A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 79 The Secret of the Extraordinary
The sound of rain hitting glass came from outside the window. After the beginning of summer, the sky along the coast of the southern continent became cloudy and changeable. The drizzle came in waves, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, and drifted towards the city.

The door of the Dema Tavern was closed. The three of them sat on high stools in front of the bar. Ankuya lit a cigarette and continued to talk about the strange power.

After introducing the six combat classes, the boss didn't immediately help Quinn choose. Instead, he said calmly, "Transcendents are divided into legal and illegal. You must be mentally prepared for the social consequences of taking potions."

“Is legal and illegal the same as possessing a gun?”

Quinn thought of the American gun license.

If everyone is extraordinary, he won’t be in chaos, right?

"Legal supernatural beings are generally divided into two types: those affiliated with the religion and those affiliated with the state."

The boss got a handful of roasted melon seeds from somewhere and drank the water with them with great relish. In between eating and drinking, he said:
"The Church of God selects believers with steadfast faith to become its own clergy, and also gives a small number of them combat potions. Combat believers form the armed forces of the Church of God, such as the Inquisition of the Church of Light, the Great Tree Guards of the Returning Tree Cult, and the Witch Forest of the Full Moon Cult."

Quinn was once threatened by Father Maud with the "Inquisition" and was deeply impressed by it.

"Where do these people usually appear?" Quinn asked cautiously.

"Oh, if you don't believe in religion, then you'd better pray not to encounter them on weekdays."

".Why?"

The boss didn't answer and got up to pour some water.

His cup was empty, and he seemed to not want to talk without drinking.

Ankuya, standing nearby, added, "Those who become combat-class transcendents are the most fanatical and insane individuals in each church. They usually pray in church and only leave when they're on a mission."

"Task?"

"When extraordinary events occur." Ankuamu looked at Quinn, her eyes hinting at something - such as the strange phenomenon in the sky and earth half a month ago.

The boss came back with a bottle of wine.

"There are many kinds of supernatural events. Common in cities include paranormal events, chaos caused by magical items or magical animals, human sacrifices and massacres caused by cultists, and supernatural beings who use supernatural powers to commit crimes."

Quinn finally understood what the "water" his boss was drinking was. He was holding a bottle of clear distilled liquor with "96% Alcohol" and "Water of Life" written in large letters on the bottle.

He poured a full glass and drank it down in one gulp eagerly, his throat rolling.

"Kaha." The boss breathed a sigh of relief, which made Quinn's eyelids twitch.

The boss is definitely not an ordinary person. Can an ordinary person live to be sixty years old by drinking like this?
"Different people will handle extraordinary incidents depending on their nature. For example, those arcanists who robbed the jewelry store a few days ago are under the jurisdiction of the Arcane Department. There is no Arcane Department in Eswell City; the Academy is in charge." The boss glanced at Ankua. "Did they catch them?"

"It's almost there." Ankuya didn't want to interrupt.

"The church's transcendents are usually responsible for dealing with heretics, demonic believers, and abyssal transcendents. If you encounter a transcendent outside of the church, it means that you are likely involved in one of the three incidents mentioned above. Just be on your own."

Quinn smiled in relief.

I have already encountered the demon believers and the abyss transcendents. If there is another cultist, shouldn’t I be able to unlock and collect them all?

"Illegal matters are usually handled by the government. The government's extraordinary people are all combat-oriented, generally archers and ninjas, because these two fates are relatively easy to advance in the middle and low sequences, and the training cost is not that high."

"The extraordinary people in each kingdom are either the elite in the army, or the powerful or wealthy - very powerful people. Ordinary petty nobles and upstarts have no access to these things."

Quinn asked curiously, "What kind of boss are you?"

"I?"

The boss took a sip of wine and looked natural.

"I've been a thug for the cult and a civil servant for the king. But it's currently illegal."

Quinn suddenly realized.

No wonder Ankuya said that he knew a lot about extraordinary people and had a rich resume.

"Legal extraordinary people are not necessarily trained by the divine religion or the country. Some people obtain potions through various channels or by chance. Extraordinary people without backgrounds usually call themselves 'adventurers'."

"They are legal because they are registered."

"Register?" Quinn was puzzled. "Where do I register?"

"It doesn't matter where you register, any religion, any country, or the Adventurers' Guild." The boss paused. "Registration has only one purpose - to conduct regular inspections to ensure you don't lose control."

Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly. Out of control?

"Do you know the mental hospital at 15 Third Street in Eastville? That's where people with extraordinary abilities are examined. There's a hospital like this in almost every city, and the cathedrals of the major religious denominations can also perform mental evaluations. After the examination, you need to mail the report to the place where you're registered. You have to do it every four months. That way, you're 'legal,'" the boss said in a cold tone.
"The mental hospital's examination report will not be made public to you. If you show signs of losing control, the local state forces or the Church of God will directly detain you. There are also many cases of direct execution."

Quinn frowned as he heard this and subconsciously asked, "If the report isn't made public, how will the extraordinary know if they've been wronged? Who will oversee the power of the state or the cult?"

“No one’s supervising.”

"'Out of control' is a universal excuse for dealing with supernatural beings. As long as they believe you're out of control, they can resort to force against you. If you don't return the regular inspection report within a certain period of time, you will be wanted worldwide. You will become an abnormal supernatural event until you are eliminated by the country or the cult."

"You can also choose not to register and become an 'illegal supernatural being.' The price is that you must hide your supernatural powers, pray that they won't be discovered by the country or the cult, and spend your whole life hiding in the dark like a rat."

The boss knocked the box containing potion ingredients on the bar with his wine glass and asked slowly:

"Think it over carefully. Do you still want to become a transcendent even if this is the case?"

Quinn was silent for a long time.

No wonder Grindelwald’s freshman guide had a separate item: “Report if you have taken extraordinary potions.”

".What exactly is loss of control?"

"It's a curse of supernatural power, boy."

The boss walked up to Quinn, looking down at him, his tone devoid of emotion: "Losing control is a kind of madness that ordinary people will never understand in their lifetime. You need to maintain your sanity and humanity at all times and not be assimilated by the madness of extraordinary characteristics."

"Once you lose control, at best you'll become a mad psychopath, at worst you'll lose your human form and transform into a monster. If you're lucky, you'll be killed by the cult early on. If you're unlucky, you'll unknowingly kill countless people and become a disaster that threatens everyone. Losing control is almost irreversible and tantamount to death."

Quinn repeated in a low voice: "Assimilated by extraordinary characteristics?"

Disaster

Is this why the government hides the existence of extraordinary beings from the people?

But why don’t I feel anything after taking the Useless Man potion?

"There are nine sequences of extraordinary destiny. The survival rate for those who drink the sequence nine potion is about 50%. Five out of ten people will become extraordinary, and the remaining five will either go crazy or die. There are no cases of cure."

"Sequence 9 to Sequence 8 is considered the first step in the ladder of transcendents. If you can survive Sequence 9, then the risk of advancing to Sequence 8 after digesting the potion is not high."

"The second tier is Sequence Seven to Sequence Six. While still at a low level, this stage possesses power beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. The success rate of advancing to Sequence Seven is one in three. Those who fail will either explode or lose control."

"The so-called 'Mid-Sequence' is the third tier of Transcendents, from Sequence Five to Sequence Four. Only one in ten succeeds in reaching this level. Even a country wouldn't have many Mid-Sequence Transcendents. A small country probably wouldn't even be able to gather enough to feed the little brats. You have to pay for drinks—"

Ankua poured half a glass of whiskey for Quinn and another for himself.

He was also very romantic and used his magic wand to make some ice cubes to adjust the taste.

"Keep the bill." Ankua and Quinn clinked their glasses, with no intention of paying.

"Boss, how strong can the mid-sequence power be?" Quinn asked impatiently.

The boss thought about it and explained with a simple example:
"Humans can barely reach the strength of the first tier without taking potions. Sequence Nine and Sequence Eight, while powerful compared to ordinary people, will still die if shot."

"But the second tier is different. The extraordinary power at this stage is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Ordinary weapons cannot threaten them, especially after reaching Sequence Six, where they can practically walk across an entire city."

"And if used properly, the third-tier, mid-sequence Transcendents can determine the outcome of a small-scale war. They are usually relied upon by rulers to stabilize their countries. At this stage, Transcendents are no longer distinguished between legal and illegal. Even if they are illegal, as long as there are no obvious signs of loss of control, the cults and countries will not provoke them. The cost of dealing with them is too high."

The boss seemed to explain why he, an illegal supernatural being, could open a tavern so openly.

Has he reached the middle sequence?
According to the probability he mentioned, only one out of a hundred people who took the potion could become a mid-sequence.
"How long does it take to advance to the middle sequence at the fastest?"

"The fastest?" The boss scratched his head. "It's hard to say for Clerics; it all depends on the gods' preferences. For Warriors, it depends on how quickly they digest the potion. After digestion, they still have to collect new potion ingredients. Mid-series ingredients are very rare, so there's no guarantee."

"What if everything goes well?"

".About five years."

I don't know whose reference was used to draw the conclusion.

Quinn clenched his fists.

Five years. If the mysterious woman in Merlin's tomb hadn't lied to him, another time traveler had become a transcendent five years ago.

Same as Ankuya's speculation.

The hero at this point in time will most likely be a mid-sequence!

(End of this chapter)