"Is that the young man who fought the Doomsday Beast earlier?"
The moment Welt saw Caelus, he turned his head and asked Himeko about his identity. He had been on the train during Caelus's battle with the Doomsday Beast and had originally intended to disembark to provide assistance. However, upon seeing that Caelus didn't seem to need his help, he had chosen to remain on the sidelines and observe.
Afterward, he had to stay on the train to protect it from the Antimatter Legion's assault, so he never got off.
Himeko nodded, introducing Welt and Pom-Pom to Caelus, and Caelus to them.
"Mm-hm. This is Caelus, a new companion who has just joined the Astral Express. Caelus, these two are the Express's guard, Welt Yang, and the conductor, Pom-Pom."
"A pleasure to meet you." Caelus gave the two a polite nod and a greeting.
Welt took the initiative to step forward and extend a hand, a gesture of goodwill.
"Hello, and welcome aboard the Astral Express. Just call me by my name. From now on, we're all family, so there's no need to be overly formal."
"Alright, Uncle Yang."
The expression on Welt's face stiffened for a moment. While he didn't mind being called 'Uncle,' he felt that the title made him seem much older. Nevertheless, he smiled, nodded, and accepted the new moniker.
Pom-Pom toddled over, pulling a golden, red-trimmed, card-like object from its pocket and handing it to Caelus.
"Passenger Caelus, welcome to the Astral Express. This is your ticket, pom."
A ticket?
Caelus bent down slightly to accept the ticket from Pom-Pom. The instant he touched it, the JEI item manager provided its description. At the same time, he noticed a whole slew of new buffs appearing in his status bar.
[Astral Express Ticket: Provides Fire Resistance, Water Breathing, Immunity to Fall Damage, and 50% Hunger Depletion Reduction.]
The moment Caelus saw these effects, his eyes lit up. Even in a heavily modded MC world, this ticket would be considered a top-tier, mid-to-late-game accessory! And here on the Astral Express, they just gave it to him for boarding!
Faced with such a gift, Caelus felt an overwhelming urge to shout—
"Loyal! Faithful!"
Caelus's sudden outburst startled everyone around him. Even Pom-Pom jumped in fright at his emotional display.
"Uhm, Passenger Caelus, I can see that you really like the Astral Express, but you don't have to be quite so emotional, pom..."
"Exactly!" March 7th patted Caelus lightly on the shoulder, annoyed. "You scared us!"
"Sorry about that."
Caelus gave everyone an embarrassed smile. He was just so excited by the ticket's effects. The fire resistance alone would make countless Steves green with envy, not to mention the fall damage immunity and hunger reduction.
Pom-Pom patted Caelus's leg, signaling that it was no big deal, and was about to explain some of the rules of the train.
But just as Pom-Pom was about to speak, it froze. Its large eyes were fixed on Caelus, who was holding the ticket, as if it had seen something utterly unbelievable.
Himeko and Welt noticed the change in Pom-Pom's expression and looked at it with concern.
"Conductor, what's wrong?"
Pom-Pom snapped out of its trance, a look of pure shock on its face as it pointed a finger at Caelus. "Passenger Caelus... he... why doesn't he have the power of the Trailblaze?"
At these words, everyone on the train, except for Caelus, froze. They all whipped their heads around to stare at him. Caelus, confused, looked from one person to another, asking back, "The power of the Trailblaze? What's wrong?"
March 7th quickly reached out and grabbed Caelus's wrist. After a moment of concentration, her expression shifted to one of shock. She hurriedly turned to Himeko. "Himeko, he really doesn't have any power from the Path of the Trailblaze!"
Seeing Caelus's utterly bewildered look, Himeko, her own brow furrowed, offered an explanation.
"Caelus, with your amnesia, you've probably forgotten the concept of Paths. Simply put, this world has many different Paths, which correspond to different kinds of power. All of us Nameless on the Astral Express are followers of the Path of [The Trailblaze]. Although Akivili, the Aeon of the Trailblaze, has fallen, the ticket to the Astral Express is still able to gather the scattered power of the Path for each of our Nameless."
"And by wearing this ticket, you should have obtained the power of the Trailblaze Path. But right now, we can't feel a single trace of that power on you."
Hiss. That did sound pretty serious. But the ticket had definitely given him buffs.
Aside from those buffs, however, he didn't feel any other special power.
With this in mind, Caelus cautiously asked Himeko, "Does not having the power of the Trailblaze mean I'm not considered a Nameless?"
Himeko was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook her head.
"Caelus, don't think like that. Being a Nameless has never been defined by power. No matter what, now that you're on the train, you're our companion."
"That's right, that's right!" March 7th added, her expression full of worry that Caelus might overthink things. "No matter what, we'll have your back from now on!"
Dan Heng, though he didn't speak, gave Caelus a firm, reassuring nod.
Welt, ever the rational one, pushed his glasses up his nose and said to Himeko, "Shall we have Lady Herta take a look?"
Himeko agreed that Welt had a point. Rather than making wild guesses, it was better to consult a more authoritative expert.
"I'll send her a message."
---o---
A short while later, Herta arrived on the train. The moment she stepped inside, her eyes fell on Caelus, who was surrounded by March 7th and the others.
"Little guy, what kind of 'trouble' did you get into now?"
Caelus spread his hands with an innocent look. "Do I look like the type to cause trouble?"
"You do."
Herta replied as she walked over to Caelus, then turned her head to Himeko. Himeko explained what had just happened.
"After becoming a Nameless, Caelus should have been able to obtain a portion of the Trailblaze Path's power through the ticket, but he didn't."
"Oh?"
Herta raised an eyebrow with some surprise. She had studied the Astral Express ticket before, so she naturally knew its effects. But now Caelus had apparently failed to gain the power of the Trailblaze? This piqued her curiosity.
"Hold on, I need to add something. I did receive some enhancements."
Now that he was companions with Himeko and the others, Caelus knew he couldn't keep the buffs a secret. So, he told them about the fire resistance and the other effects.
Hearing this, Himeko and the others relaxed slightly, but it still didn't explain why the power of the Trailblaze was absent from Caelus's body.
"Let me check. Little guy, hold out your hand."
Herta turned her palm over, and a ball of fire erupted from it. Caelus placed his hand in the flame, letting it scorch him.
Under the worried gazes of the others, Caelus's hand was roasted for several minutes, yet he remained completely unharmed. This finally allowed Himeko and the others to relax.
Herta's brow, however, furrowed deeper and deeper. She extinguished the flame in her palm and placed her hand on Caelus's wrist. Several invisible waves of energy scanned his body repeatedly.
Soon, Herta's expression turned grave.
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"