The Army 2

The expedition troop was known as the fastest way to get noticed by the King than joining the army, however, it was not easy to get in nor manage to survive before one be given an honor. Although he might be the King's great-nephew or the troop wished him to join in, Eddra had no plan to be part of it.

'[Map],' Eddra stated in his mind after declining the question from the commander.

The square map flashed before his eyes. He stared at it blankly then shortly, he noticed that the red dot—indicating his location—was gradually flickering and moving to the east at a slow pace.

'It's coming near the other one.' Eddra watched the red dot as it lessened its distance from the light blue color. 'Aren't we taking the path to the base?'

Hiding the [Map], Eddra unconsciously looked outside by the window at the vehicle's door. The sun was starting to bake the trees with its heat and pools of its shadows bathe the ground. It was midday.

It had taken them three hours or so before they could arrive at the inspection end, the main gate of Bancroft's southern army base. With Arundel showing his rank brooch to the examiner, they immediately let them in inside the base.

"Arundel." Eddra heard a familiar voice to his ears, and in an instant, he could feel his blood rushing in his veins. "I thought you're not gonna show your ass here?"

The armored man who welcomed them soon as their carriage parked in was none other than the knight major that Eddra disliked the most. Drawing his brows together, Eddra looked the other way, avoiding the irritating face of the short devil.

'So, he did not leave the base. Unlike when he compelled and fetched me from home.'

Ignoring the two knights passing their greeting to each other, Eddra scanned the surroundings and in just a moment, it clicked the feeling of nostalgia inside him.

Every morning Eddra, along the other men sleeping in the tent, had to wake up before the sun would rise. Before they could leave in the positions for the morning meal, they needed to tidy up their beds and clean everything, and finish their wake exercise routine, which was mainly composed of stamina runs and obstacle courses, and few push-ups followed by crunch-ups.

In the noon until evening, the majors would call for them and have them polish their swordsmanship, archery, and some were tasked for mounted combats.

From viewing the tent, his gaze landed at the men in groups, running out of breaths as they continued to run, following a major's tracks before them.

"... This is it." There was no turning back now for Eddra. From today on, he would experience the same hardships he had done⁠—to break his blood, sweat, and tears for the second time.

That reminded him, he still had to do his running and push-ups before the end of the day.

"I just came here to escort this guy out." A tap from his shoulder made Eddra snap from his thoughts. "Rique's kid. He wanna join the army."

As he became aware of the commander's statement, Eddra immediately looked at the major before them, who was judging Eddra with his eyes trailing from his head to his toes.

"Cool," the major simply commented, shifting his gaze on the commander, "And the old farts still chaining you guys down?"

"Your guess, boy," Arundel laughed, "I think the blue blood's probably dead."

"Yeah, speak about it and you are next," the major scoffed out.

Eddra watched the two grown-ups laughing their heads off with a straight expression on his face. 'Oh, so the grumpy man could laugh that loud.'

Not long then, Arundel washed off the happy smile on and looked serious for a second. "Luke." He reached for a handshake.

"Sure. I'll take things here," was his reply to the commander, accepting the hand, and shortly saluted as Arundel went back in the carriage.

Ding! Ding!

[You have attained the Hidden Interface!]

'I did?' Eddra moved his vision to the plate that showed up.

[Hidden Quest: Missing the Father?

Send a letter to your beloved father. Write about your entry in the army.

Time Duration: 06:29:56

Reward(s): 50 EXP

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

...

It wasn't because he was sulking, but Eddra simply got used to waiting for his father's letter before sending his.

'I hope you're doing well... Sending my warmest regards. Your son, Eddra—' He folded the letter after signing and wrapped it in a parchment paper— 'And they said I just have to place the letter in a silver tray. That should do it.'

Ding!

[You have completed the Hidden Quest!]

[You have received 50 EXP!]

Leaving the tent where he was assigned to stay in with the other men, pushing aside the flap, Eddra surveyed his surroundings first before starting his run.

It took him to finish all that was left listed in the routine in four hours straight, and though he should celebrate because it was a new achievement to him, he could not do it.

He felt uncomfortable with the other soldiers eyeing him while he was running.

Soon as he completed the routine, Eddra controlled his breathing and shortly moved inside the tent, followed by the sounds that started ringing in his ears.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[You have completed the Daily Quest!]

[You have received (3) Stat Points!]

[You have received (1) New System Feature!]

[Updating the System... ]

'Let's see what's this one can do.' Swiftly walking to the entryway, he sat on the bottom bunk bed, waiting for the [System] to finish updating itself.

[You have acquired 'Shop'!]

[To buy and sell items, state 'Shop'.]

"[Shop]."

A landscape plate, similar to the design of the [Inventory] popped up before his face, with the same columns in order: [Melees], [Ranges], [Shields], [Armors], [Materials], and lastly, [Consumables].

Laying on the bed, Eddra scanned each column one after the other.

As he scrolled his way on the first one, it showed him lists of different kinds of melee weapons from pointed, edged, to blunt ones. And he noticed that every weapon had its distinct prizes on the left side as well.

'The [Orb Credits] was indeed the currency of this thing.'

The other columns showed him other things as well. The ranged weapons were consists of the hand-thrown ones, elastic weapons such as bows, crossbows and slingshots, magic wands, and the book of which he saw from some mages called spell tomes.

Shields and armors... were simply shields and armors, however, he saw some that were magnified with magical enchantment.

The materials and the consumables were something he hadn't seen before though. The materials were said to be used for magical enchantments while the foreign consumables could be consumed, of course, by eating or drinking.

Scrolling down the consumable items, he recited the contents in his mind.

'C Grade Health Potion... C Grade Mana Potion...'

"Is [HP] means it is my health and [MP] is mana?" Eddra muttered.

In the further bottom of the plate, he saw two buttons: the [Buy] and [Sell] buttons. Undeniably, he could buy items in this plate but he was lacking credits.

Curious to the way for him to earn money, with a press on the [Sell] button, Eddra watched a different plate slid through beside it. It was the [Inventory].

"Why not try selling a useless item here?" he sang lowly while he was browsing the plate.

"This one." Soon as Eddra see the item, he brought his finger on the image of the cloth, and shortly, a notice was shown before him.

[You have selected (1) item(s). (+0 OCs to Wallet)

Do you want to sell the item(s)? Yes / No]

"Nice. It was so useless that it doesn't have a value," he chuckled as he declined the selling the item.

"[Hide Shop]." Eddra thought it would be great to stop what he was doing because the men he was sharing the tent with were presently arriving in groups.

'I'm having a grasp of this [System]... and the only command that I don't know was [Dungeon].'

[Searching for near Dungeon(s)... ]

Ding! Ding!

[(1) Near Dungeon(s) found!

Do you wish to enter the 'Abysmal Forest'? Yes / No]

[Side Quest: A Way to Earn Credits!

Enter a dungeon of your choice, eliminate, and loot creatures.

Reward(s): 45 EXP

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

This was the second time the [System] had given him a quest without time duration. He thought that it would be great if all the quests were like this.

'I see!' Well, honestly, what could go wrong if he pressed [Yes] right at the moment?