One dimensional. That was what Thorne thought of the room as he stepped in. It was a placid, mundane amber. The sight of the room appeared anomalous and fake, an artificial creation made for an unknown purpose.
That train of thought soon left when Thorne entered the room. It appeared irregular in its construction, but it gave off the feeling of perfect synchrony with the natural world. The room’s atmosphere drew Thorne in, begging him to walk to the center.
His appreciation and wonder of the room did not detract from Thorne's concentration and readiness as he counted down in his head, awaiting the moment for the energy to be released.
’ ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, Thorne stood tall in the center of the room, an inexorable force soon to be tested, ‘four, three, two, one.’
HISSSSS
Just as he finished counting down, a hissing sound was heard as the energy was released. It was indeed insensible to the ordinary, mundane human, but Thorne’s affinity and advanced warning from Graald allowed him to sense it barely; the energy first felt like a warm tingle crawling up his skin as if it was probing him, testing if he would be a suitable candidate to enter. This sensation then changed in a millisecond, and the heat vanished and was replaced by a sensation of drug-induced strength; he was invincible, the personification of strength and durability.
BANG.
The feeling disappeared, and the heat returned with a malicious vengeance. It spread over his entire body, externally and internally.
The pain was nearly intolerable. Thorne set his jaw and gritted his teeth with pure, unyielding might. His thoughts were shaky, and his mind was almost broken by the pain.
Drip, Drop, Drip, Drop.
Raindrops of blood and sweat fell from the body of Thorne, his clothes burnt and melded on his sin, his bare body exposed while being comprehensively ravaged by the amber energy.
‘I…WILL…NOT…BREAK.’
The thoughts came out as a gritty and tough shout. Thinking for the sake of not falling unconscious.
The blood and sweat kept flying down from his emaciated body, creating a swirling mix of tainted liquid swirling around Thorne’s feet. Yet no squeal of pain or expression of submission emerged. Thorne’s still gaze met the blank amber wall, and his lips stayed steady. Those eyes had no emotion, simply steadfastness in the face of unyielding bombardment.
Seemingly hours passed, time morphing into an unknown concept; Thorne’s mind and spirit were unyielding, but his body could not say the same. It was a mishmash of burned clothes melded with molten dry skin, all the sweat and blood leaving him to join the now ankle-high ocean of tainted red liquid.
‘….will….not…..break...must….keep…..going.’
The once screaming thoughts now only reached the volume of a fragmented whisper in Thorne’s head.
A new sensation overtook Thorne’s body, breaking his train of thought.A lack of pain.
DING
“Spectra awakening successful.” The robotic voice reverberated throughout the room, piercing Thorne’s ears and shocking him.
He did not move at all. His body remained rigid, still staring unwaveringly at the amber wall.
‘I…did…not…. break.’
Thorne simply stood alone in the room for minutes, savoring the peace and relaxation all he could, for he knew that he would have to do this again very soon.
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Graald stood in a separate small room at the end of the hallway. He was standing, his shoulders hunched and eyes open in shock, staring at the holographic display of the amber room.
’ Seven minutes, celestials be damned, how is that possible?’
Graald vividly remembered his own experience awakening his own spectra. With ninety-three percent talent, it had been an agonizingly arduous process lasting over eight minutes. Ordinary cultivators with average talent typically lasted only one to three minutes during their awakening.
‘Headmaster Ahron said that the most talented of geniuses in the grade five and six clans and families would last over ten minutes in an awakening. But if the red spectra awakening also takes around seven minutes, his awakening will be well over this threshold. But does it really count because it’s still technically seven?’
Gerald shook his head in bewilderment, not knowing what to think. Instead of pondering further, he retrieved a teal tablet-like object from his coat. He uploaded the holographic video of Thorne’s ‘half’ awakening with a trembling click on the device.
‘I may not know anything about this whole situation, but headmaster Ahron surely does.’
He then glanced soberly once again at the live holographic video of Thorne’s’ unwavering figure before stepping out of the room to go and retrieve him.
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Thorne, still basking in the peace he had fought for, suddenly felt pain return to his body as a heavy hand fell on his blood-encrusted shoulder.
Thorne turned around slowly while fighting the urge to wince. Graald stood over him. His eyes glinted in the amber room.
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“You did well, boy,” Graald spoke gruffly, “now just one more.”
Graald released Thorne’s shoulder and ambled out of the room. Thorne followed at a snail’s pace, making sure not to agitate any of his injuries.
Thorne took one last scalding look at the amber room. With that, Thorne walked out into the hall, following Graald. They reached another entrance. Above this particular door was a menacing red crystal that reeked of unrestrained anger and power.
“Be warned, boy, this awakening will be much worse than the amber spectrum. This is pure destruction energy; if you lose concentration for a split second, you’ll implode.” Graald's staunch expression was a complete inverse to his joking demeanor seen only a few hours ago.
Thorne head dipped slightly in a nod. He moved his body slowly. The encrusted blood over his skin cracked and tore, causing Thorne to appear as a foul crimson beast, blood leaking slowly down his body.
Thorne felt a domineering and spiteful feeling burdening his mind as he entered the room. It felt as if the room was conscious and truly despised Thorne and his existence, desiring nothing more than to annihilate him totally.
Thorne counted down in his head, preparing for the attack.
'Five, four, three, two, one.'
Instead of being granted a small probing period before the attack, like in the amber room, the energy sought to destroy Thorne immediately.
Pain washed over him before Thorne could have any bearing on what was happeneing; a tsunami of agony, a live beast obsessing for Thorne to be destroyed.
Thorne immediately collapsed, unable to bear every fiber of his existence being torn apart. His eyes remained open, shining a brilliant glow. The red and amber eyes each vied for dominance, attempting to shine brighter than the other.
This phenomenon was present in Thorne’s entire body as the conflicting amber and red energies fought a cataclysmic war. In contrast, Thorne’s body acted as the unfortunate field of battle.
Thorne, unaware of the existence of the battle, only felt the results. His whole internal structures were being shifted and rearranged. Tore and then rebuilt over and over again.
He couldn’t generate a single thought. The symphony of agony overwhelmed his frail mind.
Days passed, months, years, centuries. Time passed without care. Watching in apathy, the young man was ravaged by the energy.
Then it stopped. No grand conclusion. No final stand in the fight between energy. No, the status quo had been finally found.
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A gaping mouth was all Graald could muster at the end of the awakening. As a grade three cultivator, he could view the energy battle raging in Thorne’s body and the formation process for his baffling spectrum crystal. His shock did not discourage action, though. Graald quickly retrieved a teal and indigo disk-shaped object no larger than a quarter.
“Requesting a grade two Turquoise cultivator to awakening hall three immediately.”
One minute passed until the entrance opened. A fat, stout woman with curly blue hair entered the hall. She walked as quickly as her body allowed her, the bottom of her massive turquoise robe billowing behind her.
Upon seeing this, Graald left the control room and walked over to the red room, prudently motioning her to follow with his eyes.
Graald opened the door before hastily ordering the women what to do in an authoritarian tone; “Heal the boy in there but do not disrupt his energy at all,” Graald placed heavy emphasis on this, “If you disrupt or alter his energy or mind you will be punished to the highest degree I can authorize.” He paused before looking intensely at the woman, his amber eyes piercing her timid turquoise counterpart, “Understood.”
The woman looked down and bowed her waist slightly, not daring to meet his eyes.
“Y-yes, of co-course teacher Graald.”
The healer stumbled into the red room. The glow and feel of the room overwhelmed her timid character, and she shuddered, her soft turquoise eyes darting across the room until they landed upon the boy she was supposed to heal.
The boy was an abomination. A blood-encrusted creature lying on the floor. The only human features remaining were his spectrum crystal, a swirling, everchanging mix of red and amber. At all times, the crystal was half and half, neither of the spectra’s them battling for control. The other human distinction was the two eyes, yet calling them human would be a reach. One amber eye and one red eye remained wide open, staring directly at the women.
She froze in place as she met the animalistic eyes. The healer looked over her shoulder at the looming Graald, who nodded in stark affirmation.
The lady gulped and slowly staggered over to the creature. Her plump legs appeared as if they were stuck in the mud and could barely move. She had been a healer for decades, healing many gruesome injuries, yet none were to this extent. Never had she seen a sapient being completely devolved into an amalgamation of blood and gore.
Her professionalism and caring character soon overpowered her tentativeness. She bent down and placed both her hands at the center of what she thought was the boy’s torso. A flowing turquoise energy flowed out of her hand and manifested into a turquoise replica of Thorne.
The plump lady closed her eyes in concentration while sweat dripped down her face. She lifted her hands, telepathically controlling the replica until she placed it over Thorne like a mold. Upon being placed over Thorne, the energy replica immediately began to dissipate and spread throughout his body.
Soon, the blood scabs fell from his body, and new skin grew, yet it was not enough. The women repeated this process multiple times, healing Thorne to a state that appeared relatively healthy on the outside. Yet this was far from the truth. Thorne’s internal structure had been ravaged by the energy battle and was in terminal condition; even with a perfect outer body without internal support, anyone would die a quick and uncomfortable death.
The woman stopped for a moment as sweat creased her face. She retrieved a turquoise crystal the size of an apple from her pocket. She held it up to her own crystal, which absorbed the other crystal's energy, leaving it to be bare and colorless.
She then continued in her healing process. Only after eight healing replicas were created and placed on Thorne and two more spectrum energy crystals absorbed did she finally stop and examine her handiwork.
Thorne now regained his human identity. His pale pink skin was slowly returning to its standard tan color. His hair was restored to its previous medium length, and his eyes closed, accepting sleep the moment after the healing energy entered his body.
The lady sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow. It had taken nearly an hour and exhausted precious spectrum energy crystals. Yet she did it. She smiled wearily to herself, forgetting about Graald's existence, only thinking of her success.
Graald spoke gruffly, disrupting the healer's self-praising thoughts; “Thank you, healer. You will be reimbursed two-fold for your expended spectrum crystals; you will be contacted by the academy administrative office for them. You may leave now.” Graald dismissed her before remembering one last thing, “Oh, and I’ve arranged a confidentiality oath for you to take.” he paused menacingly. “It is mandatory.”
The healer shuddered, remembering stories people had told her about these oaths. But she dared not complain and simply bowed and left the room quietly.
Graald looked down on the sleeping boy. His brows furrowed as he carefully observed the swirling multicolored crystal. Then suddenly, the swirling stopped, and as they did, the mismatching eyes of Thorne snapped open.