Chapter 127 (1/2)

The next morning, Randidly walked out onto the deck, raising his hand to shield the sun. Above him, his emerald tassle flapped in the wind, the golden letters of his name catching the light and flashing in an eye catching manner.

Randidly was chilled slightly when he noticed that all of the surrounding boats had detached the lines they had to their boat. They had several feet of berth all around them, where the strangely orange colored water splashed.

“What’s…. going on…?” Randidly muttered to himself, and he was extremely surprised when there was an answer.

“Heh, you’ve certainly stirred up trouble for us.”

Randidly turned and found that the speaker was the old man, still sitting cross legged, meditating, on the deck of the boat. But as Randidly turned to him, the speaker yawned and straightened, standing up.

“Good thing too,” The old man added, “I was getting rather bored.”

“...Is there really something strange about the color I picked…?” Randidly asked, curious.

The old man smiled. “...It certainly wasn’t a smart choice. Has Shal not told you…?” Randidly shook his head, and the old man chuckled.

“Ha, obviously not. That young one has his head stuck so far up the ass of his spear he cannot see. Then come, let me explain.

“It all goes back to the Spearman, who had four disciples, and was the one who slew the great Calamity that came in the wake of the system. Afterwards, the Spearman proceeded to ascend to the 4th Cohort, looking in his righteous fury for the source of the system that brought such death and strife to his world. But to protect the world, he left his four disciples, the founders of the four schools, and ordered them to train our youth well, for no matter what he found, he had no doubt we would need more strength than simply his for what was to come.”

The old man flicked his hand and a gourd appeared within it, from which he took a long swig, looking around. Then he sighed, and continued to talk. “The strife between the four disciples is another tale. Suffice to say that we followed the disciple who believed the path to power lay through training oneself until you lived up to the the potential inherent in a spear. We train Spearman.

“The founder of our school used a tassle of a color that was named after him: Byzantium. A dark, dark purple. He became the master of 1000s of disciples, but Styles slowly formed under him. A Tassle is the representation of your Style, and a Tassle needs color. Byzantium also created the ranking system we still use: At the top are Masters, then Pontiffs, the Adepts, then Artisans. Each is associated with certain shades.

“Of Byzantium’s disciples, not all were talented. These ranks helped organize them, and tassle colors were slowly selected to distinguish which area you do, or will, belong to. From those disciples and Styles, 3 rose to the top. Two men and a woman. The two men competed fiercely, but the woman preferred to train quietly. Eventually, Byzantium decreed the order of their strength. First his own son, who triumphed over the other man, was given Violet. Then the other man, who was stubborn enough to rise up from a common background, Indigo. To the woman, who did not compete, he awarded Lilac.

“Time flowed onward, and to our horror, another Calamity descended, but no longer did the Spearman remain to slay it, instead all 4 schools held a tournament, to select their best and brightest to meet the Calamity. They held a tournament.

“At the end of it, two heroes remained. One from the Death School, with a bone white tassle. And a masked individual, who claimed to be from the Spearman’s school, whose tassle was emerald...  In the final battle, the Spearman school was victorious. But in the collision, the mask of the man was destroyed. And it was revealed that the contestant was that woman, who had been given the lilac tassle. It was the young woman who was the daughter of the Spearman.

“Solemnly, she looked up at Byzantium, and famously said, ‘I apologize, but I will not fly your colors.’ Shaking his head, Byzantium replied, ‘Slay this Calamity, and you will have earned your own.’”

Randidly was scratching his head, slightly confused. If this color was so important to their school, then why…? But the old man’s next words stilled Randidly.

“Unfortunately, she failed. The woman disappeared, but the Calamity rampaged for years, and our world paid a dear price to slay it.”

For several long moments, there was silence. Then the old man continued to speak. “She was strong, true. But in the end, she wasn’t strong enough. Although he couldn’t discredit her completely, Byzantium famously included Emerald in the list of colors available to Pontiffs, the second highest tier of Spear users, even though she was strongest in the world. Only Violet, Indigo, and Lilac were chosen as colors available only to Masters. That would be her eternal shame.

“Moving to the present… you may choose your color in two ways. One is based on your teacher. Shal is an interesting case, but he is approaching the Adept tier, that is no doubt. That should give you access to pale blues and below, the yellows, oranges, and reds, etc. Or you can go based on your own potential.” The old man paused. “Possessing a Runic rarity Skill set before Lvl 25… qualifies as having the potential to become a Pontiff in your lifetime. But the color emerald...  is not… deemed honorable. It is a source of shame for our entire School. The color that failed the world. For that, you will be targeted.