The recruit was still standing by the door, with a smile radiating from her face and her arms still holding onto her bags, presumably clothes and gear distributed by the PMC.

  My’s appearance was a surprise to everyone in the room, as all of them were experiencing a vast spectrum of emotions, from confusion on their faces to ‘what the hell is this?’

  Adding to the debacle was the existence of a senior officer who was clearly showing a “disappointed father” look on his face.

  After a few seconds that seemed to last for an eternity, Peter was the first one to regain his senses enough to be able to recognize that there was, in fact, a superior officer standing in their presence. His previous military experience kicked in again as he immediately stood upright, fixing his posture appropriately.

  “Attention!” he exclaimed, which also prompted all the other to stand at attention.

  The officer replaced the disappointed look on his face with a more neutral expression before nodding at the recruits.

  “At ease,” He instructed. At his command, the recruits eased up their posture, but still stood at attention.

  “This is a bit sudden and confusing to some of you, but from now on, I will be your new dedicated officer. I am Captain Armstrong.”

  While the officer was introducing himself, My brought her stuff over to the empty bed next to Chisato and placed all her stuff down.

  “And some of you might have noticed that you are getting a new and final member to your ten-man squad. Her name is Phan Anh My, or just My, if you don’t fancy saying the whole thing.”

  At his introduction, My proceeded to do an unnecessary salute. Everyone felt that it was over the top and that the girl was unusually cheerful for someone about to join a military force.

  The captain then brought his hands up to check the time on his wristwatch before looking back at the squad.

  “Well, I’ve bothered all of you enough already. All of you are supposed to be in the training ground at 0615 sharp. Be prepared and meet me outside.”

  After that, the captain promptly exited the room, leaving the squad to prepare themselves and change into their uniform for the upcoming training.

  Chisato quickly returned to her pile of uniforms and took out a set to change into. Chisato was about to go to the bathroom; however, someone stopped her.

  “It’s quicker if you just change your clothes here instead of going into the bathroom every time.”

  Chisato looked back to see that it was the new girl who just talked to her.

  “Eh? But… there are people here,” Chisato replied with a hint of shyness.

  “This is basically the military; no one would really care if you change your clothes here, since we don’t have any private space anyway.”

  My then pointed her finger at someone behind Chisato. She turned around to see another recruit, a blond-haired woman, already out of her previous clothes and in her underwear, while picking up her uniform.

  Chisato knew that it was common for the foreign military to have co-ed dorms. Still, she was more familiar with the fact that the Japanese army had gender-separated barracks.

  “Might as well get used to it, since you’ll be doing things far more dangerous than just exposing some skin.” My told Chisato again.

  Reluctant, but with little time to argue, Chisato nervously removed her clothes to expose her fair skin and grey sports underwear. She quickly put the uniform back on herself.

  Chisato looked around the room; however, she was relieved to see that none of her squadmates really cared about another girl changing her clothes.

  Just when she thought it was okay, she sensed something amiss behind her.

  Chisato turned to look back, only to find that My was clearly checking her out from behind. She was even leaning forward, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her fist.

  “Well-fit body, decent arm muscle, well-developed back. You probably played some type of racket sports since you use your upper body extensively. Your legs are also well-developed, muscle-wise.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Chisato was surprised that My was analyzing her body, and even more surprised that she was very close to her analysis too. Chisato was fully convinced that My was checking her out in a different way.

  “You can tell all of that just from looks?” Chisato asked.

  “Yep, some said I’m quite an observant one.” My replied happily

  “Oh, yeah, your analysis was pretty spot on. I played tennis since I was thirteen, and worked out in the gym to balance out my body.”

  “That makes sense, since tennis forces you to use one side of your upper body more, so working your otherside’s muscle out to balance it.”

  Chisato’s impression of My was quite positive.

  “Oh, and also, very nice ass, and nice boobs. Maybe a B-cup, nothing bad about it, I like all types and sizes.”

  Chisato’s impression of My was neutral.

  There was a chuckle nearby. Both of the girls looked over to see Peter standing at the entrance of their dorm room, already in his training uniform.

  “Let’s go, unless you guys want to catch some flak on the first day.”

  My stood up from her bed, just as Chisato finished putting her uniform together. Everyone else also finishes up whatever they were doing, and the squad filed out of the room.

  The sky was slowly being illuminated by the sun peaking over the horizon.

  It was crowded in the training ground, filled with people standing in neat lines, waiting for their superior’s order. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of recruits in this boot camp.

  It was average compared to the US’s boot camps, but for a PMC, this was quite a lot of people.

  An officer had just finished giving a speech and instructions on the obstacle course to everyone. It was time for the recruits to complete the courses independently, with their assigned supervisors observing and grading them.

  My and her squad was waiting for their supervisor, Captain Armstrong, to return to give them the go-ahead. The obstacle course in front of them was already filled with recruits strumming about, doing their best to get through the obstacles.

  My, along with Chisato, Peter, and another member, was stretching themselves before they began their course. The others simply chose not to join or were talking among themselves.

  “So, since we’re going to be a team moving forward, let’s get to know each other, yea?” My suggested while she was stretching herself.

  “My name is Phan Anh My, as you guys already know. I’m 18 years old, Vietnamese, and I’m here because a relative recommended me!” My reintroduced herself before looking over to Chisato.

  Realizing that it’s her turn, Chisato began her introduction.

  “I am Chisato Sakamoto. I’m 21 years old. I’m from Japan, and I recently graduated from the University of Kyoto. I just joined because I wanted to do something new and exciting.”

  “So you’re the active and adventurous type?”

  “Yes, you could say that! University was boring, and I didn't really want to be a corporate slave.”

  “Couldn’t imagine getting a normal job myself, so I understand. What about you?” My turned over to the tan-skinned man.

  “My name is Peter de Santos, 28 years old. I’m from the Philippines. Used to be in the Marine Corps for a few years before I was recommended here after my contract ended.”

  “Oooh, that explained why. You’re quite quick with your reaction back in the barracks.”

  “It was drilled into me. Habits and reactions are just normal to me at this point.”

  “And you?” My looked at the last person who was stretching with them.

  The man was looking back at My. He was the shortest of the group - not much shorter than Chisato - but he made up for his shortcoming with impressive muscle. He looked like the type of guy one would find at a gym every day.

  “Name’s Edric Ton. I was a policeman in Singapore before I got here.” His voice was deep and full of bass.

  “You looked like the type of police that criminals would piss themselves because he could fold them with his bare hands.”

  Edric let out a chuckle and nodded at My.

  “Yeah, quite a few people had told me that before. I just like to work out and keep in shape.”

  “You should show me your workout routine someday,” My asked excitedly.

  “Haha, sure kid, once this training camp is over, I’ll show you.”

  As they were finishing up their stretching, they saw their CO approaching them. Everyone quickly gathered back into the group and saluted the captain. Captain Armstrong returned the salute and looked at the clipboard in his hand.

  “Alright, our group will be up soon, so I’ll briefly go over the criteria I will be grading you on. Each of you will be graded based on your speed, technique, stamina, and teamwork. Just because you went through the course solo first does not mean you pass. You guys are in a squad now, which means you will be living, working, training, and fighting together. Each of you has a duty to help and push each other to their limit. If you can not work together as a squad in training, you’ll just be a liability on the field.”

  He briefly stopped to look up at each member of the squad.

  “Now go out there and show me what you can do.”

  At his word, all members of the squad moved toward the starting line of the obstacle course. Multiple other squads that did not start the course in the first wave were also waiting.

  On the sidelines were the supervisors of all the squads present, ready to follow their squads and grade them as they went through the course.

  They didn’t wait long before a loud whistle rang throughout the area. At the sound, they all rushed toward the obstacle course.

  The first course was a series of double beams. Peter led the group toward the obstacles. He hopped over the first shorter beam before using his hands to grab the higher beam, before vaulting over it.

  Everyone else also followed Peter’s action and traversed the obstacle. Chisato was inexperienced compared to the rest of the team members, despite her athletic history. She was more familiar with the regular athlete training than the military kind.

  Once Chisato got past the first obstacle, everyone jogged to the next area where there were rope ladder hanging from a five-meter tall beam, with ropes leading from the top of the beam to the ground.

  She gulped audibly before grabbing onto the unstable rope ladder and ascending to the top. With each step up, she had to balance herself while also propping herself up on the next step of the unstable ladder.

  It took her a while to get to the top. Chisato stabilized her breath before she wrapped her legs around the rope and descended to the ground.

  Soon, everyone else made it through the obstacle, clearly faster and with less struggle than Chisato. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Chisato was outclassed by everyone in her squad.

  As they jogged to the next obstacle, My approached Chisato from the side with a smile on her face, as if the obstacles were just some kid's playground obstacle.

  “How are you hanging on girl?” My asked her as they jogged

  “I’m hanging on for now, but maybe I should have worked out more to prepare for this.”

  “Haha, you’ll be fine, it’s a training camp anyway, you’ll get all the training you need to improve.”

  “Yeah, I’m more surprised that someone younger than me is doing better in military training.”

  “Well, I’ve been training for quite a while now, so this is normal for me.”

  “That explained why you’re not even breaking a sweat. Speaking of which, do you know how long this obstacle course is?”

  “Well, if I guess correctly, we still have about 15 more obstacles and a 6-mile jog in full gear before we can hit a lunch break.”

  Chisato’s face paled at the answer that My just gave. Noticing Chisato’s pale face, Maple smiled again and patted her back, teasing her with another comment.

  “You got this girl! This is just a light workout!”