“Wow!” Zal whistled lowly, his eyes wide in shock, “So Master Khal did all that to you, and you managed to survive.” The tall man scratched his forehead in shock upon hearing about Thorne’s tumultuous six months.
A dark glint appeared in Thorne’s eyes, “And he left Bluey behind.”
Zal looked at him, a slight crease in his thick brow, but remained oddly silent. Instead of responding, Zal reached into his pocket and retrieved a small metal card-like object; “Well, it seems that both of us are going on this expedition he mentioned.”
Thorne’s eyes widened, and he looked in shock at the metal object.
“It’s an invitation.” Zal answered Thorne’s unspoken question, “It states that I am summoned to the headmaster’s office at 12 UST.”
Thorne glanced at the massive screen that decorated a portion of the dorm room wall; 10:34 UST, it stated.
Though there was something wrong, “I didn’t get one.” He said, a tint of worry coating his voice.
“Check your pockets,” Zal responded, an assured smile on his face.
Thorne did as he said, albeit a bit confused. He was even more confused when Zal’s words were confirmed, however. In his robe pocket was a metal card with runic red words inscribed: “Huh.” Thorne grunted, “Just like yours, the card says I’m summoned to the headmaster’s office at 12.”
Zal nodded, “It somehow is unable to be stored in the spatial storage so Master Khal likely just put it in your pocket.”
Thorne nodded, and a dark expression shadowed his face upon the mention of Master Khal. Confusion, however, won the battle for Thorne’s precedence over his anger, “Then how did you get yours?” he asked curtly.
“Oh no.” Zal laughed, a wide grin spreading over his face, “I’ve known about it for months; Master Graald’s been training me personally and gave me this a couple days ago; it’s apparently a key of some sort so we can get into the office.”
Thorne nodded in realization, “Dolar did tell me that some students were receiving personal training from the masters.”
Zal looked at him, confused; “Dolar?”
“He was one of the red students that came into the wilderness a couple of months ago,” Thorne answered, a blank expression on his face as he attempted to piece out the puzzle of this mysterious expedition.
Zal stood there in awkward silence as Thorne all but ignored him. Oblivious, Thorrne kept thinking, ‘Dolar said that only a few students were being trained.’ He scratched his beard in thought; the scruffy mane had grown considerably during his stay in the forest, and Thorne hadn’t bothered to cut it. ‘It also seems that the Masters didn’t half-ass their training and actually put the effort in.’ He nodded to himself, coming to a conclusion. ‘So it seems that this expedition at least holds some importance to the academy as a whole. It's probably not just a standard training exercise.’
Sighing, he walked away from the dumbfounded Zal and took out a large piece of meat from his spatial storage—chomping down happily, ‘damn, I haven’t eaten in a while.’
“Hey!” A loud voice sounded. It was Zal. Thorne looked at him, confused; “What?” He asked.
“Eat at the table barbarian.” He voiced in an exasperated tone as he watched Thorne, sitting on the floor eating a bloody piece of messy meat, “Half a year and one becomes a bumbling antisocial animal.” Zal muttered under his breath as Thorne got up with a few grumbles.
Zal also ate, though his food—a strange, synthetic-looking paste—was far different than Thorne's all-natural Hook-Claw meat. After about an hour, Zal apparently finished his routine and began to step out into the hallway but soon stopped and looked back at Thorne; “Oh, you probably don’t know this.” He stated, which caused Thorne to look up from his food, which he was still eating. “To the headmaster’s office, just go to one of the teleporters, transmit your energy into the orb, and picture the word “Headmaster’s office and you’ll be transported there.” He opened the door before remembering one more thing, “Remember to have your key ready.”
Thorne nodded, deadpan, and returned to his food.
“Tsk,” Zal grunted at the lackluster response and stepped out of the dorm room.
‘What’s he up to?’ Thorne scrutinized as he immediately dropped his dumb barbarian act and began pacing the room, ‘giving me information and help…’
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Thorne plopped down heavily in his bed--confused and overwhelmed by the sudden change in environment--instinctually, he moved his hand in a caressing motion to the spot just above his lap, the spot where Bluey would usually be.
Rubbing his eyes, Thorne lay on his bed, staring blankly at the smooth white ceiling. ‘Well, I suppose I have to go to this meeting.’ He sighed, ‘If I don’t…’ Thorne could only imagine the outrage the academy would have if he disrespected a direct invitation to the headmaster’s office.
He cast a weary look to the screen to check the time: 11:58 UST.
He rose slowly from his bed and walked out the door and into the hallway. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’ He thought as he found a teleporter. Thorne transmitted his energy to the teleporter with a blank face and transferred himself to the headmaster’s office.
----------------------------------------
Lyra Valtear looked down and sighed quietly while picking at her diligently cleaned and manicured nails. The whole room was tense; the four different masters, as well as the headmaster, sat in plush multicolored chairs that resembled clouds in their softness and shape. However, there was a problem, well, actually two problems; one of the chairs was empty, and only four students were standing in front of the prestigious cultivators of the Zupu academy. There were supposed to be five.
Lyra could see Headmaster Ahron whisper furiously to the amber spectrum master.
‘They are going to be furious once the last student arrives.’ She thought in pity for the unfortunate soul. The student was not technically late, but it was common courtesy to attend these meetings early. Especially when it involved some of the most influential people in the outer universe.
She looked over to the massive screen, which doubled as a wall behind the row of teachers; it was 11:59 UST.
‘This student is dead.’
WHOOSH!
She peered at the teleportation platform, specifically the person standing upon it. Her eyes widened in shock and horror, ‘it’s the human from the train! The dual spectrum cultivator!’
The student in question looked entirely out of place. The pristine robes that all the students wore stuck out compared to his ripped, muddy, and bloodied robes. Furthermore, his scrabbly beard, long hair, and general unkemptness made Lyra shudder upon seeing him.
As soon as he appeared via the teleporter, he lurched forward, gripping his stomach. Lyra swore on her family name that she heard him spout a vulgar curse; ‘he’s saying such things in front of the headmaster!’ She moved her hand in front of her mouth to hide her shocked expression. ‘He is going to die!’
“Ahem.” A grunt resounded throughout the room. Lyra flinched and swiveled her body away from the man and toward the headmaster as fast as possible, giving the small but imposing figure the utmost respect.
“It is nice of you to show up, student.” The headmaster bit out. His dark brown eyes pierced the dual-spectrum student, who nodded back in return, not even phased. Instead, he walked over to the line of students and filed in neatly next to Lyra, not even offering an apology to the headmaster.
Lyra, did not even bother to hide her aghast mannerisms while she glared at the impudent man. He didn’t even notice, and instead, he looked forward at the group of masters, not saying a word.
‘He is dead.’ She concluded, shaking her head in resignation upon seeing the headmaster’s furious gaze.
Surprisingly, no verbal or physical assault came, and instead, the amber spectrum master nudged the headmaster—muttered a few words into his ear—and it was over.
Headmaster Ahron inhaled a deep breath and spoke in a barely restrained tone, apparently listening to the amber master, “You have all been selected to be a part of the upcoming expedition to a new world.” He spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, “A system-less world.”
The room froze. Lyra looked at Headmaster Ahron in disbelief, a broad smile forming on her face; ‘how could I have gotten so lucky! Bless the jade celestial!’ The other students were all having similar reactions: looks of amazement, wonder, and, most of all, looks of happiness.
There was one outlier, however, among the small group of students; the dual spectrum cultivator stood there unphased, and with dull eyes, he continued to look expectantly at the headmaster—waiting for more information.
“Only you five will be sent.” Headmaster Ahron continued, “Your primary mission will be to conquer the world.”
Lyra, as well as the other three students, nodded calmly. Only the strange dual spectrum cultivator looked slightly shocked, ‘why is he surprised?’ She questioned upon seeing his puzzled expression.
“The only caveat is that this particular world is precious.” The headmaster stated, and a heavy gravity fell upon the students with each word from the diminutive headmaster, “The world contains not only the normal energy excess which most system-less worlds possess but also has an extraordinary amount of high-grade energy crystals.”
Lyra gasped out loud upon hearing this, ‘High-grade energy crystals on a newly discovered world, that is ridiculous.’ She gasped, ‘But wait, if there’s such value, why aren’t the masters and headmaster going themselves to retrieve the resource.’
Her question was shortly answered by the headmaster, “As others also discovered this world, we cannot simply swoop in and take the recourses.” Ahron spoke under gritted teeth, “Thus, the Zupu academy, as well as ten other organizations of similar sizes, have decided to agree to send our young.”
Lyra nodded, ‘smart. A good training opportunity and an easy method to avoid mass bloodshed.’
“Be warned, however.” The headmaster continued, “The other students are not the only risk. From what we have studied, the world is war-torn, and the natives have gained an understanding of the mighty arcane spectrum, however primitive.”
Lyra shuddered, ‘This will be dangerous.’ She and the rest of the students realized in a mix of morbid fear and bloody excitement. They had been trained to fight and to better understand and control energy. But they had not been trained to kill; in this world, they would indeed be required to kill.
“You will all leave in three days.” The headmaster stated gravely, glaring daggers at every student, hammering in the importance of this expedition, “Prepare yourselves!”