Profession

"God dwelled in the void, unseen by the world.

"The bad, the ugly, the filthy, and the evil gathered in the void, becoming God's enemies and provoking God.

"God was good, beautiful, kind, and great.

"He commanded God's enemies to disperse.

"God's enemies did not obey.

"He then commanded God's enemies to become good.

"God's enemies did not obey.

"Thus God appeared in the world. Upon beholding God's true visage, God's enemies died one after another, their corpses piling together and exuding ill omen.

"Seeing this, God began to build the world with the bones and flesh of God's enemies.

"Transforming the bad, the ugly, the filthy, the evil, and the ill-omened." —Divine Word: Genesis

When moonlight spilled over the earth, Adam headed toward Jin's place.

The journey passed without incident. Adam found it slightly strange, but did not dwell on it.

The moment he opened the door, the little bird flew over and landed on Adam's head. Adam glanced at his shoulder, then flicked his eyes upward toward the top of his head without saying anything.

"Hahahaha, what is that on you?!" Jin pointed at the bird atop Adam's head and burst into laughter, clutching his stomach until his face turned red.

"Is your funny bone really that low?" Adam did not mind. "Teacher Jin?"

"All right, all right." It took Jin quite a while to stop laughing. He waved a hand, poured himself a cup of wine, sat by the bed, and raised his glass as he began his first lesson.

"Let's start with professions." Jin hesitated briefly before speaking.

"Professions are paths to obtaining extraordinary abilities. The common ones are sorcerers, knights, witch doctors, and cultivators."

"Among them, the knight's evolution led to the nobility. By now, noble is both a profession and an identity."

"And regardless of the profession, its essence lies in the use and development of the Three Elements."

"The Three Elements?" Hearing the technical term, Adam's mind was stirred into motion.

"That's right. The Three Elements are the soul, life, and nature."

"Take sorcerers as an example. Sorcerers begin with perception, touch upon the soul and draw forth spiritual power, then use spiritual power to interfere with nature through various rituals. Their later cultivation also centers on spiritual power."

"Witch doctors, however, focus mainly on nature. They make use of all kinds of things found in nature, harmonize them through various methods, and brew all kinds of potions."

"But that focus is only a matter of emphasis. Many potions also require the guidance of spiritual power during brewing, or the sacrifice of one's own life force. Likewise, quite a few sorcerers study the power of life and have developed many rituals that act upon life."

"The Three Elements are inseparably connected to people. Professions were divided only because human energy and talent are limited, forcing people to focus on one aspect. Over time, that gradually formed professions."

"Then what about bloodlines?" Adam asked.

"Bloodlines naturally fall within the Three Elements as well." Jin took a sip of wine and looked out at the moonlight beyond the window.

"Life is inheritable. A son's appearance resembles his father's; innate traits such as hair and eye color are inherited from parents and ancestors."

"Bloodlines formed because the surging spiritual will of one's ancestors also became part of that inheritance."

"Passed down through life, containing the spirits of one's ancestors."

"The difference is that the bloodlines of otherkin are accompanied by sin, while those of nobles are accompanied by glory."

"Sin?" Adam frowned. He did not like that way of putting it.

"Sin is also a part of nature within the Three Elements. It is simply a kind of natural power not recognized by the Church, which believes it to be a continuation of God's enemies."

"Whenever otherkin reproduce, sin and the spirits of their ancestors are passed down through life, turning into seeds that grow as the descendants' lives begin to develop."

"Just as people eat to grow their life force, bloodlines absorb corresponding natural power through sin and become the source of power for transformation. It is like possessing a second body that grows on its own."

"Cultivators are different. They use perception as a means, transforming spiritual power into the power of faith to sense God's existence. They then accept God's power and obtain holy power and divine arts."

"God created this world and manifested in countless forms, and is regarded as the greatest natural force."

"Therefore, cultivators are the strongest of all professions and the fastest to take shape. After all, their patron is the greatest."

"The awkward position of sorcerers lies in the fact that they have no taboos, daring to use any natural power. Even if some sorcerers use only natural powers related to God, cultivators still accuse them of theft."

"Therefore, sorcerers, witch doctors, and similar professions are all gray professions. Most Churches look unfavorably upon them, while some extremists even consider them heretics no different from otherkin."

"Only the early knights were recognized by cultivators. Unfortunately, as the nobility evolved, everything changed beyond recognition."

"Knights mainly leaned toward life among the Three Elements. Originally, they were a profession developed by some cultivators within the Church who lacked strong spiritual talent but wished to continue advancing. Thus, they were initially called holy knights."

"At first, holy knights were God's most loyal warriors. But as they made use of the power of life, they eventually formed the rudiments of bloodlines."

"However, these rudimentary bloodlines merely made descendants more talented in the power of life. Unlike otherkin bloodlines, they could not pass down power."

"So at the time, someone proposed using holy power as a bond, allowing the power of holy knights to be passed down to their descendants forever."

"But not many holy knight families remain now, while noble houses have sprung up everywhere. That tells you this method had a problem."

"In one battle, a powerful knight defeated every enemy and was praised as an undefeated legend. His life force spread into the surrounding natural environment and, under the influence of the unconscious spiritual power formed by people's praise, became solidified."

"That was merit."

"Descendants who inherited his bloodline could use their own similar life force to draw upon the natural power of that region and gain power corresponding to their ancestor's merit."

"For example, with the legend of the undefeated, so long as his descendants stood within that region, no one could defeat them, as though they had been born possessing the very element of victory."

"This inevitably led to regional division, sparking the Divine Valley Rebellion."

"And with sorcerers meddling in the matter and the lack of faith among bloodline descendants, noble crests eventually took shape. They symbolized noble bloodlines, reputations, and merits. Even if a descendant's life force was not strong enough, they could directly use the crest to draw upon the power of merit."

"Nobles were deeply entangled with cultivators. For that reason, the Church did not reject the power of the nobility. As time passed, the current situation gradually formed, with nobles becoming one of the continent's top powers."

"Of course, that does not mean noble factions can rest easy. When a legend is severed, or changes occur in the bloodline passed down, the merit may be lost and fall away, requiring it to be solidified anew."

"And that requires vast amounts of materials and resources, as well as the help of sorcerers. That is why Mansla cared so much about the smuggling business." Jin clearly knew all the ins and outs of the various professions.

"So that's how it is?" Adam finally had a clear understanding of this world's extraordinary power system. The theory of the Three Elements truly encompassed the essence of most extraordinary powers and served as a foundational theory.

"That's right. The secret of professions lies in how different methods are used to improve one's use and mastery of the Three Elements."

"Among them, perception is considered the first element." Jin did not continue. Instead, he asked Adam, "Which category among the Three Elements do you think perception belongs to?"

"It should encompass all three." Adam thought for a moment before answering.

"For example, the basic five senses are based on the body, while inspiration and intuition seem more rooted in the spirit and soul." Adam analyzed earnestly. "And the essence of their existence is to better observe the world."

"That's right. Therefore, most professions should begin with perception."

"Sorcerers awaken perception, then use meditation to block out or disregard other bodily senses in order to strengthen soul-related perception and thereby excavate spiritual power."

"Knights awaken perception, repeatedly temper their bodies, constantly observe themselves during training, then merge their will into their bodies and perceive the life force flowing within them."

"And bloodline sorcerers like me sense the existence of our bloodlines through perception as they mature, gradually excavating the potential of those bloodlines, continuously strengthening awakened abilities, and even gaining some of our ancestors' abilities in the process."

"It is precisely because professions are built upon the Three Elements that most professions have five stages."

"They are: Sustain, Overflow, Refine, Return, and Ascend."

Thanks to You Yu Shi Ma, Empty Mountain Crow Crying with Somehow Increased Pressure, Dao Ming Gui, and Calm and Fury for your tips. Thank you for your support.