The trains gentle whistle signaled its arrival at its destination.
As one of the passangers who was headed for this specific place, Ash picked his head up took his luggage and exited the train.
Upon exiting he was welcomed by the busy, noisy sound of the train station.
This specific train station was the one in the famous Golden Town.
The Golden Town was a place famous for its importance and sheer volume within Primus.
Volume of what exactly? Important stuff that's what.
Reinhardt's castle, SCC's Primus HQ and also the world famous Icarus Academy were all situated here.
It was also essentially where Primus as megacity was first founded even before it was officially named Primus.
It was the old town, the new town and the future town. The Golden Town had it all.
Famous corporations, ruins of old eras, academies where the future was formed were all here.
So it was only natural that such a busy place would have an equally busy train station.
Looking around for the exit Ash quickly headed for it and once he did he was able to get a look at what the Golden Town truly looked like.
Time of day didn't matter here as it was just as busy during the night as it was during the day.
Looking outside Ash could only marvel as the gentle streetlights showered onto the neatly made streets of the Golden Town.
It was a far cry from Outer Primus's narrow smelly streets. This place had large, wide streets with mostly small buildings and houses at the side, no flats in sight.
And even the very few larger skyscraper esque buildings were office buildings owned by the biggest corporations around.
This place was a place where the wealthy nobility resided alongside those that desperately fought their way up the corporate ladder.
Ash looked at his phone screen trying to decipher where he needed to head to arrive at his hotel.
Having only gotten a phone just recently he was still far from well adjusted to using it, were someone to see him right now they'd probably laugh at him.
Luckily for him no one seemed to bat him an eye at him, each person too preoccupied with their own lives to notice the struggling young man.
Still he was eventually able to make sense of what he was seeing and started moving towards his destination.
The walk wasn't long a mere ten minutes was all it took for him to arrive before the hotel.
Upon arriving he was welcomed by the sight of a massive building about thirty stories high.
On it was written the following: Sunrise Hotel Primus.
And below its name lay a total of five golden stars.
Upon walking through the entrance Ash headed for the reception where a lone receptionist was sitting.
"Excuse me."
Hearing Ash the receptionist quickly focused on him and greeted him.
"Ah, yes welcome. Would you like to check in?"
"Ah, yes it should be under the name Ash Lucchasi."
"A moment please."
The receptionist quickly looked through their servers before she spoke again.
"Yes a single room for fourteen days under the name Ash Lucchasi."
"Yes that would be it."
"Okay I'm gonna need your ID for verification."
Ash quickly handed over his ID and soon the process of checking in was over, the key was handed to him and he was well on his way to his room.
'Room number 3222.'
Ash went around the third floor searching for his room before stumbling upon it.
Opening the door he was welcomed by the room he'd be staying in during the remainder of the testing period.
The room wasn't large, but was well put together with all the amenities and facilites one would expect being present.
This room was quiet nice.
Already tired from his journey Ash put down his suicase and headed for his bed.
...
Waking up Ash was left unsure of what he should be doing, as he still had a full two days ahead of him before the exams would begin.
With nothing better to do Ash decided that for today he would just relax, look around town use the hotels facilites and just have fun.
Then tomorrow he would study. He needed to do that too at one point.
Putting on his clothes, fully ready for his day Ash headed for out from his room.
...
Ash was now standing at the square in the middle of the Golden Town.
He was now done with his breakfast and was fully ready to explore the surroundings, see what it had to offer.
First off he wanted to take a look at the castle. It was the famed castle of the Great Reinhardt afterall.
Choosing to head to it Ash quickly picked up pace and arrived before the large building.
The castle had an old European style to it. It wasn't modern like all the other architecture around. It was simple in essence, some may even call it ugly.
Its grey walls spoke of its age and of the deep history it carried.
'To think Reinhardt has been living in this castle for who knows how long.'
Trying to approach the castle to take an even closer look, Ash was stopped by the guards by its gate.
"No entry allowed, this isn't a tourist attraction."
Ash quickly understood and got out of their nose.
Having seen all that he was allowed to see Ash figured he can cross out the castle from his list of sightseeing targets and count it as a done deal.
The next place he headed to was the commercial district, he wanted to get familiar so he would know where to go for what once he took a more permanent residence here.
The commercial district was the place where the most activity took place. Shops, entertainment venues and even the large office buildings he saw a day prior were all here.
The place was massive, by far the largest of the areas within the Golden Town.
As he walked through Ash stopped by a few shops buying snacks or other minor things on the way.
As he continued walking he felt like the street was becoming more and more familiar to him, he felt like he could find his way around if he needed to.
Having seen this place as well there was only one place left on his list, maybe the most important of them all.
Icarus Academy.
Walking a bit past the commercial district there it was, the destination of all talented young noblemen. The place where some of the best were nurtured.
In its full beauty the academy stretched far encompassing much of the landscape.
It was a building that was simple by all means, no sophisticated design, no old walls.
It was new and simple... efficient per say.
Was that a good thing? Who knows, its preference at the end of the day.
Ash personally didn't feel moved by the building in any way, it neither attracted him or made him hate it.
It just looked like a school where one would study.
Of course he didn't discount the fact that it might be much more impressive on the inside, no actually he counted on that.
But for now he didn't care much for what he was seeing.
Still, he could atleast say that he had been here aswell. He knew where he needed to go, how far it was and what to expect.
It was worth coming here, it was not time wasted.
Having finished all he wanted to Ash headed back to his hotel.
Of the facilities it had available the one that caught his eyes the most was the pool area the hotel supposedly had.
It was still the summer afterall, cooling down in the water or even just soaking in the hot water would not be a bad idea.
With that thought in mind he headed back, passing by all the places he had visited before.
Upon arriving at the hotel he quickly got changed and headed for the pools.
All the pools were interior ones, situated in the basement.
Hearing this Ash felt his expectations decrease, but maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to act disappointed.
As once he stepped into the basement, he was surprised to see how massive this underground waterpark was.
Yes, waterpark.
Calling it anything less would have been an insult. The ceiling was high up, there were slides, giant wave pools, jacuzzis all one could hope to see in.
It was heaven on earth to many, Ash included. After all he'd been through with the tournament, he felt like he deserved to have fun for a bit.
So he went ahead and did as he pleased.
He slid from the slides despite being scared at first.
Let the waves push him around in the giant wave pool.
And soaked himself as much as he could in the jacuzzi.
It was a fun time.
"The bathing facilities will be closing soon, please leave the area."
The voice sounded from the announcers of the pool area.
Seeing as it was closing Ash knew that the day was over and that he should rest.
Leaving the pools, changing and then doing everything else Ash was now fully ready to fall asleep.
Laying in his bed he spoke to himself with a satisfied expression.
"Good night."