"Liri? I know you're there, come out!" Adam called and looked around.
A ball of light suddenly appeared before him only to burst like a bubble. Dazzled, Adam shut his eyes.
"Hahahaha, you were completely clueless!" In front of Adam hovered an approximately 15 cm small blond beauty in a green dress, who was laughing and holding her stomach.
Liri is a fairy from the Goddess' Garden with dragonfly-like wings. They usually don't show themselves or not to everyone, but Liri eventually found pleasure in watching Adam and playing pranks on him.
"What are you doing here? You're not really allowed to leave the garden at all!" Adam said to the little fairy, who was still laughing as if she had heard the joke of the century.
"It's very likely that the goddess noticed me and yet she didn't say anything, so it must be okay!" The fairy defended herself.
"Okay, but keep yourself hidden!" He instructed her and left the bathroom. Liri just nodded and disappeared again just as suddenly as she had appeared.
"I'm sorry, I was a bit surprised, that there are slimes in your toilets. I'm a nomad so we didn't have anything like that!" Adam apologized as he closed the door to the Bathroom.
"Yes, you have to get used to it first. This invention came from a Hero, that the Goddess Gloria once sent to us. You will find such toilets in all public buildings, in the homes of the nobility, and by people who have the money to do so!' The cat girl explained.
"Okay. What about my ID and do I get a uniform?" Adam suddenly remembered when they were standing in front of the door with the number 16 on it.
"That should all be ready tomorrow morning, then report to the registration, don't worry the uniform will magically adjust to your size!" She answered Adam's question before he could even ask himself.
Mika turned to knock on the door and left after a slight bow.
When the door opened, a young man with black hair and gray wolf ears walked out.
"Who are you and what do you want here?" he asked in a serious voice.
"My name is Adam, I've been assigned to this room!"
"So, you also want to be a beast rider and join the elite, huh?"
"Just let him in, John!" Said a female voice in the room.
"Okay okay, Jean! Come in, you get the bed under Jean." He opened the door and pointed to the bottom of a bunk bed on the right.
The room was very small. Between the bunk beds on the right and left was only a narrow passage; and at the end of the room were 4 large chests.
"As you have probably heard, my name is John. The blonde, sitting there on the chest is Jean, and the one lying on the bed is Aldo!"
Adam found it a bit strange that a girl sleeps in the same room as 3 boys. His three comrades were already wearing their uniforms, a black jacket with gold epaulets, white trousers, black boots, and the emblem of the Rouvria Kingdom on their Chest.
"How long have you been here?" Adam asked.
"A few days!" The wolfman replied shortly.
"Well, I arrived about a week ago. The Temple of the Goddess in Tarria is said to be particularly beautiful and the shopping street here is said to be known for having goods from all over the world. I couldn't let that slip!" Jean said with a smile.
"Really? I would like to see the temple. I only got here a few hours ago!" Adam sat down on his allocated bed.
"Then let's all go there together tomorrow after training!" Jean said happily.
"I do not feel like it! Go without me!" Aldo said, turning on his bed to face the wall.
"I'd rather do some more training and then go to the library, plus the temple should be busy as they're about to summon a hero!" John said.
"Wait, what?" Adam couldn't believe his ears, as his mother had never mentioned anything like that.
"Don't you know anything?" John asked in disbelief, as he climbed onto his bed.
"No, I'm from the nomadic tribes in the north!" Adam replied.
"You are a nomad? Of course, that explains why you have no idea! Haha." Laughed John.
"Let me explain it to you! Since ascending the throne ten years ago, the new Emperor of the Kapapian Empire has spread the word, that their Empire was chosen to unite the world under their flag. Those, who do not submit like the Canterra kingdom in the south, will be destroyed. The Charbeilian Empire has already lost its northern lands and is now half its size. If the Charbeilian Empire had not summoned a hero, it would likely have been completely swallowed up. But the Kapapian Empire has now also summoned a hero, and we will be summoning one of our own soon." The blonde young woman explained.
'Oh man, that sounds like heroes are something like weapons of mass destruction!' That's all Adam could think of.
Depending on how strong the heroes get, this could be like Armaggeddon.
Jean seemed to enjoy answering questions and explaining things, so Adam jumped at the chance to ask all sorts of things. Shortly thereafter, she left the room and the young men quickly got ready for bed. After only a few minutes, she reentered the room in black silk pajamas, that even bore the crest of the kingdom. Even the two boys wore matching pajamas, only Adam was still sitting there in his clothes, which he later tucked into his bracelets.
_______________
Loud bells relieved Adam of his nightmares and when he opened his eyes a thin fluffy tail with golden fur and a bushy black tip dangled from the upper bed.
'So she is a demihuman. And a lioness at that!' Thought Adam as he rubbed his eyes.
From then on, everything happened very fast, with a feline movement, Jean jumped off her bed with her uniform in her arms and rushed out of the room to the women's changing room. The two boys quickly made their beds and got dressed.
"HURRY! Or do you want to run penalty laps on day one?" Said John to Adam.
Adam was overwhelmed, he had never done military service and didn't know this hectic pace in the morning. Not even when master Sofiel wanted to train early in the morning, was there such stress as she mostly overslept herself, because time doesn't matter to angels. But Adam hurried to get dressed and folded his blanket in half like he saw the others do. Then they walked out the door, where Jean was already waiting for them. Aldo and Adam stood to the right of the door, and Jean and John to the left. There were about 20 young men and women in the corridor, who lined up in front of their doors, just like Adam and his roommates.
"Hey, put your arms behind your back and stand behind the line!" Aldo whispered to Adam, as he pointed to the floor.
Adam saw, that he was standing on a line, that he hadn't noticed at all yesterday and took a small step back.
All of a sudden the ground shook with a loud roar, although it appeared to be one floor below Adam could hear every word clearly.
Tok, tok, tok. A short while later, someone came up the stairs, with heavy steps.
"GOOD MORNING BEASTS RIDERS!!! I AM YOUR INSTRUCTOR GENERAL ASLAN! WHO IS MR. YOUNG?"
"Here!" Adam said simply.
Without even making a single sound, the gigantic, muscular man with the head of a lion suddenly stood in front of Adam.
"YES, SIR!" The man roared.
"YES, SIR!" Adam said, loud and clear.
"YOU WILL NOW RUN AND RECEIVE YOUR UNIFORM! Then you change your clothes and stand right here again! You have 3 minutes." The man pointed his muscular arm in the direction of the stairs.
Adam ran as fast as he could, down the stairs to the next building and knocked on the registration door.
When Adam got back to the 4th floor, he ran to his room and quickly got dressed, not even having time to marvel as the uniform magically adjusted to his size.
"CONGRATULATIONS! You're too late! But, that's not bad, because instead of going comfortably to breakfast, we're going to run 10 laps first!" Said the man, with a big grin.
"Good Morning! I am James von Ramberg! Firstborn of Baron von Ramberg, I hope you will forgive me for joining you a little later! But I had important business to take care of, you peasants wouldn't understand." Adam rolled his eyes at this conceited nobleman, but then had to grin at the thought of their meeting yesterday.
Adam couldn't help but laugh as the giant lion man roared at James so much he fell on his butt. In two lines, they went down the stairs to a large square behind the buildings. James quickly realized, that his title didn't matter at this academy and followed the group with his head bowed.
"RUN! RUN UNTIL I GIVE YOU ANOTHER COMMAND!" The general's voice echoed across the square.
"Pssst, Jean! You're a lion demi-human, right?" Adam whispered, walking alongside Jean.
"Yeah, but keep it to yourself! What was the matter with you last night, did you have a nightmare?"
"Did I talk in my sleep?" Adam scratched the back of his head.
"No, but you rolled around like crazy!" Jean looked at Adam, a little concerned.
When Adam looked at her from the side, he noticed that Jean was hiding her ears with her hair. She had tied her long blond hair in a ponytail, that seemed to dance as she walked. At this sight Adam had to smile.
"I'm just a little nervous, after all this is my first day in the army!" Adam tried to talk his way out of it.
Adam didn't even notice he had a nightmare, because he had them nearly every night, since he entered hell. Every night, he dreamt of demons torturing him or his friends dying. As Adam lapped the panting James for the second time, he saw a black-haired woman with an eye patch walk onto the court, directly in the direction of the General. She saluted by hitting her chest with her fist and then said something Adam couldn't understand.
"EVERYONE TO ME! Form a semicircle!" General Aslan's voice made the air tremble.
It didn't take long and everyone had gathered. Even James, who was panting like he'd run a marathon.
„Bad news, the Kapapian Empire has sent an unusually large number of troops to the northern border of our allies, the Charbeilian Empire. Rumor has it that they even sent their hero, although this has not yet been confirmed. If Charbeilian falls, we're the next target. For this reason, I must speed up your training."
There was a murmur of excitement and disbelief from the group, but the training would likely take a while.
After breakfast in an impressively large canteen, the recruits gathered in a classroom. Adam found himself in the back row next to John while Jean and Aldo took a seat in the front row.
"John, what do you think? Will they send us to the front soon?" Adam asked the wolfman.
"Hmm, the training should take at least a few months, but there are exceptions."
"A few months ago, the support law was passed, which states that training can be shortened if an allied country or our own country is under massive threat. And this unusual number of troops together with the hero is a massive threat!" A female voice added from behind Adam.
When Adam turned around, he saw the woman with the eye patch and behind her the huge figure of General Aslan.
"That, ladies and gentlemen, is Commander Bela! Should it come to that, you will be sent to the front lines and serve under Commander Bela." Aslan said as he strode through the rows of tables, to the front.
Meanwhile, the commander grabbed a chair and made herself comfortable next to Adam in the back row.
Aslan explained to the students, what breeds of horses there were and which beasts were best suited for beast riders. There was a kind of giant wolf, tiger, lion, land dragon, monster spider, and much more. He also explained the various strengths and weaknesses and which beasts were best suited to whom.
Aslan gave everyone a slip of paper, a list of mounts, and a form to apply for one. Adam was overwhelmed with the long list and was simply unfamiliar with some of the beasts on this list. Amael had taught him many things about this world, but not everything.
'What is a pegorn, and is a giant chicken really just a giant chicken?' Adam scratched his head.
"If you're not sure, just don't tick anything! You're going to pick up the beasts from the farm, that's not far from here and they should have more then enough! So you can choose something when you're there." Said the commander.
"Then I'll do that!" Adam said relieved.
The rest of the lesson consisted only of questions and answers. Then, it was finally lunchtime and Adam ran into the canteen when he recognized the smell because if Adam had learned one thing in his old world, it was that you had to be quick on taco day.