C9 Apprentice

After bursting out from Anne's body, Odin was on the verge of opening the door to flee when a message flashed before his eyes.

"Escape from the Wraith: Constitution -0.1, Spirit +0.2."

With this revelation, a thought sparked in Odin's mind. He abandoned his plan to escape and instead turned to charge back at Anne.

Anne hadn't anticipated Odin's reversal. Unable to halt her lunging motion, she collided with him.

Odin, being corporeal, and Anne, a Wraith, should not have been affected by the collision. Yet as Odin passed through Anne's form, a chill enveloped him, reminiscent of plunging into an icy cavern in the dead of winter.

But the message that followed brought a smile to his face.

"Escape from the Wraith: Constitution -0.1, Spirit +0.2."

That was all he needed!

Without a second thought, Odin invested empirical value into the three professions of the Raven God.

"Initiate as Ghost Rider."

As the thought solidified in Odin's mind, he felt a thump in his head, as if struck by an unseen force. Had his mental fortitude been any less, he might have collapsed then and there.

"Consuming 300 empirical value, initiating as Ghost Rider... Mental strength requirement: 2.0. Requirement met! Advancement commencing!"

Odin now realized why a mental strength of 2.0 was necessary to become a Ghost Rider; without it, the ordeal could have been fatal.

Suddenly, a cacophony of bizarre voices filled Odin's mind, coming from every direction. They claimed to be trees, flowers, weapons, and even his bed seemed to possess a spirit. It was clear that the Ghost Rider's domain was indeed peculiar.

"Initiated as Ghost Rider! Spirit +1! Skills acquired: Astral Projection, Soul Snare, and Soul Communication."

With no time to dwell on the details, Odin quickly scanned the new information and lunged once more toward Anne.

As he lunged forward, his hands became semi-transparent, as though he could grasp the Wraith itself.

At that moment, Anne couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, "That's impossible! How can you perform a Soul Snare?"

Odin immediately grasped the situation. Anne wasn't lacking a Transcendent job; she had become a Ghost Rider under the Raven God's command, using astral projection to launch an attack on him.

Realizing the gap between him and Anne, Odin acted without hesitation and seized her neck.

Gone was the sensation of plunging his hand into icy water; Odin effortlessly captured Anne's neck.

Instinctively, he began pulling Anne's Wraith out, while various methods for sealing and managing Wraiths raced through his mind. He could seal it within his own body, shatter and absorb it, or even encase the Wraith in a gemstone to craft various artifacts and weapons.

After seizing Anne's neck, several ideas crossed Odin's mind. Ultimately, he grabbed the ink bottle from the desk and stuffed Anne into it.

Securing the ink bottle's cap, Odin's hands traced over it, each movement etching mysterious runes into its surface.

These runes were meant for sealing a Wraith, a skill that would normally take a Ghost Rider months to master. However, once Odin's transition into a Ghost Rider was complete, these abilities were imprinted in his mind, and he wielded them instinctively.

Anne tried to escape, but once confined within the ink bottle, she found herself unable to leave. She could only wail within the ink, slowly blending into it until she fell silent.

With everything settled, Odin sat down at the edge of his bed.

Clutching the ink bottle in one hand and bracing himself on the bed with the other, he finally allowed himself a moment of respite, now with time to assess his new profession.

The Ghost Rider—capable of soul communication and Wraith capture, could explore the Spiritual World through astral projection, converse with Wraiths, or have them possess a body to unravel mysteries. A Ghost Rider could also harness Wraiths to craft items or enhance their own abilities.

Upon reviewing the messages, Odin understood the nature of a Ghost Rider's situation.

A Ghost Rider's abilities lie not within the physical form but within the soul. They can engage in astral projection to move about freely, much like Senior Anne, who can traverse between the Spiritual World and the real world, transforming into a formidable Wraith to ambush enemies.

Additionally, a Ghost Rider can communicate with Wraiths. For instance, if Odin hears a sound, it's likely emitted by a Wraith, and he can engage in dialogue with them.

When Odin captured Senior Anne's body, he was uncertain about where to seal it. It was his bed that revealed a seemingly fine ink bottle, its contents a mystery to him.

That's when Odin managed to seal Senior Anne's Wraith.

The sealing power stemmed from the Soul Snare ability, and a Ghost Rider with a physical body would see a marked improvement in their ability to capture Wraiths, likely due to Class regulations.

Presumably, this is to ensure that after a blood sacrifice, Class members can more easily capture stronger Wraiths to augment their own powers.

This explains how Odin, a newly initiated Ghost Rider, was able to apprehend Senior Anne, whose level was indeterminate.

Ultimately, soul communication is an ability that allows for direct mental interaction with humans or Wraiths, without the need for spoken words and at an incredibly rapid pace.

However, Ghost Riders face certain challenges. Post-astral projection, the body begins to lose its life force and, without proper preservation, can only survive for a maximum of seven days. Moreover, the body must not be too distant; the greater the distance, the weaker the Wraith's power becomes. This is evident in Senior Anne's inability to kill Odin outright.

The Soul Snare, too, is problematic. It's not an offensive skill but rather a means to capture and seal a Wraith. Coupled with soul communication, which can reveal one's location when contacting others, it's clear that Ghost Riders lack offensive capabilities at level 1.

For Odin, this poses a significant issue. Given Senior Anne's abrupt emergence, it's apparent that he's now on the Ebon Hand's radar.

This time it was Anne, the senior student, but who would it be next time?

He realized he needed to acquire some offensive skills to be able to defend himself.

At that moment, Odin checked his status bar.

He noticed that after his successful initiation, the information for the other two Classes of the Raven God remained, but the empirical value needed for initiation had doubled from 300 to 600.