The rest of the short trek was silent. The two men navigated the labyrinthine network of hallways of the academy. Soon, the pair reached the area designated for their first class. An open, rainbow-like arc of the combat colors led into an endless desert. The sand was unmoving, the lack of wind evident to anyone standing there.
The sand was compact and was not difficult to grip. Yet Thorne knew that if one lost their concentration in a sand battle, they could easily slip, which would have the drastic consequence of their own life ending. Above the sand was the blue sky. It was typical in the Zupu world, yet Thorne was unsure if it was natural or artificial.
‘I really need to learn about this world's technology and its limits.’ Thorne grunted inwardly; it seemed to him that all he had learned was still nothing in the grand scheme of things.
A hazy heat complimented the desert atmosphere. Making it truly seem as if they were in humid terrain rather than a simple class. In the distance, Thorne and Zal saw what appeared to be a congregation of people through the hazy heat and sand.
“It seems like that’s our class,” Thorne said to Zal, who was seemingly unbothered by the blazing warmth.
“Yes, let’s head over to them.” Zal pulled out a coin-sized disk and brought it to his eye, “There are still ten minutes before class starts, so we should be fine.”
Thorne shrugged upon hearing that. He expected his classes to be a more typical classroom environment rather than this practical combat landscape.
‘I guess they really don’t like messing around when it comes to combat.’
Soon, they reached the group of people and filed into the circle. Hundreds of people stood upright, creating the circle; all different races, some different colors, some massive in height, some un-humanoid.
Looking at all the different beings in this class, Thorne got a decent understanding of the rarity in spectrums Zal had described earlier.
Yellow, green, blue, and amber were by far the most common. Thorne estimated that these four spectrums comprised at least eighty percent of the total cultivators. While sable and crimson took up a decent portion of the cultivators, only a sparse few could be seen with red or sable crystals.
Furthermore, Thorne had another revelation.
‘Graald called me ultrarare for having two spectrums; it seems he was not lying.’
Thorne could not find a single one with a crystal similar to his own out of the hundreds of new students. His swirling mix of amber and red caught many people’s eyes, yet they soon looked away with either mockery or disgust apparent on their faces.
Thorne nudged Zal’s shoulder, whispering, “What’s up with these people?”
Zal sighed, “Well, yes, dual spectrums are a blessing sometimes, but mostly a curse.’ The taller man gazed into Thorne’s swirling amber and red crystal, “More often than not, the talent of both spectrums is so low that it’s just a waste. Why have one mediocre dual cultivator when you can have two talented single-spectrum cultivators?” Zal then smirked and pointed at Thorne’s crystal, still speaking in a hushed whisper, “Though there have been some legends of dual cultivators rising to unimaginable power through their versatility.”
“Hmm, I suppose they all think I’m unworthy of being here?” Thorne’s asked, his brows furrowed slightly.
“Yes, they do,” Zal answered bluntly.
“Tha-”
A whistling noise sounded in the air then, BOOM!
The center of the circle of students became engulfed in flying sand, the sediments swirling freely in the air, slithering into the student’s eyes. Upon hearing the boom, Thorn immediately covered his face, yet some grains of burning sand still managed to find themselves in his eyes.
After a few seconds, the sand cleared, and Thorne could see what had caused the explosion. It was a man, yet far from human. He was clearly humanoid, however, and stood at a towering height, at least seven feet, with broad shoulders and a muscular physique. His body was a dark metallic grey, a red crystal in the center of his torso, which shone gloomily in the bright sunlight. Flowing vertically down his tall body was an intricate maze of glowing red tattoo-like symbols. They emitted a chaotic, unrestrained feeling, causing many students to step back upon seeing them. Thorne, however, felt drawn to them, as if they were a black hole personally designed to draw him in. He even had to physically restrain himself from stepping closer to observe them.
He could not fully contain himself, though; he and other red-spectrum students gaped in wonder.
‘This is true destruction!’ Thorne thought to himself, smiling widely, as the man dusted the sand from his massive metal body.
“I am your teacher for this class” " the man spoke in a low growl, syllables clipping and resonating menacingly, betraying his calm words, “You may call me teacher or master Khal.” He slowly turned his head and gazed at the surrounding students, projecting his authority. “Any questions.” It was phrased as a question, but everyone knew it was a front. Hence, only the last remains of swirling sand were heard through the silence. Master Khal looked around one last time, hoping for a brave or dumb soul to ask. No one did.
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“Good. For this first class, we will do something rather simple. I will assign everyone one person to fight; you will each fight each other weaponless until one person is down.” Master Khal drawled emotionlessly, a blank stare coating his yellow eyes, “After that, the downed opponent will get up, and you two will continue fighting in this style for the remainder of the class. I will observe, and in the next class, I will assign weapons to each of you based on your fighting style.”
Pairs were soon assigned with no apparent reason behind the pairings. Master Khal, upon reaching Thorne, did not even falter once when viewing him or his multicolored crystal.
‘Maybe Master Graald already told the other teachers about me, or maybe he just doesn’t care.’ Thorne shrugged, uncaring, and instead decided to focus on his opponent.
Master Khal pointed at Thorne and then at a scaly serpent-like creature. They were average in terms of human height, being much shorter than Thorne, and with pearly iridescent scales lining its body. Its body was the strange thing. The opponent had a snake-like tail the size and thickness of a human leg. Then, the upper half was entirely human, except they had no arms; the resounding blue crystal was in the middle of the human-like head. Thorne was unsure if this thing even had bones.
The snake nodded in greeting toward Thorne, which he reciprocated. Then, the two walked a short distance through the sand to find a somewhat isolated area for combat.
‘This is going to be difficult,’ Thorne gazed calmly at his opponent, thinking, ‘the tail likely helps with mobility In the sand, while my legs only hinder me. I need to get them off balance and can’t afford to get hit by the tail.’
Thorne knew that if that tail hit him, it was over. With one sweep of his legs, he would be down and the fight over. The fight would be won by whoever could strike the first balance-disrupting attack.
The two stared at each other briefly, gazes clashing in locked silence, awaiting the signal to start.
A booming voice resounded through the desert, “START NOW!”
Neither of the two parties launched any eruption of movement. Both of them instead decided to probe. Thorne ambled, standing on his toes at a half-turn, ready for a quick retreat. The two cultivators circled the other, awaiting the first move. The fuse between the two shortened, and the tension prepared to explode in a punch or kick.
SWOOSH!
It was Thorne who acted. He powerfully kicked a swirl of sand into the snake creature’s eyes and pounced. He lunged forward but quickly stopped. The snake creature could not see, but it had swung out its tail in a chaotic wave of movement. It swung in all directions, uncaring of the surroundings as it acted as a massive shield for the creature.
‘I have to act now!’ Thorne knew this was the only moment he could use this trick, and his current advantage would soon disappear.
Thorne watched the arc of the snake’s tail and, in a split-second, saw it! The tail swung up, left, right, down. He knew what to do! He trotted forward, remaining on his toes, his knees bent as he neared the swinging tail. Just as it finished its arc downward and began to lift, Thorn jumped and stomped with fury on the swinging mass of scaly flesh. Its momentum was nonexistent, while Thorne had a mountain of power behind his leap.
The cultivator’s main body stumbled, unable to balance itself as they lost control of their own pinned tail. Thorne quickly stepped off the tail and threw two quick punches at the still-blinded creature.
Right hook, uppercut, down!
The snake plopped down, its unconscious body landing in a heap on the scalding desert ground. It did not get up either; it was incapacitated.
Thorne looked down at the creature and wiped sweat off his brow, sweating heavily.
‘Just one hit by that bastard’s tail, and I’m done. ‘Thorne scowled; while jumping on the tail, he felt its raw, versatile power. He knew it could easily swing through brick walls without resistance. Furthermore, it had no movement restrictions as it was boneless.
Thorne sat cross-legged and closed his eyes; he knew he had time to recover himself and the physical energy while his opponent lay unconscious. Also, he was reasonably sure that Master Khal wouldn’t allow a sneak attack to commence, as this was an educational battle.
----------------------------------------
After a couple of minutes, the opposing cultivator got up, and they began to fight again. This time, it was far less straightforward. The snake creature was increasingly cautious, not nearing Thorne. Both parties threw a few probing jabs, but nothing of substance happened.
‘This can’t go on,’ Thorne growled, ‘this coward is content with a draw!’
Thorne thought to himself while throwing a probing punch and then dodging a tail strike; ‘how can I beat it without surprise, though? I’m not stronger; its tail outpowers me by quite a bit. It is faster and more mobile in the sand.’
Thorne then feinted with a left hook but drew it back at the last moment. The creature’s tail shot up, dissuading the arm, thinking it was an actual attack.
Thorne observed the creature in this exchange. His eyes brightened, ‘that’s it!’ The beast had retracted his chest immediately, yet it couldn’t go that far back and had almost no mobility or protection besides the tail behind the torso.
‘Ah, how am I so stupid? It's all in the chest; I have to reach the chest!’
He thought for a minute, considering the variables in this bout, before smiling widely while looking at the creature. Seeing this, it slithered back slightly, worried by its previously emotionless opponent now smiling.
Then he sprinted and jumped in the air, both fists raised high! The snake’s torso was slightly to the left of his flying body, and as expected, the tail quickly came flying at his exposed ribcage! Thorne smiled wider, time slowing down.
‘Yes!’
He lifted his leg, almost assuming the likeness of a midair cannonball, compressing his body.
SMACK
The tail forcibly rammed Thorne’s body. But he did not slow. If the tail had hit any other part of his body, he would have been seriously maimed, but it had hit the meaty side of his outer thigh. Thorne continued his soaring arc and swung down a nasty overhead arc, grinning devilishly, his eyes mad with strength, while looking down at the terrified snake.
He felt his spectrum energy coursing through his body; he realized it was helping him fight! The right hook landed with a vengeance, striking the opponent’s head!
Plop. The snake creature topped over on the sand, unconscious.