Resilient Platoon

Chapter one

The train exited the tunnel and Eden saw what was outside. The sun was near the horizon and the sky was a color of orange and pink. The fluffy white clouds. Birds flying across the soothing sky. The many trees on the hills below and the famous Elin River between the hills.  

The Elin River was vital to the kingdom of Sion, bringing in needed supplies for the kingdom in times of crisis. This is the only river that hadn't been affected by any droughts, making it vital to the Sionen. Sion has been very lucky this is one of few rivers connecting to the Renoic Ocean where the ports are stationed.

The train went into another tunnel and Eden saw his reflection. His short black hair, light tan skin, and his notable feature were his merlot red eyes. Eden has rarely seen a glimpse of what was beyond his province, and only left when he had an assignment with his group. At least they were nice enough to give Eden's seat upgraded to first-class since he was going to the most prestigious military academy.  

Eden held the pamphlet to his new school: Regina Frost Military Academy. He heard many great things about the academy, saying it was the best boarding school in the kingdom and a pretty expensive and hard to get in.

Commoners have to take an entrance exam. The exam includes mathematics, science, literature, vocabulary, engineering, and medicine. They have a full month to study for the exam and meet at the academy on a certain date and time. If you're a minute late, then you are automatically disqualified to take it ever again. You have three hours and thirty minutes to complete two hundred multiple-choice questions, twenty short answers questions(SAQs), and two essays. Within the same week, you'll receive your letter whether you are accepted or not. If you are, then you must do an assigned essay to win scholarships to cover costs. Although, if your scores were excellent, then a sponsor will cover your entire tuition and costs.

Commoners have it hard, but the nobles are a different story. They don't have to take the entrance exam, usually, their parents pay large sums of money to the academy. Most take advantage of this, but few actually do the right thing and take the entrance exam. They, of course, pass since their parents provide them with tutors when they grow up.

Once you're in, the academy has two parts of the academy: military and academic.The academic part of the academy, they have the advanced subjects like physics, trigonometry, and literature. They have electives such as well such as engineering, computer science, ETC. They hire the best professors from each field to teach their students the subject they require to learn. For the military part of the academy, they'll learn skills essential to them on the battlefield. They learn basic survival skills, morse code, and close quarters combat. It isn't until your final year at the tertiary level where you are able to get firearms training.

When Eden agreed to attend the military academy along with his father's blessing, they did the paperwork and Eden was enrolled under special circumstances. When everything was settled, the recruiters told Eden that there was already a sponsor who would pay for his classes, books, uniform, the monthly attendance fee, and even a weekly allowance of one thousand Crowns. He was surprised that there was already a sponsor, but that took care of the financial issue.

Before leaving home, he said goodbye to his friends and family. He made a trip to his mother's grave and said his farewell to her. When his belongings, he boarded the train and entered an uncertain path.

A shadow then appeared above Eden, breaking his thoughts. "Excuse, sir." a soft voice calling for his attention. He looked up to see a waitress holding a large tray on her shoulder with dirty glassware. She looked around Eden's age. She had short black hair and blue eyes with high cheekbones.

'May I get you some more coffee?' She asked.

'No thanks and don't call me sir. I'm no noble.' Eden preferred people to be called by his first name and doesn't like the formal titles of Mr nor sir. It bothered him when people address him like that.