While Max went to the commander's office to establish their team, Adam headed towards the outer parts of the camp.

After crossing the maze of tents and barracks, he arrived in front of a large tent, high enough to stand in it and wide as two beds put together at their ends. It was actually just a small house made of thick cloth. It had a rectangular shape and its roof was sloped to the sides. On the flap, Steelarm's crest was visible.

Adam took a look at his surroundings, similar tents occupied most of his vision, then, he walked inside.

The inside was spacious, a lamp that was hanging from the framework gave off a red, fiery light. In the centre stood a rectangular table, surrounded by six chairs, and a bowl of apples on it. In four corners of the tent, beds stood, a chest and armour stand by each of them.

At the tent's opposite end, was another flap, leading to the other room.

Four people were inside, one girl and three men. The guys were lying on the beds, while the girl sat on a chair, eating an apple. As Adam entered, they stopped talking.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl snapped noticing him.

"I am Adam Axigna, I am an aspiring mage, but please call me by name. Soon we will become a team, it would be awkward." Answered Adam, he kept his monologue short, to give them a chance to introduce themselves.

"Oh, so that's today? You guys did take your time, didn't you." Said the girl while staring at Adam in slight anger.

One of the men stood up and gave his hand to Adam. "I am sorry for her, she gets unpleasant when she is stressed, that's her defence system. Please, sit down and we will introduce ourselves." Adam sat on one of the free chairs, and the guy did the same. "I am Watt, and I am a Defender. The girl over here is Monica, she is an Archer. These guys here are Kyll and Iler these guys are swordsmen and spearmen respectively. There is also another girl, Berta, who is also a swordswoman." He pointed to each person when he talked about them. Apart from Berta, obviously.

Watt was a tall guy, a really tall guy. he was at least ten centimetres higher than Adam, who wasn't among the small ones either. He was also bulky as if he trained all day. He had short blond hair, that curled slightly. A pair of brown eyes, and a distinct jawline. In conclusion, he was fucking handsome.

Monica wasn't as tall as her friend, but still tall nonetheless. A bit shorter than Adam. She had deep green eyes that looked beautiful in pair with her long, curvy red hair. Her face was oval, with slightly visible cheekbones. Another gorgeous specimen.

Kyll was also a huge guy, not as tall as Watt, but very imposing. He was taller than Adam, and while his muscles were evident and eye-catching, he was thinner than the self-acclaimed defender. His green eyes, in contrast to the bald, reflective head, gave him an intimidating look.

Iler was the smallest of the bunch, he looked a bit mischievous if you ask me. Iler had a heart-shaped face, messy, but straight brown hair and dark eyes. Adam couldn't see if the eyes were black, dark brown or dark green.

In a few moments, they all sat around the table and started talking.

"I will start with the most important question." Started Adam, turning in Kyll's direction "No offence but, why are you bald?" It fell from nowhere.

"Pfft.." Iler spat out a piece of apple and stared at Adam with wide eyes.

Kyll didn't seem to mind the rudeness of the question and replied "I don't know. You won't believe me, but just a year ago I had lush, beautiful dark hair, better than that of any girl or man. The things went downhill when I ascended to the basic realm, about half a year ago." While talking, he looked down, as if reminiscing, his voice was full of sadness.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know." Said Adam. 'Maybe it was his absorption technique that caused that. I will need to be vigilant while creating my own.' He thought, stroking his hair. Also, he just learned that someone in their team was already in the basic realm, or still, as it appeared that Kyll was a year older than the rest of the group.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Well, How did you guys end up as part of Max's team? I, for example, owe his father a debt." The young mage changed the topic, as far away from hair as he could.

"I was scouted by his mother. Here, in the capital, we do a grand competition on Ascension Day. I was the best in Archer's category, so I got some invitations to adventuring parties and whatever. Service to the Steelarms got the best terms." Said quickly Monica, having cooled down a little.

"Could you elaborate? Like, do they pay for your house or something?" Inquired Adam.

"That's sensitive information, and I am not allowed to talk about it. But it's better than you think." She stared ahead gloating, as if dreaming.

"What about you Kyll? Did you also come from a tournament?"

"No, I worked in Steelarm household since I was a baby. They are like a family to me.

....... Family I've never had." His head fell even further, probably filled with depressing thoughts.

'What the fuck! How come, everything he says is so depressing!' Adam decided not to ask him any more questions, as he might make him cry, or just cry himself.

Adam felt a connection with Kyll, they both were orphans. Someone in the same situation would always understand you the best. The same was with Adam, he sympathized with Kyll, as he experienced something similar. But at the end of the day, Kyll was more miserable than him, as he at least had his uncle, Derek, to take care of him like a father would.

"I am so sorry..." He eventually said.

"You don't have to be, it's not your fault. After my parent's death, Steelarms took me in, and I was taken care of." Bald, intimidating guy, turned out to have some sad past, not only related to hair.

Silence ensued for a few minutes, only broken by the sound of munching apples.

Iler broke the silence, only after putting away an apple's scrap.

"I, for change, have no connection to the Steelarm family. I came here to enter the army and was assigned to this team after my classification. Although having a contract with Steelarms wouldn't hurt, care to introduce me, Monica?"

"It depends, but remember that our team leader is a Steelarm, you can just ask him." She was stoic the entire time, likely thinking about bald head problems.

After she said that, another person entered the tent. It was a woman, who seemed like she was dragged in the mud just moments before. Actually, the only reason Adam thought it was a woman was her breasts, they were of considerable size, big enough to be seen even while her whole figure was covered in mud.

"Ohhhh!? Do we have a guest?" She said cheerfully with a wide smile on her face. Adam felt that he couldn't do such a thing, not before he cleaned himself, or at least his face was cleaned of filth.

"Get out! And don't come near here until you clean yourself!!" Shouted Monica seeing her in the door.

"Okay, okay don't stress yourself out, but do me a favour and keep the handsome one here until I come!" Having said that, she turned on her heel and disappeared from their sight. As she turned, Adam noticed a sword nearly her size hanging on her back.

"That was Berta, she is very energetic, as you have seen. She probably returned from the fighting arena in the woods, she is spending most of her time there, fighting and whatnot." Watt seemed to enjoy talking about other people. Like an old lady.

"What's your story, Watt, please tell, if you can." Asked Adam.

After Adam said that, Monica and Iler shifted in their seats as if they expected something. Kyll on the other hand, was still gloomy.

Watt took a deep breath and started. "I come from a humble village, one of the few existing in the kingdom. My parents were guards working for local authorities.[...] From the very beginning, I knew I was fated to do something greater, go to the vast world and see great cities. Another thing I knew before anything else was my compassion, I couldn't see a soul be harmed.[...] So after many years of learning under my parent's tutelage, I became a defender, a shield holder with great potential!." Watt ended his epic tale with arms raised towards the ceiling.

His story took an unnaturally great amount of time, and no attempts at shutting him up were successful. Berta even returned while he was still talking, and she heard most of the story, likely the second time over, or maybe even the third.

"Thanks for the story, but that's not what I asked for, what I meant was: How did you get assigned to this team?" Asked Adam, this time properly.

"Ahhh! The same way as Iler." Replied Watt, this time he was short with words.

Then a time came for Berta to tell her story.

"And how about you?" Adam turned towards Berta.

She was a tall girl, about Adam's height. She had long, curvy brown hair and a pair of brown eyes, that seemed to sparkle with energy. As I said earlier, she had nice curves, not that other girls that Adam met were flat or something.

"I came through the tournament! You are watching the best swordswoman of this generation!" She Introduced her origins.

"Wow, just a day before, I hadn't even heard about this tournament, but now I met two of the winners. Congratulations Berta, and to you too Marta." Berta sealed a few angry glances at Monica after Adam included her in his congratulations.

They chatted until the night fell, without worry. But in the end, they had to end the conversation short, as Max came with some news. Good or bad, it depended on perspective.