The team of five stepped onto the brittle grey ramp. Months of training, months of killing, months of struggle, all for the opportunity to walk on this ramp. ‘I guess it is a nice ramp,’ Thorne chuckled as he looked down at the intricate linings that made up the platform.
Thorne threw one final over-the-shoulder look back at the faculty as they walked up. Master Graald—his only real mentor among the powerful cultivators in the hangar—smiled and nodded at Thorne.
‘I wonder where Master Khal is?’ Thorne pondered. No one had seen him in days. Ever since he had dropped off Thorne, the red master had simply left. He hadn’t even bothered to retrieve the rest of the stranded red students. Thorne had heard from Jacky that a task force had to be sent out to retrieve them, and only due to Tolak’s competent leadership were the students found.
‘He probably didn’t want to be tied down to the academy,’ Thorne thought as he turned his back on the faculty and stepped into the spacious ship. I know I wouldn’t.’
“EY GUYS!” Thorne heard Zal shout. The amber cultivator had explored further into the ship and had clearly found something of interest. “Come here!” he shouted again.
Sighing, Thorne navigated his way through the halls of the ship. The passageways weren’t small or even really cramped, but due to their plain grey walls without any decoration or personalization, the rooms felt…bland, if nothing else.
“What is it?” Thorne asked as he stepped into the room where Zal was. This room was utterly intractable to the impersonal halls. On the walls, there were murals of cultivators- eight in particular, one for each combat spectrum.
Each of the murals was shining with power. ‘Someone imbued energy into the pictures!’ Thorne gasped as he sensed it. ‘They must have been very important to the academy.’ Thorne concluded as he walked past the row of murals.
In the center of the room was the main attraction; a lush red couch that was set out in a perfect circle. A large wooden table was in the middle of the coach—standing like a solitary island. ‘What is that?’ Thorne asked himself as he squinted at the table. On the wooden surface were multiple little blue circles carved into the wood.
“Have you seriously never played Spectrum Wars before?” Zal asked, scoffing at him.
Thorne stared back, deadpan; “I haven’t.”
Lyra, who had just burst into the door, nearly squealed upon seeing the table: “Is that…a premium edition set of Spectrum Wars?”
Zal smiled wide, “Oh yeah, and this guy hasn’t even played before.” Zal said, pointing a finger at Thorne.
“Well, what even is it?” Thorne bit out. He looked closer at the table and tried to discern if anything would elicit such a reaction from him as it did from Zal and Lyra.
“It is a marvelous game.” Lyra said, glaring at Thorne, “You use great cultivators from the past and present and simulate battles with them.”
Zal’s face brightened as he took over. “Yeah, yeah! You use their abilities and special traits. It’s so fun!” he shouted with a grin.
“Buncha nerds,” Thorne grumbled, but he took a seat alongside his teammates and resigned himself to playing.
“MORSVIAN, PROCKA!” Zal shouted, “GET OVER HERE!”
In an instant, a heavy clamoring of footsteps could be heard just outside the game room, and Moravian and Procka soon entered.
“Wow,” Moravian said, a low rattling gasp escaping his mouth, “That’s a limited set too.”
Zal and Lyra nodded with enthusiasm. Even Procka seemed somewhat excited, as Thorne swore he saw her rocky face exhibit a minuscule smile.
“We’re gonna play,” Zal said, motioning for the two of them to take a seat, “This is Thorne’s first time though. So go easy.”
Lyra and Moravian snickered as they looked at the deadpan Thorne.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Goddamnit.” Thorne grimaced, “This is not what I signed up for.”
----------------------------------------
“Bullshit!” Thorn shouted. “That’s straight bullshit!” he said with a grimace; Thorne slammed his fist down on the table. “How is light purple so overpowered?” He muttered in frustration as he saw his holographic character get obliterated.
Giggling, Lyra grinned wide as she saw her own piece take Thorne’s, which promptly eliminated him from the game. “Never discount sound and vibration in battle.” She laughed.
The whole group laughed all around the table. Watching Thorne—a total amateur—play was probably very entertaining. “Oh, sure,” Thorne said, a small smile on his face.
Zal, who was too busy laughing himself to tears a few moments ago, looked up at Thorne, “You know, Thorne, in all my years of playing, I've never seen someone as horrible as you. Fifteen minutes, and you’re already out, that’s crazy!” He chuckled, wiping tears away; “You play like a Hook-Claw with thumbs!”
Scoffing, Thorne chuckled a bit, grabbed a glass of water that was set on the table, and took a sip. “You guys have fun,” Thorne said as he got up, “I’m going to go explore the ship a bit.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” Zal said, smirking, “Running away.”
Shaking his head in mirth, Thorne walked out of the fame room and found himself back in the halls. ‘I should go find the pilot,’ Thorne thought as he stepped through the halls. ‘I also need to find a place to train. There should be one, right?’
Thorne noticed something strange as he walked through the halls: 'What’s up with my steps?’ He thought. It was almost imperceptible, but as Thorne stepped forward, he could feel the slightest difference in the weight and speed of his foot.
A small smile crept over his face, ‘Are we…’
Thorne increased his pace to a near jog as he navigated through the halls. Finally, he found what he was looking for, a window.
Thorne's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, ‘We are. We’re in space. I'm…in space.’ He marveled as he gazed at the window. The endless darkness of space greeted him. 'How many people from Earth have been in space?' he thought as he stared out the window in awe. In the distance, Thorne could see what appeared to be the Zupu world. Lights and towers spiraled away from the planet, almost reaching the abyssal darkness. Squinting, Thorne zeroed in on one structure in particular; ‘The academy.’ He realized. ‘Even from space, it's visible. Incredible.'
Despite his captivation by the wonders of space, Thorne pried himself away from the window to complete his original goal: 'So here is the pilot?’ Thorne scratched his chin. ‘There’s probably a cockpit of some sort. Or at least there was in Master Khal’s ship.’
With limited knowledge, Thorne continued his trek through the bland ship, and after only a few minutes, he found his destination.
‘There we go.’ Thorne smiled as he saw a cockpit-like room at the end of the hall.
A massive window incapacitated the cockpit, and Thorne marveled once again at the sheer vastness of space.
As he walked into the room, he noticed that there were two human pilots. They were both average-sized females, with shoulder-length brown hair. However, something about the two of them caught Thorne’s eyes in particular; ‘are they twins?’ Thorne thought as he saw them, ‘Ah, whatever. It doesn’t matter.’
“Excuse me.” He said as he walked into the cockpit.
“Oh,” One of the pilots turned in her seat as she heard Thorne, “Greetings lord Thorne.” She bowed as she got up from her seat, “What can I help you with?’
Thorne’s face scrunched up in confusion. ‘Lord?’ he thought. Deciding to push the confusion about honorifics aside, Thorne started to speak. “Uhm, how long is the journey?” he asked.
Smiling, the girl motioned to a black screen with various numbers on it: “The journey will take approximately one week, Lord Thorne. Is there anything else?”
“Uh, yeah, are there any rooms where I can train?” he asked in a coarse voice, perplexed by the girl's formality.
“Of course, Lord Thorne.” She said cheerily, “Here’s a map of the ship.” She stated, handing him a small, palm-sized device.
“Uhm, thanks,” Thorne said as he took the device.
“Of course, Lord Thorne.” She bowed once again.
“Oh, by the way, you don’t have to call me lord,” Thorne said as he looked at the girl.
For the first time, the girl's face shifted from robotic formality to a shade of confusion; “It is our place to call the revered combat cultivator’s lord. Especially such gifted students as lord Thorne.”
“Fine, do whatever you want.” He sighed as he turned his back to the girl, “Thank you for all the help.” He shouted over his shoulder, not allowing the pilot to respond.
As he looked at the map, Thorne navigated his way to the bedroom first, ‘I need some sleep.’ Thorne thought as he noticed the exhaustion his body was enduring. The battle had taken a toll on him, and only due to the excitement of the events after the battle could Thorne endure the fatigue and pain.
Now, however, when there was nothing going on to distract him, Thorne could feel the effects of the battle deeply, and only time would heal them.
Trudging his way through the halls, Thorne finally found himself at the bedroom's location. Instead of the fancy touch-controlled entrance in the academy, the doors in the ship were far more straightforward, being a basic design of motion-activated sliding doors.
Thorne entered the room and sighed in ecstasy. ‘Finally, I don’t have to share the room, ' he thought as he noticed the singular bed.
The room was small. It only had a bed, nightstand, and wardrobe. That was it. There were no windows, art, screens, or televisions. It was simply an area to sleep in, and Thorne loved that.
He plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes, entering the pleasure of sleep.