, it meant that they could enter and leave most places of the train. Though there were still a few places they still couldn't go to. Such as the very front parts of the train, for some reason, no matter who you were, no one was allowed further ahead. But that didn’t matter since there wasn’t anything there Luna wanted to show anyway.

And as she promised, there were games where you could win tickets and earn prizes, and games where you could play cards against each other. There was even a dedicated car for those who wished to train and fight, even one with a mini library next to a cafe so people can get some last-minute studying in before they arrive at school.

After spending most of the day running around, Van decided it was finally time to go to the rear of the train and check up on Karmine and the other girls. Luna stayed behind because she wanted to check out a few more games.

The rear of the train was very different from the middle and the front. For one, it was far more cramped. But that made some sense considering the sheer amount of people and hanger-ons that some of the students brought with them.

Karmine and the others had it a little better. They were further up in the train compared to the majority of most of the soldiers and mercenaries and what have you. If only because there were some benefits to being the soldiers of the husband of an archduchess.

“Well hello there Van. What can I do for you?” Karmine asked when she opened the door of her room that she shared with about a dozen others. She had an easy-going smile on her face, and her eyes seemed to brighten when she saw it was him on the other side of the door.

“Nothing, I was just coming by to check up on you all. How are things back here? Is everybody okay? I’m worried something might have happened since that Fog Storm a few days ago. Sorry, it took me so long to get around to checking up on you girls.” giving her an apologetic look.

“We're not going to lose our sleep over one or two little fog storms.” Karmine playfully dismissed. “But if you're so scared, maybe you would like to sleep with me? I’ll protect you all night long…” She said in a teasing manner, giving him a wink.

The other girls, most of which were of her former bandits, jeered and joked at her antics.

Van sighed, wondering why he was so worried. Yet at the same time, he felt a slight wave of relief, like something lifted from his shoulders. He supposed this was just Karmine’s way of trying to relax him and to get him not to be too concerned…

“Well… it seems like you girls are doing just fine and don’t need any of my concern. Just be careful though. One of our neighbors in the cabin next door had a horrible accident and is still in the med bay. Just make sure you girls follow the rules on train safety when in a fog storm. I don’t want to hear that someone died from a preventable accident. Alright?”

Karmine immediately had a more serious expression on her face after hearing that. “I’m sorry to hear that. Are you and Luna okay?” her eyes quickly scanning his body for any injuries.

“I’m fine. Thankfully we were in our room already when it happened and were able to strap ourselves in before the worst of it hit.” Van said.

Now it was Karmine’s turn to look relieved. “That’s good. But make sure to take care of yourself. And maybe don’t stray too far from your room or any emergency gear or outlets for you to hang on to. Or-”

“I’m going to be fine,” Van said, raising a hand to stop her. He wanted to roll his eyes because she was beginning to sound like his mother, but stopped himself since he felt that would be rude to someone who was just worried for him. “From what we heard. Fogstorms like that are rare. We won’t have to worry about it again for a few more weeks. By then we will be at school. Where it will be nice and safe.”

“Well… if you're sure…” Karmine said, still looking a little concerned.

“I am… I’ll see you later. Stay safe.”

Van and Karmine then said their goodbyes.

“Hm? Was someone there?” Van thought to himself as he turned a corner. He was pretty sure someone was just watching him right now, but the shadow disappeared so quickly that it looked more like a trick of the light.

“...must have been my imagination…” then left to walk down the corridor, heading back to the front of the train.

---

Days passed and Van and Luna were still exploring the train. It had a lot more to offer than one would expect. It even had a mini pool! Not that he would ever use it of course. The ratio between male and female was too far skewed for his liking, and he was pretty sure no matter how clean a pool was, after so many people trying to get in and out of it, it would definitely be dirty. At least they had a sauna that they could take advantage of. But since it was unisex, it meant that there were a lot of women who simply stayed to watch the sweat drip from his bare chest.

An experience he didn’t want to go through again…

After that, He and Seral went to the mini library in order to learn more about the school and what other classes they could take. As well as perhaps learn some of the school rules and regulations and other things necessary. But all the books pertaining to that had already been checked out, leaving them with practically nothing…

The bar was nice but too crowded with women who were perhaps a bit too drunk… the training room was the same, with the wait line to use it hours long. There were simply too many people with too little room for the attractions to provide for everyone. Obviously, the party room had the worst of it. With the place so packed you couldn’t even move more than two feet a minute and all the best prizes were already taken. The worst part was that he was pretty sure someone tried to cup a feel while he was trying to move around, making his mood sour.

In the end, Van and the others could only wait in their room and do their best to find ways to waste time till they arrive at the school. Going over the same brochure at least a dozen times and trying to figure out the best and most effective time frame for all the classes they may want to take.

Finally though. The days rolled by until it was time to arrive at school. The group headed upstairs to the balcony area so that they could have the best view of the school come into view. They weren’t the only ones with the idea… so the rooftop was a bit crowded. Thankfully they were still able to get a good spot since they came in early, allowing them a perfect view.

And what a view it was…