Welldark B1 Ch. 03

Our conversation came to an abrupt halt when I looked at the train station in front of us and realized that the train was about to depart. Breaking out into a sprint, all three of us hurried onto the platform and just barely managed to get inside before the train departed and started rolling into the direction of the university.

There were two tracks that ran from the first year's housing outwards. One went directly to the city, a pretty short route. Because that train only came around once every hour, we actually found ourselves on the second route. That one went to the university and its schedule was synced with the train that went from the university to the city, both of them making the trip to and back every fifteen minutes. That made it shorter, in terms of time lost driving, to use the longer route.

With somewhat accelerated breath, we settled in the train. The inside was exceedingly comfortable, at least in the cabin we ended up in. This wouldn't be the experience for most people using the train. Like most of Welldark, the wagons one could access were separated by the ranks.

The lesser ranks, Wood and Bronze, got the typical train experiences of the awful and acceptable variety. Crowded wagons with seats clumped together in isles. For the Wood Division, this went so far that they had to struggle to tug away their legs somewhere. The Bronze Area had it a bit better, but they still had to share their wagons with strangers. Privacy was basically non-existent. Those were the things I saw while we fought our way to the wagons we got access too.

As first years, we got a guaranteed Iron Ranks experience and therefore access to the more luxurious wagons in the middle of the train. There, a large number of cabins took the place of the previous groupings of seats. Each cabin came with a door that was lockable from the inside, ensuring privacy. That the seats were leather, the ground plastic and the milky window in the sliding door blurry to the point that one could only make rough shapes out through it told me as much about the frequency and tacit approval of intercourse here as I needed to know. Given that these cabins would be, more often than not, occupied by a guy accompanied by a few members of his Anomalia, regular 'incidents' could be expected.

'I wonder how much more luxurious it gets further up the train,' I thought as I got comfortable. 'Maybe they have an on-board kitchen? Beds? I'd expect some private rooms for the top ten Anomalias... ah, well, I will probably find out eventually.' I was confident that I could land in some higher ranks in later years, but only time would tell.

Unsurprisingly, with all of the segments meant to transport, at any given time, up to 500 people, the train was a lengthy best. There were also several of them and they ran on every day at any hours. These trains were the backbone of Welldark's public infrastructure. Not that the island was so enormous that places of interest couldn't be reached on foot with enough time and interest.

The train rolled into its first stop and we got out. The station, located at the university, was mostly underground, with only part of the roof extending above and allowing daylight to fall in through the stained glass windows. Pillars and arches of the typical gothic design and majestic, dark colours were illuminated by artificial sources confined in cast-iron lanterns. It all looked quite impressive, as shortly as I got to look at it.

Walking across the platform, we entered another train. It was considerably less crowded, that much was obvious even in the better areas in the middle wagon we went into. The majority of cabins were open and only a few people crowded the walkways. Likely, most of the second semester students had gone for the stairs and almost all that remained were us first semesters looking to explore the city.

"I do desperately need a coffee," I yawned, when we were comfortable inside our next cabin. That odd, dragging sensation of changing inertia informed me that we were starting to move. The tracks were so smooth that there were no other feelings, but a look outside the drape-framed window soon confirmed the same thing.

"Second breakfast does sound fantastic," Arlethia agreed and snuggled up against her boyfriend's side. "I want something solid between my chompers." If there was any doubt about what she meant by that, it was eliminated when Willt started to blush. Poor guy was so easily embarrassed when it came to sex.

"Alright, alright, you semen demon," I snickered, while noticing a vibration on my belt. My Ashod had received some kind of message. Taking it out with a nonchalant attitude, I spread out the two stone halves and looked at the screen that appeared. The preview already had me smirking a little bit.

"Something good?" Willt asked, happy for a different topic to jump on.

"I would cautiously say so," I answered, my smile growing as I answered the straightforward message with a simple text of my own. "Esther just contacted me, saying she would be interested to hear what I wanted to tell her this morning." Her message didn't contain a single word of explanation nor an apology. I was happy that she contacted me on her own volition, especially with how quickly it happened. However, I had to categorize this as a bad character trait.

"You can ask her why she was this cranky then," Arlethia suggested and I hummed thoughtfully and then shook my head. "What? You're not going to ask?"

"No, I will ask, mostly because I want to avoid such encounters in the future," I clarified my position. "It would be much better if I understood what the problem was without asking her first, though. This is a challenge... let's see... what changed between then and now..."

Esther had headed out on foot shortly before us, but not shortly enough that she would have taken the train before us. It was possible she was in this train, we almost missed it after all. Getting out at the university, it would have been easy to miss her because of the size of the crowd. Regardless, I doubted that she was had been in there. She wouldn't have had the time to do whatever she had done in the short time between the train pulling into the station and us now pulling out of it.

No, it had to be that she had walked somewhere. Wherever she went, she had spent enough time there to solve whatever issue made her that impatient. There weren't many things around the mansions that she could have aimed at. As a matter of fact, the only other facility that could be reached on foot in that time was the dormitory of the remaining freshmen.

I came to a conclusion that I found reasonably likely to be true. It was a whole lot more likely than the hair theory anyway and it was also a bit more relatable. Her rage was still out of bounds, but some people got extremely irritable in that state.

"Anyway," I put that thought process to rest, "Where were we on with getting breakfast?"

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"I like this place," I remarked, while finishing my cup of coffee. The dark liquid ran down my throat and shushed away any remaining drowsiness. A bitter aftertaste was left in my mouth. I preferred my coffee completely black, that way I got the most of that life-saving caffeine into my system.

Once inside my stomach, the coffee mixed with the foundation of a buttered croissant, a thickly cut ham sandwich and a radish salad. All of it had been quite delicious and I was now considerably less on edge regarding the events of the morning. I think I got the problem solved and I was now, after the meal, doubly sure. Either way, I would see Esther again in a little bit. For now, I leaned back and enjoyed the interior of the bakery.

It was just a small shop, so small that there were no customers other than us. Aside from the table the three of us were sitting, there were only two more. Despite that, it didn't feel cramped whatsoever. The atmosphere was cozy and welcoming. The shop was clean, but not meticulously scrubbed until it looked sterilized. Basically, it had the typical family enterprise feeling.

The walls were covered in beige plaster, with a relief depicting a snake slithering its way along the walls as additional decoration. It curved along the walls, climbed up and laid across the single bathroom door. From there, it dove underneath a flower-pot-decorated window at the back. Stretching across the wall opposite of where I was sitting, the snake then reached its end point above the coffee machine. Intended or not, I found that the snake looked fittingly sleepy.

As for the coffee machine, it stood next to a bread cutting machine. A glass counter, a number of shelves to stack bread on and a cash register combined to complete the feeling of the typical bakery. Most of the shelves were already empty. I made the guess that the owner of this place made most of their money by catering to the breakfast needs of the locals, rather than students.

The owner was also something that I personally found to be required for every good bakery: being a cute woman. "Thank you, Lisbena," I happily waved over to her, while clearing the last few crumbs of breakfast of my plate. We may not have been the intended customer group, but we had been served tasty food regardless. "That was delicious." I started to stack the empty plates.

"Oh, Karitas, you can just call me Lissssa," the woman laughed behind the counter, her scaled, bright red tail peeked just over the stone base of the counter, as it happily wiggled. She was a lamia, a person with the lower body of a snake and the upper body of a human. A very well-groomed snake and a very attractive woman, in this case.

To start with, Lisa had enormous breasts. I was a fan of all shapes and sizes, but the jiggle was undeniably enticing. Her face bore a mild amount of wrinkles, showing that she was in her forties, but attractive regardless. It was framed by some of her auburn hair, which otherwise fell all the way down past her waist. She had a somewhat pudgy figure and wide hips. Save for the snake bits, she was a proper embodiment of a MILF.

She was wearing an apron over a yellow shirt and a black skirt, hiding the area where her human half transitioned into the snake tail. Rumour had it that lamias could transform their tail into regular legs. If it was true, lamias were not in the habit of doing so. I imagined there was some sort of physical or mental effort involved, as deviating from one's true form usually does. Hopefully, it was true. As much as I liked the exotic bits, the lower body of a snake made a lot of sexual positions a complicated endeavor. Basically, it barred everything that required backwards access. Doggy style was a saddening thing to give up on.

For all my attraction and curiosity, my interest was eliminated due to a golden ring she wore on her left ring finger. It covered the same space an Anomalia mark would have, leaving me wondering whether or not she was capable of joining one. There were more than a few cases in which people that couldn't fathom the Dimensional Truth were born on worlds where the majority of the population could. Even artificial planes of existence like this one wouldn't have been exempt from that circumstance.

Whether she was part of an Anomalia or not didn't change that she was off the market. I hadn't noticed before making some flirting remark when first entering this shop. Lissa had responded jokingly, while showing me the ring to make things clear quickly. Since she was such a good sport about it, we had hit it off nicely. It being a platonically friendly relationship between baker and customer.

"You're such a nice young man," the lamia lady complimented when I handed her the stacked plates my friends and I had dirtied. "I hope my daughter finds a boyfriend like you one day."

"Well, you could introduce us," I suggested with a smile and a wink. "If she looks half as good as you do, I would like to meet her." Flirting was off the table, but compliments were something I offered to every woman and friend.

Beside me, Arlethia let out a loud groan, with Willt patting her head to calm her down. Those two continued to regard much of my honest approach to communications as odd or cringey. They were welcome to hold that opinion. I knew my more flowery sentences could miss the point sometimes. Personally, I didn't mind that drawback and I definitely wouldn't stop complimenting people I liked. Especially not if I was rewarded with an honest chuckle occasionally. The lamia did give me one such laugh.

"I would consider that, but she isn't in Welldark at the moment. We had her sent to a school in another world." Lissa pointed out. She had a great amount of control over her hissing accent. Perhaps the earlier extension in her name had been on purpose? "Maybe next semester. If you come by often and spend Darks graciously, I am sure I can arrange something for you," she winked.

"Such a hard bargain you drive, filled with sweet promises. You come for my money, yet I feel like the person robbing you," I sighed heavily and then smiled. Without any more esoteric exaggerations, I added, "What do we owe you anyway?"

"4 Darks for breakfast, 1 for the coffee," she told us. With my limited experience, that sounded like a very reasonable price.

In Welldark, everything was bought with the boringly named 'Welldark Currency'. Everyone shortened it to Darks, which was a tad more interesting and fit with the gothic aesthetic of the university. Students acquired their funds via monthly allowances. The size of these was dictated by one's rank. It was another tool of the Welldark administration to emphasize the importance of a person's position in the student body. A breakdown of the ranks was easily available online and I remembered it well enough.

People in the Wood Division got 300 Darks a month. They were the poorest of the poor in Welldark and their available funds reflected that. A day of the cheapest meals cost 10 Darks, roughly speaking. Not great meals by any description. Primarily, remains from the previous day. Stale bread from the bakery, cold soup from the cafeteria, cheap sausage as dinner, such things. Not the greatest in taste, but enough sustenance to go to bed without being hungry. Additional items would have to be starved for, otherwise saving was impossible

For higher ranks, that problem progressively vanished. Bronze Area members had 500 Darks at their disposal, which allowed a higher standard of food and some luxuries or conveniences at the side. Iron Ranks were treated to 750 Darks, which was enough to only worry about truly expensive things. Silver Knights got 1250 Darks, almost eliminating the need to even think about money. Lastly, Golden Eagles got 2000 Darks. There were very few things they would need to save for. The top 10 were said to earn even more, but I hadn't seen a table for that.

There were alternative ways to get money, unrelated to a person's rank. Begging one's family to make a donation to Welldark, for example. The donation would be noted, be it a magical item or just plain cash, and converted. At the start of the next month, the affiliated student would receive an appropriate sum. It didn't raise anyone's standing and I would personally think a little less of people that regularly relied on their parent's money, but it was a way to fill one's pocket.

Getting a job was a lot more respectable. Be it in private enterprises, as administrative support or being a helper for the teachers, I imagined a student could find a job if they just searched for a little bit. Other, less reliable, ways were to win the events that the university hosted, such as the placing tournaments, or impress the teachers. There were many ways for people that were stuck in lower levels to still have a wealth of resources, if they compensated talent with dedication.

As first year's, the three of us got the monthly allowance of Iron Rank members, 750 Darks. With that amount of money on our hand, 5 Darks for breakfast was pretty okay. Not luxurious but not cheap either, which fit the quality of the food we had been served.

'Is there a way to convert Darks back into something that has value outside of Welldark,' I wondered, as I stepped up to a device that was sitting next to the cash register. Darks did have physical notes, but since our allowance was digitally administered, going out of my way to have some of them sounded like a pain. I would just pay what I had to pay and not bother with all the counting. That it was easy as opening a screen on the AppDark program and holding it against the scanning device further justified my attitude.

5 WDC stood in green letters on the register's display. A sound effect akin to falling coins played when Lisa hit the confirmation button, withdrawing the amount from my account. "See you tomorrow," the lamia mused when all of us had paid and were turning to leave. It didn't sound remotely like a serious assumption. It was probably something she had said to customers for years and used reflexively. Her happy smile and wave convinced me to come by again. Not tomorrow, but soon.

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With our hunger sated, we were in the proper mood to tackle the main reason why we came to the city today. We needed to find shopping centres or simple supermarkets. Places where we could buy things that made the next morning less pressing in terms of finding something to eat. Additionally, we wanted to seek out a few places that sold luxury items.

For all its expansive splendour, my bestowed mansion had a severe lack of anything beyond what would be labelled modern necessities. There was all the furniture we could ever need, but not a single TV. Power sockets were scattered all about the house, but barely any electronics to make use of them. We had a vacuum cleaner. The kitchen was fully stocked with cutlery and manual tools, the oven would heat up what we made and the fridge would keep our food fresh, but there were no electronic cooking utensils.

All of these things needed to be bought by the students themselves. Welldark really wasn't a place to get cuddled into an easy-going lifestyle. That was completely fair, as far as I was concerned. I would need to work to make day to day business easier. With enough effort, I could still automate a lot of the boring chores. I was motivated to minimize the energy I needed to expend on them and schoolwork and instead focus on all the fun activities the Cosmic University lifestyle enabled.

'I wonder what happens when we move,' I thought. About a year from now, we would have to leave the mansion. Would we have to just carry as much as we could? Was there a moving service? Cars were rare, but the administration had been shown to use them. 'Ah, well, then is then and now is now.'

"So, what does the map say?" Arlethia asked her boyfriend. If she had let go off his arm, she could have checked for herself. The way she pressed her large boobs against him, I couldn't imagine either of them wanting the small succubus to step away. The young warlock hid it well, but there was no way he did not enjoy himself. For her part, Arlethia was both a woman in love and a succubus. This position was probably natural for her.

Willt hummed while scrolling around on his Ashod with the thumb of his free hand. "Some shops here and there. There is one right around the corner, but I suggest we go for the one at the centre. I don't want to check several stores to get what we want, just to get it slightly cheaper. Also it's closest to the train station." It took only a glance over his glasses to make me understand that Willt did not want to carry his luggage around again.

Avoiding the path we had followed into this part of town, we took a detour through completely unknown streets. The map on the Ashod was detailed enough to make getting lost an impossibility, provided a modicum of brain. That did eliminate the need to get a natural feel for where what was, but I found it more pleasant to be familiar with my new environment. A want to feel home in this city aside, I enjoyed the sightseeing. The entire city had a very lived-in charm to it. The fundamentally gloomy, gothic colouration of the Welldark-controlled architecture was accented by colourful accessoires people added to their houses.