Seed of Titan-Chapter 190: No Reason to Enlist
As Drai headed toward building 4B, he attracted the gazes of the numerous personnel he passed by, perhaps due to his young age, suitcase, or formal attire. Not a single person stopped him though, as they knew that those at the entrance wouldn’t just let a random person enter the base.
Some of the soldiers even suspected the dashing youngster to be a visiting son of one of their higher-ups, which made them even more apprehensive about approaching or even greeting Drai, fearing potential repercussions if they somehow misspoke or if the youngster had an awful temperament.
It didn’t take long for Drai to arrive at his destination. As the guard had mentioned, its front porch was much wider than those of the surrounding buildings, and there were benches neatly lined up there.
Entering the building, Drai was greeted by a small hall connected to a rather bustling hallway.
"May I help you, sir?" the lady at the reception desk said upon noticing the obvious visitor, her tone not as friendly as most receptionists Drai had encountered.
"Ah, yes," Drai replied before walking to her. "I was told by someone called Ailem Law to come here for an enlistment interview."
"Oh, so you’re the new golden boy?" the lady remarked with a much friendlier voice. "There have been talks about you, especially among the recruitment staff. Alright, let’s see... Ah, here—Special Recruitment Interview at ten, is that right?"
"Uhm, I think so."
"Then please head to the second floor, room 204. Your interview will be held there."
After thanking the lady, Drai headed upstairs, still under the soldiers’ curious gazes. When he arrived there, he found the door open, so he cautiously entered the room only to find that there was no one there. Apparently the place had already been set up since there was a line of desks facing a single chair.
Drai set his suitcase aside and sat on the lone chair, inspecting the surroundings.
’Hmm, there’s not much too see here. Maybe this is a designated interview room...’
After waiting for a bit, Drai checked his comm and saw that there were only less than two minutes until the appointed time.
’I thought the military was strict with their schedule, so where’s everybody? Don’t tell me they’re actually very lax,’ he mused.
But just as he began contemplating whether he should reach out to his contact person, hasty footsteps echoed from the hallway, and a group of military-garbed personnel entered shortly after.
The newcomers merely glanced at Drai before assuming their seats, and at the same time, Drai silently inspected them.
Lacking military knowledge, Drai couldn’t deduce the ranks of the five officers—their insignias on their grey uniforms were practically the same in his eyes. However, the officers’ appearances definitely varied, with one of them being extremely large and buff, nearly as wide as his desk.
However, what really caught Drai’s eyes was the woman sitting at the center. Not only were her features unusually feminine, which contrasted with the vibe of this whole place, she also only had a single large eye right above her nose bridge.
As Drai continued to stare into the peculiar eye, it suddenly locked onto him, causing him to shiver from an odd sense of vulnerability before he finally removed his gaze.
’What’s with her eye? It scares me...’ Drai muttered inwardly.
Soon, the clock reached a new hour, and the lady in the center finally spoke.
"Mr. Drai Varz, correct?"
"Yes," Drai replied, trying his best not to lock eyes with her.
The lady briefly paused as her lips curved upward very slightly before asking again, "Eighteen years old, born and raised in Pontia City, correct?"
"That’s right."
Just then, one of the officers, a slim man with glasses, clicked his tongue loudly and attracted everyone’s gazes, including Drai’s. From Drai’s perspective, this particular officer seemed more like a perpetually irritated clerk than a soldier.
The mono-eyed lady’s voice turned colder when she remarked, "Please, Lieutenant."
The clerk-like officer seemed to heed the curt reprimand as he glanced at the lady and nodded slightly, though his annoyed expression remained the same.
Turning to Drai again, the lady asked, "What’s your reason for enlisting?"
Upon hearing the question, Drai smiled awkwardly and replied, "Honestly, there’s none. If not for Uncle Alancho’s arrangement, I wouldn’t even think of joining the army."
This time another two officers reacted. The man with a scarred face seemed restless, and the sturdy-looking woman with bob haircut pressed her arms on her desk, causing faint cracks.
"See?" the officer with glasses remarked. "That’s why I’ve been pushing for obligatory IET1. First, we got Menace, and now, this guy appears. Really, these ’special recruits’ are acting more entitled by the year..."
The one-eyed lady also looked rather bothered, but instead of adding fuel to the fire, she sternly warned, "One more word, and I’ll make sure to mention this in my personal report to the General."
Mentioning Alancho seemed to have worked, for the room instantly quieted down. Even the clerk-like officer’s frown dissipated as wariness contoured his face.
Meanwhile, the oversized officer sat quietly, seemingly oblivious of the commotion. Somehow, the slightly bored expression he had been wearing since the start of this interview had never faltered even slightly.
Seeing that the situation was orderly again, the one-eyed lady continued, "Sorry for the rude interruption, Mr. Drai, but Lieutenant Blaise has a point. It would serve you well if you change the way you refer to the General or any other military personnel and call them by their official titles instead. This will also be mandatory after you’ve officially joined us."
With a nod, Drai replied, "Sorry if I sounded rude, I’ll mind my speech more from now on."
Although Drai accepted the reprimand, he was secretly baffled by how fussy these officers were. After all, he had always thought that soldiers were mostly stoic like Angel. Due to the small commotion earlier, it was now clear to him that Cassians existed here too.
"Before we continue, do you have anything to say?" the lady asked.
"Uhm, actually, I have a question. Do you know someone named Ailem Law? He’s my contact person, so I thought he’d be waiting here to brief me before the interview. His contact ID strangely doesn’t display his picture, so maybe I unknowingly passed by him in the front hall or somewhere."
Listening to Drai’s words, the three "fussy" officers looked baffled, whereas the one-eyed lady simply chuckled. On the other hand, the large officer’s expression shifted for the first time as he opened his mouth wide.
"HAH!"
The man’s singular laugh boomed across the room, trembling everything there and causing everyone to cover their ears. The bob-haired woman sitting next to him even had a half-furious, half-pained expression, seemingly hurt by the short bellow.
As Drai baffledly looked at the large officer, the man’s face reverted almost immediately, and he silently pointed at the lady in the center.
"Please don’t do that again," the one-eyed lady remarked to her oversized colleague before turning to Drai. "Sorry I didn’t receive you earlier. I just returned from a meeting with the General right before this. And about my lack of picture, it’s the military’s policy—all our officers’ official contact IDs are like that."
Shaking off the ringing in his ears, Drai asked, "You’re Ailem Law?"
"Captain Ailem Law, and yes, I’m your contact person," the mono-eyed lady smilingly said. "I had intended to introduce myself and my colleagues after the interview, which was why I hadn’t mentioned it."
Drai bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, Captain Ailem."
"Likewise, Mr. Drai. Alright then, let’s continue. When did you awaken?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Drai was a bit taken aback by the abrupt change of topics, but he managed to answer quickly, "Probably around five or six months ago on my Revelation Day. I was among the first few batches in my hometown that got awakened."
"And what’s your level now?"
"Ten."
Again, the other officers became restless, but perhaps due to their captain’s warning, they managed to restrain themselves. Even the large man’s jaw that was moving a bit eventually settled down.
At the surface, Ailem seemed unperturbed, but she was secretly shaken by Drai’s answer, as she knew that the youngster before her wasn’t lying.
It took a while for her mind to calm down. Looking at Drai, she slightly wondered if her skill had malfunctioned.
’But if he’s not a second-stager, the General wouldn’t have sent him here, so that part must be true,’ she mused. ’That means his age or awakening duration is the highly questionable part. Just getting to level four in a single semester could turn someone into a celebrity and sought-after continental talent, let alone getting a second class.’
While Ailem was musing, Drai examined her curiously, feeling that her conspicuous eye wasn’t just for show. The other officers also remained still, absolutely certain that any discrepancies or deceit would ultimately get revealed.
’If this is actually true, calling all these lieutenants here would be a mistake, as this should be super classified info,’ Ailem warily thought. ’I could warn them after this, but it’s much safer to limit the number of people who are in the know right from the start. Besides, it’s strange that the General didn’t say anything about keeping this a secret—is he actually fine with it being exposed? But why?’
Initial Entry Training, a program all normal recruits must go through
