Two days into his journey, Fokusar woke up.
He yawned, stretching his arms, and glanced over at the other side of the room.
Glacia’s bed was empty.
Getting up, Fokusar started his morning routine.
He grabbed his towel and his uniform, then walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the bathroom.
He closed and locked the door behind him.
The bathroom was pretty cramped, containing nothing more than a toilet and a showerhead.
As a stream of warm water ran over his body, he felt relaxed for once.
Five minutes later, Fokusar walked out of the bathroom fully dressed in his uniform: a white suit jacket over a black vest, paired with black jeans.
He walked down to the first train car and pushed the door open.
Shory and Vermont were sitting at a table near the window, while Glacia was on a nearby sofa, completely absorbed in a book.
Fokusar walked over to the sofa, sat down next to her, and asked, “Hey, what are you reading?”
“Greek mythology,” Glacia answered, without looking away from the pages.
“Oh, those gods?
I know them from God of War,” Fokusar said.
“What’s God of War?” Glacia asked, still not looking up.
Before he could explain, the train suddenly ground to a halt right next to a dense forest.
Shory stood up from his chair.
“The mission is to collect a Blaze Stone from a village inside that forest,” he announced.
He paused, pointing directly at Fokusar and Glacia on the couch.
“You two.
Go get the Blaze Stone.”
Glacia and Fokusar grabbed their weapons, stood up, and stepped off the train into the freezing air.