“Wow, there sure is a lot of you,” The green creature said while smiling, his deep, elderly voice reaching all the new students.
“Well, I won’t dilly dally now.” The green creature chuckled, “I am headmaster or grandmaster Ahron.” The headmaster paused in suspense, “And despite my position, you likely won’t see me often; I am usually busy with administrative tasks and all that jargon.” He smiled, gesturing to the eight others standing beside him. “One of these fine cultivators will be your spectrum branch head. Depending on your spectrum, of course.” The creature then refocused his attention on the masse of students, “Most of your teaching will come from rank two adapts, in all sorts of fields: combat, energy control, techniques for cultivation, blah blah blah; you all understand what you signed up for attending this school.”
Thorne grimaced.
‘No, I do not know what I signed up for.’ He thought angrily.
Headmaster Ahron, true to his word, kept the presentation short, ending it with one final word; “you will be teleported shortly to your dorm rooms. Your schedule, academy rulebook, and basic combat and cultivation manuals will be transferred directly to your spatial storage remotely.” He waved a grandfatherly goodbye, “Thank you for attending the prestigious Zupu Academy.”
With that, the presentation ended, and Thorne was teleported once again.
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“Goddamn it, I swear teleportation should be illegal.” An angry Thorne muttered under his breath. He had expected to be teleported into a space where the effects of the teleporter wouldn’t affect him like earlier. This was not the case. Thorne had been teleported to a hallway and directed by an awaiting guide to his designated room. Unlike last time, Thorne only threw up once into a metallic trash can in the corner of the room.
The room was uniform: grey wall, two plain beds, and two black doors; one a bathroom, the other an exit into the hallway. A television-like screen plastered one entire wall and displayed general information about cultivation, likely for the students from backwater planets or with little background, like the sorely misinformed Thorne.
It had two tables which were stuffed with information.
Combat Spectrums:
Red - represents the energy of destruction and chaos. This spectrum is associated with powerful offensive abilities, such as creating explosions, disintegrating objects, and tearing through barriers. Red spectrum cultivators can also manipulate the energy of destruction to enhance their physical abilities, making them stronger and faster.
Orange - represents the energy of fire and heat. This spectrum is focused on heat-based attacks, such as shooting fireballs or creating walls of flames. By burning them in place, orange spectrum cultivators can also create powerful heat shields to protect themselves from enemy attacks.
Yellow - represents the energy of lightning and electricity. This spectrum is associated with powerful electrical attacks, such as creating lightning bolts or electric currents. Yellow spectrum cultivators can also use electricity to enhance their physical abilities, making them faster and more agile.
Blue - represents the energy of water and ice. This spectrum focuses on manipulating water and ice, creating barriers, and freezing enemies. Blue spectrum cultivators can also use their abilities to impact wide-scale battles using area-of-effect abilities with excellent efficiency.
Black - represents the energy of corruption and darkness. This spectrum is focused on stealth, deception, and offensive shadow-based attacks. Black spectrum cultivators can hide themselves in shadows, create illusions, and drain the energy of their enemies. They use corruption-based abilities, withering opponents at the touch of a finger, and talented black spectrum cultivators can create shadow beasts to fight in their place.
Sable - represents the energy of stealth and cunning. This spectrum is focused on deception, agility, and surprise attacks. Sable spectrum cultivators can manipulate sound and light to hide themselves from their enemies, strike from unexpected angles, and deliver precise blows to vulnerable areas.
Crimson - represents the energy of blood and vitality. This spectrum is focused on enhancing physical abilities, healing injuries, and manipulating blood. Crimson spectrum cultivators can increase their strength, speed, and endurance and use blood-based attacks to drain their enemies’ energy and restore their own.
Amber – represents the energy of resilience and stability. This spectrum is focused on strength, toughness, and general resilience in body, mind, and spirit. Amber spectrum cultivators can increase the strength and durability of their bodies and withstand barrages of deadly attacks while also counterattacking with great strength.
All the information glowed in the color of their respective spectrum. The amount of sheer diversity staggered Thorne. Yet the main focus was his spectrums’.
Just the examples listed brought him to giddy excitement. His mind was racing, a child who finally found his passion. He now realized why Graald thought to enroll him in the first place.
‘This is perfect. I have the perfect fifty-fifty set of spectrums regarding talent, and they complement each other perfectly.’ Thorne smiled dreamily. He was conceptualizing what he could be capable of.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Thorne thought of the future: him battling hordes of enemies raining pure destruction, demolishing anything in his way, and being an unimpregnable fortress of defense, no attacks piercing him.
He remembered the portraits of the mighty cultivators in the VIP box: The unbreakable amber shield and the sword god preparing to dance his way and eradicate every living thing.”
He gazed at the other information table, which only displayed a few lines. Yet they were nearly as crucial to Thorne as the previous knowledge about spectrums.
Cultivation Grades:
Grade 1=novice; capable of living for one hundred years on average depending on race and substage.
Grade 2=adept; capable of living for one thousand years on average depending on race and substage
Grade 3=master; capable of living for ten thousand years on average depending on race and substage
Grade 4=grandmaster; capable of living for one hundred thousand years on average depending on race and substage
Grade 5= monarch; capable of living for one million years on average depending on race and substage
Grade 6= mythic; unknown.
Grade 7= celestial; unknown.
Thorne recalled that the current headmaster stated that he was a grandmaster.
‘Hmm, so the strongest person in a universal academy Is at the grandmaster stage, and I’m only at grade one.’
Thorne was not too surprised by the age increase as he assumed that their vigor and life force grew simultaneously as one became stronger.
Remembering the headmaster’s last few sentences, Thorne entered his spatial storage through his crest. True to his words, there were new materials inside the space: a singular piece of white paper’ likely his schedule, and four leatherback books; one, the rule book, one a basic guide to combat; and two cultivation manuals for the red and amber spectrums, respectively.
‘Finally, information not on a screen,’ Thorne thought to himself. Of course, he had been wowed by the novelty of advanced tech and still was. Yet he missed the abundance of antiquities and simplicity that Earth used to hold in abundance.
‘Huh, earth is truly gone.’ It had just truly hit him. Ever since leaving Earth, he had been so active in adrenaline-filled moments that he wasn’t able to formulate thoughts peacefully or lose concentration in his actions, lest it lead to injury or death.
Thorne had only left Earth a couple of days ago—all the action, pain, and information he had been forced to absorb blocked his introspective thoughts. Only now, in a new world, enrolled in an unknown academy, wielding unknown power, could he honestly just think.
He remembered the greenery of Earth, the roaming fauna, and the expansive wilderness.
‘I haven’t even seen an insect in this world.’
Thorne thought to himself, somewhat saddened; he had not had the best life on Earth. No, he lived a genuinely appalling one of labor and abuse. But regardless, Earth had been his home.
‘Life will always be better than no life.’ His eyes glazed over, reflecting and thinking of his current situation, ‘all I can do is grow stronger and quench my weakness. I must take advantage of my opportunity and survive’, Thorne smiled sardonically, ‘hey, maybe even thrive.’
Thorne glanced at one of the beds and picked one randomly, as his roommate hadn’t arrived yet. Excited for sleep, Thorne didn’t even bother removing the damaged robes Graald had given him in the awakening hall. He threw himself into the bed, the tired muscles aching. Then, the beautiful darkness of relaxation met Thorne as he softly drifted into blissful unconsciousness.
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For the first time in a long time, Thorne finally achieved a good night’s sleep. No nightmares, no outlandish time of falling asleep due to labor, no noise or discomfort. Just gentle ecstasy.
Thorne quickly entered his spatial storage. He was far too tired to learn of his new schedule last night, the fatigue and mental stress catching up to him.
Classes of Thorne Kramer, Semester 1:
Class A, 9-10:30 UST (universal standard time): General Basic Physical Combat (all spectrums).
Class B, 11-12-30 UST: General Basic Energy Control (all spectrums).
Class C, 13-14:30 UST: Red Spectrum Energy Control.
Class D, 15-16:30 UST: Amber Spectrum Energy Control.
NOTE: Student Thorne Kramer, being an irregular dual spectrum cultivator, has been designated one additional class to learn both spectrums properly.
Thorne, unsurprised at the extra class, looked at the massive screen in the room to check the time displayed in the upper corner: 6:27.
‘that’s good, I definitely went to bed early yesterday.’ Thorne thought contently, ‘Looks like I can catch up a little bit on the four books in my spatial storage before class.’
First, though, Thorne decided to explore his new home. His roommate had arrived sometime last night; Thorne had no clue as he was fast asleep. The roommate was a human like himself, a bronze-skinned man with wavy black braids. He was currently asleep, lying tucked into his bed, yet Thorne did notice the reasonably sized amber crystal sitting on his forehead.
‘that’s good, I guess; better than getting a red cultivator who might be a destructive maniac.’
Thorne noticed there was an entranceway unblocked by the typical black gates. It led into a kitchen area. There were sleek metal shelves stocked with labeled food containers. A fridge stood in a corner. While the countertop was full of advanced kitchen appliances that Ghoren could not even fathom, at least at this hour. There was a window that took up an entire wall, spanning floor to ceiling. The window view led to a majestic sight: the academy grounds and the city. Students were walking, practicing. In the city, hovercars flew, leaving trails of starfield dust in their wake.
The skyline of the city spoke of innovation. The planet and its beings had been working for millions of years, working, and working; striving for success and prosperity. And Thorne was viewing the splendid result. The grid of skyscrapers, the millions of people striving for personal and community accomplishment. It indeed seemed to be a utopia.
Thorne then remembered the terrified women from whom he had ‘borrowed’ his device. Her fear and absolute mortification displayed upon seeing him.
Tsk, ‘I simply do not have enough information,’ Thorne thought, ‘it’s either a utopia or a dystopian land of tyranny benefiting the strong.’ He sighed, his facial muscles contorting, thinking of all the struggles he had been through on earth when he had been part of the weaker subclass of earthlings, the laborer, the employee, the wage slave.
‘I suppose that is all life, the strong rule, and the weak submit,’ Thorne resolved himself, ‘It is now, and always will be the prerogative of the weak, no, the prerogative of me to become strong.’
Thorne opened the fridge. The vast array of already prepared food, types of which he had never seen before, greeted him with open arms, begging him to eat them.
‘Ah, whatever, my brain thinks too much; shut up, brain. Now it’s food time!’ Thorne munched away, happy.