Chapter 94 - The Royal Military School

For the next week, Nerun trained relentlessly every day. His schedule was quite hectic, since besides his morning training, he also practiced with his brother in the morning and in the evenings. Elijah sparred with him often, and Nerun soon discovered just how much of a genius was his brother, since even if Elijah was limiting his cultivation to the same of Nerun, the latter could only win 6 out of 10 times.

Actually it was Elijah who was astonished by his little brother, since he knew that his Qi had already changed qualitatively twice, since he was already a Qi Emperor, and the materialization of his Will, his breath of expertise, and the power and finesse of techniques was not something a regular Grandmaster expert could match, yet Nerun still had a winning edge whenever they were both fighting equally. Elijah knew better than anyone, that once Nerun's power had grown, and the quality of his spells, techniques, and combinations had increased, he would probably quite the powerhouse.

Therefore, without further ado, Elijah requested for Nerun to become the seed for the Super Soldier Program in the Military Academy. Since it was a Dragon General making the request, the Principal of the Military Academy took it quite seriously, however he could not help but frown a bit upon reading the documentation.

The Principal of the Military Academy was a retired and veteran General, a Qi Saint and a powerhouse in his own right. He was a stern looking man, with short black spiky hair, with grey sideburns. His name was Berial Dai Soltana, and although he was not from one of the Five Great Families, his family was still one of the most noble ones.

"What do you think about this boy called Nerun?", asked Berial.

His attendant was a good looking young female, with glasses and a head of purple hair. She was also a Lieutenant in the Royal Army, and was actually a member of the Morena Family. Her name was Cynthia Dai Morena.

"Actually, it has been both Dragon Generals, Lord Elijah and Lord Rafal who had recommended this boy to be examined for the position of the Super Seed." said the Attendant.

"Lord Rafal as well?" asked the woman while raising an eyebrow.

"However, the way I see it, it's only Lord Rafal giving the new Dragon General some face. After all, while I have not seen the boy, there are many who have, and his foundation seems quite lacking and unimpressive. I would have no issue if Lord Elijah simply wanted to enter his brother into the School, after all, even if he was the worst of wastrels he is still the brother to a true Dragon General, and he is also a member of our Royal Army. But to ask us to give him the seat of the Super Soldier, I find it a bit preposterous. Also, you know about the agreement that the Council of Generals has made. It is too important that it comes to fruition."

"Mmmh. You might be right. But to slight two dragon generals is no simple matter. Are you sure the boy is a complete wastrel?" asked the Principal.

"Most people that saw him thought he was quite unassuming. However, let's do this. We'll bring him in for evaluation. We'll do several tests, and if he fails any we can then tell Lord Elijah he's not eligible. Also, my little brother is about to go meet the candidate chosen for the program, and I'll have both of them be present. I bet that he will be ashamed when he finds out what true geniuses are." said Cynthia. It was quite obvious that she was biased against Nerun even though she had not met him yet.

Actually, this was because of two reasons. For one, her family, the Morena family, was one of the Five Great Families, and it was strongly associated with the Alaria family. The other was a personal one, since she was deeply infatuated with Vega Dai Alaria, and she wished to support him as much as she could. Since Elijah beat Vega to the position of Dragon General, she did not want to make it easy for Elijah's brother.

Berial knew of her disposition but said nothing. Actually he was not for or against Elijah personally, but as former General, he was a bit more on the side of the Council, and the latter had already made a decision about the position some time ago. However, he decided to give Nerun a shot. After all, it would not be wise to refuse like that and gain the enmity of two Dragon Generals.

"You will take care of what needs to be done. However, do be impartial." said Berial as he then went on to other matters of the school and put his choice on the back of his mind. After all, while the Super Soldier program was important, it was still but a project, and he had other chores to take care of.

…

A mighty eagle with a wingspan of over 50 meters was flying on the northern border Ansem. It was a completely white eagle, with a golden crest and its two eyes had a mighty flare of light in the depth of them. On top of the eagle there were 5 people. Four of them were clearly attendant, however they were the older ones. They were mighty powerhouses, all of them dressed in white with red sashes, and there were both male and female. There was a middle aged man that seemed to be the leader of the four attendants and he was incredibly a Magick Emperor, however he looked to be quite pleased to be able to serve the fifth person.

This person we are talking about was a very young man, about thirteen or fourteen years old, quite handsome, with auburn colored hair, and golden eyes. His skin was quite white, almost translucent, and there was etherealness to him that made him unfathomable. He was also dressed in white, but there were some purple colored marks in the form of vertical bars in the hem of his robe.

"Ansem is quite nice. I can see green prairies, and the air is quite clean as well. I might actually prefer it to Lutzomya's lavishness.", said the young man as he flew while watching the different towns and cities they were passing at incredible speeds. He was able to see everything happening down there even though he was at a great altitude and flying quite rapidly.

"Every Territory has its quirks, as well as their dark side. Ansem is no foreign to that young lord. You'll soon realize that there is no better place than home." said the leader of the attendants.

"You just might be right uncle Toby. Nevertheless I do hope to enjoy my stay here at Ansem. Master told me to learn properly from the Titan. This will also allow me to meet the man called Falma, and learn from him as well. My master insisted that I should come and learn properly, so I will. Though if you ask me, I would have rather stayed at the Grand Forest next to the Olden One." said the young boy. His voice was quite soft yet had a certain tone that made people feel they had to obey.

"Do you really want to stay next to the Olden One? Or next to the Young Princess of the Forest?" giggled the female attendant, who looked endearingly at the young master.

The boy they called the Young Lord could not help but blush for a bit, but said nothing, his thoughts inscrutable.

"Ivanka, don't tease the Young Lord." said another or the attendants, this one a young looking man about 25 years old. He looked to be a little proud to be able to be part of this group. "Besides, I don't think there is anything worth seeing in Ansem. If it's about High Level Experts, don't we possess the greatest number of them in the World? So I can't really understand why Master sent us on this quest. Young Lord could have kept training back home"

"Aleksey, it's quite simple really. Many times reading a thousand books can't beat traveling a thousand miles. By broadening our horizons, Master hopes that we can improve a lot faster so that we can serve better. Besides, even though Ansem is the youngest out of all the six Major Territories, its power is nothing to scoff at. Their people are quite happy, the land is prosperous, and its experts are plenty. So much so, that even with the pressure from three major territories, it did not cave in, nor were they at any particular risk. And I wonder why. What is it that they have that made the three territories back down." answered the young Lord.

"We are supposed to meet a member or one of the Five Great Families from the Kingdom, a young man named Reno Dai Morena. He is allegedly the greatest genius in House Morena, and the second chosen seed for the Super Soldier. As far as I have understood, there are two places allocated, and one of them was given to us after some negotiations." said the man named Toby.

"Good. Then we'll meet this young scion and go directly towards the Royal Military School. I do wonder, though, I had heard that the Lyceum had a much better reputation in the 6 Territories as one of the greatest Academies in the World, right next to the Grand School of the Unified Oligarchy, the Grand Sect of the Sacred Prairie, the Kingdom of Frost and Hanging Gardens of Avi-Cena. So why is it that my master preferred me entering the Royal Military School instead, since its fame is not as known". Wondered the young man as he was talking to his uncle.

"It is indeed true that those five academies and sects, are considered the top of the cream in the different territories, but that does not mean there are no other places where one can be groomed into experts. After all, each and every territory has many tribes and duchies that are rivals to each other, and do the best to groom their elites. There are also some scattered lonely experts who have a single disciple, and such disciples can not be underestimated. The Royal Military School is one of the very best in terms of military tactics, formations, and general understanding of the battlefield. Also, the three Dragon Generals, and even his Majesty, King Ansem, are honorary professors in this Academy, and this is something exclusive to this School. Having the opportunity to be guided by three legends is not something that just happens everyday. And the Titan himself is also one of the strongest Arch-Sages in existence. So there is no real loss in going to this school. After all, each and every territory doesn't show outwardly what they are able to in order to keep their enemies at bay and always guessing." explained the man named Toby without a hint of impatience on his tone, nor demeanor.

"That is to say, that the Five Grand Academies are not necessarily the best. They can not be underestimated though. Many experts have come out of these academies, and this is something that can not be stressed enough." ended the young Lord.

Several hours later this eagle was finally able to see the Argent River, the Johanin Dam, and of course, the mighty and imposing city of Eonia in the distance.

Meanwhile, Nerun was taken by Elijah towards another grand compound that was only a couple of kilometers away from the Martial Temple. This was precisely the Royal Military School. Its entrance was an austere yet magnificent building with the Crest of the Royal Family emblazoned in a giant shield of ten by ten meters right above the gate. Many young men and women with a blue uniform could be seen going in and out of the premises, and Nerun could see that many of them were quite strong and well behaved, not haughty, and they seemed to be quite proud to belong to this School. Nerun felt that entering this kind of school was not a bad thing, and he was prepared to do his very best to make his brother and family proud.

Elijah accompanied Nerun to register, when a gorgeous looking female with purple hair and some glasses, who barely spared Nerun a second look, before starting to address Elijah. "Lord Elijah, welcome to this Royal Military School. I'm Lieutenant Cynthia Dai Morena of the fifth Division under General Vega, and I'm currently designated as the Vice-Dean of education and Attendant to the Headmaster. As a newly appointed Dragon General, sometimes you might come to teach our students, and so, we are deeply thankful of you coming to visit us. As for your request, I'm afraid there had been some arrangements done priorly and we can not just cede the position for the Seed of the Super Soldier. I beg your understanding for this. The Kingdom has made a great effort and has managed to accrue the resources for two positions in the program. Headmaster Berial has told me to test the teen and if he manages to get some very satisfactory results, then an exception might be made."

The words of the female were fine sounding, and her voice was pleasant even, but there was something in the coldness of her tone that made Elijah frown a bit. Also, the lack of respect for Nerun, a candidate endorsed by two Dragon Generals, and even the way she treated him, let Elijah know that this female had some sort of enmity with him. However, he put up with it, since he came for his brother, and he did not want to dampen the mood. Nerun, nevertheless, had also caught on to the tone of the female, and thought to himself that things might not be able to go according to his wishes.