Spiritual Communication

Chapter 40: Mediumship

"[Medium], a neutral magic-type profession! So... shall I take it?"

Sulu gripped the parchment tightly.

This reading did not grant him any experience, likely due to the material and the nature of the energy it contained.

After all, the previous two sheets had been forcibly snatched by Rhode from someone else's grimoire, whereas these sheets of parchment were more akin to an ordinary diary.

[Ding! Tier 1 profession information detected—Medium! Requirements for profession: Spirit 1.5, Constitution 1.0!... Conditions met! Do you wish to consume 200 experience points to take this profession?]

"As expected... I can take the profession directly!"

Seeing the information pop up on his attribute panel, Sulu's face lit up: "By utilizing experience points, I can advance rapidly and even take on secondary professions..."

Of course, experience points were difficult to obtain.

During this period, it wasn't as if Sulu hadn't begged Rhode to tie his own hands or intentionally lose a match to him.

The result was that the attribute panel simply didn't acknowledge it.

He didn't know if it was because Rhode held no hostility or because he was intentionally restraining his strength.

Wait... this judgment of hostility is very subjective! In the supernatural realm, there are all sorts of bizarre abilities; perhaps one could manipulate others into generating such emotions... and when that happens, that would be a huge wave of experience?

Sulu's eyes brightened: Or... is the panel's judgment based on the threat posed to me personally? There might be loopholes to exploit... No! If I keep thinking about exploiting loopholes, I'll end up killing myself one day.

In reality, he had long known the method to obtain large amounts of experience points: killing!

Personally committing a massive, horrific slaughter would be enough to gain a considerable amount of experience.

But having lived two lives, Sulu had never killed a person with his own hands. Although his worldview had shattered, it hadn't yet reached the point of total collapse or corruption.

Furthermore, in this world—at least within human society—peace was generally maintained. If a butcher were to appear out of nowhere, they would certainly attract the encirclement and suppression of various factions.

Massive slaughter... does that mean I have to join the army? Or... head to an exploration team?

This world was vast. Humans had discovered and occupied less than 10% of it, with vast territories still waiting to be explored and discovered.

Within those dark regions lived all sorts of bizarre creatures, or areas that had formed forbidden zones for life, which were extremely dangerous.

Therefore, the casualty rate of exploration teams was high, but it was also an excellent source of experience points.

It's just that... with my current strength, going to explore the edge of the world is simply courting death. The few great geographical discoveries of humanity all occurred during the Twilight of the Gods. Now that supernatural powers are awakening, it's good enough if we can just hold onto our existing achievements.

Sulu shook his head, casting the stray thoughts from his mind: "Regardless, I don't have enough experience points to advance right now anyway!"

He continued reading.

He discovered that for an ordinary person to take the [Medium] profession, they first needed to consume large amounts of drugs to heighten their 'perception,' thereby constantly moving closer to the requirements of a [Medium].

This step contained great danger. Those with weak wills or those addicted to hallucinogens often ended up truly insane, or they would see things they shouldn't, their mental state becoming abnormal, or even resulting in immediate death.

Once the aspirant's perception finally met the requirements for [Medium], they would perform a 'Mediumship Ritual.' The specific requirement was to stay alone in a completely enclosed room without any sound or light—a military solitary confinement cell was best.

Then, they would create an environment favored by spirits and conduct a dangerous mediumship session to summon a spirit.

Through the stimulation of the entity, the aspirant's spirit would undergo a qualitative change, promoting them to a [Medium].

Of course, the failure rate for doing this was very high, and those who failed were often directly possessed by evil spirits or mutated into monsters.

"According to the description here... the success rate is about 50%. It's basically gambling with one's life..."

Sulu sighed.

The advancement of any supernatural being was no simple matter.

Of course, according to Rhode, for [Soldier] and [Apprentice], as long as one underwent rigorous and arduous training and study, possessed a certain level of aptitude, and had a firm will, the success rate was around 60% to 90%, outperforming most Tier 1 professions.

As for [Demon Contractor], the success rate was only 40%, even worse than [Medium]. It was indeed a high-risk profession.

"If I want to become a [Medium], I have two choices. The first is to directly consume 200 experience points and immediately promote to a Tier 1 supernatural being! The success rate is 100%, or rather, even if it fails, there shouldn't be any danger!"

"The second is to follow the profession information step by step, raising my 'perception' like a madman, and then complete the 'Mediumship Ritual'... even if everything goes smoothly, it would take anywhere from three months to half a year..."

Sulu was certainly unwilling to spend such a long time just to become a 'supernatural being.'

Of course, if some other ordinary person, like Donald, knew there was such an opportunity, his eyes might turn red with jealousy.

It was good enough to have a profession that could lead to the supernatural; how could one afford to be picky?

Only Sulu Portley, with his family background, complete Witch Hunter heritage, and a brother who was a Tier 2 [Witch Hunter], had the qualifications to be slightly selective and avoid some of the major pitfalls.

Sulu steadied himself and continued reading.

The parchment was short, and after recording this content, it reached its conclusion.

"...Catherine and Alanis are like two angels... Darkness, please forgive me for using this word, but I truly cannot think of a better description..."

"Catherine's strength is increasing very quickly. I can see her ambition; the things hidden beneath her fiery exterior make me feel somewhat wary. Perhaps I should restrict her in advance. By comparison, Alanis is very obedient... Her strength advancement is even more rapid than Catherine's. I think I should consider the follow-up to [Medium]—the [Occultist] matters... Kira Gales is an easy person to deal with. And the professional path of [Medium] is powerful enough in the later stages, even involving a certain secret class change!"

Sulu's eyes narrowed as he read this: "[Medium]'s advancement is [Occultist]? Held in the hands of Kira Gales? This name sounds familiar..."

He struggled to recall and immediately remembered where he had seen it.

It was in the university library: Folklore and Belief Studies published by Sunflower Publishing House, and the author was Kira Gales! A famous expert in the field of occultism and an adventurer!

I previously felt that this person's identity wasn't simple. As expected, he is a supernatural being, and... he has a connection with this mysterious person, giving the other party confidence that they could obtain the profession information for [Occultist] from Kira. Perhaps they are all members of the same mysterious organization?!

Sulu felt a surge of excitement: "The Medium career path seems to have at least three or four tiers, which is enough to handle the current situation, and the future potential looks promising! Furthermore, it counts as a neutral profession leaning toward spellcasters, so it might have a specialty in dealing with death..."

Spirits and evil spirits, without a doubt, belonged to the domain of the undead!

Sulu had to admit that in his heart, the scales were constantly tipping toward Medium compared to the Apprentice, whose whereabouts were still unknown.

Anyway, with the attribute panel, even if he took the wrong path, he could always start over!

As long as he had enough experience points, he had the confidence to forge ahead.