time went by fast, Shulmanu already turned 18 years old, For Shulmanu it felt like 18 years, for Naram it felt like a few weeks, after realizing time went by that fast, he said to Shulmanu, before sending him off to the military of Babylon and make the vision he had for shulmanu come true
Naram: "So Shulmanu? are you ready for your first day in the military of our glorious empire?"
Shulmanu smiled and replied in a calm but excited tone
Shulmanu: "Readier than i have ever been in my 18 years of living on this planet"
Naram smiled back, being on the verge of tears, looking back on how he trained with Shulmanu and realized he was stronger than an average Kid his age, maybe even stronger than the average soldier who fights for the Babylonian empire, in the flashback Naram told Shulmanu in an impressed tone while training with him
Naram: "you are stronger than any soldier i have ever met Shulmanu, your genetics are.. Godlike"
Shulmanu: "Thank you father, but i do not think ill become "Godlike" any time soon"
Naram: "Nothing is impossible, maybe you are a God yourself Shulmanu"
this remark made Shulmanu laugh and reply
Shulmanu: "Not even in my dreams could i be a God"
after Blinking he came back to reality and saw Shulmanu ready to leave and join the military of Babylon
Naram: "Goodbye Shulmanu"
Naram said in a sad but proud tone, seeing the once baby crying for his diaper to be changed to a grown man getting ready to enlist in the army of the Babylonian empire, he hoped Shulmanu would end up a high ranking soldier like he did, as Shulmanu got on his horse, ready to ride it to the military recruiting centre, Naram said one last more thing before he left
Naram: "I am proud of you Shulmanu"
he said with a proud smile before Shulmanu tried to act like he was not about to cry and went on his way to the military recruiting centre, after 10 minutes of riding on his horse he finally arrived
Shulmanu: "Hello, i am here to become a soldier for the army of Babylon"
the recruiter handed him a paper and than said
Recruiter: "It good to have people like you who are brave enough to join the army and fight for this great empire!"
Shulmanu went down at a chair in front of a table and started reading the paper, it asked for his name, age and motive, he wrote his name and age and than realized he needed a motive, he quickly thought of something and wrote "son of a commander and i want to fight for our great empire
after writing that on the paper, he went down to sit on a random seat, seeing the empty stage in front of him, waiting for the dorms to be announced, the room full of upcoming soldiers, all having the same goal, to fight for the babylonian empire and defend it from outsiders
after about 5 minutes passed, a man who looked like he was in his 40's with a traditional Babylonian beard and in a commander's uniform got up on the stage and said
Commander Gibil: "Welcome warriors, to the army of the Babylonian army, we hope you success in your training and wars you will fight in, I will be announcing the dorms, you will be put in a dorm with 2 other people, i recommend becoming good friends with them, because you will be in the same dorm as them until you die or leave the military, anyways, the first dorm will go to"
he looked at the paper with the dorms and the various soldiers that would live in them
Commander Gibil: "first dorm goes to, Shulmanu, Nabamu and Sitrum"
Shulmanu stood up and walked to the dorms and looked thankful that it was the closest one, when he entered, he saw his two dormmates already arrived, one of them wearing a helmet that fully covered his head, When Shulmanu saw him covering his face, he looked confused at sitrum
Shulmanu: "Why is he covering his face?"
he asked while pointing at Sitrum
Nabamu who also looked confused answered, saying
Nabamu: "I dont know.. he wont speak to me either, he is either the most shy person i have ever met or ugly and mute"
Shulmanu: "aww cmon just take it off"
he said, hoping Sitrum would listen and take his helmet off, but to his disappointment he would shake his head and refuse, not even making a noise
Nabamu: "Cmon, we wont judge! we promise, Right?.. are you Sitrum or Shulmanu?"
Shulmanu: "I am shulmanu"
Nabamu: "oh yeah, right Shulmanu?"
Shulmanu: "of course! we promise to not judge you"
but again, she shook her head and refused to show her face or voice once again, Shulmanu and Nabamu tried again but failed again, they kept trying but failed, after a while of asking they got bored, Shulmanu asked Nabamu
Shulmanu: "sooo... did you bring anything to do? like a board game or something?"
Nabamu's face lit up and he quickly grabbed the backpack he brought with him and grabbed a chessboard and quickly put it on the table in the dorm, they both sat down and then Nabamu said
Nabamu: "i bet you cant beat me in chess, i am a prodigy in this"
Shulmanu smiled confidently and than said
Shulmanu: "oh don't be so confident, i might be strong, but i am not dumb"
he said in a prideful tone while smiling, and than their chess match began and after a minute Nabamu easily beat Shulmanu, a little annoyed, Shulmanu said
Shulmanu: "You got lucky, this time, i will easily beat you and show you why i am much better than you in chess"
he said with confidence, after another match,
Shulmanu: "I must admit, you are very lucky Nabamu, but this time, ill easily beat you"
he lost yet again, than another game, he lost again, again and again, and then..