Thorne glanced inquisitively at all the departing students and didn’t even bother to hide his curiosity. ‘This is an interesting group.’ Thorne thought upon getting a closer look at them all; ‘A weird undead-looking creature, a rock person, Zal, and….’ Eyes widening, Thorne stared at the last student, dumbfounded, ‘That’s the girl from the train; it has to be.’ He pictured that scene in his mind. The day he had been forced to cling on to the train for dear life to reach the academy on time. ‘That’s her.’ He confirmed in shock.
Upon seeing his gaping stare, the girl scoffed at him and walked away using swift steps toward the teleporter.
‘Well, I suppose she didn’t like what I did on the train.’ Thorne chuckled to himself. Utterly oblivious to many other reasons, she didn’t like him.
Shaking his head, Thorne banished the image of the girl from his mind as he focused on the most crucial thing in his life; ‘So how can I prepare myself?’ He pondered. Sighing, he realized he knew nothing. He knew nothing about cultivation or systemless worlds or even the specific world he was going to, ‘I need information, I need more training, I need---’
“AHEM.”
A loud cough completely shattered his thoughts and drew Thorne's attention to the array of seats in front of him, specifically at the tiny headmaster.
He looked back at the headmaster in confusion. In response, the diminutive green headmaster glared at him angrily, his brown eyes piercing into Thorne's own. A stare-down occurred a battle between the confused Thorne and the seemingly upset headmaster Ahron.
Luckily, the headmaster took a deep, frustrated breath and collected himself before speaking, apparently realizing that Thorne wasn’t worth his anger.
“You still need the system installed, correct?” he queried, a slight edge to his voice.
“Yes,” Thorne responded plainly. ‘Why is he so angry?’ Thorne pondered. The headmaster seemed to have a very short fuse today and could barely control himself. Thorne sighed, ‘This is totally different than how he was at the inauguration, but I guess it doesn’t matter. An act is an act, after all.’
Headmaster Ahron nodded, “Follow Master Graald: he will bring you to get it installed.”
Nodding in response, Thorne looked back toward the massive Master Graald. He remembered that the human Master had been quite welcoming when he had first joined the academy. Thorne grimaced upon seeing the Master; despite his welcoming nature, he also had quite a sadistic side.
However, Master Graald surprised Thorne. Instead of displaying his loud, happy, boisterous personality, he gestured expressionlessly for Thorne to follow him to the teleporter.
“Hold my hand when you transmit your energy to the teleporter.” Master Graald grunted, not even looking at Thorne.
Furrowing his brow in confusion, Thorne nodded and did as he said.
As the teleporter whirred, Thorne swore under his breath in anticipation, “I fucking hate teleporters.”
Thorne lurched forward—retching violently—after using the horrible teleporter.
An emotionless Master Graald stood over him. Watching with a cold eye, he walked away from the staggering Thorne. Fighting his stomach problems, Thorne managed to steady himself and, with difficulty, follow Master Graald.
The room they had been teleported to was…strange. That was the only word that could describe it. Bronze mist floated in the air while purple runic linings ran across the dark black walls. There were no windows, no doors, only an ample box-like open space.
‘It's like a large prison cell.’ Thorne thought, an uneasy glint in his eyes as he took in his surroundings.
Thorne couldn’t see the end of the room, as it was hidden by the thick bronze fog. He could only trust Master Graald and obediently follow the amber cultivator.
They journeyed for less than a minute before being met by an impenetrable wall. The wall was unique; one half was a mesmerizing violet color that shone a dull light into the ever-dark room. The other half was a sturdy bronze, which was seemingly actively absorbing the dense fog.
‘Wait.’ Thorne thought to himself, ‘Master Khal said that both a violet cultivator and a bronze cultivator are required to install the system…so this is it.’ Thorne realized. He was in the system’s domain now.
Master Graald stood upright and cleared his throat, looking at the strange wall. “I am here— a representative of the Zupu Academy of the outer universe ring—to install the system for one student.” He spoke firmly and with steady enunciation for each syllable.
Thorne and Master Graald stood there…and waited. Nothing happened for a second, and Thorne looked up at Master Khal, confused. The towering Master didn’t seem bothered whatsoever by the silence, however. Instead, he simply appeared bored and tired.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Finally, after a couple of minutes of waiting, Thorne noticed a slight rumbling noise. He cocked his ear in surprise and noticed that the noise was coming from the direction of the wall.
‘is it moving?’ Thorne wondered in amazement, ‘That incredible.’
Sure enough, the massive wall, which had seemingly no end, was opening. The enormous multicolored wall slid open. The rumbling noise grew exponentially until Thorne couldn’t even hear his thoughts.
At last, the cascading rumbling noise topped, and the wall finally revealed what it was previously hiding.
‘That’s underwhelming.’ Furrowing his brows, Thorne glanced intently at the newly opened room. It was a small grey cave. The only illumination came from simple torches hung on the walls in simple braziers. There were no decorations or furniture, and the only feature of note in the entire space was a small circle that was carved into the stone floor.
“Let's go.” Master Graald whispered.
Nodding, Thorne followed Master Graald into the small chamber. For some reason, Thorne felt uneasy in the cave.
‘Something about this place feels…perverse.’ Thorne thought as he glanced around the cave, the lack of modern utilities. The lack of furniture or decoration. But mostly, the strangest aspect of the room was that weird circle. It seemed to both draw Thorne in and push him away simultaneously.
Shaking his head, Thorne rubbed his nose in agitation; ‘The system is way past my level of comprehension, but Master Khal seemed to have some reservations about it.’ Thorne sighed, ‘I need to be careful, but I don’t even know why I have to be careful.’ He thought, frustrated.
“They’re here.” Master Graald nudged him, “Show your utmost respect; these are representatives of the system itself.”
Nodding, Thorne looked in the same direction as Master Graald. He saw two different beings walking through the previously opened wall.
‘Wow.’ Thorne gasped. The two beings that were walking toward Thorne and Graald were beyond comprehension.
One of them was a large, burly, highly tanned humanoid man. His legs and torso were remarkably similar to a human's, albeit theirs were more prominent and broader. That is where all the similarities ended. The being had eight arms, two in the normal position right off the shoulder and two more underneath those. The four other arms were the strangest, though, as they were positioned at the back of the creature.
‘How are there even arms there.’ Thorne gawked at the position of the last two; they were placed on each side of the head, like ears. The head was almost identical to a human head; even the creature's bronze spectrum crystal was right in the center of its forehead, just like most humans.
‘Extraordinary.’ Thorne thought, his eyes taking in the hyper-unique creature. Thorne shifted his gaze to the humanoid figure's counterpart.
His previous shock was blown out of the water as he viewed the second being. ‘What even is that?’ Thorne squinted, trying to get a better look at the drifting violet cultivator.
The creature in question was a white mass of tendrils. More specifically, it was a floating orb with tendrils hanging off it. His tendrils were wavy and slow and moved separately from the rest of the body.
The orb itself was relatively simple; it was just a plain white ball no larger than a basketball. Its only unique aspect was the sizeable violet crystal in the center. The crystal shone bright, its radiant light reaching Thorne, who was dozens of meters away.
‘What? Is it getting brighter?’ Thorne pondered.
‘It is!’ He realized. The crystal was getting brighter and brighter. ‘Wait, the energy is getting denser as well!’
Thorne closed his eyes and took in the energy around him; it felt like…. ‘Is the energy going to explode!’ Sweat ran down his forehead, and he tried to move but couldn’t. A firm hand dropped on his shoulder, holding him in place. It felt like the world's weight suddenly dropped on him; Thorne was helpless.
His eyes fervently shot up to Master Graald, “No…” He muttered in panic, “What are you doing?”
Expressionlessly, Master Graald stared at him and didn’t say a single word. Instead, he brought his other hand up to Thorne's forehead—making it hover just inches away from him.
As the energy reached its apex, and Thorne was sure that he would die, something happened; Master Graald moved. With swift, almost invisible movements, he flicked out with one finger. The finger shot out at speeds beyond comprehension, right at Thorne’s forehead!
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Thorne shot upward, his eyes wide in horror. He squinted in front of him, as a blue light illuminated the dark room.
“What is this?” He muttered as he stared at the floating blue screen that hovered right in front of his face.
Congratulations! The system has been successfully installed! Welcome to the limitlessness of the universe!
Name Thorne Kramer Age 25 years Race Human (Grade 1) Class N/A Titles None Cultivation Status Level 73 (Late Grade 1) Red Spectrum Status Level 80 Amber Spectrum Status Level 66 Red Spectrum Skills
Phantom Leap, level 4/10
The Red Nova Torrent, Level 3/10
Cross Blade Strike, Level 2/10
Blade Extension, level 6/10
Amber Spectrum Skills
Sword Shield, Level 3/10
Energy Bubble, Level 4/10
General Skills
Everlasting Linguist
Advanced Energy Circulation
Stats Listed Below Strength 83 Agility 85 Constitution 73 Intelligence 65 Perception 35