The scene unfolding in front of me lacked glamour that I was expecting, perhaps it was my fault for having all these preconceptions and expectations for this army. The members I am staring blankly at have enough rowdiness to rival drunkards. Directly beneath my feet, two men slightly older than me are wrestling each other knocking over pots and pans. In addition to them, I have spotted the same girl from late night getting into a heated argument.

The only one with a trace of sincerity is John who appears to be paying no mind to chaos surrounding, whilst he intently reads in back. I am scared to approach but, my hunger gets the better of me and I approach Dues with thoughts of breakfast on my mind. I pull up a chair and sit next to him, I have some questions for him, however, I have decided issues can wait until I have eaten.

"Hey, Dues I am kind of peckish where could I get some food around here?"

"Just in time boy, I was playing on showing you around today. Arata usually cooks for us. He's pretty skilled so he can get your stomach settled in an instant. Arata can you set our new member up with some grub he's mighty hungry."

Now that my main issue is settled I needed to start pressing Dues for information. In order to not sound rude, I decided to be indirect in my questioning.

"So, why are those two fighting so early in the morning?" I questioned

"Oh, don't mind those two they are just prone to violence, them fighting is a common occurrence around these parts. I mean this group as a whole is made up of those who have been rejected by the main army but, would be a waste to not be on the resistance." Replied

Dues

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed

"Oh, did Dues not inform you about what is on this squad in tails? To summarize in crude terms everyone here is a specialist with a screw loose. For example, the two fellows you saw fighting earlier is ranked highest among the armies strength and defense, but their aptitude for violence makes them hard to control and they only end up being a nuisance."

"If everyone here has a strange quirk, in their personality then, why I am here? I mean I do not have any strange ticks in my character, in fact, I tend to act as ideal like a hero."

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At this comment, Dues begins to chuckle, I do not know why and it agitates me a bit.

"According to a report sent to me by Dues you have a terrible hero complex, that would possibly lead to insubordination under the armies strict rules and regulations."

Darn, that Dues I want to be a hero, is not that an ideal trait for a warrior I do not understand why he sees my determination as a deterrent in the army.

"Being put here is not a completely bad thing, it is proof that you are very talented and to top it off members here have a lot more freedom than other squads. Personally, I think that you will make a great addition to the squad. You might not acknowledge the other member currently yet, one day you will come to see them as your loyal comrades I promise you that, so I all I ask you to give them all a chance."

With that statement, I am struck speechless, I just do not know how to respond. I want to express my own doubts and issues with John's requests yet, I refrain because I can only sense kindness stemming from his words. I need some air, I need to focus this situation as a whole is a bit too much for me to take in all at once.

Before I can rise without a word Arata drops down a hefty meal on the table, I inhale all of it without a second thought, it was delicious I did not recognize the meat but, I am assuming the white substance paired with it is milk due to the familiar taste. It was a great meal, I definitely need to thank the chef for his efforts later.

"You must have really enjoyed his cooking to have engulfed it that quickly laddie. Today we do not really have any duties so you should go socialize with your new comrades, you will be fighting with them soon, it is nice to know who is covering your back."

I understand Dues' intent and plan to follow through with it in time in spite of that, I still cannot adjust to this new lifestyle and just need some time to go collect myself. I head toward the door and on my way out I hear one more comment from John.

"There is a training ground out back if are up for it, keeping in good physical shape is important as well."

I wave and exit the building, the fresh breeze feels nice as it runs across my face. Training sounds like a pretty swell idea to me, getting stronger is integral to accomplishing my goal. I head around back to examine the training grounds, it fairly standard—wooden swords, training dummies, weighs, a small arena. The only thing that seems to be out of place is a funky looking device, I wonder how it is even, used. It has a gauge with numbers labeled on the side a metal pole attached to the pole, it looks interesting but, I should fiddle with something a do not know how to use.

"It's for practicing magic, you just put your hand on the pole and the gauge will tell you the strength of your magic, it absorbs it." An unknown voice sounds behind me.

I turn around to see one of the guys wrestling on the floor before standing right in front of me.

"Hey, new kid I want to see what you're made of let's have a duel."