The golden sun slowly rose from the line of the boundless horizon. Its radiant light sang the revelation of the ocean-blue skies shrouded by silver clouds treading through with the aid of the wind. It was the beginning of a new day, the dawn of a new reality.
The gleaming sunlight pierced through the silky curtains covering the windows of a particular room. It revealed a room on the second floor of the dormitory within the military fortress Anfang.
In the room was a fat young man who had recently left the bathroom. He had a thick towel covering his bottom as he walked towards the wardrobe, searching for the recruit uniform.
His name was Dante Regent Astarte, the newly arrived recruit, along with many others.
As he opened his wardrobe, a mirror was plastered along the side paneled door. Dante raised an eyebrow as he finally saw his actual appearance. As he expected, it was a fat young man with pitch-black hair and blue azure eyes.
Under his plump exterior, one could see that the fat body and face had a potential for beauty. Though, only hard work would ever unlock the potential of gorgeousness. Dante kept looking at himself since this was his current body. His new life.
It was a strange feeling to be reincarnated, and he might have an identity crisis if he didn't ever adapt to this world.
'While the hallway of memories gave me the general and important information, it didn't give me anything.' Dante thought to himself as he continued.
'The memory integration is slow and highly blurry. Not only that, but the memories are based on the current body's perception. Meaning that not all of it would be the truth.' He concluded as he took out the recruit uniform.
What Dante was trying to say was simple. The hallway of memories gave him the information he needed. But he must not consider them as facts in anyways. Since memories usually get built around one's perception of the world, some perceptions can be distorted depending on the person's state.
"I need to be careful and confirm the information I gained," Dante muttered as he wore the recruit uniform.
The recruit uniform was his size which was a piece of good news. It was simple In design, which makes sense as it wasn't the official uniform. The uniform looked easy to wash and clean. It was also easy to wear and somewhat comfortable.
'Pretty different from the one in my past life.' Dante nodded in satisfaction as a short while later, he concluded the first part of his day.
He began stretching his body and noticed that he was having difficulty making such a simple move. "This body sucks," Dante remarked, understanding that he needed to train for the body to become usable in the military.
If he wanted to grow in this world and adapt, the military was the best and most familiar option. It was also the most accessible option since it didn't take much time for him to arrive at the military fortress and become a recruit.
"READY YOURSELVES!"
A yell sounded out of nowhere as Dante turned his gaze toward the door and finished preparing. He then opened the door and exited the room. Dante stood before the door and saluted, quietly waiting for the training officer.
It took little time for the training officer to arrive. And of all the recruits in the dormitory, only three managed to salute before him and do the morning call.
"It looks like some of you still don't understand what it means to be in the military. Well, I guess it's my job to remind each of you calmly." The training officer said as he looked at the three recruits who managed to do the morning call on the first day.
He nodded in satisfaction after a short while of staring at them.
"The three of you are early and disciplined. Good, follow me." A smile emerged on his face as he left the hallway and walked downstairs. The other three recruits followed as Dante peered at the training officer's appearance.
The training officer was a buff man with crimson hair and a scar on his right eye. The aura escaping from his body meant that he was someone strong. Even Dante doubted the possibility of defeating him, even if he trained for a short while.
The three exited the dormitory, and Dante was met with numerous golems. They were holding armaments resembling hand cannons and were quite intimidating. How the golems worked was something Dante would like to learn.
But for now, he must look at what was in front of him.
The three arrived at the training grounds a couple of minutes later and were lined perfectly. They stood steadily as the training officer watched every inch of their movement. He looked at them for seconds until he stopped and introduced himself.
"You will be the training regiment 69 under captain Phaton."
"I will introduce myself. I am captain Phaton Bell, your training officer this year."
"My job is to train everyone, so let's start the attendance of who's in front of me."
Training officer Phaton took out the document with their names and went through it. He took his time skimming through every recruit and then stopped. He stared at the three of them and began the attendance.
"Ruby Gladia!" Phaton yelled as a young lady with the same crimson hair as his saluted and replied. "Present!"
"Gremar Ryder!" Phaton continued as the man between Dante and Ruby saluted. "Present, Sir!" Gremar had blond hair and was a handsome, tall young man.
"And finally, never expected you to be in my training regiment. But I guess fate works strangely." Phaton couldn't help but express as he looked at the fat young man.
"Dante Regent Astarte!" Phaton shouted as he stood before the third son of the Astarte. Dante saluted the training officer and gave his answer. "Present, sir." His tone was calm and clear, different from the loud replies of the two before him.
"While I'd like to talk more about you, it's time to introduce you three to the program."
"The soldier training program is an advanced training program that separates those with potential and those who do not. It was created to pick the cream of the crop among military recruits. And depending on the future, one of you might become one."
"Those who indeed become the cream of the crop will hold the ability to open the Imperium Vault of Anfang and pick an arcana within them. However, that will be only for those who can be considered a genius."
"Do you get what I'm trying to say?"
Phaton couldn't help but smirk after explaining to the recruits the things they could possibly do within the military. "Now, are you confident in yourself? To get an arcana and become one of the infamous god-like figures?"
The training officer was like the devil, tempting the recruits before him. Even Dante himself wasn't an exception to the temptation. After all, an arcana, if his memory serves correctly, was a golden finger in itself. It was something that would grant normal individuals some supernatural power.
If he could get one arcana, he might become set for life.
Ruby and Jacob were convinced that they might have a chance to get an arcana. Something that was far beyond wealth and authority. Ruby clenched her fist as Jacob gritted his teeth.
The two of them glared at each other, acknowledging themselves as rivals.
"The Astarte was one of the strongest families within the Imperium of Avalon, only second to the Imperium family. Their genes seem to fit with arcanas a bit better than normal ones, making them who they currently were."
Phaton said as Ruby and Jacob looked at Dante, the third son of the Astarte. They shook their heads, dismissing him, not gazing at Dante as a threat. They seemed to underestimate him, and Phaton could simply shake his head.
'Kids will be kids. They will always take the face value of the things they see.' Phaton thought to himself as 18-year-old children were a bit inexperienced in life. Not only that, but the current wave of recruits was not hardened beforehand.
Meaning that Phaton would become the blacksmith himself.
On the other hand, Dante peered at the other two and sighed in relief. It appears they did not consider him a threat, which was good news. Dante plans to lay low until he becomes sufficiently robust to protect himself.
If he gets enough power to protect himself from early enemies, he won't bother hiding anything anymore. In this world and his past life, being passive wasn't something he wanted to do anymore.
He wanted to chase the things he wanted, and Dante was serious about changing his passive self. It might take a while, but it will happen, and he will ensure it.
As the short explanation of Phaton concluded with the three having numerous thoughts plague their head, the others had finally arrived at the training grounds. Phaton looked at them with an expression of disappointment as he uttered.
"I believe all of you have been informed of the morning call?"
"The military made sure of it, meaning that you are either blind or deaf."
Cold words escaped his mouth as the other recruits flinched upon hearing him.
"Arrange yourselves in a line, and let us prepare your first day. Those who didn't manage to enter the attendance will receive punishment later. So all of you late bastards better expect it." The edge of Phaton's lips rose after giving the recruits an order.