Thorne walked over to a glowing indigo circular platform in the corner of the VIP box. In the center of the platform was a basin with an orb devoid of color. Upon seeing it, Thorne realized that it was the same as the platform on the stage, apart from the orb being without any energy.
Graald, noticing Thorne’s look of realization, explained, “The teleportation platforms are all made by indigo spectrum cultivators who control the energy of space, though they charge a horrible price for them.” Graald took a step forward and indicated for Thorne to pay attention, “For mundane people without any energy within them, they can be teleported without their will as they are basically just flesh sacks. Cultivators, however…” Graald placed his hand on the orb, and strains of amber flowed into the orb, transforming the orb to be nearly complete; ninety-three percent full, to be exact, a direct representation of Graald’s talent in the amber spectrum. “We have to give consent by transferring our energy because these platforms aren’t strong enough to teleport us if we resist due to our internal energy.” He smiled wryly and seemed to recall something specific: “Of course, strong indigo cultivators are a whole different story.”
“Now step forward; you haven’t awakened your energy yet, so you don’t have to do anything apart from stepping onto the platform.”
Thorne obliged and walked calmly onto the platform beside Graald. The massive cultivator’s shadow encompassing Thorne.
“Oh, just so you know, even though you have a talent for the energy of resilience and stability, this will be a tad uncomfortable.”
Graald looked down at Thorne, smiling wickedly, “Have fun!”
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Thorne rolled around on the floor of the new teleportation platform they had just reached, his voice begging him to release a scream or any noise at all; he felt as if all his skin, muscles, and bones were shifting and moving throughout his body like snakes.
“HAHAHHAHAH”
Graald laughed heartily, tears of mirth streaming down his face and a broad smile plastered on his laughing face as he looked down at the squirming, screaming young man.
Graald bent down and patted Thorne’s head gently merrily; “Come on, boy, this is far from the worst thing you’ll experience. Toughen up!” His words had laughter interspersed throughout them as Graald kept laughing at Thorne’s pathetic state.
After several minutes, Thorne’s body’s sensation lessened ever so much, allowing him to get up on one knee.
Graald, seeing this, bent down and offered Thorne his large hand while laughing, “Need help, boy.”
Thorne forced his head upward with much difficulty. His moving skin caused him to feel like a passenger in his own body. Yet he did it and managed to look up into Graald’s sharp amber eyes. With even more difficulty, he moved his mouth and spoke, “FUCK YOU.”
Graald fell back in laughter and collapsed to the floor, “oh, you’re a real funny one, but that’s good. Never rely on others too much,” he spoke while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and righting himself, “Welcome to Zupu little Thorne, now get up we don’t have all day”
Thorne got up and followed behind Graald. They had teleported into a small room with no decoration; simply put, it was a teleportation room. The pair quickly left the room through a black door, which completely disappeared upon Graald’s touch, then reappeared once the two had walked out.
‘Fascinating, how is that possible?’ Thorne thought to himself in amazement. Upon exiting the teleportation room, the duo entered a long corridor. The corridor seemed to stretch infinitely in length. The ceiling was high and littered with elegant floating chandeliers, illuminating the massive space and only adding to the sense of grandeur. The floor was a lush multicolored rug that expanded on the opulence of the simple hallway.
Graald still walked forward authoritatively through the hall. Within the hall were only a few people; some were walking the halls, clearly working and intending to travel to other wings of the grand building. Some people seemed to possess a spectrum indicated by the crystal on their forehead. At the same time, others were mundane and had no spectrum. The crystals of the passing people never matched any of the rug’s colors, and many seemed diminutive and weak compared to Graald. When passing, he gave a courteous, respectful nod toward Graald when they noticed his spectra while peering with polite interest toward Thorne.
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While walking, Thorne had a nagging feeling that the multicolored rug held some significance. ‘it seems that spectrums are differentiated by colors, so this rug must represent something about these 8 spectrums.’ He looked down again and counted out the eight colors in his head; ‘red, orange, yellow, blue, black, sable, crimson, amber.’
He looked up towards Graald, hoping to quench his curiosity, “Hey Graald, do the carpet colors represent different spectrums.”
Graald did not even slow his pace or look back at Thorne before answering in an informative manner, “Yes, these eight are the spectra of combat, and the Zupu academy is wholly focused on teaching the combat spectra.”
Looking far ahead, Thorne zoned in on one of the walking workers in the hall. This woman seemed human and had a crystal that took the typical teal-like color. “What are these people then if they aren’t combat cultivators.
“Administrative work, numbers, data, organization, all that fun stuff.” Graald looked lazily over his bulky shoulder to confirm Thorne understood, “You had those jobs on earth, yes?”
“Yeah, we had plenty of ’em.”
The rest of the journey continued in silence. Graald, clearly bored from his babysitting job, and Thorne content with taking in the surroundings. While walking, Thorne looked out of one of the massive windows and noticed a city beneath them. The word ‘city’ was undoubtedly a vast understatement as the ‘city’ was at least dozens of times larger and denser than any city of earth. The city consisted of many towering skyscrapers and complexes as far as one could see. Many of the taller buildings were obtuse in structure, and a few were jagged and straight. Massive hovercrafts dominated the air, and lightning-quick trains zooming across the urban landscape brought passengers to their desired locations.
The most notable structure, or rather a conglomerate of structures, was seemingly positioned in the city's center. The center of it was an otherworldly structure made of pure white and gold shining material. It held some semblance to the ancient Greek pantheon with massive white pillars inlaid with shining golden etchings spiraling up the columns and a broad base. It was not as tall as other buildings. Still, the total monolithic area of it, as well as the intricate stylistic designs, brought pure awe to even the typically apathetic Thorne.
Surrounding this central building in an octagon pattern were 8 towers that pierced the sky. Each was of a distinct color, representing each spectrum of combat. Each building had visible energy fluctuating around it; fire fanned around the orange tower while lightning coursed up the yellow one. Situated within the remaining area were more normal buildings, residential areas, shops, etc.
Awestricken Thorne couldn’t help but mutter his appreciation, “So that's the academy, huh.” A galvanized smile took over his face as he imagined his future here.”
Graald looked down at Thorne and smiled in understanding; he, too, had felt like this when he first saw the campus. Instead of teasing him, Graald sighed wistfully and decided to let him be and allow the boy to enjoy the intoxicating thoughts of the future.
The pair soon arrived at the same style door that the teleportation room contained. Graald placed his hand on the black material, which disappeared, allowing them to walk into this new space. The room was simply another hallway. The hallway stretched forward for about one-hundred-fifty more feet, and on each side of the hallway, there were four more doors with colored crystals above them.
Graled then turned to Thorne and looked at him, his eyes drooping empathetically, “So Thorne, this is the last stop before the academy and maybe the last stop of your life.” He paused and looked deadpan at Thorne, who remained silent, stoically meeting the older man's gaze. Graald nodded in approval before speaking, his voice shifting and turning throughout the sentence with a gruff appreciation for Thorne; “Good, now make sure that whatever pain you feel, you stay conscious; if you fall asleep, you die simple as that you understand the boy.”
Thorne nodded slightly in affirmation, his deadpan stoicism still plastering his face.
“We will do the amber spectrum first to make the red spectrum easier later. You will walk into the Amber room alone, forcing your body to absorb the energy. Once your body is full, the crystal will form, or in your case, half a crystal, and at that point, I will pull you out. Then you do it again for the red spectrum.” Graald maintained unblinking eye contact with Thorne throughout his speech, demanding attention with his eyes of amber. Graald heaved a heavy sigh, his whole demeanor rising and then falling with the breath, “All right, boy, go in there and prepare yourself; I’ll notify you when the energy is released.”
Thorne nodded, walked over to the door with Graald, and waited while he opened the door. Once the door opened, Thorne viewed the area he would apparently be tortured in with a cold gaze; it was a blank amber room with amber walls, amber roof, amber everything. It was devoid of anything but amber, and soon, so would Thorne, one way or another.
Graald gave Thorne one last steadfast look, “All right, go in, boy; it will begin ten seconds after you step foot in the room.”
Thorne walked to the room's precipice and gave one final solemn look towards the mountainous man before walking in and speaking in a barely audible whisper, “Thank you, Graald.” Then stepped into the amber room.