Steam Train

Ren smoothed back his hair as he looked into the mirror. His bright red hair managed to stay in place after he had spent over five minutes finicking over it. His red eyes went well to give him a more menacing look, but it was always spoiled by his slightly boyish features. After all, he had only just turned nineteen. Some features had yet to properly mature.

"Can't believe I'm meeting with the council today." Slapping both of his cheeks, he sucked in a deep breath before exiting the bathroom and leaving his room. He made his way down the staircase of his mentor's home, finding the middle aged man lounging in a chair while sipping on a cup of tea.

"Are you ready?" Mentor Dan glanced up briefly before returning his gaze to the newspaper in his other hand.

"Yes." Ren nodded seriously.

"Alright. Sit, we will leave in five minutes." Mentor Dan said without raising his gaze again. He fell into silence and Ren did the same. Ren was not unfamiliar with his mentor's antiques. He had spent years being raised under Mentor Dan's steady hand, after all. After so long, Ren had come to find a sort of comfort in the still silence that usually followed his mentor's silence.

Five minutes later, the duo left the house. Ren followed Mentor Dan until they reached the train station. The cold wind of the morning was fought off by the coats that they had put on. For extra measure, Ren had worn a flat cap and a scarf around the lower half of his face to fight off the cold. There was no snow yet, but with winter fast approaching, the temperatures had already fallen hard.

Chooo!

The steam trains in the distance let out their familiar huffs. Ren's eyes sparkled as he laid eyes on one of the mechanical beauties of the steam age. The steam trains had been around since before he was born, but they were only recently put to use in the city where he had grown up with Mentor Dan. This would be his first time on a train. He had only watched them from afar before.

Mentor Dan bought two tickets and led Ren to a bench where they could wait in the station. Ren carried their bags for them and followed dutifully like a servant boy. It was quite comical.

After waiting for about thirty minutes, the boarding call finally came. Mentor Dan led the way into the train while Ren handled their luggage. They were soon seated in designated spots, ready for the journey. It would take them five hours to get to the capital city of the country of Dolin. Mentor Dan spent that time reading newspapers and drinking various teas that were served on the train, while Ren silently panicked, wondering what a meeting with the Council of Elders would go like. Surely, they would allow him to become a true Exorcist. He had passed his test and subdued a strong evil spirit. Although it was not a Demon, it still classified as a threat to the ordinary citizens. It was within the boundaries of the extraordinary.

"Don't overthink it. You will be fine. You performed well for your first exorcism yesterday. Although it was not a Demon, an Evil Spirit is still good enough." Mentor Dan looked up from his newspaper for a moment to say. He eyed Ren up and down for a moment longer before turning back to his newspaper and falling into silence once more.

Ren swallowed and sighed deeply, trying to calm his nerves. He turned to look out of the window beside him, taking in the passing scenery. Trees, bushes, animals. They all whizzed by the speeding train. The excitement of his first train ride slowly came back as his nerves began to settle.

The past few years began to replay in Ren's mind as a soothing breeze blew against his smooth chin. He had landed in Mentor Dan's hands when he was just six. An abandoned child is what he was. His mother had simply just disappeared on him while they scavenged for food on the streets, leaving him to fend for himself. Mentor Dan had stumbled upon his pitiful visage, and through a stroke of lick, chosen to take him in and raise him.

Ren had taken time to adjust. It was hard, living up to Mentor Dan's standards, but he had managed. Eventually, from a scraggly street urchin, he had gotten educated by Mentor Dan's homeschool lessons and turned into an educated young man.

After becoming educated, the more esoteric teachings began. Ren got to know the darker side of his adoptive father. Late night outings where he had to keep watch of the house became frequent. Mentor Dan would leave and return with torn clothes or bloodied clothes. Ren had questions, but he was scared. However, Mentor Dan took that into consideration, teaching Ren about the extraordinary world that existed alongside the ordinary one. And so, Ren had become an Apprentice Exorcist under Mentor Dan.

Ren had leant how to identify possessed individuals. He had learnt the traits that were easy to spot from a person plagued by a demon, but not possessed. He had learnt how to identify the presence of a demon or an evil spirit even without the demon or evil spirit being present. All of this, his new life, was something out of this world to Ren.

But he embraced it. After all, he was tired of a simple, ordinary life, where he had to suffer to live a normal life. After learning of the extraordinary world, there was no going back for Ren. He was there to stay.