A small commotion occurred in the registration hall, but they did not keep Evra waiting long.
When the officer returned, there was someone else behind him. A middle-aged, somber soldier in serious black military attire. His left eye was covered with a black bandana. Evra could tell from the origin energy faintly radiating from this man's body that he was a Core Expert, but it seemed this man had been in this realm for a long time. His capacity to control origin energy was highly advanced, which was why Evra couldn't gauge his exact level.
Two youths accompanied him—a girl and a boy. The young girl had blonde hair, a small face, and quite a beautiful, provocative countenance. She wasn't smiling. Instead, she had a very serious, even condescending attitude. The boy had black hair and was even taller than the middle-aged man. Twin daggers in their sheaths drew attention at his waist. His gaze scanned Evra directly, as if wanting to swallow him whole. Neither of them was clearly in the Core Realm, but they were close to Evra in age anyway. If they had reached the Core Realm at this age, they would have surprised even Evra. They looked as though they possessed a cultivation talent equal to Evra's state before the inheritance.
The Captain looked at Evra. He examined him briefly first and then furrowed his brows. He looked at the sword on Evra's back. This was the mid-stage Sage weapon Evra had obtained from Kasuur. Although the Captain couldn't fully read the weapon, he should have been able to tell it was out of the ordinary. He hesitated for a moment. In the end, he turned around.
"Office."
The room wasn't small but was kept simple. A desk, a few chairs, maps on the wall. The maps were more regional, but Evra could see a smaller map on the desk showing the general Forgotten Kingdom and a portion of the Lanma Kingdom to the west. The Captain went behind the desk. The two youths beside him remained standing. Evra also hesitated on whether to sit or not.
The Captain didn't rush to speak, but the youths beside him weren't as patient as he was. The girl spoke first.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
The boy laughed softly. The girl didn't laugh, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward. It was as if they had been afraid Evra might be even younger.
"Seventeen," the girl repeated. She said it not to understand better, but as if to categorize him. "How did you unlock your origin energy so early? Family?"
"You could say that."
"Oh? Which family?"
"It was my father. I never had much opportunity to get to know more distant relatives."
These words could actually mean many different things. The Captain continued to observe intently, as if wanting the children to figure it out themselves.
The boy interjected. "Which family?" he repeated the girl's question. "You said 'None' for a surname in the registration. If your father helped you reach this level, he is at least a Core Expert. How can you not have a surname? Saying you don't have a surname indicates different options to us."
Evra looked at him with surprise. He had only said he didn't have a surname. "What options are those?"
"Either you are hiding, or you truly don't have a surname." He shrugged. "The second one, as I said, is not very likely."
"It's the second one."
The boy was about to say something, but the girl beat him to it. She leaned against the corner of the desk, crossing her arms.
"Then why did you come here? I can understand an origin master coming to register for the army. Even though the probability of such a person coming to the west, where war could break out at any moment, is low, I can understand that too. But someone as young as you? You could find better opportunities in better places."
"I know."
"Then?"
"Still, I came here."
A tense silence ensued. Both youths looked at Evra with theories spinning in their minds.
The Captain sat behind his desk and hadn't spoken at all. Though he had only watched until now, he finally spoke.
"Enough." His voice was low but filled the room. "You may leave."
The girl said nothing. The boy didn't either. They both walked to the door, closed it behind them, and left.
The Captain looked at Evra. The eyebrow above his bandaged eye was lowered.
"Please forgive my grandchildren's rudeness. They forgot to even introduce themselves. You can be sure I will scold them for this."
"It's fine."
By this point, the room had fallen silent, and the Captain decided to ask the real question on his mind. He raised his head and tried to measure Evra with great attention.
"Are you... a Core Expert?"
Evra looked into the Captain's eyes without showing any surprise. The Captain was looking into his eyes the same way. An indistinct rivalry seemed to pass between them.
In the end, Evra calmly sat on the chair beside the desk. He slowly ran his hand over the right armrest. Evra acted much more at ease. So much so that this comfort could be considered disrespectful by some.
But the Captain didn't see the movement that way. It was more like an answer.
"You don't need to worry." Evra's voice was flat, neither defensive nor nervous. "I want to join the army, that's all. I have no intention of causing trouble." He paused. "But if you want to gauge my cultivation, it would be better for you to find a Major."
The Captain furrowed his brows.
He remained like that for a while—looking at Evra, the crease above his bandaged eye deepening. A seventeen-year-old boy stood across from his desk and had requested a Major. This wasn't a scene he encountered every day.
The Captain stood up.
"Stay here."
Evra waited inside while he went out. The Captain's return took even longer than Evra had expected. The only sound inside the room was the distant hum coming from outside—the crowd in the hall, footsteps, occasionally a door. The interior was quiet.
After a while, Evra looked around.
The walls were filled with maps. Red and black markings, arrow lines, place names. Papers were piled untidily on the desk. Beside them were an inkwell, a broken pen, and an empty mug.
There was a small frame at the corner of the desk.
Evra approached.
It was a photograph. The Captain stood in the middle, uniform on his back, his face facing the camera. The two youths beside him—the two who were in the room just now—were pulling the Captain's cheeks from both sides. By force. The corners of the Captain's mouth curled upward, making it look like he was smiling. However, it was quite clear that the expression didn't truly belong to him.
The Captain's eyes looked at the camera. What exactly his expression conveyed was hard to tell. Still, since he had put this photo in his office, what he felt wasn't negative.
Evra laughed. Silently, to himself.
He left the frame.
The door opened.
The Captain entered, but he wasn't alone. There were two men with him. Two tall and slightly bulky men in their thirties. Although they had serious facial expressions, they radiated less military authority than the Captain.
Looking at them, Evra didn't know what to do for a moment. He actually knew them.
"Evra?"
These two people had come from the same hometown as him. It was Mang who spoke. Even if Evra hadn't distinguished it yet, Master John's twins had now come to the Bosua State and become Majors of Magnolia City here.
"You...?"
Hang stepped forward and scanned Evra from head to toe in astonishment. Then he turned around and looked at the Captain.
"Where did you find him?"
"From the registration hall." The Captain crossed his arms. "So you know him."
"We know him." Mang was still looking at Evra. He scratched his head. "From the Yellow City. He also participated in the False Dragon's Inheritance." He paused. Actually, these words allowed the Captain to make quite a few inferences about Evra's abilities. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to join the army."
Hang laughed.
"How old are you now? Sixteen or seventeen?"
"Seventeen."
"Seventeen." Hang turned to the Captain. "No problem, Captain. This kid is trustworthy. We were in the same team during the inheritance—we saw what he did."
To be honest, Hang and Mang doubted his maturity, but they didn't have the slightest doubt about Evra's abilities. Evra's talent was more developed than theirs, and considering the mid-stage Sage weapon on his back, he shouldn't have trouble dealing with a Sage now. They were still unaware of the benefits Evra had gained from the inheritance.
The Captain looked at Evra. His brows were still furrowed, but it wasn't the previous tension. Now he could see that this youth was at least at the peak of the Core Realm. If he wanted to join the army, he could stand equal to at least a Major, but Major wasn't a title obtained solely through cultivation.
At this point, the Captain thought he needed to ask a more important question.
"Are you... a Sage?"
Evra nodded in confirmation. At that moment, both the twins and the Captain held their breath.
A 17-year-old Sage was joining their army now. Who knew how long it would take for him to become a Lord.
The Captain turned to the twins, whom he viewed as both his superiors and his friends.
"Then you will handle what is necessary for him to receive the rank of Major. I will inform the City Lord. If he approves, we will have one more Major."
The Captain left shortly after. He had planned to give them time for their reunion, but the Captain didn't know that the twins and Evra weren't actually that close.
Still, they weren't lacking topics to talk about.
"Both of you are Majors,"
Mang laughed. "Are you surprised?"
"No." Evra looked at them. They were about fifteen years older than him. They had grown up on the same streets in the Yellow City, but at that time these men were adults and Evra was a child. Therefore, it was understandable that they weren't very close. "It seems you have succeeded in building a new life."
Hang shrugged, but his smile didn't fade. "It appears you want to join that new life too."