“These are yours”, she said pointing to the costumes “You are responsible for taking care and cleaning them. Don't expect any special treatment because you're the one. In fact, be prepared to be treated badly, some soldiers and officers may not like your position very much.”
The boy flinched; however, his current mission was to get close to Evelin.
“I'm going to do my best, Evelin. I promise I won't be a nuisance to you.”
The boy opened a slight smile in response. It was pretty quick, yet enough for Aiden's heart to race.
“Now wear your uniform; it also has its barrier projector; don't forget that.”
The boy took the suit and blushed, avoiding eye contact with Evelin.
“Do I have to change here?”
The girl turned her eyes again and stood with her back to him.
“You have thirty seconds and don't expect that privacy from other people here. Frankly, this is the army...”
The boy tried to put on his clothes as fast as possible. But it was too complicated, with more buttons than he expected, and he still couldn't close the boots when its time ran out.
Evelin helped him close the rest of the outfit, which made the boy blush more.
“After a while, you get the hang of the uniform, you're going to have to put it on faster than that...”, she stopped when she noticed the expression on his face “Are you all right? Your face looks weird.”
He just waved his head and distanced himself from the girl. His attire had the same dark blue pattern as the others he had seen, but no special medals or marks, which revealed his low rank. As soon as he was ready, Evelin took one of the gray discs and gave it to him to hold.
“Do you know what that is?”
The boy's expression was the answer Evelin was waiting for.
“It is a barrier projector. That's what protects us in combat, this one's a level two. They go up to level ten, but the more powerful the size. So only vehicles use level six up.”
The girl pulled out her pistol and pointed at Aiden, who was tense at the time, however concluded that she would not shoot.
Then she shot.
The first reaction of the boy was to shrink; however, he heard the sound of the bullet falling to the ground and felt no pain in his body.
Now he saw a mischievous smile on his bodyguard's face.
“You shot me!”
“To teach you a lesson”, she replied with exaggerated calm, contrasting with the boy's nervousness. “Your uniform is already embedded with a barrier projector, it can't take many shots before he burns out, but it's enough to guarantee his life until you solve whatever you are doing.”
The boy was still nervous about the shot, but Evelin was already starting the next explanation, pulling an object from a pocket in her uniform. It resembled a knife handle with a series of buttons, however no blade.
“And this, do you know what it is?”
“It's an All Tool, isn't it?”, the girl nods her head agreeing. “It has a liquid metal inside and magnets, depending on the configuration of it can turn a series of tools.”
She pressed one of the buttons and a liquid metal began to come out of the cable until it formed a blade and solidified.
“It is a very useful tool for combat and survival, with a variety of modalities” she continued. “And I'm showing this to teach you something else from your barrier projector. He defends you from projectiles ending their momentum in the air, but if any force continues, you'll get hurt.”
To demonstrate she propelled the knife in the direction of the boy, he saw her hand faltering against an invisible force before reaching him, soon he could feel the tip of the knife pressing on his belly.
“I would like not to be the target of weapons anymore.” Aiden asked.
“You came to the wrong place then. That's what I needed to pass on to you at the moment, you're going to have physical training with Rayzer today, and as far as I know, I'm going to teach you how to shoot. Pardalis is teaching combat.
He falters as the girl left the room. He saw the time and quickly took his other costume and ran to the room. By the time he arrived, his colleagues were already waking up and preparing for the training day. At the bedroom door was an older, bald, dark-skinned man, with a high rank. As Aiden passed him, he felt a serious look, yet no word.
Upon arriving at his bunk bed, Dom slapped his back.
“Good morning, chicken. When I didn't see you here, I thought you had already run away.”
“Evelin woke me up earlier to give me my uniform and explain some things.”
“Oh yeah! Eve's your guardian, right? How lucky.”
The informal way he called the girl upset Aiden.
“Do you know her?”
“Of course, I know... I mean, everybody does. The daughter of Guardian Simeht, the prodigal girl and the destroyer in the dice game.”
He inspected Dom for a moment and realized that if he was the competition to stay with Evelin, he wouldn't stand a chance.
“Now get ready soon, or Rayzer will literally eat you.”
Only wearing the pants of the uniform and a basic white blouse all the men went to a racetrack, forced to take several laps.
Aiden ran at his own pace. He knew he couldn't take it if I tried to keep up with Dom and the others, and in fact, the boy was well behind.
He was already tired of running when Dom came from behind and accompanied him.
“How are you skinny? Surviving?”
The boy was panting and could barely answer.
“Everything... Is fine.”
“Good! Captain Omara Rayzer there is the leader of the air battalion. I've been wanting to join them since I got here.
“Air... Battalion??
“Yes!” Dom was clearly excited to talk about it. “They have bigger armor and jet packs! Omara is the one who decides who enters this battalion and, as the equipment is expensive, has few
