4 Who's This?

Enzo stood in awe, looking up at a magnificent statue which was fixated on the left side of this pathway. It was extremely tall and written at the bottom of it was,

'School of Initiate Founder, Coalfell's first Stratum practitioner Cilix Sylja…'

"So this is the School's founder? Incredible!" Enzo couldn't help but feel extremely tiny in front of this statue. The founder had long since passed away, but it seemed some of his might still lived on within this statue of his.

Enzo had been following the old man's directions and felt he was really close to the School of Initiation. He had actually already given up on retrieving master Chung's water jug, it was now going to be HIS water jug. He was planning to take over Chung's living quarters now that he had his token. If the old man turned out to be lying to him and Chung came looking for him, then he would just say he got lost while looking for his jug and that there was a misunderstanding regarding the token. There shouldn't be too much of a punishment, right? He also learned from the old man that fighting within the School is disallowed. So as long as he stayed inside Chungs quarters, then theoretically he couldn't do anything to him since he didn't have his token anymore. At most maybe Chung would use his guest token to live beside him, but other than that he should be safe.

Feeling he was done admiring the statue, he was just about to continue down the path when a blinding glint filled his eyes towards the right.

A small rift appeared high above ground 30 meters to the right of the pathway he was on. It floated hundreds of feet in the air and Enzo could only cover his eyes and squint to get a decent look at it.

"What is that thing?" Enzo could only question as the blinding purple light blocked most of his vision.

All of a sudden, Enzo could see something falling from the rift.

"A treasure?"

Enzo knew treasures and resources were hard to come by here, and if he missed this opportunity he might regret it for the rest of his life even if he's a School of Initiation disciple now. Putting his journey to the School on hold, he decided to see what fell from the sky. Avoiding the trees and wilted bushes, he soon realized that what fell from the sky was not a treasure.

"A person?"

Enzo was taken by surprise upon seeing that a person fell from the sky. Despite who it was and whether or not he was a good or bad person, Enzo ran to see if he was okay. Nearing the man, he saw that his clothing was torn in many places. His skin was scarred and scabbed. Enzo went over and put the back of his hand under the man's nose. To his relief he was still breathing. Enzo was still wondering what he should do, should he drag him to the School of Initiation with him? Or should he find somewhere else to wait for this guy to awaken.

Enzo was truly too young to figure out something like this. Although he was quick-witted, it wasn't going to save him this time.

"I'll just drag him to the School with me, what's the worst that could happen? I have a token so at least I know nothing will happen to me."

Picking up the man's legs, he began to drag his body up a small slope and it wasn't long before they were back on the pathway near the statue.

However the moment they reached the pathway, Enzo noticed the man's hand, which had been clasped in a fist this whole time, opened. Upon opening, a crystal bead rolled out.

"Huh? What is that?" Enzo couldn't help but let go of the man's legs and see what this bead like thing was. Nearing the bead, he bent down and gently picked it up for inspection. Holding it close to his eye, Enzo could see a swirl of mist and fog spinning inside the bead.

"Woah!" Seeing such a mystifying object up close, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"This bead looking thing was probably being protected by this man. It looks like a priceless treasure, however no matter how precious this is, it wouldn't be right for me to take it from this unconcious man. I also don't have any use for it either." Saying this much, Enzo put the bead in the unconscious man's pocket. After doing that, he grabbed his legs and continued to drag him away towards the School of Initiation.

After being put back into the unconscious man's pocket, the bead glowed a bright blue light.

'R...righteous….' a hushed voice could just barely be heard sounded out from the bead.

The misty swirl from within began to slowly flow out like a faucet. It twisted and turned before flying straight into Enzo's back. It was unknown whether or not it was because he was too weak or the bead itself didn't want it to, but Enzo didn't feel anything enter inside of him. He simply continued to make his way slowly down the path.

…

The School of Initiation Is considered to be the lowest tier school when compared to the other Schools in Striyora. Even though Striyora has been abandoned by their World Spirit, there are still some locations that are more well off than others. Coalfell undoubtedly has the unluckiest spot and can't obtain a lot of elemental rhinestone because of the massive deterioration to their land. Other spots throughout Striyora are luckier and still have some patches with less deterioration that can harbor more elemental rhinestone than others.

Currently, the School of Initiation disciples and elders have just left for Winterville to spar against that villages' School.

Usually, schools would have a gathering to not only determine who is stronger, but also to get as many rhinestones out of them as possible. Five years ago, the School of Initiation lost 10 elemental rhinestone, and only obtained 1 from Wintervilles' School. To the School of Initiation disciples and elders, that was the most humiliating experience for them. Many disciples trained extra hard, and even some elders decided to seclude themselves to train after seeing the other Schools might.

Only during an event like this, would the School be at its most vacant, with only 2/10 of it's usual amount of disciples present. Roughly 100 disciples were currently in the School. Some were roaming the premise in search of enlightenment on how to progress in their training, while others were sitting cross legged in their living quarters visualizing their techniques.

These were actually only the lowest of the low, as only the strongest or most privileged of the School were allowed to attend the sparring match against Winterville.

Two guards stood in front of a massive archway. This was actually the front entrance of the School. These guards weren't trained, they were merely ordinary 1 star disciples who filled in for the 2 star disciple guards who went to watch the sparring match against Winterville.

They leaned up against the archway, bored and left with only conversation with each other to keep themselves from going insane.

"I really wish I could've gone to spectate the sparring match. It only happens once every five years. I should've begged harder, what a massive opportunity to miss!" To the left of the archway, a bald headed guard kicked a wilted bush in frustration.

"Well, how long have you been stuck at 1 star? Get to two star before you start complaining. Us 1 star disciples will never truly be nurtured by the School, so we can only rely on ourselves to improve."

Hearing the small eyed guards words, the bald guard seemed to calm down slightly.

"Sigh, you're right. I've been stuck in the Core Consciousness stage for ten years, unable to ever guide my core power outside of my body. Reaching two stars had been my life's dream…" The bald guard seemed to reminisce with his head raised, seemingly peering into the depths of the hazy sky.

"I'll probably never reach it though…"

Hearing the bald man's words, it was as if he too was reminded of his younger self. He looked down as he remembered how happy he was to finally get his 1 star token. He could see himself walking throughout the villages, garnering everyone's respect. He laughed out loud as everything was at his beck and call. Years went by as he stagnated at 1 star; His position never rising. He felt the contemptuous gazes from his peers as they got their 2 star token, and he was still stuck with his 1 star. The School praising them and offering them better resources, he could remember it all so clearly. Recalling this much, the small eyed guard looked over to the bald guard and said in a dejected tone,

"I-I'm sorry for what I said, how about you become my training partner and we can aim for 2 stars together?"

Looking over at the small eyed guard, the bald man smiled and laughed heartily,

"I'd gladly be your training partner!"

Walking towards each other, they shook hands and wrapped their arms around each others shoulders with exuberance. Suddenly the bald headed guard squinted his eyes as he asked the small eyed guard,

"What's that up there?"

Pointing down the archway, the small eyed guard looked over and saw a weird figure. It looked like 2 people, but it was hard to tell as dust kicked up by the figure obscured their vision. Seeing the weird figure, the small eyed guard started to get apprehensive and said to his new training partner,

"Let's be prepared to fight, If this person has malicious intentions, we can't let our guard down."

"Right." The bald headed guard nodded earnestly.

…

Enzo had been dragging this man down this path for 4 hours, and was surprised he didn't feel tired in the slightest. He also didn't feel any strains towards his muscles, it was like he wasn't dragging anyone at all. When he first started dragging this man, he was able to feel some strain and was getting slightly tired, but then it went away entirely. That sort of surprised him, but maybe it was just his body getting used to it, who knew?

Enzo eventually saw two people up ahead and he let out a breath of relief, he had finally reached the School of Initiation!

He looked up towards the two men standing to the sides of the archway and smiled. He set down the mysterious man as he spoke to the two guards,

"Hello!"

The bald guard looked over to the small eyed one before saying,

"This is the School of Initiation, without proof of identity, we'll have to ask you to leave. We don't tolerate loiterers."

"Ah no problem, no problem. I have a token right here!" Enzo fumbled around in his pocket before pulling out a shiny blue gold token.

Seeing this kid who wasn't even a teenager yet pull out a token, and a blue gold one at that, they were slightly surprised. But when they saw the man behind him, they thought it might be his token and not the boys'.

Enzo passed the token to the bald man and looked at his surroundings. What a place this was! The School of Initiation was the first place Enzo had ever seen not made of mud. It was massive, and angled with a humongous steeple situated on top as if a church. Enzo was blown away that something like this could be built. Who could build this, and how long would it take?

…

Turning the token over, the bald headed guard saw the numbers on the back,

'Room number 55, that's a caretaker room?'

Looking over at Enzo and the man on the ground, the bald guard asked,

"Who's that unconscious behind you? Is he the holder of this token?"

Hearing the question, Enzo had it all thought out.

"Yes, he's my master. We got into a conflict with someone who had that token. As during the fight they knocked each other out and drawed, I was able to loot his token and escape to here. I was hoping that with this token we could take refuge…" Saying up to this point, Enzo looked at the bald headed guard in anticipation.

"Right…" Although the story sounded bizarre, the other party still had a token, and with accordance to the School of Initiation, anyone with a token is considered a disciple.

"I'll take you to the living quarters as written on the token. Mazu, help the boy out and carry his master."

"Yes. "

Seeing that he actually got in, Enzo was thrilled. "I'm a disciple now!"