The Two Cowardly Old Men's Backstage Went Haywire

"Aren't you the chieftain? Can't you just suppress them?"

"Suppress? How? I am the chieftain, yes, but I am still just a chieftain. I must respect tradition; I don't have the authority to defy it." Kramsh explained to Arando with a bitter face. "In Avalon, tradition is tradition. That cannot be changed. If I were to openly violate tradition, I don't even know how the others would react. At the very least, I would be stripped of my position as chieftain and sent to the Frost Snow Land for penance."

"No way, just for a chance to become a legendary shaman? That's only a possibility. Besides, becoming an Arcane Knight isn't exactly a bad path." Arando found this tradition completely incomprehensible. Furthermore, as an Arcane Knight, he naturally looked down upon the primitive profession of shamanism—after all, professional prejudice is everywhere.

"Forget it. That 'legendary Arcane Knight' you speak of, isn't that also just a possibility? Besides, we Avalon Orcs look down on any spellcasting profession other than shamanism. If you go around telling them how 'badass' an Arcane Knight is or how much better it is than a shaman, you'll definitely get a face full of fists. Better not."

To increase his persuasiveness, the old man had to educate Arando on the traditions of Avalon. During the Year of Dark Boiling, the prophet Garul had gone through great hardships to bring the orcs who followed him to Avalon. To ensure his kin would not fall into chaos and evil in the future, he painstakingly reinterpreted the primitive Shamanic Doctrine, focusing it more on order and distancing it from evil. He had his shamans tirelessly preach and proselytize to all Avalon Orcs, leading all orcs living in Avalon to accept and believe in this new Shamanic Doctrine.

In a sense, to the Avalon Orcs, the prophet Garul was like a deity, revered by all. Naturally, the shamans, as the direct inheritors of the prophet's teachings, were respected by every orc living on this land.

Therefore, in Avalon, even though every orc aspired to be a great warrior, it did not mean they would look down upon shamans.

Because orcs lacked innate talent for spellcasting, the number of shamans in Avalon had always been small—currently, there were at most two hundred, with even fewer legends. Thus, in the eyes of the orcs, any orc with the potential to become a legendary shaman was incredibly precious.

After embracing order, the Avalon Orcs placed even greater emphasis on tradition. These traditions were considered the wisdom of the prophet, which every Avalon Orc would strive to uphold; otherwise, how would they be any different from their chaotic cousins? Some Avalon Orcs even believed that it was these traditions that made them stronger and taller than their cousins.

So, for an Avalon Orc shaman to abandon their path was as serious an event as a priest apostatizing in the churches of the outside world. Not to mention the opposition of the clans, it would certainly invite the intervention of the Great Elder of the Frostblade Clan. Moreover, Kramsh himself believed in the Shamanic Doctrine; he couldn't even bring himself to ask Solam to abandon the shaman profession.

After hearing Kramsh's explanation, Arando immediately realized that making Solam give up shamanism was impossible. Arando was a smart man; he wouldn't insist on doing the impossible. But he couldn't just give up either. He had finally found such a great seedling—someone with spellcasting talent, immense intelligence, and excellent physical condition. No matter how you looked at it, he was a perfect candidate for an Arcane Knight. Whether for the sake of revenge or his own professional legacy, he couldn't easily let go.

So, like all smart people, Arando decided to compromise.

"What if I have Solam dual-class as an Arcane Knight? Would that violate your traditions?"

"That wouldn't. There are no restrictions in the tradition regarding that. The prophet himself was an excellent warrior." Hearing that Arando wasn't going to be headstrong, the old man Kramsh breathed a sigh of relief; otherwise, he really wouldn't have known what to do.

"Oh, that's good. One more question: if Solam can't become a legendary shaman in the future, will you blame him?" Arando didn't believe that once Solam embarked on the path of an Arcane Knight, he would still care about the primitive, boring shamanic path, so he asked in advance. He didn't want to harm the child.

Kramsh wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what his old friend was planning. He just felt that this didn't break tradition—at most, it was skirting the edges. And after learning of his old friend's plight, Kramsh really couldn't bear to refuse.

"That's no problem, but we still have to ask for Solam's own opinion. Otherwise, it'll be hard to handle."

"Haha, don't worry about that. On the way here, Solam kept pestering me to teach him. I just didn't expect this situation back then, so I didn't." Arando truly hadn't expected Solam's talent to be this good.

"Then it's settled. Let's decide on this." Kramsh happily agreed.

"Will anyone object?" Arando was still a bit worried.

"Don't worry, even if someone objects, I can handle it. I am his grandfather, after all; I can make this call." Kramsh said with great magnanimity: "Come, come, since it's settled, there's nothing more to say. Let's drink."

And so, the two old men continued to drink.

After a night, both old men were drunk and didn't wake up until the next afternoon.

That afternoon, they told the others about the decision. Solam naturally had no objections and was, in fact, very happy. Even if others had dissenting opinions, they were useless under the old man's intimidating presence.

However, when the news reached Granny Karom in the evening, the old lady immediately grabbed her flail and, without a word, swung it at the old man's face. Despite Kramsh's grand talk yesterday as if he could handle anything, reality was cruel—someone had come to slap his face immediately. If the old man hadn't remained agile, he would have been in real trouble.

Arando watched, dumbfounded, as a fierce orc grandmother chased Kramsh everywhere with a heavy flail. By the looks of it, she intended to beat him to death. In his impression, the usually hot-tempered Kramsh didn't even dare to let out a peep, only fleeing in a sorry state.

He was a legendary warrior, after all, and had the advantage in stamina. After chasing him for a long time, Granny Karom hadn't managed to do anything to the old man, but she had exhausted herself.

At this point, the others in the household arrived and hurriedly pulled the old lady back, comforting and persuading her until the situation finally stabilized.

But as luck would have it, the old lady suddenly spotted Arando, who was feeling guilty and preparing to slip away. Her "small universe" exploded; she broke free from the others, cast Heroic Spirit Possession, and charged forward to challenge the old man Arando to a duel.

Although Arando didn't know who this orc grandmother was, seeing his old friend Kramsh cower, he naturally followed suit. Just by looking at the others' attitudes, he knew this old lady's status was definitely not low. Thus, he too was chased by the terrifyingly buffed old lady.

Honestly, if Arando hadn't known magic, he would have been left with half a life by now. Damn, she was too fierce! Even in a real fight, Arando wasn't sure he could win. Arando had always thought shamans were weak, but now he was scared silly by the old lady's ferocity.

Seeing the old lady use spells, the others didn't dare to intervene; charging in might lead to accidental injury. Anyway, the old man was capable, and it would be quite difficult for the old lady to truly hurt him, so they could only watch from afar.

That night, the orcs of the Warsong clan witnessed such a scene.

Granny Karom chased the old chieftain and his human friend with her flail. The sorry state of the two old men was beyond description. She didn't give up until she had chased them out of the camp. However, the old lady still stood at the camp gate, hurling insults, scaring the two old men into the night until they disappeared from sight. The clan's loyal warriors could only watch as their chieftain was driven out of the camp without saying a word.

But the old lady wasn't finished; she shouted that these two bastards had better never come back, or she would make them pay. She also threatened the others not to harbor them, or they would be considered accomplices and face the same fate. Seeing this, the others knew the old chieftain had truly angered Granny Karom this time—otherwise, he wouldn't have been so guilty—so they knew what to do, swearing to obey the "Old Empress's" orders.

The two poor old men had to stay in the wilderness. Kramsh, in particular, felt he had never been so humiliated in his life. In front of his old friend of many years, he was chased by an old lady, and to make matters worse, he wasn't allowed to go home. It was as awkward as it could get.

"Hmph! If it weren't for the fact that this old woman is older than me and a woman, I would have shown her!" You can't lose face even if you lose the fight; he had to talk tough, or where would Kramsh put his old face?

Arando looked at his old friend, speechless. Damn, he didn't even want to admit he knew such a coward. If you're so tough, say that to her face! You didn't even dare to make a sound earlier, why are you acting like a big shot in front of me now?

"What kind of look is that? I just didn't care to lower myself to her level. Don't think I'm afraid of her. What did I say? Right, it's respect. Yes, respect."

Damn, why do I know such a coward? It's too embarrassing. Arando still didn't speak, just looked at Kramsh with disappointment.

"Damn it, what's that look again? If you do that again, I'm going to get angry."

At this moment, Arando's look turned into pity.

"Fuck! If you're so capable, why didn't you fight back? You were chased just like a dog, too. If you have the guts, go back and try." Kramsh then looked at Arando provocatively.

And then, Arando cowered.