17th squadron

The seasoning month was the first month of the posting. In the first week, they went through training to get used to the icy, inhospitable environment. After that, they would train with three divisions of the army for three weeks. And then the army would deploy them.

However, looking at the list of postings on the large transparent screen, Aiden frowned, "It looks like they haven't even given up yet." They sent all the recruits to different training camps around the Stronghold, as he was directly assigned to a squadron in the army.

The more he thought about it, the more helpless he felt. In the end, all he could do was sigh, "they're more childish than I thought they were. Well, this suits me, too."

"Oh! Look at that. Getting posted on the second day of the seasoning training..." Jian's words attracted all the attention of the people around the enormous posting screen.

Yet Aiden just nodded without saying anything. But Jian wasn't the one who would give up so easily. He became more curious, "Could it be you are such an elite you don't even need seasoning training?"

"Huh!" Aiden, too, could not keep his face straight while he was listening to this ridiculous excuse. He shook his head and said, "there are some people on the top who love me too much."

Jian's face was saying that he wanted to know more about it, but Aiden didn't dare to give him the chance, "See you later." With simple words, Aiden left for the designated post.

After reaching Stronghold #11 yesterday, the army gave them a standard military uniform, a military helmet, a dog tag and a personalized system.

Even though it was thin, the uniform could keep them warm in the harshest weather. The other three, as expected, were part of one thing.

They had specially designed ESS-VX4 for EXO-04. Although the ESS stood for the Empirical Survival System, they didn't implant it in his head, but it came in the form of a Neckband such as PADS-X. The dog tag would be the tracker and the helmet would act as the ESS screening interface.

Unlike the ESS, the VX4 version was not just a survival system, it was also a means of connecting to the local network, the Army database, and much more.

It was also where he learned about the divisions of the army. The army stationed at Exo-04 had three divisions: Garrisons, Armor and Rangers.

They stationed garrisons at the strongholds to protect at the stronghold from the external invasion while maintaining order at the same time. This was one of the safest duty posts, and without sufficient connection, it would be impossible for the commoner to join this group.

Although they had the lowest number of soldiers out of three divisions, they were all elite soldiers in the Armor Divisions. They stationed the Armor Division in the three military strongholds. They were the ones who controlled all the armoured vehicles, such as the Striker Cannon, the Zero-energy tank, the long-range Laser and all the enormous guns.

While the Rangers had the most soldiers out of all three divisions. All their work concerning things outside the safety of the defence shield of the stronghold.

It was the duty of the rangers to escort and protect the people to the hundreds of research camps spread across the Exo-04, to fight against the beasts, to reclaim the lost posts and all the work outside the fortresses.

And now he was one of them. As soon as his helmet scanned the screen, the direction to the meeting popped up in his helmet, and all he had to do was to follow the direction.

Stronghold #11 was etched out of the giant mountain. It was a dead volcano. With the volcano on its back, a wall of ten meters surrounded the stronghold from all the other sides.

However, it was a military base after all. Most of the important office buildings were in the centre of the city, and apart from the canteens and bathhouses at the end of each road, the entire city was filled with similar-looking barracks.

Without these different shaped buildings, it might be difficult to find the right path in a maze-like city.

Lucky for Aiden, he was wearing his helmet, and soon he reached his destination under its guidance.

*17th squadron*

'This is it.' Looking at the name on the building, Aidem muttered in his heart. The noisy atmosphere of the hall had died as Aiden entered the building.

"Who are you?" Even before he could see things around him, an unfriendly voice cast a shadow over him.

"Hey, Jake. Don't scare him." And soon another one of them joined the big-bodied Jake, and said, "maybe he's a recruit."

"Oh!" he took another look at the face that was hidden behind the helmet and asked, "Is it babysitting week already?"

The hall burst with the roar of laughter. But Aiden didn't mind at all and took off his helmet. After looking into his memory, Aiden gave a military salute and said, "Aiden Law. Reporting for Duty."

"So, you are one of the recruits who came to the stronghold yesterday." The man standing next to Jake felt that something wasn't right. He said, "but shouldn't the mock training weeks begin after a week of training?"

Aiden had been expecting this kind of response. He shook his head and said, "I am different. They have posted me without any seasoning training."

His voice was neither loud nor enthusiastic, at the top of which he had not even reported his designation.

Looking at the untrained movement of the body, Jake frowned. 'What's wrong with this boy? Has he even had military training? His posture is bad, his greeting is wrong, and...' Jake looked at Aiden's eyes and thought, 'They don't have an ounce of respect for his seniors.'

'What did I do wrong?' Aiden couldn't understand the meaning of Jake's expression. Still, he added, "This is my first day today, so please forgive me for my behaviour. I rarely remember that kind of thing."

Aiden felt that he had made it clear what he did not understand, however, his words sounded arrogant to the ears of others.

Jake, on the other hand, just smiled at him and said, "Well, after all, you're posted without any seasoning training session, so you've got to be very good. And as long as you're good, we don't mind those minor things, but ..."

His words ended up with Jake throwing a punch at Aiden's face.

By the time the man next to Jake realized what Jake was trying to hit the recruit, Jake's punch was almost touching Aiden's face. Even if he wanted to stop Jake, it was too late.

All he could do was to hope that Jake would not use too much of his strength. Jake was one of the strongest in the entire squad. However, to show the result, Jake needed to make contact. And...

But the sudden blow of Jake was too slow to surprise Aiden. He stepped to his left to move away from the path. But Jake wasn't the one who would give up so easily.

As soon as he realized that Aiden had moved to his side, he clenched his fist tighter and swung his arm to the side. While he was waiting for Aiden to duck his left leg was already on the taunt to deliver the ultimate kick.

However, before any of his plans could deliver the result, he felt that someone gave a gentle push to the back of his right knee. It wasn't strong, but because the right leg was supporting his entire body weight, that push was enough to break his balance.

The rotation, caused by the swing, twisted his body, and his air-borne left leg was unable to balance his weight. The next thing he knew was that he ended up with his back on the warm floor.

The entire hall had turned silent. At the same time, someone walked through the door again. As Aiden was not given the chance to take a lot of steps before he attacked him, they were too close to the door.

"Hey, Jake. What are you doing on the floor? Have you finally decided to clean the floor?" asked the man who had just walked in and the hall had broken into a laugh.

'Was that luck?' While the entire hall was laughing at Jake's comic misfortune, the person who was standing beside Jake was evaluating Aiden's movements.

Although it wasn't special, he still felt that Aiden was reading Jake's move even before Jake took his leg off the floor. And that wasn't something that anyone without experience could have done.

The experience that recruits usually gain was related to systematic combat techniques, and if the boy had used them, he should have ducked it, but...

'Who the hell is he? 'He couldn't help wondering about it.

At first, he thought he was someone with connections, but when Aiden said that Aiden was part of the troop, not a recruit, he felt that something was wrong. 'There is no way that something with the connection would join the rangers, they would go to the garrisons, then…'

"Oh! Aiden, you are here too!" Hearing those words, Aiden looked up to be greeted by the first lieutenant Cooper who had just come in.

"Lieutenant, do you know him?" Jake couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," Cooper smiled at Jake, and continued, "didn't I tell you that there was a recruit who attacked the monster bare-handed and brought it to its knees? It was him. Aiden."

"Huh?" Even if it was Cooper, the man who was standing beside Jake didn't believe that this puny guy would dare to attack a three-meter tall monster barehanded, much less bring it down to its knees. 'But if he did it, then Jake's humiliation…'

"Well, he will be part of the squadron from now on." Then Cooper turned to Jake and said, "How long are you going to mop the floor? Get up. Your troop is coming with me. Aiden, Rodin, you're coming, too. We will leave in an hour."