Arrival at the Training Camp

The Kingdom of Zui was located on the strait of land that connected the continent of Da with the continent of Ngou. And currently, having travelled from far South of the Kingdom of Zui, Ken and his merry gang were now closing onto the location of the recruitment camp on the part of land from where the northeastern region of the Kingdom of Zui started.

A large encampment lay on a large plain that was surrounded by small hills and a pleasant green forest. Stone walls that were seven metres tall encircled the camp and various wooden fortress-looking buildings could be seen poking out of the top of the walls.

And in the building that was the farthest from the front entrance, sat a man who looked to be settled into his forties. He had a complicated blue robe on with a pair of glasses on his head. Alongside his long black hair, his current attire exuded the aura of a noble scholar.

He was sitting down on a wooden chair, facing a table that had scrolls and paper laid out everywhere as he seemed to be reading something. As he was reading, the door opened and five middle-aged men walked in, each wearing a different outfit.

One was wearing simple bronze armour with a green undershirt. He had a large muscular figure and had a giant halberd attached behind him.

On his right were two men who were also wearing the same uniform as the man with the giant halberd but they each had their own different undershirts, yellow and red. They both had toned muscular figures while the red-armoured man had a naginata in his hands while the yellow-shirted man had a poleaxe on his back.

On the left side of the green-shirted man were another two men. One of them was wearing a matte dark blue battle robe with some light leather armour with a strong war bow hanging on his back. The other man was the most heavily armoured and under the armour, he wore a strong purple long sleeve and on his hips, a broadsword.

"Captains," the man with glasses called out as all the men stopped before his table, standing at ease. He raised his gaze and spoke, "Give me your squad reports. General Mago will arrive at any time now. Ryoma, are your trainees ready?"

At this, the yellow-shirted man stepped forward and declared, "Yes, Colonel Kuro. The Vanguard training division that you have allocated under my care for training is ready. Out of the five hundred recruits, the final number of recruits ended in two hundred total cavalry strong."

"That's a little disappointing… but it can't be helped," Kuro spoke out with a sigh and he turned his attention to the next general.

"Colonel! The Commander training division had come up with seventy soldiers who are ready to lead the defences," the yellow-shirted man reported.

Just as he finished his report, the door to the Colonel's office was suddenly flung open as a servant ran in.

"Colonel Kuro! One of the watchmen has just reported seeing a group of people making their way towards the camp," he reported, catching his breath as he continued, "He reported that there's three of them that are wearing black robes."

It was what the servant said at the end that ended up catching the Colonel's attention. He smiled as he simply waved at the servant, dismissing him, "Thank you. You may return to your duty."

Seeing the servant leave, Kuro then turned his attention towards the Captains. He let out a sigh as he slowly got up and stared at the captains in front of him, "You guys have not yet met the General since you guys have been stationed here, right? Prepare yourselves, he's here."

At this, the backs of all the captains seemed to suddenly stiffen as their hearts all began to pump at a faster pace in trepidation of what their General would be like.

"Hohoho!" Nen's voice sounded with a hint of amazement and wonder as he stared at the camp that lay ahead of them.

The group of teens behind him also did the same as they all calmly stared at the large camp in front of them with intrigue and curiosity. The wonder and amazement were especially obvious in the eyes of both Isao and Shoma as they had never seen as impressive as that before.

The camp was the first ever fortress that they had seen in their lives and it truly was a sight to see for them. Its huge wall stops anyone from being able to jump over it and its sheer size looks as if it was able to house many thousand people.

"Quite impressive, eh?" Ken's voice sounded as he made his way to the front of the group and spoke to the two newcomers.

"It's a lot grander than I had expected," Isao commented as he turned towards Ken.

"Oh. It seems like it's our lucky day. We've got a welcoming party," Ken suddenly spoke with a slight surprise evident in his voice as they arrived at the camp.

The gates of the camp were open as if they were being expected and the soldiers in the camp both formed a line on each side of the gate, all standing at ease as they awaited the entrance of Ken and his entourage.

"Greetings General!" all the members of the camp shouted at the top of their voices in unison as the group made their way into the camp.

And in the middle of the two lines was a group of six men, four of them in armour and in clothing a bit more formal than the rest of the soldiers, that looked to be the leaders.

Kuro stood in the middle and as he saw Ken enter the gates, he began to make his way towards them with a smile as he greeted, "General Mago! Long time no see!"

Hearing this, Ken replied with a smile of his own as he greeted back, "Colonel Kuro! Indeed, it has been a long time. I hope this old camp has been treating you well."

"It has," Kuro replied with a light smile of his own as he then turned his attention to the people behind Ken.

"I recognise Lieutenant Colonel Kiiro," Kuro spoke out as he gave a bow towards Uncle Kiira. His attention then turned towards the other two teens in black robes, "These must be your sons, Nen and Yasu. It's an honour to get to meet you guys."

Hearing this, a large smile appeared on both Nen and Yasu as they greeted each other.

Kuro's attention then flew towards the other two teens besides Nen and Yasu, especially his hyena pet, "I recognise your sons but I'm afraid that I don't recognise these boys."

A light smile appeared on Ken's face as he spoke, "These are two new disciples that I recently took in."

At this, Isao and Shoma made their way to the front as they bowed down and introduced themselves, "Colonel Kuro. I am Isao Yubokumin."

"Colonel Kuro. I am Shoma Kansatsu."

Kuro did not seem too impressed at their introduction and instead simply smiled back, "Having travelled so far South, you must be tired and sore from your journeys. I'll have the servants guide you all to your living quarters for the week."

After this quick greeting and introduction, Kuro led Ken to the office while he ordered the servants to lead the other group towards their living quarters.

Their living quarters were located on the Western side of the camp. All the rooms contained two separate double beds, meaning that Isao and Shoma would have to share a room.

"Woah…" Shoma mumbled in shock as he saw the room. It was not too big but the room actually had a bed that looked to have some form of cushioning. In that instant, he made his way towards the bed and sat in, in that instant, he felt his butt slightly cave into the mattress and he immediately stared at Isao with sparkles in his eyes.

Waah…

Isao stared at Shoma with a smile as he commented, "You look like you're in heaven."

"Are you kidding me? This feels a hundred times better than sleeping on that old log that I sleep on," Shoma smiled with wonder as he lay down on the bed, "It would be amazing if we could stay here even longer than a week."

Isao simply shook that comment off as he walked towards the window and pushed it open.

"So this is what a living quarters in a military camp is like…" Isao mumbled as gazed out at the scenery that was visible from outside the window.

"Vom, imagine I get to sleep in a bed of this comfort with Shino in the future," Shoma spoke out dreamily to Vom who had also laid down on the bed and he let out a croak of acknowledgement.

"Haha! We still got a lot of work left to do before you can gain a house like this," Isao told Shoma as he turned around and walked towards him and said, "Okay, let's make our way out. Nen and Yasu told us that they are both going to help us choose our weapons from the weapons storage in the camp."