21st Century Necromancer

Supernaturalists have existed in this world since ancient times.

In the savage tribal era of humanity, groups of people who possessed supernatural power had already appeared among mankind. They were known as witch doctors or shamans back then, and they harnessed supernatural powers through either the worship of mysterious deities or the study of the supernatural power itself, becoming the earliest professions of humans to harness supernatural powers.

Apart from professions like witch doctors and shamans, there were also warriors who repeatedly tempered their bodies to break the limits of human physique. For instance, in ancient myths and legends, heroes who could challenge gods and various monsters took a different path of transcendence.

With the changing times, the legacy of supernaturalists also changed, gradually evolving into three main categories: devotees who worship deities, warriors who temper their bodies, and spellcasters who study supernatural power. Due to cultural and detailed differences, they are known by different names around the world.

The priests, fathers, knights, and mages of European civilization, and the Taoist priests, monks, qi cultivators, and swordsmen of The Orient--different names do not change their essence. All these titles represent the nature of supernaturalists.

Japan also has similar professions and titles, such as the well-known Onmyoji, ninja, and samurai known to Chen Yu. These are Japan's native extraordinary professions. However, with the difficulty of passing on the traditions and the comfort of modern life, fewer and fewer people are willing to endure the hardships and learn these arts. As a result, supernaturalists are becoming increasingly rare.

In the past, due to the differences of each profession and the secrecy of their legacies, they each had their own standards for categorizing the levels and powers of supernaturalists.

However, with the development of civilization, the deepening of exchanges between different cultures, and the in-depth study of supernatural power, a set of commonly recognized appraisal standards has now formed within the community of supernaturalists.

This set of standards roughly divides supernaturalists into several levels: apprentice, formal supernaturalist, expert, and master.

This division is easy to understand. The apprentice is just someone who has just come into contact with supernatural power and is still in the learning phase. No matter what the extraordinary profession, this is a stage that must be experienced. There is no such thing in this world as an extraordinary profession that is invincible upon first contact. Everyone grows from weakness step by step.

As for formal supernaturalists, this category is not as straightforward to understand as the apprentice level, because it is defined by the standards for each profession's apprentices to become masters. After all, if you, as a supernaturalist, have not even met the master standard of your own profession and are still an apprentice, you cannot be called "formal" in any case.

Someone like Daimon Michiko, who has supernatural power but hasn't even figured out what abilities she possesses, can't even be considered an apprentice, because she hasn't even entered the door.

Of course, this appraisal standard is just an evaluation and not the clearly defined division found in novels or games. There won't be so-called bottlenecks at each level that need to be broken, as if it were a game where tasks must be completed to raise the level cap.

Due to different professional systems and cultural backgrounds, the standards for becoming masters in various professions can also differ. This is like the tightly organized Catholic Church and the well-established knight system, where becoming a master is obviously much more difficult than that of a tribal witch doctor in Africa.

In general, however, the so-called master standard is about whether the apprentice's application of supernatural power has reached a certain level and standard, and the overall difference is not particularly notable.

As for the distinction between experts and masters, it's relatively broad, but generally quite understandable, an expert is someone who has delved deeply into the application of supernatural power in their profession and grasped a qualitative change.

For example, a necromancer like Chen Yu, who has mastered negative energy and necromantic power, that is one path from being a formal professional to becoming an expert.

However, Chen Yu's necromancer profession clearly has certain differences from the extraordinary classes of this world, and in terms of research and application of supernatural power, Chen Yu has already far surpassed other transcendent beings in this world.

As for a master, they are those who have grown profoundly in the application of supernatural power, surpassed their peers, and begun transforming the essence of their life to approach the true sense of Transcendence to Holiness. However, this term is often just an honorary title, as fewer and fewer people in this world are able to complete the transformation of their life essence.

Regarding those who have transformed their life essence and grasped the qualitative change of supernatural power, reaching an even higher level of transcendence, the priest did not elaborate to Chen Yu but simply mentioned that they are called legendary.

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Through his conversation with the priest, Chen Yu also generally understood the situation of the supernaturalists in this world and was able to gauge where his abilities would be classified.

Although by the standards of this world, he had mastered the qualitative change in supernatural power and advanced in the hierarchy of life, strictly speaking, he had not reached the level of Legendary Life because the promotion in his life level had not reached the legendary stage, he was just slightly stronger than the average person.

As for the qualitative change in supernatural power, in this respect, Chen Yu indeed had the confidence to call himself an expert, since he truly had mastered the qualitative change of supernatural power through necromancy, entitling him to the title of expert.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

So now, according to the standards of Earth, Chen Yu would be approximately at the level of a master, but in terms of combat ability, he would be more equivalent to an expert since he had been working alone in research and exploration and had not experienced fights among supernaturalists, hence his lack of experience.

However, the priest also told him that in today's lawful society, in Japan, people no longer indulge in violent conflict, and even combat-oriented professionals only spar with each other, rarely engaging in life-threatening battles.

Plus, the country has departments and special forces composed of supernaturalists, suppressing a few troublemaking supernaturalists as simply as playing a game, so it's been many years since the last fight to the death between supernaturalists occurred.

Conversely, war-torn regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East still witness fights among supernaturalists, providing a path for those who wish to hone their combat abilities.

Finally, the priest informed Chen Yu that although supernaturalists are rare, they are not extremely uncommon, and there exists a Supernaturalist Association in Tokyo that facilitates communication and internal trading among Japanese supernaturalists. The priest suggested that Chen Yu could visit if he had the time.

Hearing this news, Chen Yu was naturally very pleased, and after thanking the priest, he took his leave.