I sat on top of the moving bullet train, the wrapping wilderness quickly zooming past me.
As far as I was concerned, my position was rather dangerous, a single tilt of the train and I'd be sent flying down the mountain ranges, but honestly, the wild winds were the only things that could cure my anxiety at this moment.
I and my brother were heading to Shard City, there were definitely far faster options of travel for us as Dukes... like the teleporting gate, but Abel wanted to have a conversation with the Emperor's envoys, hence a slightly less fast travel method was chosen.
The good old express.
Honestly, if I was being honest, I had hardly explored this world since I awakened.
The places I had visited for years were basically Shard City and the capital.
Among the many cities that existed on our side of the continent, it was quite low, which left me dissatisfied.
I wanted to explore this vast world, witness the sorcery of the Arcane Empire, marvel at the mountain-breaking techniques in the Eastern Continent, and form relations with the mystical creatures on the Southern Continent.
But I was too young, and I had Alice to protect.
Maybe one day.
As I quickly dismissed my dream for the time being, I took notice of a figure climbing out of the speeding train and onto the roof.
It was a boy in the same age group as Selena.
He had sleek black hair with a streak of white, sharp grey eyes, and was dressed formally as if attending a meeting.
He had arrived with the envoy from the Emperor, and if I remembered correctly, his name was Umbra.
What a unique name, I thought, before he stepped before me, the hems of his clothing and hair fluttering against the winds.
"So what are you doing?"
His question didn't seem out of place.
After all, what would an eleven-year-old boy be doing on top of a speeding train?
Frankly, I just wanted peace of mind, but saying that would appear too deep and might expose my rather mature nature, hence I said the most out-of-pocket thing I could mutter.
"It was a challenge my big sister Vanessa imposed on me. She says withstanding the break-neck speed of wind can strengthen my body."
Honestly, I wasn't even wrong, this was the kind of bullshit my troublesome sister would cook up just to mess with me.
"What a strange training regimen!"
Umbra, confused but still convinced, sat down.
"Well, I'm one to speak. My teacher thinks throwing me in a lake in the cold regions will boost my willpower. The only thing it boosts is my chance of getting hypothermia."
"Same..." I sighed.
"Big sis once pulled that stunt on me. I got bed-sick for a week and she had to look after me."
"That's rough, buddy, but at least you had someone to look after you. My teacher abandoned me, and for the next few days, I had to fight packs of direwolves in the Southern Mountains while at death's door."
I was actually left speechless for a moment.
How the heck was he still alive, and why the heck was he so lax about it?
"Hehe... impressive, right?"
Puffing his chest in pride, he giggled proudly.
I wasn't going to even sugarcoat it, that shit was cool as heck.
"How did you survive?" I couldn't help but ask, unable to keep my curiosity in check.
The Southern Region, the domain of Clan Fenrir, was a cruel place.
From frequent demonic beast sightings to the extreme cold, it was so bad that the cities only populated the outskirts of that region, and anything past the cities was seen as deadlands.
The kind that rivaled the Dark Seas and Nether Canyon.
If Umbra had really survived that place, then he was no slouch.
"Actually... the days part was exaggerated. I only survived one day before some elder from Clan Fenrir found me and nursed me."
"You're selling yourself short!"
My response left him perplexed as I went on to explain.
"One of the key components for survival is luck. You might have all the strength in the world, but a single unchecked mistake can get you killed. You survived a day and before you died, a lucky encounter came your way. I'll say that's pretty impressive."
"You know, I never thought of it as such."
Umbra leaned back, his gaze lost to the skies.
"I've rather had a lucky life."
For someone making such a discovery he wasn't happy, the sorrow in his voice couldn't be hidden.
"Of course, don't always factor it into your strength." I stated in addition.
I believed in luck, the sole reason I was confident now was because I had been lucky to gain a useful ability, but I also believed in an equivalent exchange.
For every good luck I received, I expected an equal amount of bad luck.
"You know you act quite mature for your age."
As he said that, I found myself shrinking back a bit, my face half pale and beads of sweat trickling down my forehead.
In my attempt to communicate with Umbra, I ended up speaking in a manner unfit for my age.
"Noble Education. You'd be surprised what they teach us."
I tried laughing it off.
Umbra, unbothered, laughed along and placed his right arm forward.
"You want to be friends?"
His words came out of nowhere, but such an offer I couldn't refuse.
So on that day, I, Alex Bladeheart, made my first friend.
-------
"It seems the kids are getting along!"
In a luxurious train cabin, Abel and Felix dined together.
"They're still children, friendship comes as naturally as breathing to them."
In the world of nobility, things such as political gains were the norm.
Everyone navigated said fields in hope of gaining something.
For Alex and Umbra, they hadn't yet reached that stage.
Alex was far too young to engage in politics and Umbra seemed to only have an interest in becoming a knight.
There wasn't much they could gain from each other, hence friendship blooming this easily between them wasn't a shocker to Abel.
"Ho... the innocence of a child... how I'll miss such times."
Laughing haughtily, Felix commented while Abel wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Strange enough, he didn't actually miss being a child.
To him, his childhood was full of endless torture to build him up to be the best.
Such was the tragic fate of being so exceptional.
"Anyway Lo–Felix. Leaving the children's matter at hand, I'm still quite curious why the Emperor chose you specifically to come with us."
The Emperor sending one of his personal knights for a simple envoy mission was strange, but the fact that he chose the one specifically effective against killing demons was stranger, especially now that demon cases had been growing frequent in the capital.
To send such a valuable asset for such an occasion to represent him, when his children would have been more effective, left Abel guessing.
"Smart kid." Felix leaned back and smirked while playfully spinning the table knife in his grasp.
"I believe your Uncle is associated with the Demonic Sect."
Those words flew out of his mouth like the most casual thing ever.