[September 25th, 2978]
[Academy city... Kaznis]
[
G.A.I.A commented as they walked around the academy city.
'Is it really that impressive?' Ryan asked as they looked around the city.
Currently they were heading towards the train station to take them to the outskirts of the city.
On any normal occasion, Ryan would've taken a cab but G.A.I.A pestered him about wanting to see the ambience of the city soo...
Here they were and G.A.I.A was truly impressed. While not as advanced as one would think from a world that has had superpowers for almost a thousand years now, it was still pretty impressive.
The cars were normal cars with tires and drove on the ground but they didn't use diesel or petrol.
Rather they ran on mana crystals now. Extracted from the corpses of dungeon beasts, mana crystals were much more effective and caused less pollution than petrol.
As did most current day technology. They all ran on mana crystals.
[
'Haa. I've told you a bunch of times now, the train station.' Ryan replied, his annoyance visible in the tone of his voice.
[
G.A.I.A said in a non-chalant manner.
'Oh!' Ryan exclaimed inwardly as he saw they, or rather he, was already walking past the station.
'Ah crap.' He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. He then walked inside the station.
Inside the station was quite busy but it was mainly buzzing with explorers, each and every one of them had a different type of weapon.
And almost all of them wore some type of armor.
'It's clamouring with explorers today. I wonder if a new gate just opened.' Ryan thought.
The station was busier than he'd thought it'd be. Much busier and much more crowded than anticipated.
He looked around a bit and saw a booth nearby. A ticket booth.
He walked toward the booth. Behind said booth, was a lady in her late twenties. She had short black braided hair that seemed to complement both her face and figure nicely.
"Excuse me?" Ryan called her attention to him. She raised her head from what she was doing.
"Um, are there any trains heading to the outskirts of town today?" He asked, his voice surprisingly polite.
"Please give me a minute, let me confirm." She said, in a professional tone as she searched the computer in front of her.
"Ah found it. Ahem...." She raised her head to face Ryan. "There's a train scheduled for 2 o'clock..." She paused as she looked at the time on her wristwatch.
"...In an hour's time basically. And lucky for you there's still an available seat." She added.
"Okay. Can I get the ticket?" Ryan asked as he brought out his wallet.
"Sure thing." She replied as she typed out something on her computer.
"Cash or card?" She asked, her face still down.
"Cash." Ryan replied curtly.
She simply nodded her head in affirmation as she busied away. Then she suddenly stretched out her hand.
"Identification please." She requested.
Ryan brought out his student ID card from his wallet and handed it over to her.
"Ryan Von Ainsworth." She muttered as she typed it into the computer.
Then she stopped as she looked at the ID again. Then she hurriedly looked up at Ryan. Cold sweat seemed to form on her face as she realised she was staring at a member of one of the great clans.
"S-Si—!" She was about to give a proper greeting to Ryan but he stopped her in time as he placed his finger over his lips.
"Sshh. I'd rather not be noticed okay?" Ryan said, a seemingly polite smile on his face.
The lady panickedly nodded her head, almost in fear of Ryan. She then went on to filling the rest of the information before handing the ID back as well as the train ticket.
"T-That'll be twenty credits s-sir." She said, her voice stammering heavily.
Ryan took the ticket and his ID then he handed her the money.
"H-Have a go-good day s-sir." She said bowing her head as he walked off.
[
G.A.I.A questioned.
'Haa. She didn't react that way strictly because of me. But rather my family name. The great noble houses possess immense strength and authority.
I could easily kill her at will and face no consequences. Well if I were still an Ainsworth anyway.' Ryan responded with a casual air about him.
[
G.A.I.A questioned, shock evident in it's voice.
'Nahh. Only the great houses. The great houses ARE the government afterall.' Ryan clarified.
[] G.A.I.A mumbled and then went silent.
'Must've been through a great shock huh.' Ryan thought, noting the silence.
He sat in the waiting area along with those who were waiting for the train as well.