I have no name to call my own.

I have no brothers nor sisters bound to me by blood.

I have no allegiance to anyone that does not belong to the legion.

As of now, I no longer exist as an individual, I reject any form of my old self, of my race and gender.

I swear that no enemy put before me shall live.

I swear that I shall reject any attempt to give me a name.

I swear to kill in the name of the legion.

Oath of the Nameless Legion

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I looked out of my window, the rolling fields that I played in for the past eighteen years stretched out before me. My closet was empty, its contents now filling the two bags that were lying on my bed.

I could see smaller kids playing the games I’d played till last week. Ever since then, the whispers wouldn’t stop, they were stronger in some places than others, like they were trying to talk to me from a faraway place and those places were just that little bit closer to them.

My dreams had become so vivid, filled with visions of places filled with things that would shatter some minds. I wished they would stop but deep down I knew that they now belonged to me.

Today was the day I left for the Academy, a journey that would take me 2 months to make. I could of course take the fast route of teleportation or go by plane but both were very risky, especially going by plane, and I wanted to spend the time I had to travel on cultivating.

From what I had read, my speed would be half of those on my level but in exchange, I would get the rewards from both paths.

My sisters had both been called away today, Melissa was seething with rage that she couldn’t say goodbye and Claire had stayed as calm as ever.

I arrived at the station, it was filled with families. All of them were going to study somewhere along the route of the massive train that stretched beyond what I could see. If I didn’t remember this wrong, the train was about 5 kilometres in length, this length would change as carts would split from the main train at certain points and others would join up with it during the journey.

I was shown to my cabin by a conductor and told to not even think of leaving this cart before arrival unless I entered another cart that was also headed to the royal academy. There would be warnings when cabins would split but the time given before the split happened was too small to get into another cart. The warning was so people would be inside during the process.

The cart I was in was the only one that would be going to the academy in this station.

The distance I would be travelling would be 1171283 km and the train travelled at an average speed of 800 km/h so it would take exactly 2 months (61 day), 6 minutes and 13.5 seconds. That meant that if the book was right in what my speed was, which I assumed it was, I should be able to break through to the 2nd realm a few days before we arrived.

I would have to spend two weeks on the formation of my core, after that, I would need to spend the rest of my days reinforcing it.

Right now, without a core, I was in the 0th realm or as most people called it, the Choice realm.

It had this name because well, you choose your path going forward. Would you choose Mana, Qi or in my case both? The academies were very supportive of taking the trip by train for the simple reason that it was a good opportunity to talk to some of your peers about what path you were going to take and, if you knew how to, to start cultivating.

I sat down on the ground as I focused on my surroundings. I could faintly feel the Mana and Qi as if they existed in the corner of my eyes. It was like I had always seen them but I’d never paid attention to them.

I called to them and they started moving towards me, spiralling in the way I commanded them to, in the way the book dictated they should. At first my body rejected them but as I kept forcing my body to accept them, they started congregating near my heart until suddenly my heart became the host to something new.

A solid piece of Mana and Qi shaped like a double helix had nestled into my body and when it had finished forming my eyes shot open as I puked my guts out. A black ooze with the most putrid scent imaginable had come out of my body.

After I was done, someone started clapping.

“I thought you’d be dead by now, but you actually did it. You’re an entertaining guy to watch cultivate.”

The girl who had said this had long flowing black hair, olive skin and blue eyes so dark that they felt like they consumed light itself.

“And who are you, if this entertainer is permitted.”

“Oh by Gwiniveire, don’t tell me you’re some stuck up prick from one of the noble houses, I can’t handle another one of those narcissistic pussies.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at how free she felt to speak. I’d met a few stuck up pricks who would try to get her hanged for that.

“Don’t worry, I’m not.” I made an exaggerated bow. “Ollivander Kami, at your service.”

“Olivia Olsen … wait, did you just say Kami? As in, the general?”

“That’s my dad, yes. And let me think, Olsen … I don’t remember anyone in an important position by that name so I’m guessing you’re one of the few who got in on raw talent?”

“That’s fucking right, I’m amazing. Praise me.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “Oh the nobles in the Academy are going to hate you so much, it’ll be glorious. Please keep up that terribly rude attitude and you’ll get to show some of those arrogant stuck up pricks what it’s like to be defeated by someone who can actually back up their tall tales.”

“That definitely won’t be a problem. Thank god someone on this train doesn’t hate me. It’s been a rough two weeks since we departed.”

That made me pause. “Two weeks? It hasn’t even been an hour since we boarded, right?”

“No … It’s been two weeks. Wait … did you start cultivating the moment you boarded?”

“Yes.”

“And you think it’s been less than an hour since we boarded?”

I nodded and the moment I did she started laughing. “Oh this is beautiful, those noble kids are going to hate both of us with everything they have. You zoned out.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Right, most of you higher up people don’t know about this. Basically, you don’t experience time spent cultivating, for people like you, time just never really passes during cultivating. It’s just that it only happens to those who have truly never cultivated before they have reached the perfect time.”

“And because nobility can get their kids evaluated at age ten, they’re never at that point yet, I never thought being of common heritage would give an advantage like that.”

“Oh no, it’s still extremely rare, you have a very specific timeframe and most people can’t get it. And it’s also not going to be a boon for you. Without realisation of time, you’re going to be in deep shit when it comes to classes.”

“That’s a problem I’ll have to deal with when we get there, first, I need to eat.”

With that, we went to the cafeteria part of the cart. About 20 other kids were eating and chatting. I recognised some of them, all of the richest children I’d met that lived in or near Amsterbridge and a few of the ‘poorer’ nobles.

For those wondering how my dad could be a general without being a noble, it’s very simple.

The military has two branches, the noble branch, with the personal armies of each noble house, and the commoner branch, which saw commoners get promoted by merit. A general has the same standing as a Vaditas (the highest noble title after Prince) but the title obviously can’t be passed on.

Anyways, back to the cart, when Olivia entered a lot of glares were sent her way.

“You’ve obviously endeared yourself to our travel companions.”

“Oh shut up, they’re all going to be sent home after the first year anyways, who gives a shit. We’re both better than any one of them in this room.”

“What, me, nah, I’m not better than them.”

“Dude, they give you a choice between two things and you just picked both and slapped them in the face when they said you couldn’t do it. So yes, you’re ten times better than any of these pathetic excuses for nobility.”

“Well, we’re from a pretty remote region, no Vaditas even live in Amsterbridge, the most talented of all the nobles live in New Brussels and directly serve the king.”

What? Are you defending these shitheads?”

“Nope, they suck balls. I’m saying that I suggest you act a bit nicer to people when we’re in the academy. They tend to be more interesting and powerful than people here. Now let’s eat, I’m pretty sure I could literally eat a whole cow.”

And so we did. Afterwards we both spent our time cultivating until we reached the capital.