"This thing is really making the headlines." Evy murmured.
"But is this really what happened?" he glanced through the individuals sitting there and they all shook their head in response.
"I see. You know… I've fought a lot of beasts, had a run in with one or two high ranking beasts at that, that scene I came to meet didn't look as if it was by some mindless beast, it's too clean. Not to mention the illusionary barrier that was in place. High ranking beasts don't stray this far from their territories."
"It wasn't a high ranking beast." Trilith responded. "It was Kaina."
"That's…interesting."
"It's the truth Kobby. It really was Kaina." Lilith affirmed.
"A certain someone…" Yoshi pushed himself away from the seat he was kneeling against and began walking towards Kobby. "Seems to have gone to great lengths to alter everyone's memory and use the paper as means to push the story they wanted to tell, but for some reason, these 15 are the only students not affected." Muten Yoshi flatly commented as he walked towards Kobby's side.
Then, Kobby's eyes widened. "It can't be!"
"What's crossed your mind?"
"There are only a few things capable of doing something like this one such a large convincing scale." He put his hand over his mouth, thinking out loud and mumbling out the words. "But it is hard to believe that… No… it isn't. It is the only thing… then someone might have already done that first on these 15 to protect them; that would explain why everyone has their memory about the incident altered except them."
"You done?" Yoshi asked.
"Oh." He exclaimed, getting reeled back into reality.
"So what did you find?"
"I hate to say this but… a ruin master is most likely responsible."
Yoshi heaved a sigh. "What are the possibilities?"
"Very plausible, I'd say about 80% per my deductions."
"That's high."
"You kids." Yoshi gazed up at them. "Whoever is responsible for this maybe under the impression that it worked on everybody, I suggest you keep the truth amongst those present here and those you can entirely trust with it. Ruin masters are very rare and someone spent quite the amount of resources to get all this done. I'll say it again, keep it within your circle and work it out, we're here if you need any help."
"Until then, I was sent here today so you guys can kick back and relax, nothing can go wrong as long as I'm here, so cheer up. It's not the end of the world, just the beginning of a journey. 'Kay??" he faintly smiled and it washed over them a wave of certain assurance.
"Come on. Let's go have some fun!" Yoshi chuckled.
The Militrain, comparably smaller to the main ones that traveled through all of Dolrea and wide stopped at Rendah, at the north of Dolrea. At the cleaving away of the beats' exoskeleton, they flooded the train platform; and
"Woah!" they murmured amongst themselves.
"I'd read places outside Dolrea were different."
"Yeah…" Trilith cut in on her sister. "It definitely is true."
Wonder overtook them as they stared.
"The stations are kind of…"
"Different?"
"Yeah."
"That's because of the nature of Rendah. This place is a very busy spot, it forced them to advance from our open field platform to this kind." Yoshi commented as they stared at the people trooping in and out the station. There were two sections, the one to their right was for the artificial trains that went far and wide and there people went across boots with bars that only allowed entry and exit when they would put a card on them. And they watched as people went in and out.
The other section was the first ever to be employed in Rendah. The one they found themselves on, an open section without rails that welcomed all and any travelling beast.
"Well don't stand there all day, come on!" Ferah called them back to reality.
They walked a little further ahead and came meet a woman that wore a black and white dress. A black sleeveless vest over a white longs sleeve shirt then a black over the knee skirt that complimented her black high heel footwear.
"Welcome to Rendah! Students of Dolrea Academy." She stood in front of them at the platform, seemingly awaiting their arrival. "A bit late on schedule but glad to have you here regardless." She welcomed them.
"Apologies for our being behind schedule. Yoshi Toukame. You can call me Muten Yoshi, but I prefer Yoshi Sejin these days." He went in-front; chew stick in his mouth and with a smile, stretched out his hand to greet her and she reached out in kind and greeted Yoshi.
"Elena Welkins."
"Pleasure is ours. This is Kobby." He gestured to his left. Then, "Ferah. The silent one behind me is Kolaiah."
"With me this way please." She led them away from the stations platform and out and there in the open street. The life of the city washed over them. Rendah had been infamous for its tourism and goods. Unlike Dolrea; the capital of Vavel that relied on the heavy use of nature for light such as employing fire flies for street lamps, and extracts from light trees and natural fire, Rendah was a bit of a blend of both natural and artificial innovations. It employed travelling beasts for unconventional roads and used vehicles like cars and buses in its main streets. High rise buildings, and weird blend of glass buildings and perfectly structured wooden buildings flooded their sights. Their eyes trailed and wondered across the streets and there were stores of sorts selling snacks, stuffed toys modeled after first and second generation beasts. The students looked on in awe and the girls fawned over the toys. Billboards and sign boards erected bore prototypes of weapons and armor and gear that were popular amongst adventures. The boys' eyes glittered and yearned for them.
"Rendah never disappoints." Yoshi complimented
"You've been here before?" Elena said.
"Years ago."
"Well, welcome back." They conversed as she brought them to a stop at four buses that had the writing "RENDAH TOUR" boldly written on the side. The buses set off; taking them through the colorful streets of Rendah, and before long, the vehicle came to a stop in front of a tall building of glass. A bit different from what they were used to in Dolrea and they wowed.
"I've seen pictures, but this one is, for sure a sight." Amine commented as they all marveled, heads up looking at the length of the building and how different it was compared to the tradition wooden and mortar houses they were used to.
"This is where you will be staying for your time in Rendah."
"There's about 200 and something students here. Do we have rooms for all?" Kobby questioned.
"Not to worry. There's more than enough rooms for all. But for your safety and comfort, this whole building has been given to you for your stay here in Rendah."
"That's overkill."
"You don't say, I tried to talk them out for a much more accommodating and less costly building but the king's brother insisted."
"I see." Yoshi sighed, eyes up and beholding the building they were going to spend their night in, "TRADENT HOTEL". A five star hotel about 75 meters high. He couldn't complain.
"In you go you lot"
It was around 8 and every one of the students had settled down in a room of their choosing, occupying four floors. Each floor could accommodate about at 65 students and so it was decided that each of the seniors would take a floor, covering the total of over 200 students. The night was well rested without any hiccups and soon, the morning sun bore its head.
The Rendah tour buses stopped at a mall complex's compound and as the doors opened, the soon to be graduates of Dolrea flooded the area, the whole 247 of them. And as they walked on to the entrance of the mall, Elena Welkins stood at the entrance with four females dressed in the same outfit as she was.
"Miss Elena" Kobby greeted.
"You guys have a habit of not being on time, I'll take note."
"Thanks for bearing with us, our number makes coordinating very difficult, regardless, no one gets left behind."
"I see, although you say that, but I don't see the quiet one who was in the jean jacket and Yoshi."
"Oh, you mean Kolaiah and Yoshi? They had some other stuff to tend to, so it's just me and Ferah, I'm sure they'd join up with us later on." He chuckled. While he knew it wouldn't be a problem to tell her that Yoshi and Kolaiah spent the entire night watching over the students as they slept and were now managing to get a shut eye, it would raise concerns for things that may not need that much attention, so he kept it under wraps.
"Alright then."