Chapter 121 (2/2)

Shal took his spear off his back, turning to face Randidly. “Now first; let us see how rusty you have become.”

Randidly almost rolled his eyes, but obligingly removed his spear from his spatial ring. It was not the weighted training spear, nor was it simply a wooden pole. Instead, it was a simple thing of shaped bone made for him by Sam. It did not have the weight or size of his previous spear, but it was still the spear he was becoming most accustomed to.

Shal’s eyes critically scanned the weapon, then he nodded. “At least you have not been dirtying your hands with unnecessary trash. A simple spear is best. Come.”

But unlike Shal’s invitation, Shal was the one who rushed forward, spear raised. Gritting his teeth, Randidly started using Footwork of the Spear Phantom, crossing the distance to Shal and shifting around to his side.

Just as he was in position, and planted his feet, Randidly’s eyes widened; Shal all but disappeared, reappearing in a position ready to attack Randidly in his blindspot. Almost instinctively, he moved again, dodging to the side.

But again, Shal was quicker, appearing right where Randidly was attempting to move to, thrusting towards him. Gritting his teeth, Randidly swept his spear up, blocking the blow. It was a close thing, too, because Shal’s attack was quick, but not so quick it couldn’t be caught. However, when their spears crossed, there was only one word to describe Shal’s attack.

Heavy.

Heavy like a blow from Dozer would be.

Randidly spun to the side, then activated Haste and Empower, using Phantom Thrust. But with just a slight body sway, Shal was able to avoid the strike, and before Randidly could react, another thrust rumbled heavily towards him.

Changing his grip on his spear, Randidly switched to a Ghastly Slash, bringing his spear down on the oncoming attack, knocking it to the side. But in that moment, Shal stepped quickly forward, twisting and raising his spear again more quickly than Randidly could believe.

Randidly used Phantom Half-Step directly backwards, creating a small amount of distance, but when he attempted to reset his stance, he bumped into the back wall.

Shal attacked viciously, aiming for that small hesitation. Randidly’s spear flashed forward to meet it, and he was able to deflect it slightly. Seeing his chance, Randidly went for another Phantom Thrust, but the ship swayed abruptly, making the attack falter.

Slightly pissed off, Randidly used Footwork of the Spear Phantom and circled around to the side, attempting to open up some more space for himself. But again and again those heavy thrusts came, smashing him back, until he found himself cornered, desperately lashing out to keep the blows from reaching him.

Right when Randidly thought he was going to have to do something drastic to escape, Shal stopped, stepping backwards. “Hmph. If nothing else, you have earned yourself some callouses while you were lazing about. Your grip is childish, but firm. And you have become passable at fleeing. Congratulations. Come, sit, we must speak of your mission.”

Feeling strangely disappointed that the fight hadn’t escalated, Randidly moved to the space that Shal indicated. After clearing his throat, Shal began to speak.

“On my world, you are known by two things. Primarily your School, which is important for distasteful reasons, but most importantly by your Style. We are, of course, the Spear Phantom Style, of the Spearman School. Our Style emphasized speed and control of distance. In this regard, you can be considered passably talented, due to your skills and fleeing ability.

“Every 5 years, a member of the youngest generation of each Style must accomplish one of many certain tasks, in order to maintain the honor of the Style. Only then will their Style remain upon the great list for their respective School, in our case, the Spearman School.” Shal grimaced. “Unfortunately, the Schools have a very… generous definition on who is counted, and they use tools granted to them by the System in order to select. You have been selected. As the youngest in our Style, you must accomplish these tasks. Now, you may ask questions.”

Randidly pondered for a second. Although Shal was rather inconsiderate in how he had done this, Randidly supposed he understood. This was an important organization to Shal. This goal had to be accomplished, and only Randidly could do it. “How many Styles and Schools are there? They all have to do these every 5 years?”

Shrugging, Shal said. “There are as many Styles as there are stars. 1000’s makes the Spearman School list every 5 year cycle. As for schools… there are 4. Spearman, Spear, Death, and Heart.”

Filing away this information, Randidly wondered what else he should be curious about. Then his expression brightened. “If it has to be me… there is no one else in our Style? Are all Styles so small?”

“No, ours is very small. The Spear Phantom, who founded this Style, was my father. He has died. Only you and I remain. Other Styles possess hundreds of disciples at every generation. And their disciples… typically show more promise than you.”

Randidly didn’t take the insult to heart. His main focus was magic anyway, even if recently he had been working very hard to raise the skill of his spear. “And what are these tasks?”

Shal shrugged. “There are several challenges…”

Shal continued, explaining the tasks. They seemed focused on different aspects of ability with a spear, like speed, strength, endurance, etc., but as Shal explained them, he ended every explanation with the same sentence. “...this trial is located in the __________ Dungeon…”

Randidly raised his hands. “Shal… I still don't have a class. Is there anything I can do outside of Dungeons?”

Blinking, Shal looked at him for a long moment. Then he spoke. “No class… well that is an issue for another time. The deadline is two months. In that time… there is only one task that can be accomplished without a class; to place in the top 8 in the Spearman Northern Province Tournament. But…”

He looked Randidly up and down. “With your current strength… it is…. Impossible.”