Shaman

"What? I have to become a Shaman?"

Solam looked at the old man in shock. It wasn't that he disliked Shamans; after all, having come here from another world, he was quite curious about these spells and such. However, he knew the old man had always wanted him to become a pure warrior. That was nothing unusual, as being a warrior was the first choice for boys in Avalon. He knew how stubborn the old man was—Granny Karom had tried to persuade him countless times over the years, leading to many arguments. Why had he given up now?

The old man didn't say anything when he saw Solam's shocked expression; he just let out a long, depressed sigh. Seeing the old man's look, Granny Karom took over the conversation.

"There's no other way, child. Who told you to awaken your Berserk state so early?"

"Is there something wrong with awakening Berserk early?" Solam had never heard of such a thing.

"Of course there is. You know the origins of us Avalon Orcs, don't you?" Granny Karom replied firmly, then asked Solam about the history of the Avalon Orcs.

"I've heard Aunt Solari say that our ancestors, led by the Prophet Garul, came to Avalon to escape the chaotic and evil ancient Orc gods, and thus formed us, the Avalon Orcs."

"That's correct, but not entirely accurate. In the past, Orcs weren't divided into Avalon Orcs, Black Orcs, and War Orcs like they are now. Ancient Orcs were savage and chaotic; most were muddled, stupid, and cruel. It wasn't until thousands of years ago, with the appearance of the Prophet Garul, that he changed the Shamanic Doctrine and led our ancestors away from that chaotic state of existence, which led to the Great Schism of the Orcs. We in Avalon inherited the Prophet's legacy and maintained the Shamanic Doctrine he left behind. Another group of Orcs embraced the will of the War God, Kampas, and became the War Orcs. Among them, those who refused to change their way of life after the fall of the Orc pantheon turned to evil gods; these are the Black Orcs."

Granny Karom began to recount the distant history.

(Black Orcs have mostly dark gray and green skin, are chaotic and evil, and are the ones seen raiding and killing across the continent. War Orcs have reddish skin and worship the War God, Kampas. Influenced by the Prophet, they also abandoned the old Orc gods but did not adopt the new Shamanic Doctrine; instead, they were recruited by the War God and have established their own kingdom on the vast grasslands between the Dragon Mountains and the Giant's Belt Mountains in the southeast of the continent. Avalon Orcs have yellowish skin, somewhat similar to the skin tone of Asians from the previous world.)

"But what does this have to do with me awakening Berserk?" Solam looked at Granny Karom, full of questions.

"It has everything to do with it! The Prophet Garul discovered that a large part of the Orcs' chaos was due to our innate talent: Berserk. This talent gave us Orcs immense power, but that violent force also eroded our minds. The more one indulged in this power, the more one lost their sanity. The Prophet saw this, which is why he improved the old Shamanic Doctrine to help us move past the influence of rage. Otherwise, our race would forever be looked down upon by others. You must know that in ancient times, other races didn't see us as intelligent beings, but as monsters, no different from ogres or goblins," Granny Karom explained.

"We Avalon Orcs were blessed by the Prophet long ago. Once we reach adulthood, our minds can resist the influence of Berserk, preventing it from clouding our judgment. It even allows our warriors to achieve a higher level of Berserk through training—the Calm Berserk—which retains the power of the rage while keeping a cool head. But there are always accidents. Some children who haven't reached adulthood are stimulated and manifest Berserk too early. Because these children cannot withstand the influence of the rage, they trigger it more and more frequently, until many become insane and eventually die from madness. This is why we never tell you children about Berserk; we are afraid you might try to use this power without knowing the consequences."

Damn it, things were serious. Solam hadn't expected that sneaking out to hunt would have such dire consequences. Although he was confident in his own mental fortitude, who knew how bizarre this world was? If he wasn't careful, he might end up a lunatic. To Solam, those who couldn't handle the aftereffects of Berserk were essentially becoming mentally ill, and the thought made him shudder. Still, he could just control himself and not use Berserk in the future; he was confident in his self-control.

"Then I just won't use Berserk in the future. That should solve the problem, right?"

"Heh, setting aside whether you can even avoid it, would you still be an Avalon warrior? And even if you could, what if you're in a life-or-death situation? Can you really control it? You should know that if you can't control the influence of Berserk, your temper will become harder and harder to manage. Eventually, you might even go berserk just because the weather is bad."

The old man interjected coldly. It was true; to the Orcs, Berserk was a warrior's most important means of countering magical beasts and spells. Berserk not only increased a warrior's strength and physique but also boosted their resistance to magic.

Without this, an Orc warrior's combat effectiveness was effectively halved. Otherwise, how do you think the ancient Bloodaxe Clan hero Reginald Tomya fought his way in and out of the Devil's battle formation three times? If not for the high magic resistance provided by the advanced Calm Berserk, he would have been blown to bits by the concentrated magical fire of the devils long ago.

Therefore, in Avalon, warriors who could not use Berserk were considered "castrated" and not true, orthodox warriors. This was the most important reason why the old man had finally given up on Solam following the path of a warrior.

"...Then if I become a Shaman, can I escape the influence of Berserk?" Solam asked. Although he had no obsession with becoming a warrior, he felt unhappy about giving it up for such a reason.

"Of course. As a Shaman, you can naturally resist Berserk. You should know that the Prophet Garul himself was addicted to Berserk for a time when he was young, but he eventually escaped this power by walking the path of the Shaman."

"Then if I become a Shaman, can I still be a warrior? Since Shamanic power can resist the influence of Berserk, couldn't I just control it?"

"In your dreams! Once you become a Shaman, you completely lose the ability to use Berserk. As for why, the Prophet passed down the Shamanic Doctrine specifically to eliminate that power; why would he let you have another chance to touch it?" Kramsh the old man spat at Solam.

"Uh..." Solam scratched the back of his head, having been scolded by the old man.

"Ahem!" Granny Karom gave a fake cough, interrupting their interaction. "Ram, are you willing to become a Shaman yourself? You must know that your own will is very important. If you cannot internally accept the Shamanic Doctrine during the ritual, it will not succeed."

"I'm willing, of course. I don't want to end up crazy." Solam didn't have any objections to becoming a Shaman. Besides, becoming a Shaman wasn't like becoming those frail mages; he could still carry an axe and hack people to pieces. He had seen Granny Karom chase the old man all over the place with her heavy flail. A Shaman was just a warrior who could use spells but couldn't go berserk—the description wasn't entirely accurate, but it wasn't far off.

"Good, that's settled. Now, let me tell you about our Shamanic Doctrine..." She then began a long-winded lecture.

Shamans are the spiritual leaders of the clan and tribe. They communicate with spirits and elements, possess the ability to foresee the future, and guide their people through difficult times in dark ages. Many mistake their wisdom and calm for a pacifist nature. In fact, when challenged, Shamans possess powerful abilities to deal with those who disrupt the natural order.

Shamans believe that all things have spirits and can communicate with the earth, fire, storms, and water; they exist in a state of equal communication. The Shamanic Doctrine warns us to save the dying and heal the wounded, and to cherish life. Therefore, Shamans do not kill other living beings for reasons other than filling their stomachs, and they do not kill the young unless necessary.

However, they are much better off than Druids; they do not lose their power for violating the doctrine. But there is one point where Shamans are stricter than other spellcasting professions: they cannot fall into chaos. Once they fall into chaos, a Shaman's power is immediately lost. There are no strict requirements regarding good or evil; as long as you do not destroy the natural order, it generally has no effect. Thus, a Shaman can kill countless people, but if you go out of your way to try and destroy the world, you're just overthinking it.

There are several types of Orc Shamans in Avalon. One type is the Spirit Shaman, who specializes in communicating with spirits. This type of Shaman can converse with the spirits throughout the world and soothe souls. Much like the monks of his previous life, they can transcend restless undead and restore them to peace.

These Shamans excel at healing and positive buff spells, and they can also cast curses (turning people into frogs is one such example). Most importantly, they can summon Heroic Spirits. A Spirit Shaman can allow a Heroic Spirit to possess them, thereby significantly increasing their own strength and combat skills. For example, although Granny Karom is an old lady over 60, as long as she summons a Heroic Spirit to possess her, fighting a prime warrior like Solam's uncle is like child's play.

And that is only because the old lady is only level 17. If she could cross level 20 and reach the Legendary level, she could directly summon Heroic Spirits to descend, manifesting one to three Legendary Heroic Spirits to engage in a group fight. Thus, generally speaking, facing one Legendary-level Spirit Shaman is equivalent to facing multiple Legendary-level opponents.

However, advancing to Legendary as a Shaman is very difficult. In addition, Spirit Shamans can use certain rituals to communicate with spirits to answer questions or even predict the future. However, the future is unpredictable—even the gods cannot accurately predict it, let alone Shamans—so it is generally not very reliable.