An Enthusiastic Fan

Eldervein, Crevania.

The tall muscular man with a dragon tattoo on his left shoulder, which was left exposed as if to show his dominance or prove that his was the better tattoo, squinted his eyes as he looked into the far distance.

He jumped down from the back of the greenish-brown military jeep he was standing on to look at the far distance. He had an amazed look on his face. He was clearly excited.

He said, "The results are astonishing today, doctor!"

The man with a lab coat whom he referred to as doctor turned to face him with a wide smile on his face. "Wait till you see the Impulse."

"Wasn't the Impulse supposed to be paired with the D.I.V.?" the muscular man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Put that down. You get that crate and load them up in the jeep." The doctor gave orders to the other escorts. They were in a large expanse of land with sparse vegetation.

He turned to the muscular man with a smirk on his face. "Lino, do you even understand what we're doing here? The Impulse must not come together with the D.I.V. unless you want a catastrophic chain reaction."

Lino scratched his head with an embarrassed look. He was a trained fighter and not a science geek and he didn't intend to be one any time soon. The only thing he cared about was his gun. He followed the doctor's gaze and looked at the rising mushroom smoke at the far distance.

"Is it safe?"

"It should be after all, no one lives near here plus it's just a little test. After the Impulse is ready, we'll launch the D.I.V."

"We should probably go then, we're done here." Lino looked at the hot sun that hung over their heads.

The doctor tersely agreed before packing his equipment and loading them in the jeep. They got in and Lino started the car. He looked back at the others and advised, "Put on your gas masks, we wouldn't want to inhale that smoke."

"Yeah, yeah, do that." The doctor quickly put his on and the jeep sped off leaving a trail of dust and tire marks.

….

Misthill, Crevania

Richard returned back to his training and gave some pointers to the team members especially Pauline who felt left behind in her combat skills. Her forte was snipping and she was known widely for her assassination abilities.

Richard showed her few moves and how to counter them if she was ever on the receiving end of the move. She proved to be a very fast learner and was able to grasp the basic moves though it wasn't enough to win against most of the soldiers.

They received another visitor as the training was drawing to a close. It was a young boy with hair cut low. He wore military trousers and a white shirt and his eyes gave away his excitement.

"Hi," he said with an outstretched hand to Richard. "I'm Edwin Trueman."

The General's son? Richard nodded and shook his hand with a firm grip. "Why are you here?"

"Iron!" the boy blurted out as he felt the iron grip he was held in. he blushed and quickly answered, "Don't mind me, Colonel. I'm just here to spectate. I've heard so much about you."

Richard decided to ignore him and proceeded to round up the training. "Next time we'll work on the 'bags'."

Every soldier in Crevania knew that the 'bag' meant large hanging dummies that were used for training. It helped one in their footwork and also punches. They also had the 'Punch Thrower' that could measure the strength behind a person's punch.

They grabbed their duffel bags and towels and got ready to go.

"Don't forget my medical!" Priscilla waved at them and received a few grunts. They had forgotten about the medical and they still didn't know what purpose it served. They were fit and didn't need anybody to examine them to check for whatever they wanted to check for.

The moment Richard put his things in his bag and approached the door, Edwin jumped to his side with the same enthusiasm as before. He threw a glance at Priscilla who was just a little behind. "Hey, doctor Harris, correct?"

"Edwin Trueman, correct?"

The boy smiled shyly at her response.

"What do you need? I don't remember receiving any report about another member." Richard glanced at Priscilla and she shook her head.

"Oh, that," Edwin straightened his body with a bold look now, "General Gordon wants me to bring you to him. He's just outside the training centre. You too doctor Harris."

Richard followed the boy out while wondering why the General couldn't come here directly to fetch him. They soon met the General standing like a stone statue by the entrance with his arms crossed behind his back.

He exuded an aura of dominance in those military uniforms and black sun glasses.

"General." Richard greeted with his chest puffed out.

"Good day General Gordon." Priscilla said in a flat tone.

Edwin moved to the General's side though this time, he didn't seem as excited as before. He stood at total attention not even daring to blink.

"Colonel Brad, Doctor Harris. This is my son, Edwin!" the General said through gritted teeth.

Richard could guess from the slight hesitation in his voice that he wasn't really enthusiastic about introducing him as a son. Maybe the General is slightly not impressed by his son?

Edwin only nodded seriously and said, "We've already met."

"Good. Edwin here just passed out of the academy this year and will be moving to the camp as a recruit to complete his training before being enlisted in the army."

"Nice. Is that why you came here?" Priscilla found him a bit courageous.

"Actually no," General Gordon spoke up instead, "he heard about your return to the military ranks and became excited so he tagged along. He's just that enthusiastic."

"I'm a fan." Edwin peeked and said.

Richard smiled slightly, "I'm honoured."

They walked out of the training centre. It was a large building in the HQ with many large halls that had training equipment. They were labelled with numbers. The military still had another training unit for weapons and shooting practices.

They headed to the main building by the side which served as the HQ building.

"I've always wanted to be like you." Edwin suddenly said catching Richard off guard. General Gordon just shook his head at his naivety.