Chapter 62 - Charisma

"You will find on the second floor the quarters of those who are stationed here during the whole year," Commander Ruvyn said. "As for the upper floors, you will find others like you. The third floor is where the third years stay in their free time. The fourth floor you will find the second year recruits, and on the last floor, is where you are going to live from now on. First of all, let's check your new rooms. Once we are there, you will have the chance to change your clothes and then return to the first floor for lunch."

While they were heading to the staircase, the recruits saw several soldiers. Although they were soldiers, they looked more like mercenaries. Their expressions were dark. In terms of friendliness, they were at the same level of Elius. That was weird considering that the commander seemed like a warm person… perhaps that was just a façade.

"From now on, you will operate on teams," Commander Ruvyn said when they reached the fifth floor. "It will make it easy for all of us and all of you to create your own teams since like I said, we do many things here. You will be the leader of the first squad of the first years, so you will be the leader of this area. Aside from those who already have been training with the sword, who wants to join the first squad?"

Commander Ruvyn chooses one of the boys, who, just like Zaos Drannor, was from a noble's family. It looked like the training to lead others would start right now, but Zaos didn't like that kind of system… Regardless, each leader and squad had a small corridor for themselves that had four rooms. Each room was pretty large, so more than a single person would have to sleep in them.

Just as Zaos had predicted, when commander Ruvyn made him the leader of a squad, no one raised their hands to join him. The reason was simple, Zaos was hated by Elius, and Elius was someone important in the base. Once again, they decided not to get in trouble by proxy.

"How weird…" Commander Ruvyn. "I don't remember seeing something like this. Well, let's leave you for last and the last ones will be the members of your squad."

That was a plan of a genius, leave the leftovers with Zaos. One great way to make a leader unpopular… Regardless, Zaos already imagined that those three years wouldn't be easy, so he didn't even flinch when he realized the problem in his hands. The more time passed, and the fewer kids were left behind in the selection, the more the remaining tried to join a squad. In the end, some of them even began to argue when only two more groups needed to be formed. No one wanted to be part of Zaos's squad… However, the unlucky ones didn't complain in front of the commander when the inevitable happened.

"… What is your name, young man?" Commander Ruvyn asked.

"Zaos, sir," Zaos replied.

"Your family name," Ruvyn said.

"Zaos Sielders, sir," Zaos replied.

"I see… you really look like your father," Commander Ruvyn said. "Your overall appearance, posture, demeanor… it is like I went back in time twenty years."

As expected, Laiex had truly graduated in that place. Regardless, at that point in time, such information was just a minor detail from Zaos's perspective. Nothing will change even after he hears that.

"Lunch will be ready in one hour," Commander Ruvyn said. "Use your free time as you see fit."

When the commander left, Zaos immediately checked the rooms in his corridor. As expected, the rooms were basically the same. Each one of them had ten beds, more than enough for the twenty-six members of each squad. Since Zaos wasn't there to make friends and his title of the leader of a squad was just a decoration, he just chose one room and then began to unpack his things. There was no reason to be friendly with those that wanted to avoid him.

Just as one would expect, there was nothing inside the rooms aside from the beds and a small table on the left side of each bed. For Zaos, who had several things with him, that was extremely too little space, but complaining was a waste of time. 

Just as Zaos had expected, no one decided to share a room with him, and in the end, he couldn't help but smirk. That was precisely what he wanted, a lot of privacy and tables to himself. Most likely, the veterans probably check the recruits' rooms now and then, so Zaos couldn't move the tables… no, he could. But he will have to put them back once he leaves.

Life on the military base won't be easy, so Zaos made sure to pack comfortable clothes. But in the end, he wondered if he should just put them on and his set of armor away. If something happens, returning to the fifth floor and equipping them will take a lot of time. In the end, Zaos decided to keep the chainmail and his sword. He heard that he should change his clothes, but he didn't hear anything about not carrying a sword around the base.

After leaving his room, he heard the sound of some conversations in the other rooms. His squad members sure were keeping their voice low… Regardless, since Zaos wouldn't hear anything useful, he just headed toward the first floor and then began to look for the kitchen. A dining room capable of keeping thousands of people shouldn't exist, but there was probably a room close to the kitchen that would have the same purpose. Upon reaching there, Zaos found Drannor and his squad members laughing while they were talking about something.

"I guess the difference in charisma is evident," Zaos frowned. "Well, it doesn't matter. I am the type who likes to have a lot of time for myself, after all."