The induction speech from Staff Bryce went on for the next ten minutes or so, which honestly felt like an eternity for the recruits baking in the blazing sun. It was mainly with regards to the duties of a soldier and their training schedule. Before long, everyone’s backsides were glued to the ground in the shade of the clock tower.

He leaned against the red colored wall of the clock tower, left hand combing through his short brown hair. Sweat sprinkled from his hair like droplets from a brush. From the corner of his jet black eyes, he saw Staff Bryce’s figure walking off in the distance.

Bad mistake.

That was the only thing running through his sufficiently baked brain at the moment. Who knew being a soldier would be this tough? It always seemed easy, as seen from the town guards and the patrolling troops in the city. Nobody told him he would have to go through a three month basic military training just to guard a town gate.

“Is this spot taken?” a friendly voice interrupted his train of thought.

Looking up from where he was seated, he saw a beam of glaring light shooting straight for his eyes. Instinctively he squinted his eyes, protecting them by placing his right hand above his brow.

“Oh I am so sorry,” the friendly voice responded, moving forward and away from the sunlight shining onto his forehead. “Is this better?”

The owner of the friendly voice came into view. He is a man no more than 20 years old, standing at approximately 1.75m tall. His Hazel brown eyes were clear and sharp, just like that of a hawk. Those eyes would have been his most striking feature, if not for the exceedingly shiny bald head of his.

The owner of the voice made himself comfortable against the wall and extended his left hand. “My name is Leo. Leo Fletcher.”

Remembering how wet his left hand was from the sweat in his hair, he wiped it on his leather armor before extending his left hand too.

“Jace. Jace Clarke.” He introduced himself, still staring at Leo’s spectacularly shiny head with his jet black eyes.

It did not take long for Leo to notice the intense staring from Jace’s eyes. After all, jet black eyes like Jace’s were rare and hard to miss. Leo gave a sly smile and started rubbing his bald head with his right hand.

“Like what you see?” Leo asked, seemingly proud of his bald head. “I could give you a haircut if you want.”

Pulling his gaze from Leo’s head, Jace replied hastily. “I’m good. I just wasn’t expecting someone your age to be balding.”

Hearing that, Leo’s eyes widened as he stared at Jace, before a wide grin took over his face.

“Truthful fella, ain’t ya!” Leo laughed, slapping Jace’s left shoulder with his right arm. “I like straightforward man like you!”

Jace sat there, taking consecutive blows from Leo on his shoulder. For someone his build, Leo is pretty strong. He must be packing some serious heat beneath that armor of his. Just as Jace wondered about Leo’s profession before he enlisted, Leo spoke up.

“I came from a family of blacksmiths! That’s why I’ve decided to shave my head. It’s way cooling this way you know!” Leo explained, all the while rubbing his head.

Jace chuckled a little from what Leo said. That was a way simpler reason than he would’ve thought. Most people would most likely prefer to keep their hair on for aesthetics. This here is a practical and carefree man that would most likely make a good friend.

“I came from a family of farmers. We’ve kept pigs and chickens, and sold them mainly to the nearby towns’ folks. Decided that the farm life wasn’t for me and well, being a city guard doesn’t seem that tough either,” Jace replied, darting his eyes toward a couple of passing guards.

Leo stole a quick glance, quickly noticing the belt on one of the more generously proportioned guards that was barely holding his waistline together. Soon after, Leo seemed to have fallen into deep thought, with his index finger scratching his stubble.

“Leo?” Jace asked, puzzled by Leo’s response.

“…You know,” Leo spoke up, after a moment of silence. “Back home, I could’ve outfitted two guards with the amount of leather used on that fella!”

Jace began snorting out more air than usual from his nose, before bursting out in laughter alongside Leo. The other recruits stared on, wondering what could be so funny about going through basic military training.

Their laughter resounded in the ears of those nearby, garnering the attention from a pair of eyes hidden within the clock tower. The pair of green eyes watched on silently for a couple of seconds before finally fading into the confines of the tower, eyelids blinking vertically.