Date- 1 April 2321
Time- 09:37
Location- Sky Blossom City, Southern Watch military base.
“Wyatt, you’re still here, great.” Just as I planned to leave the base and head to the warehouse, I heard Anna’s voice calling out to me. She seemed to be looking for me.
“Yep, unfortunately, I am still here. It seems my luck is not working today.” I said, turning to face Anna, who hovered towards me. Three young soldiers in their early twenties wearing standard southern watch uniforms followed her on foot. Two of them seemed to be identical twins.
“It’s a beautiful morning. No need for you to be so grumpy. Lighten up, or do you want me to loosen you up?” Said Anna hovering in the air. Ignoring her twin and grand-uncle. And those two didn’t seem to be bothered by it.
“What’s gotten you so chipper in the morning?” I asked while using my viltronian flight to hover next to Anna. Because the sun was right behind her and its rays blocked my sight.
“This year’s rookies are here. It will be fun to watch them break down. Will you care to join me?” Replied Anna with a sadistic smile.
“No, thank you. But isn’t this base supposed to be a top-secret temporary base? Why would you bring a bunch of Rookies here?” I rejected Anna’s invitation plainly.
“It is. But plans were made months ago to welcome the rookies to the southern watch today, and I have to defend here… since I cannot be at two places I had the rookies sent here.” Anna replied irresponsibly.
‘You can! You have a freaking long-distance teleportation card. You can be anywhere you want in the southern region.’ I wanted to yell this out loud but chose not to as it was pointless. And there was another thing bugging me, the three soldiers in their early twenties that followed Anna here were directing their ill-glare at me for a while now. I thought it would pass, but it only got intense. So I spoke up, ” What’s the deal with these three? They are glaring at me as if I owe them money.”
“Are they now?” Anna turned to look at the young soldiers. The soldiers hurriedly looked down to avoid making contact with Anna’s eyes. Seeing this, a sadistic smile formed on Anna’s face as she yelled, ” you assholes, give me a hundred pistol squats for each leg.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The young soldier hurriedly replied and began their punishment.
“By the way, what kind of rookies need the commander of the southern watch to welcome them,” I asked Anna while looking at the young soldier rhythmically performing pistol squats. Looking at their young age and card lord realm, I knew these three were part of the rookies Anna spoke of.
“They are legacy rookies. Someone in these rookie’s families served the south with honor and sacrificed themselves when the south needed them to.” The legacy rookies are the juniors of the courageous martyrs of the southern watch.
“Huh,” The Southern Watch’s legacy system was news to me. I know they are children of martyrs, but still—
“Don’t look down on them. Even though they were given a special entrance, they all have met the regular threshold to join the Southern Watch.” Anna saw through my thoughts and explained.
I had to agree with her about the rookies. Their strength was not bad. They had achieved card lord realm in their early twenties and had already forged their ego gem. That meant they were in the top 10 percentile of the mightiest youths globally.
“I can see that,” I said, agreeing with Anna.
“Don’t be sarcastic, Wyatt. Not everyone is a monster like you.” Anna seems to have misunderstood my words.
“Not what I meant, but you are right.” I didn’t bother correcting Anna because I felt she was doing it on purpose. I gathered that by witnessing the young soldiers glare at me with hostility after hearing Anna’s words.
“Commander! Permission to speak.” Out of the three young soldiers. One of the twins finally couldn’t hold back and decided to act. He indeed looked like the rash one of the twins.
“Yes, what is it?” Anna asked nonchalantly.
“Permission to duel this person.” The young soldier yelled, pointing at the boy who hovered next to his commander.
“Me?” I blurted, seeing the young soldier express his desire to dual me. I don’t understand why these three have been hostile toward me since the start. I have a hunch that Anna was behind it.
“Cadet Ollie, how dare you challenge the honorary member of the southern watch? Unless you give me a reason for your action, I will be forced to take disciplinary action against you.” Anna, who sparked the fire, acted as if trying to suppress the fire.
“Commander, I do. The honorary member—”
“That’s Master Wyatt for you, rook.” Anna corrected Ollie, reminding him that my rank was higher than his and that I was a respected card creationist.
“Yes, Commander,” Ollie answered Anna respectfully. And added, ” I want to duel Master Wyatt because he was disrespectful to the Commander in his manner of speech.”
“…” This guy is nitpicking so he can pick a fight with me. Still, I explained, ” Look, buddy, she may be your commander but not mine. I will speak to her however I want to.”
“You heard him. Anything else?” Anna asked the young soldier named Ollie.
“…” Thinking for a bit, he pointed out, ” Your highness, Master Wyatt, is in direct violation of the flight ban inside the base.”
“You three have been giving me hostile glare just because I flew inside the base? ” I asked, looking at the three young soldiers.
“Wyatt, he is right. This is a restricted area. And it is forbidden to fly over or inside the base without permission.” Anna announced, trying to seem impartial.
“Well, nobody informed me of that. Okay, then I will leave. You guys enjoy your restricted area all you want.” I didn’t want to be here in the first place anyway.
…
