Chapter1: Watero

The sun's rays touch everything in the city with a pleasant warmth, and the wet ground testifies to the remnants of the previous night's rain, mixed sounds pass through the ears of everyone in this small town, between the play of children, the calls of vendors and the conversations of women...

The feet of a young adult walking hard on the mud making a sound, wearing blue high boots half smeared with mud, tall with thick brown and soft hair, wide eyes narrowed at the edges, sharp features that sprinkled some handsomeness on his features, carrying his backpack on his back with both hands and walking with balanced steps and dividers that refer to some happiness. 

-Caro, aren't you going to wait for me?

His friend said from behind him as he bent down to tie his shoes and got up quickly. A tall, well-built boy with black hair cascading down his forehead, a sharp, straight nose and soft eyes with dark circles underneath. He walked briskly toward his friend and placed a palm on his shoulder:

-Why are you ignoring me? My feet have sunk into the mud. He bent his head to look at his feet and pants, which were now stained with mud.

 -It's the first time I've worn these clothes and now they've fallen to the ground and gotten dirty, it looks like today is going to be a happy day with a start like this.

Caro's gaze swam in the void with a glint of happiness in it. Caro grabbed an arm and pulled him toward him so quickly that he leaned his body close to his companion's ear and said:

-Didn't you notice anything unusual, Ray? 

Ray replied:

-Like what? 

Taking a deep breath, Caro said with a slight smile: 

-It hasn't rained for a long time, and on our first day of enlistment it rained, isn't it as if the sky is happy that we are joining the Wall Soldiers and that this is a message from the sky that the freedom of the people will be in our hands? 

Ray continued to look at him with a cold expression and then continued, ignoring his words: 

-What now for my clothes? Look how I look.

 He looked around with his eyes left and right, rubbing his hair with a sigh:

-Oh God! There's no water here to wash my clothes with.

- Hey! I've been looking for you all this morning. Where have you been?

Their conversation was interrupted by a girl about their age, with light brown hair, thick pigtails down to her buttocks, long bangs down to her eyelashes, wearing a long skirt and a woolen dress, carrying a large basket with some apples in her hand.

She took a quick glance at Ray's clothes and then opened her mouth in a deliberately provocative manner and said:

-Ryu, are you still playing in the mud with the kids? God! when are you going to grow up? Look at your clothes.

Ray looked angry, while Caro just looked at them, and said, trying to shut her up: 

-Put the candy back in your pocket for the kids and stop meddling in the affairs of adults. How many times do I have to tell you to mind your own business?

She looked away from him and said in a whisper: 

-talking with kids is useless.

Then she continued, adjusting the position of the apples in the basket: 

-I heard that the 81th wall was demolished by the Shadows yesterday and the residents were killed, as expected, of course.

Caro's eyes widened in shock. 

-Really? 

Ray looked at him with disdain: 

-Shocked?

The girl said excitedly: 

-Yeah, I remember, it's your first day in the army, when are you going to go to Watteroo Square? 

Caro replied:

-A little later. 

Waving goodbye, she said:

-We turned seventeen so fast, we're getting old, guys.

She gave Ray a quick glance and then shifted her gaze away from him: 

-Except for some people, I don't know when they'll grow up. 

Then she continued in a loud voice, walking away from them, carrying the basket in both hands:

-Anyways, your brother is waiting for you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A large square surrounded by a medium-length wooden fence, the ground is dusty and smells of rain-soaked dirt, with a few orange-leafed trees near the outside of the fence, lined with young men of equal ages, forming 50 separate groups in an orderly fashion, each group containing 200 young men, wearing black shirts and trousers and gray military boots, standing with their hands behind their backs and holding their heads up with a stoic and attentive look on their faces. and gray military boots, standing with their hands behind their backs, with their heads held high, with a steady, attentive gaze and a stern expression on their faces, each group is met by a tall man wearing a green war suit splashed with some orange, on the shoulders and chest of which is an iron block that gives the suit a warlike look.

Wattero Square, part of the No. 5 Wall School of Recruiting. When males reach the age of seventeen, they are transferred from the Wattero School of Education to the Wattero Recruiting Ground against their will, while females are selected for enlistment, and are then tested for combat skills before entering the army or a special warfare skill that entitles them to join the army.

-Everyone, attention.

The leader of one of the groups shouted, raising his hand, straightening it behind his back, and everyone responded to his command by adjusting their posture and then shouting in one voice:

-YEAH!

 A narrow-eyed leader with a thinning mustache, his gaze scanned the faces of those in the front rows where the males lined up on the right side of the group, while the females lined up on the left, numbering just over 30.

Their leader said in a loud, raspy voice:

-You are Group 13, and this is your first day here at the Watteroo Recruiting Ground. This place has been the dream of each and every one of you since you were young, and now it is time for your efforts. Now is the time to put your efforts into the victory we hope for.

-Who's lying to this guy? This wasn't my dream anyway.

Ray said in a low voice to Caro standing next to him 

-Shut up. Caro replied with an artificial stiffness. 

Their leader continued: 

-It has been more than 100 years since soldiers from this city were first formed to protect the people of the Walls, and we are still standing against the aggression of the shadow armies despite what has befallen our people for many years. We cannot surrender to this senseless killing and inhumane brutality.

He walked a few steps, turning his right side to the crowd of recruits and jumping from one to the other, then continued. 

-We received news this morning that Wall 81 was destroyed by the Shadows and all the inhabitants were killed, as these criminals are wont to do. Unfortunately, our soldiers at Wall 81 were unable to resist the enemy's power, and their lives were lost in order to save humanity from the evil of the Shadows. As you know... There are only 33 walls left. 114 walls separate us from fighting our enemy if the rest of the soldiers and the Legion can't defeat him.

He stood in front of the girls and began to scan their faces, giving them a sharp, piercing look:

-Our freedom depends not only on our men, but also on our women.

 -YEAH!

One of the girls in the second row shouted firmly, breaking the silence in the arena, and everyone turned to her with a slight curious gesture.

-It's Taka!

Caro said to Rei in a hushed, wondering voice.

-What brought her here? She didn't tell us she was joining the army, not even this morning when we met her!

 Caro said, looking puzzled. Ray replied, looking at her: 

-Stupid! Always putting herself in awkward situations.

The commander stared at her, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment; she thought the others would have yelled "YEAH" at that moment, but she was the only one who did. She bowed her head in shame, looking at the ground in silence and cursing herself inwardly. The commander ignored her and turned back in the opposite direction without reacting as the others had expected.

-Fighters, know that the first condition for becoming a free fighter.

He stood facing them with his hands clasped behind his back, one underneath the other, clenching his palms as his voice grew louder

-is to love death!

Someone in the second row raised his palm, and a young man of medium height with thinning hair on the tips of his mustache, small long eyes and an oval-shaped face appeared, and everyone looked at him with a look of surprise and curiosity to see what he would say.

-Yes?

 The commander asked, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

-Sir, what is the point of loving death if we are defending the desire for freedom and life? 

The faces of the recruits changed to one of fear at the commander's reaction to an objectionable question, and a few murmurs began to rise in the last few rows.

-Logical question!

 Caro said in a hushed voice as he looked at the questioner one row to his left, then continued addressing himself:

-Why would we like to die if we want to live? 

Ray heard him and gave him a sideways glance without moving his head.

The commander took a deep breath, relaxed his eyebrow knot, and in a calmer tone answered:

-What is the use of fighting if you are afraid of death? The thing that man fears most is death, and when you love it and desire it, your heart has no passage for fear of anything else, because there is nothing more abhorrent than death that can frighten you!

He changed his tone of voice to a more assertive one:

-Death is inevitable, so why should we be afraid of it anyway? Let us welcome it if it will take our lives for the sake of the lives of others.

The questioner did not show any signs of acceptance or rejection of what the commander said. The commander continued to look at him for a few seconds, absorbing his features with his eyes. He took a few steps back and then shouted with his fist and index finger raised high:

-Death or life, both are freedom.

The rest of the group imitated his action and then shouted in a voice that echoed around the room:

-Death or life, both are freedom. 

------------------------------------

Each group was divided into five teams of 46 people, each with its own section. The division was randomized, and the number of people in each team was according to the capacity of the school's classrooms, which could accommodate no more than fifty people.

Caro's team entered the corridor, which was lined with several sections. Their team was in the lead as other teams followed behind them to their sections.

-1301, so that's our team number!

 Caro said, looking at the number engraved on the wooden door of their section. The team entered the section in pairs and lined up. Ray, who was behind Caro, said in a tired, angry voice:

-I'm cold, didn't they find something else to wear in this freezing weather?

A wide section with three windows on either side, dominating the center of the back wall, with orange curtains tied to the edges of the windows, the glass of which allowed light rays of sunlight to illuminate the section, a gray marble and tile floor on which a green chalkboard hung on the wall, with a desk on the left, this was their section that seemed to welcome the new recruits.

One by one, the boys entered and took their seats, each with two seats for two people, and the rows of wooden benches were divided into three rows, each with eight vertically aligned seats.

Caro said leaning his back against the back of Ray's seat, his eyes darting back and forth, up and down.

-Ray, did you ever imagine the Wattero sections to be like this? Everything here is simple.

Ray replied, leaning on the arm of one of his hands in preparation for a nap: what did you expect?

Caro twisted his lips to the side:

-I don't know! But the view is okay. 

He turned his head to Ray and asked him.

You didn't tell me what your brother Goethin wanted you for?

-He gave me his own sword and the key to his house, said he was leaving for the city 90 for some things and told me to go to his house whenever I needed something.

-What kind of things would cause him to travel all the way to City 90? 

-I didn't ask him. He was in a hurry.

-And then... What about Lara?

Ray leaned on one of his hands:

-He proposed for the second time, she didn't want him anyway. I advised him to stay away from her and focus on his promotion to become one of the ramparts' commanders. But he insists on marrying her, justifying it with the excuse that she's a rare coin, and some stupid arguments like this.

Suddenly raising his head to his right and noticing Taka in the last row of the last seats, he said, touching Karou's back with his fingertips in alarm:

-Look, Taka is here.

Caro raised his head to look at her, tying her long hair into a bun and talking excitedly to the girls sitting in front of her.

-What kind of warrior talent does this girl have? I don't know what kind of warrior ability she has other than riding a horse, and she doesn't even know how to ride a horse well. Caro said.

-Or eating! Maybe she can help the warriors by eating the stones that get in the way.

Noticing their stares, Taka bobbed her pupils up and down and smiled a wicked smile of triumph, then slowly and clearly moved her lips, saying:

-Surprise.

The sound of loud boots made everyone's ears perk up and they quickly straightened up. He entered, knocking his military boots on the floor of the department with his tall stature, carrying his black briefcase in his left hand, a neat suit that emphasized his strong build, and blonde hair that showed some gray at the edges, while on the contours of his face, stoicism and hardness settled. He slammed his briefcase down on the desk and it shook, then turned to the audience, standing in the center of the tiles with his hands behind his back, raising his head with a piercing gaze, a dignity that made everyone's backs stiffen. A prestige that made everyone's backs stiffen and set their minds on fire. 

He said in a thick voice after moving his eyes in a straight line, scanning the faces of the audience:

-Team 1301, welcome to WATERO.