"Quiet, quiet." Semis's palm hands coughed in the same moment as he spoke, clearing the talking between the students who had gathered before class officially began. You and Kiri were already sitting in silence, as the two of you never really spoke in class, but the other tables were more talkative for the most part. "Today we're going back over a basic lesson, for the benefit of those who were not here last we went over it. And to refresh the knowledge of those who may have not been paying attention." A look was paid over to the table in front of you, where your cousins sat. "I know a handful of you are approaching your Iron Breakthrough, so it's important info to keep in mind."
He started to write on the board, his coral chunk dragging across it as he wrote the word 'Foundation', "That's right, we will be talking about how we judge a Sacred Artist and Beast's strength, and the tiers - or ranks - that are used to judge them. The simplest of which is this one." A tap to the board next to the word Foundation, "Who can tell me about the Foundation rank?"
Unlike usually, basically all of the class raises their hand. Not just you and Tane, "Kanoa." He motioned to the Spire-Carver who always sat with their younger sibling as he called on the girl's name.
"Foundation is babies. Babies and toddlers and uhm, super young kids." They nodded, "It's when you can only strengthen your Pure madra, not anything else. You're not even really a Sacred Artist. Your family handles teaching you and making sure you're doing things safely and stuff."
"Basically a correct summation; very few people live at Foundation for long. There are some with spiritual or physical disabilities that prevent advancing further than Foundation, but those cases are few and far between. Most of these cases have other, related health issues, and so long term survival is... well, nevermind." Semis nodded, a smile on his face as he got to question someone who didn't normally speak, even as he spoke of the less than stellar topic, "Now, what do we know about Coppers? Ah, Kalia."
Kalia was another non-frequent speaker, though not as silent as Kanoa, "Coppers are where we start judging someone as a Sacred Artist. It's when you start changing your Core from Pure Madra to following an actual Path, by absorbing Aura." She remained with her hands balled on the desk in front of her as she answered, "Copper children are taught techniques by their families, and guided by those specialized in teaching others on basic knowledge expected of any Sacred Artist. We also start to spar, because every Sacred Artist should be able to defend themselves." A pause for just a moment, "Unless, of course, you have potential to become a Slaughter Artist."
A nod from Semis at the last point, "Close. You can, technically, open your Copper sight without ever changing your Path, and be a Copper with Pure Madra. There are even cases of people who reached Iron or Jade while utilizing only Pure madra. Taking in Aura is not required for any stage of advancement. It just is highly advisable - it would likely take most of your life simply to reach Iron, were you to only utilize Pure madra." Semis smiled and let the kids murmur as he talked to them of the idea of Pure Madra paths, something you'd never really heard of, "As for Slaughter artists, we will cover those in another lesson, I promise."
"In the distant past, Iron was the stage in which we declared someone to Truly be a Sacred Artist." Semis didn't ask for a student to explain the next level, as he wrote it on the board, "For it is the stage where you reshape and reform yourself with the strength of your Madra. If you've ever felt your madra burning you, harming you, felt like you were losing control of it, that's because your madra is simply becoming too powerful for your body to handle. So you remake it. You mold it into a new, less flawed form, baptized in your own might." Your cousins and Kalia look particularly interested as he talks about Iron; and you know for a fact that those three were likely the closest in the class to reaching it. "Even the weakest Iron is stronger than the strongest Copper, and tasks that you find exhausting now will be trivial when you advance."
"Socially, Iron is when you will start taking a proper role in your family. I know some of you might already know a bit of your family's duties..." Semis looked between you, Kanoa, Kalia, and Tane, "But you will be expected to join an apprenticeship as an Iron. That means learning from a teacher of Lowgold or better, to at least gain the rudimentary knowledge needed to assist them in their work. For students like you of the direct lines, you will likely learn from your own mother or father, though that is hardly set in stone. Your parents will be able to request another to take you under their wing, if they believe your specialty is similar to theirs." His smile shrunk a little as he continued, "This is also the stage where you will start being properly instructed on combat. In Copper we... allow you to experience the chaos of combat, so that you can harden yourself to pain and try to build instincts for the future. In Iron, your physical education will shift from basic strength training to the arts of weaponry and dueling."
"Lets discuss Jade socially before we talk about the specifics of this class - the first of which is that your mandatory education will end. These classrooms will be a thing of the past, a memory either good or bad depending on you. Furthermore, as a Jade you will be expected to find a way to earn Scales. Whether this is continuing as an apprentice under whoever taught you in Iron, learning the art of Remnant capturing, or simply becoming skilled at Forging, your family will no longer fully be supporting you. You will be expected to find a significant other, to create a home, and to eventually plan for expanding the family - or to prepare to adopt, for cases that do not seek to have their own families. You will prepare to take responsibility for your own life in this stage, for this is the gateway to adulthood."
"If Iron is when your body becomes truly the body of a Sacred Artist, Jade is when your spirit becomes that of a Sacred Artist, as you deepen and condense it." One of his hands gave a little chuckle as he said that joke, "At this stage, you will develop a more refined sense for madra and aura, allowing you to look more deeply at the world around you, to estimate people, places, things, in ways you never could before. A popular saying is that Copper allows you to finally see color in the world, while Jade allows you to finally perceive depth." He hummed as he said that last bit, or at least his hand mouths did as he nodded along, "This is when you can truly begin to understand your Madra. It is also where you will learn to properly Veil yourself, as your spirit will be... strong enough to require it."
"You will need to figure out with this understanding what path lies ahead of you. For students like you, who walk your family's pure paths, that means choosing what Path you want to walk in the future. When I was a Jade, I chose to walk what is known as the Path of the Poisoned Heart, where I mix Blood and Poison. I chose this Path because it offered me a great deal of versatility as long as I had knowledge; I can steal away the pain of someone suffering like the Path of the Slumbering Pulse by utilizing a toxin, or burn away parasites like the Path of the Burning Blood with another, so long as I am careful and have studied ahead of time." He held up his hands as he did this, showing off the mouth hands in a way he rarely did, "Once I made my decision, I took my core, condensed as possible, and I created a trap within it, a swirling vortex without escape. And I absorbed the Remnant of a Twin-Headed Sea-Leech, that was once a being of Poison and Blood."
"Now then, what is a Remnant is... a fairly important question to ask, I suppose, as we talk about advancement. I will have a more compelte lesson on those in my Iron classes, but; a Remnant is just what it sounds like, the remaining spirit of a powerful creature or Sacred Artist. These are not 'ghosts' as stories tell about, they're not the same being - but they are what remains of them. Remnants are useful for a myriad of things - refining, smithing, cycling, and more - but they're also how most human Sacred Artists reach the stages we know as Gold. By absorbing a Remnant into a properly prepared Jade Vortex, you absorb a massive amount of madra in one go, and can push yourself far beyond what you could normally handle, letting you step into Gold." He pointed one finger at the palm of his hand, "This leaves you with a marking, also known as a Goldsign, which can vary greatly from person to person - from extra limbs, wings, or tails, to more esoteric things such as a voice like a bell or hair that looks to be on fire, and with a spirit that is much denser than that of Jade."
"This, however, is not the only way to enter the stage of Gold." Semis wrote on the board a simple words - bonds, "Unlike people - humans, rather - spirits and beasts do not struggle as often with the transition from Jade to Gold. It's much, much easier for a spirit to advance without outside influence than a human. And we can use that to our advantage. A spirit bond is caused when a human and a beast or spirit open their cores to one another, sharing their energies across it. A Gold spirit is easily able to cause a Jade human to become Gold." He then crossed out the word bond, one, then twice, scribbling it completely out of existence, "We do not practice this method here, however. The largest reason being that we do not have stable populations of friendly spirits or beasts." He nodded in the direction of Tane, "Despite many attempts by the Depth-Watchers to domesticate ocean spirits or the creatures within the oceans, none have managed to achieve both intelligence and friendliness."
"The third way to enter the stage of Gold is the simplest and also the hardest," He writes the word 'time and effort' on the board, "If you cycle for long enough, and strengthen your spirit with an intense amount of aura, you will push yourself into Gold, in theory, in the same manner a beast or spirit manages. Most humans can only achieve this with frankly insane amounts of resources." He writes down 'elixirs' after crossing out 'time and effort', "This is a wasteful process. Absorbing a remnant comes with a myriad of benefits, and much of the downside of unwanted Goldsigns can be prepared for, by simply selecting more carefully what sorts of Remnants you absorb. We do not do this, because doing so is pointless vanity; the only time it would be theoretically acceptable, to me that is, is if you pursued a Path with madras that are... difficult to find in combination, such as combining the energies of Life and Death, or Light and Shadow, or an aforementioned Pure madra Path. And none of you should be doing these things."
"There are other, rarer paths, but none of which have ever been practiced on these Spires, or attempted to be. Tales from outsiders and outcastes that are only half understood or remembered."
He cleared his throat as you all murmured about the comments he had made, you heard one of the kids at Kalia's table - the Depth Watcher whose name you still hadn't learned properly, oops, - talk about how gross the idea of bonding with a fish was.
"Lets talk about Gold. We divide gold into three discrete ranks within it, though the entirety is known as the Gold stage. Lowgolds are what I am, what most of your parents are, and what you enter as soon as you capture your Remnant. If Jades are expected to prepare for adulthood, Golds are expected to step into it. You will find your own home, you will fund your own lifestyle, you will marry, have children, and settle into a life as an adult. You will, of course, be fully independent, free to make your own choices - unless your Family head has other ideas." Semis chuckled as he said that. "Very few family heads are happy when a young Gold does not wish to be wed."
"At this stage, you will stop dueling. Even a Lowgold has the power to destroy a Spire - at least in theory, should their path be destructive enough and their intention equal to that. That is the kind of power you can wield as a Lowgold, with a spirit that if not veiled will sicken Coppers." You pause for a moment, as Semis lightens - but does not lift - his veil, letting his power pulse out over you for just a brief moment. It's uncomfortable, like you're suddenly swimming through mud despite just sitting there. His spirit shrinks back to not feeling different at all from the other students soon after, "As a Lowgold, you will likely now be either head of your own workshop, clinic, or team, or in an instructor position within whichever one you joined at Jade, with Iron apprentices seeking you out for guidance. One of the few exceptions being if you dedicate your time to become an instructor at these classes, the classes for the adoptive children, or classes for Outcastes. We are by no means paid richly, but there is an amount of respect for being willing to dedicate your time to learn the art of guiding many minds at once." A sly little smile on his face as he said that.
"Advancing within Gold is just a matter of cultivating your core for many a year, not only from the ambient energy of the aura around you, but through absorption of the Remnant that you have trapped in your spirit. This is another reason why Remnants are the best method of reaching Gold." He crossed his arms, nodding as he said that, "After all, a Remnant is a mass of madra that should be of the Path you choose to walk. Slowly breaking it into pieces and integrating it into your core is one of the key parts of advancing in Gold. In this way, a stronger Remnant is better - some will wait in Jade for years to find a Highgold Remnant of the path they wish to follow. Others will shift their Path entirely because a Highgold - or even Truegold - Remnant that was partially of their family's Path was found."
"If you reach Highgold, and not all of you will - and that is not to shame any of you I swear this upon my name - you will be one of the dozens amongst hundreds below them. There is no acceptable reason for a Highgold to not be leading their own workshop, clinic, or team - you cannot work under anyone but a Truegold, afterall, and family heads do not run anything but the families themselves. If a Highgold speaks, you will listen. One in every dozen Sacred Artists have the talent to reach Highgold, and of those many choose to focus on matters other than advancement and lose their chances. The more responsibilities you have, the harder it is to grow yourself." Semis spoke as if that was sage wisdom, though you didn't quite get it yet. "An angry Highgold on a destructive Path could potentially destroy multiple Spires before being exhausted entirely."
"Truegolds are even rarer than Highgolds. It is often said that only those with Truegold Remnants can reach Truegold, but that even that is not a guarantee. Of note, there are only four upon these islands currently. Two Depth-Watchers, the Matriarch as well as her younger brother, the Soft-Storm Patriarch, and of course our great protector and patriarch of the Swift-Steps." He nodded to Kalia as he said that, "Perhaps the daughter of a Truegold shall follow in his steps, hmm?" He chuckled with that remark. "An angry Truegold could destroy all of the Spires on their own, if they were unopposed. It would take time, it would take effort. But it could be done."
And then there was a pause, an underlining of Truegold, "If the family heads at most are Truegolds, does this mean that there exists nothing beyond that stage? Is Truegold the peak of all power?"
A large circle is made, and the word 'Lord' is written in it, "No, of course not. We know this both from the knowledge of outsiders, and from some of the beasts that have invaded our homes, such as the Calamitous Jaw that attacked when most of you were young, and took the life of the last Swift-Step Matriarch even with four Truegolds and two dozen Highgolds fighting it." You could visibly see a level of fear from Semis, but also the same ambitious look in his eye as when you were working together on your cycling technique, and he'd talk about his dreams of understanding the Sacred Arts. "Lords, as the Outsiders call them, are beings who are... beyond gold. They have stepped into a further realm, and stopped being fully human. A truegold will age and die in the same way as a Foundation man, though perhaps more gracefully. But a Lord apparently can live for hundreds of years, even multiple hundred as their powers grow. These Men are.. no longer Men. Thus we call them Lords." A sagely nod from the teacher.
"If we know that Lords exist, and we have surviving records of ones being... 'reborn', why do we not have them?" Semis circled the 'elixirs' from earlier, but also write 'treasures' and 'aura density', "Becoming a Lord is not purely a matter of having enough power, of filling your spirit to the peak of Truegold. It is an act of purification and reassembly far beyond an Iron baptism, requiring what we believe to be an inhuman knowledge of the Self. It also seemingly requires the types of resources that, if we possessed them, could create a dozen Truegolds for the same cost. More even than that, people have tried to reach this realm here on these lands; and they have failed, costing their families riches that could have made their position more stable than any other. Perhaps due to the makeup of our Aura, perhaps due to some secret to the advancement we do not understand. It has only ever resulted in colossal wastes of valuable resources."
"The only known Lord to our realm was the First King, Rangi. Even his successor, with the lost teachings of Rangi himself, could not manage to step into that realm. Some Outcastes claim that our land is cursed, that the aura here spites those who would pursue Lordship. And while I am not one to believe Outcaste ghost stories, the truth is we know for a fact that outside of these lands Lords are not unknown. Uncommon, perhaps, but far from unknown, as they would be to us if not for the accounts of those who lived outside these Stormwalls. But perhaps one of you will manage to reach beyond Truegold, and become a Lord. Or perhaps it is for the best that none have claimed that power thus far."
"Remember one truth, as you move forward through the ranks; Sacred Arts is the answer. But you have to decide for which question." A pause as he gave a few nods, and then a little chuckle, "Or at least, so says the little remaining words we have of King Rangi's teachings to his students. It's up to you to decide what that means."
