Lord: Sequence Master

"My spiritual shadow is in the form of flames. The best choices for me are either the Artist or the Gourmet..."

As this thought crossed Rosen's mind, the Golden Tree corresponding to the Scientist sequence instantly disappeared from his sight.

Next, he eliminated the Gourmet sequence. Most professions under the Gourmet sequence required cooking and consuming extraordinary life forms. Without mountains of wealth, growth within that sequence would be impossible. Thus, choosing the Gourmet sequence was out of the question.

At that moment, the Golden Tree representing the Gourmet sequence also vanished.

Rosen turned his attention to the last Golden Tree, representing the Artist sequence. He observed as its main branches began to expand before him. Each branch symbolized a profession within the Artist sequence, including actor, director, art designer, sculptor, architect, photographer, singer, composer, novelist, playwright, and painter, among many other professions representing human artistic civilization.

Families of nobles with the means often subjected their children to various forms of artistic training from a young age. Those with artistic talent pursued the Artist sequence. Those gifted in invention followed the Scientist sequence. Those with lesser aptitude but skills in cooking or indulgence in life's pleasures could choose the Gourmet sequence.

None of these applied to young Rosen, but for Rosen himself, his only talent lay in drawing.

Without hesitation, he chose the Painter profession branch. As soon as he made his choice, a leaf from the Golden Tree fell and merged with his spirituality. Before long, under the tempering of his spiritual fire, it gradually transformed into a lifelike and exquisite paintbrush.

This paintbrush, enveloped in spirituality, became the core extraordinary essence of the Painter profession within the Artist sequence.

The extraordinary essence is the most crucial part of any sequence, even more so than spirituality. Spirituality, if damaged, can be healed through various means, but harm to the extraordinary essence is rare and difficult to repair. Damage to one's extraordinary essence could halt progression or, worse, lead to losing control of the sequence and turning into a monster.

However, such threats to the extraordinary essence are uncommon, as only beings of Sequence 3 level or higher could cause such damage. Sequence 3 represented the highest echelon of human civilization—after all, even the Grand Duke of the Scorching Shadow Duchy was only at Sequence 4.

As the extraordinary essence condensed fully into the paintbrush, Rosen sensed the birth of his first extraordinary ability, tied to Sequence 9.

Extraordinary abilities are divided into innate and acquired types. Every sequence grants one innate ability, while acquired abilities can be learned later. While there is no difference in strength between the two types at the beginning, acquired abilities require effort to improve, whereas innate abilities grow naturally alongside the sequence.

Spiritual Imbuement LV1: The ability to freely imbue spiritual power into physical objects using the extraordinary essence.

This was the innate ability of every Painter within the Artist sequence. Only through this ability could they imbue their paintings with spirituality, turning them into extraordinary artifacts. The most skilled painters could even transform their works into legendary spiritual realms.

A spiritual realm is a small world attached to the spiritual plane. Some spiritual realms form naturally, while others are man-made. Each realm has its own unique rules and contains extraordinary resources and specialties. Losing control of a spiritual realm signals the inevitable decline of a noble family.

Having successfully transitioned into the Painter sequence, Rosen felt his spirituality weaken and prepared to leave the spiritual realm. At Sequence 9, his spirituality couldn't sustain prolonged visits to the spiritual realm, especially after expending so much energy to condense his extraordinary essence.

However, just as he was about to leave, Rosen noticed that the five Silver Trees had not disappeared.

"Could it be…?"

He tried sensing the five Silver Trees, and indeed, he received the corresponding sequence information.

This meant that, in addition to the Noble and Painter sequences, he could also choose a third profession from one of the Silver sequences.

This was not a benefit granted by the mysterious study, but rather a result of the fusion of his and young Rosen's spiritualities.

First, he ruled out the Doctor sequence—he had no interest in healing the sick or spending his days in operating rooms. The Wizard sequence was similarly eliminated. Like the Scientist sequence, it required constant research, and his primary profession as a Painter already demanded a reclusive lifestyle. Adding the Wizard sequence might mean he'd never see the light of day again.

Next, he ruled out the Assassin sequence. He rarely played as an assassin in games.

That left him with two choices: the Knight and Hunter sequences.

The Knight sequence focused on riding various mounts, from extraordinary creatures to flying ships, mechs, and even warships. Legends even spoke of knights capturing succubi and angels in the spiritual realm and adding them to their collection of mounts. Young Rosen was an excellent horseman, making the Knight sequence a natural fit.

Of course, the Hunter sequence was equally compelling. Hunters could contract any living creature, aside from humans, as pets. They also possessed powerful hunting abilities, allowing them to absorb the talents and skills of the creatures they hunted.

After much thought, Rosen finally chose the Hunter sequence.

The moment he made his choice, the remaining Silver Trees vanished. A silver leaf floated down from the Silver Tree representing the Hunter sequence and merged with Rosen's spirituality.

However, unlike before, no extraordinary essence formed this time. The leaf simply floated in his spiritual flame, transmitting basic information about the profession.

Among the nine sequences of human civilization governed by the World Government, there are technically three types.

The Noble sequence does not generate extraordinary essence; rather, it is rooted in one's noble bloodline. Sequences like the Scientist, Artist, and Gourmet directly generate extraordinary essence through the Golden Trees, completing the profession transition. For these, the World Government covers the costs involved in creating Sequence 9 extraordinary essence. However, advancing beyond Sequence 9 requires personal resources and effort.

Silver sequences, on the other hand, are not as favorable. The Silver Trees provide only a leaf, equivalent to the seed of extraordinary essence, along with a free potion formula for transitioning into Sequence 9. To complete the transition, one needs to prepare a special potion to condense the extraordinary essence.

This is because the Silver sequences originated from alien gods and retained remnants of divine spirituality. Without the aid of potions, the risk of losing control during the transition into a Silver sequence was frighteningly high.

Rosen examined the potion formulas for the various Hunter profession branches and gained a deeper understanding of the Hunter sequence.

The essence of a Hunter is to hunt, but hunting isn't limited to living creatures. Gems, gourmet food, wealth, adventure, criminals—anything humans desired could form a new branch of the Hunter sequence. Among all the extraordinary sequences, the Hunter sequence has the most branches.

The potion formulas for the various profession branches were identical except for the primary ingredient. For example, to become a Gem Hunter, the primary ingredient had to be a gemstone of choice.

Rosen reviewed the required materials, noting that the supplementary ingredients were extraordinarily expensive. It seemed he would need to find a way to make money if he wanted to complete his transition into the Hunter sequence.

After exiting the spiritual realm, Rosen instinctively looked at the row of manga on the bookshelf in front of him. To his surprise, he sensed a faint spiritual fluctuation emanating from the manga.

Curious, Rosen pulled out the first volume of Hunter x Hunter. As soon as he opened the cover, he noticed something extraordinary—the once black-and-white pages had transformed into full color, and the cartoonish characters now appeared in a realistic, lifelike style, each one seemingly alive.

(Chapter End)