Misfortune

"Witch Hunter profession..."

Hearing Rhode detail the darkness and horror of their family's profession, Sulu was rendered speechless.

If he had been interested in the family legacy before, he was now avoiding it like the plague.

Whether one walks the path of the Witch Hunter or the path of the fallen, one must begin by contracting with an Abyss demon... Heh...

A guy who clearly holds such a high status and is likely an evil god—could any good come from contracting with it?

Not to mention, in the orthodox Witch Hunter path, one eventually becomes unable to suppress the demonic power within, requiring other deities to intervene!

Is being contracted by one powerful entity not enough? To do it again—is one not afraid of their soul being torn apart?

"Wait a moment!"

Sulu suddenly interrupted Rhode's narrative: "You said before... the old man, through a ritual, went to a very far place?"

The ritual required for a [Demon Contractor] is called Gaze into the Abyss, a process of contracting with a demon.

Of course, how could an ordinary person possibly contract with a demon in the flesh? It is merely contracting with the plane where demons reside, commonly known as the Abyss, to obtain a sliver of power.

Such rituals are exceptionally dangerous; Tonks had failed once before, which cost him his wife.

Now it seemed he had cooked up some other mess.

"That's right! Father... he always blamed himself, feeling that in the last failed ritual, the Abyss took our mother away!" Rhode's expression was sorrowful. "He always hoped to bring mother back, so through some research, he unauthorizedly altered the effects of the ritual... I can't be certain if the ritual succeeded in the end, but it is possible he went to the Abyss, the place where the true bodies of demons reside!"

It is also possible the ritual failed completely and he was blown to bits, leaving nothing behind... Sulu sighed inwardly. Even if he succeeded and went to the Abyss, would a demon be so easy to talk to? No... perhaps he died from other dangers before he even saw a demon...

Of course, as far as Rhode was concerned, he preferred to hold onto such a hope.

That Tonks was not dead, but had gone to the Abyss to fight demons in order to resurrect his wife.

Neither of them spoke, and the scene fell into silence.

Sulu was the first to break it: "So... you both want me to become a professional, yet you don't want me to walk the path of the Witch Hunter!"

"Yes!" Rhode nodded heavily.

Perfect, I don't want to walk that path either!

Sulu took a deep breath: "Then... do you have information on other professions, or rather, Tier 1 professions, on hand?"

Mentioning this, Rhode's expression seemed somewhat awkward: "Uh... ever since Father left, I worked hard to train, officially promoted to a Tier 2 [Witch Hunter], and actively took action, striking down quite a few demonic thralls and dark forces... Among them, the most dangerous was that secret society that worships death. Aside from a page of a magic book as loot, I did recently obtain some fragmented professional information, but I can't quite understand it; I still need you to study it!"

"Fragmented?"

Sulu was puzzled, watching as Rhode opened the black box he had been carrying.

Inside were savage-looking machetes, grappling hooks, ropes, and other tools... Sulu even saw a revolver.

Rhode rummaged through it and pulled out a black sheet of paper: "This is it!"

Sulu took it and looked, his expression shifting.

The paper was written in Ancient Hebraic, describing a ritual called 'Doom's Arrival'. Its effect was to allow a Tier 1 [Apprentice] to undergo a physical transformation, becoming more attuned to the powers of death and doom, and promoting to a Tier 2 [Doom-Bringer]!

[Doom-Bringer] profession? Isn't this a prerequisite for the advancement of [Corpse Maiden Creation]? As expected, it came from the same organization; it's all cut from the same cloth!

Only now did Sulu realize that this [Doom-Bringer] profession was actually Tier 2.

"This only has information for Tier 2... What about the Tier 1 [Apprentice]? How does one enter the profession?" He looked at Rhode.

"I don't know!" Rhode scratched his head. "If I knew, I would have given it to you directly!"

Without waiting for Sulu to speak, he immediately continued: "However... [Apprentice] and [Soldier] are the two most widespread professional streams. Some larger factions, such as the Church of the Goddess of Light or the Federation government, must have them in their collections! Given our Portley Family's relationship with the Church of the Goddess of Light... uh... I mean, our historically good relationship, obtaining an [Apprentice] advancement through certain trades shouldn't be difficult!"

Does this mean I have a clean background and will easily pass the political vetting?

Sulu rolled his eyes inwardly: "But... if there is a path through the Church, I could join directly and surely obtain better professional inheritance, at least something that wouldn't leave me worrying until Tier 4 Master. Why would I walk such a dark path?"

This [Doom-Bringer] profession, no matter how you looked at it, was on par with Catherine's evil profession.

And judging by the Church of the Goddess of Light's attitude toward such transcendents, it could definitely not be called friendly.

In Sulu's view, rather than becoming a rat crossing the street that everyone shouts to beat, it would be better to enter a profession that is bright and benevolent, or at least a neutral one like a mage.

Being an enemy of the Church and even the entire world is not fun.

This is the gravity of choosing a professional path! It was like this in my past life, and I never expected it to be the same in this world... he added a silent complaint to himself.

"Sorry... I didn't consider that."

Rhode patted his head: "Indeed... that secret society clearly isn't anything good; they can only hide in the darkness like rats in a sewer, so it's not a good profession! But... even if you could successfully join the Church and gain recognition, accumulating enough merit isn't easy, and the same goes for the Federation government... Furthermore, my thought is that if you choose this necromancy-type spellcaster profession, perhaps it will be of some help in dealing with Beatrice in the future!"

Right, there's also Beatrice; I almost forgot about her...

Sulu was startled.

If he became a necromancy-type mage, it would indeed provide a certain bonus in suppressing the opponent.

In that light, becoming a [Doom-Bringer] didn't seem entirely unacceptable?

But the key was still to first obtain the information for the Tier 1 [Apprentice]. This was the prerequisite for the Tier 2 [Doom-Bringer]; without first becoming a transcendent, there was no way to consider advancement.

"I... I need to think about it some more!"

Sulu gave a cautious reply.

"Hmm, regarding your future transcendent path, it is indeed something that requires careful consideration. The profession system is incredibly complex... I can only say that you must be prudent. Do not be greedy for temporary ease, only to completely sever your future path!"

Rhode nodded. "You don't have to attend classes lately, right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Sulu felt a bit puzzled.

"Then I need to find a place to train you for a while, to make up for the education missing from your family! This will be very useful for you later on!"

Rhode answered solemnly.

So that meant there would be more tutoring?

Thinking of the items resembling torture devices inside that chest of his, Sulu couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.