“Hmm.” Snorted Grandmaster Ahron upon seeing the collection of grade-three masters seated before him.

“So, who do you all believe is suitable for the given task.” His words were precise and sharp, penetrating unpleasantly into the ears of the surrounding cultivators.

The modern-style conference room was silent. The five screens hanging on the walls were empty. The silence was soon broken by one of the attending Masters, however.

“I, for one, propose that the boy Zal is chosen .” A smiling Master Graald spoke loudly, seemingly unaffected by the Grandmaster’s apparent displeasure.

Seeing that Master Graald had spoken, the Grandmaster smiled slightly, “oh, why so Graald?”

Clearing his throat, Graald began to explain, “He is versatile and quick, especially for an amber spectrum user. Also, he has ninety percent talent and has already formed his energy pathways.”

Graald then motioned to a projection of a still frame of Zal in combat. His spear was extended, and he was about to reach his opponent while his shield prudently blocked his enemy’s whip.

“He is extraordinary with his weapons.” Graald cast a begrudging look at the quiet Master Khal, “It seems that you at least are good at choosing student’s weapons…if nothing else.”

Master Khal ignored the jab, and withdrew an apple from his spatial storage, taking a big bite from the green fruit.

Graald sneered, “Tsk, well, regardless, he is an exceptional warrior who is very durable and can withstand strong attacks for a long time.” He smiled proudly as he looked at Zal’s holographic image, “Currently, in my class, he is unbeaten in one-to-one combat. He can even occasionally take on two or three students at a time.”

Grandmaster Ahron nodded in agreement. “Then it is confirmed. One of the five spots will go to Zal Chorgrane.”

On the wall, one of the five vertical screens lit up vibrantly. It displayed a portrait of Zal. His extendable spear was firmly held in his right hand, while his amber, bladed shield lay in his left. Beneath his image lay a small amount of text.

 

Zal Chorgrane

Age: 22

Cultivation status: Grade 1, middle stage, Amber Spectrum

Weapons: Extendable spear, sharpened amber shield

Talent: 90%

Race: Human

 

“Hmm, good.” Grandmaster Ahron nodded upon seeing the stats. “Well, who else.”

The Masters in the room shifted uncomfortably. If some random onlookers were to see the room, they would not believe that these individuals possessed astronomical levels of power.

“Uhm, I believe I have a candidate.” A blue spectrum, older human women peeped.

“Well.” The Grandmaster asked pointedly.

“Well… I believe that Lyra Valtear would be q-quite good for this mission.” The blue spectrum master stammered out quietly under the imperious gaze of the tiny Headmaster Ahron.

“Oh, the eldest daughter of the Valtear family.” Master Ahron’s eyes shone sharply at the woman, “I do hope this recommendation is due to merit and not some other reason…” He croaked, trailing off.

“O-of co-course Headmaster Ahron, she has proved herself fully.” The woman stammered out as quickly as she could.

Grandmaster Ahron leaned forward in his chair, steepling his hands while looking intently at the women, “How so.” He spoke curtly.

“S-she is great at con-controlling the battle with her water manipulation.” She said while fidgeting with her fingernails. “The external energy control weapons have been perfect. She is a perfect controller o-of large-scale battles.”

A holographic image of a confident-looking, small, pale girl erupted in the middle of the table. In the still-frame, she was shooting small waves of water at multiple attacking enemies. Some enemies were actively slipping on the water in the image, demonstrating her expert manipulation capabilities.

Grandmaster Ahron inquisitively inspected the image before nodding. “Recommendation, accepted. Lyra Valtear will be the second addition to the mission team.” He spoke firmly, while another one of the screens exploded with the image of Lyra, and her data.

 

Lyra Valtear

Age: 19

Cultivation status: Grade 1, middle stage, blue spectrum

Weapons: Blue spectrum, external energy providers, and manipulators

Talent: 94%

Race: Lumanari

 

“What, Else.”

This time, a tall, lanky being of pure alabaster spoke. “I propose that the student Shrwra is sent on the expedition.” The voice of the black spectrum Master was melodious and calm. It filled the room quickly and sounded very aggregable.

“No!” A sharp voice cut back, a short, angry-looking human, the sable spectrum Master.

“Student Shrwra was bested on all occasions by my student Moravian.” The sable Master cut viciously.

Looking down on the sable Master, the tall black Mater smiled creepily. “There is no need to be so aggressive, my friend Orto; we are all colleagues here.” He finished his sentence by opening his arms wide, gesturing to all the seated masters before them.

The sable Master, Orto, gritted his teeth but attempted to remain calm. “I am not aggressive. Simply, I wish for the best students to be sent on the mission.” He strained out, his face reddening in anger.

“Stop this!” Grandmaster Ahron yelled upon seeing the black spectrum master preparing a likely calm and subtle rebuttal. “You will both make your case and then I will decide. No more of these petty arguments. Agreed?” The last line, while phrased as a question, was an order, and everyone here knew it. The two conflicting masters nodded, and Master Orto began to speak.

“Moravian here is a true master of stealth.” He gestured at the holographic image which had just popped up. It displayed a grey-skinned, short, bony creature with a small torso and abnormally long limbs. Its sable crystal shone on the top of its skull, protruding slightly like a horn. Its face was long and angular. The skull was enormous, but it thinned as it went further down until the chin was barely the size of a finger. The being was decorated with a pair of deep pupilless eyes. In each hand they held two pure black daggers, each long, emanating a foreboding sense of death. Along their waist, a belt of various needles, knives, and even throwing stars were neatly organized and easily accessible to the being.

Master Orto sneered at his coworker before stating, "Moravian has fought Shrwra six times in one-on-one combat. Six battles and six wins for Moravian.”

Grandmaster Ahron’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing this. He cuttingly glared at the black spectrum master, “Is this true.” He spat.

The alabaster being looked down slightly in shame, but quickly recovered himself, “Uhm, yes, it is Headmaster Ahron. Though it was only due to Moravian being older and having more pretraining.”

Grandmaster Ahron waved his wrinkly green hands in disgust, “I do not care for excuses. Show me a battle between them.”

Master Orto smiled evilly while his black spectrum counterpart gulped in worry.

A new scene appeared; Moravian and a pale human faced each other on an artificial battlefield. The battlefield was full of stones, trees, and even some semi-destroyed buildings. It was a perfect setting for a bout of stealth and assassination.

The start of the duel was slow. The two figures disappeared into the surroundings, thoroughly hiding from each other. While one had the sable spectrum and the other the black spectrum, they were both stealth-orientated in their utility.

Whoosh!

A black spectral blade shot out of nowhere to Moravian’s perch at the top of a ruined building. The bony creature did not seem worried, though, and lifted one of his thin hands up and caught the wispy blade!

The ethereal weapon desperately attempted to dissipate, but Moravian seemed to be doing something that obstructed its escape.

He held the blade firmly in his hand before completely crushing it. Smoke rose in the air before floating out into the battlefield, floating right to the location of the crouching human!

Moravian’s body dissipated completely before appearing right behind the human. With a quick, efficient movement, Moravian withdrew one dagger and held it up to the human’s throat. Thus, the battle ended.

Grandmaster Ahron looked uncharacteristically surprised and even released a stiff, single clap. “Well done, Orto, you seem to have a promising student. They shall be included in the mission.”

Master Orto grinned visibly and looked over at the black spectrum master, who seemed to be attempting to maintain appearances and not appear disappointed or upset. He simply smiled at Master Orto, but the black eyes of the being shone deeply in anger.

The third screen lit up with the dagger-wielding Moravian.

 

Moravian Uphle

Age: 32

Cultivation status: Grade 1, middle rank, sable spectrum

Weapons: Daggers, needles, throwing stars, throwing knives

Talent: 89%

Race: Draugr

 

“Good. We have two more spots. Preferably, we need the remaining students to wield more direct power.”

“That is good then.” A deep rumble emerged from one of the seats. The being who spoke appeared to be made of pure black rocks. The rocks were all connected as a loose conglomerate and shifted and moved but never departed from the main body of the person.

“I have an exceptional student in pure damage dealing.” The rocky Master rumbled, their fiery orange spectrum crystal shining brightly in the room.

“I will take your word, Jaloo. Orange spectrum users are always powerful. I do hope you are not exaggerating their power.”

“I am not headmaster Ahron.” The Master spoke humbly, bowing to the Headmaster.

The fourth screen lit up, portraying a figure not dissimilar to Master Jaloo.

It was a rocky figure, but Instead of the rocks being dark and smoky like Master Jaloo, they were grey and crusty; the student was average by human height standards, yet extremely wide and bulky. The rocks seemed separate and barely glued together. The orange spectrum crystal lay in the center of its broad torso, and magma and heat seeped from this source, spreading throughout the external body and flowing down its chest and legs. In each hand, it also held no weapon and instead held two orbs of fire energy. The orbs were similar to Lyra’s, except they exuded a spirit of fiery combativeness rather than soothing coolness.

 

Procka

Age: 29

Cultivation status: Grade 1, middle stage, orange spectrum

Weapons: Orange spectrum, external energy providers, and manipulators

Talent: 87%

Race: Grandorian

 

Grandmaster Ahron sighed heavily, “Finally, almost done. Now, one more.”

The room was silent. Unwilling to endure the potential wrath of the Headmaster if they proposed an unsuitable student.

“Well?” Ahron asked, annoyed. His brows furrowed, and he glared pointedly at every Master individually, causing them to shake or tremble. A Grandmaster’s power is not to be trifled with.

“Tsk, you are all disapoin-“

“I have a recommendation.” The calm voice cut through the Headmaster’s scathing remarks.

Swiveling his head in anger, headmaster Ahron glared in unbridled fury at the source of the voice.

“Master Khal.” He grated out, “Who is this wonderful student of yours.”

Master Khal sat straight in his seat, unbothered by the Grandmaster’s not-so-hidden displeasure.

“Thorne Kramer.”

Both Headmaster Ahron and Master Graald’s eyes widened upon hearing the name. The Headmaster looked around, and upon seeing the Masters' confused expressions, he made a decision.

“Everyone out!” he shouted.

There were some confused murmurs, but everyone complied.

“Except Master Graald and Khal.”

The departing masters gave confused looks to the two exceptions. Still, they remained silent due to their unwavering fear of the Headmaster.

“Do. You. Know. Where. He. IS!” Ahron bit out furiously.

“He’s alive.” He shrugged, “And quite powerful.”

“How do you know?” Master Graald asked fervently.

“I left some of my energy with him to observe his growth.”

“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!” Ahron screamed.

“I’m telling you now.” Master Khal responded bluntly.

Master Graald nodded. He was calmer knowing that Thorne was alive and at least somewhat safe. “How strong is he?”

“He killed a hookthorn. Without any external power.”

The room went quiet. Even the furious Headmaster simply sat dumbly in his seat and tried to process the information.

Master Khal did not allow this, however, and instead gave more outstanding news, “I believe that he has technically reached the late stage of grade one. But he also entirely skipped the middle stage and doesn’t know how to use external manipulation yet.”

“How is that possible?” Master Graald asked, dumbfounded.

“Lots and lots of pain and tribulations.” Headmaster Ahron responded wistfully, in a tone far from his usual authoritative anger.

The downcast look painted the Headmaster’s expression shortly disappeared, and he returned to business. “The expedition will start in six months; he will have to know external manipulation by then. Will he be ready?”

“Yes.”

That was all. The Headmaster nodded and no longer looked at Khal with anger.

A final image was projected on the fifth screen. The screen which was in the middle of all the rest. It displayed a bloody, tired Thorne standing above the headless corpse of the rightly named hookthorn.

 

Thorne Kramer

Age: 24

Cultivation Status: Grade 1, early/late stage, red/orange spectrums.

Weapons: Unknown Runic Blades

Talent: 50%, 50%

Race: Human