21st Century Necromancer

On the Enoden Line to Kamakura, Chen Yu was teasing Audis, who was lying unwillingly on Hiromi Jounouchi’s lap.

As a pet with self-awareness and a dignified air unlike any other, belonging to a Necromancer, Audis had believed itself to be utterly different from those cats that only knew how to meow cutely since Chen Yu brought it home.

Perhaps, before that, it had just been a small stray cat, one that couldn’t even act cute. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have become a stray and could have found a sympathetic young girl to serve as its litter-scooper, leading a happy cat life.

But for Audis, when it was critically injured and near death after fighting with other stray cats, the little stray that could only meow had already died. The entity now alive was the magical pet resurrected by Chen Yu—the great black cat Lord Audis. Its life had undergone a completely different transformation.

Chen Yu’s modification of Audis was not merely about bringing the black cat back to life or just enabling it to speak.

Certainly, a spellcaster’s pet isn’t simply about keeping an animal; apart from retaining their original appearance, they had long become creatures completely different from their own kind. Rather than calling them animals, it would be more accurate to call them magical creatures, or more specifically, magic pets.

Magic pets can be considered the closest companions of spellcasters, or even, in a certain sense, a part of them. This part is not merely a metaphor, but a statement of fact. Because spellcasters and their magic pets have long established the most intimate connection, one that could even be described as being on a soul level.

Some radical spellcasters would even part a fragment of their own soul, allowing it to reside in their magic pet, and Necromancers typically do just that.

Of course, when Necromancers part with a fragment of their soul to reside in a magic pet, it fundamentally differs from what other spellcasters do. As masters who manipulate souls, the soul fragments parted by Necromancers are not solely for raising the intelligence of their magic pets or for sharing their power.

The soul shard parted by the Necromancer would serve as their last line of defense. When the Necromancer’s body is destroyed, or even when the soul itself is severely damaged or annihilated, the Necromancer could attach their soul to the magic pet, or even use the pet’s body to resurrect themselves. This soul shard is their last hope for revival.

Having gained its own intelligence and knowledge shared by Chen Yu, Audis naturally considered itself not just a simple black cat or pet. It was a powerful magic pet of a Necromancer, capable of tearing fierce ghosts and peeling grudge spirits alive, powerful enough to stop infants’ night cries.

However, now, this so-called powerful magic pet Audis was lying on Hiromi Jounouchi’s thighs, belly-up as Hiromi scratched its chin. Despite showing extreme reluctance with a sour feline face, Audis could only let Hiromi manipulate its body, under Chen Yu’s irresistible command.

"Mr. Chen Yu, why did you suddenly decide to come to Kamakura?" Hiromi asked, curiously, as she pet the cat and looked out the train window at the glimmering sea.

Facing this question from Jounouchi Hiromi, Chen Yu merely smiled at her and said, "Once the surgeries and research were over, I naturally wanted to take a vacation to relax. Besides, I’m very interested in Hachiman Daijingu Shrine and the Great Buddha of Kamakura, and I’ve been wanting to visit them for a while. Plus, Hiromi, don’t you want to go on a date with me?"

Upon hearing Chen Yu’s words, Jounouchi Hiromi’s face naturally flushed with embarrassment, and she found herself at a loss for words. After all, deep down she was truly eager to go on a date with Chen Yu and enjoy a sweet holiday together.

While Chen Yu’s main goal was indeed to have a date with Jounouchi Hiromi, he had another motive that he hadn’t shared with his girlfriend, and that was his intention of coming to Kamakura to investigate whether there really was Transcendent Power in this world.

Having witnessed Daimon Michiko perform surgeries enhanced by the Power of Faith within her, Chen Yu obviously wouldn’t consider it an isolated case. After all, compared to a surgeon, those religious institutions and gods that had existed for hundreds or even thousands of years would naturally accumulate a stronger Power of Faith.

To say they possessed no Transcendent abilities would be something not even ghosts would believe.

The reason for visiting Hachiman Daijingu Shrine in Kamakura was because it was one of the three most famous Shrines in Japan.

Since the Muromachi Shogunate period over a thousand years ago, it has been at the core of Samurai families’ beliefs, worshiped for centuries, and to this day, it remains exceedingly popular, along with Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha, as a core place of faith in Japanese Shinto.

By Chen Yu’s estimation, a place like this, with centuries of accumulated faith, would likely have cultivated one or two beings capable of wielding Supernatural Power, which would be perfectly normal.

If there was not a being with Transcendent Power here, then Chen Yu would have to search for such beings at the legendary Ise Grand Shrine, which was ordered to be built by Amaterasu Ōmikami herself, or at Izumo Taisha, where the eight million deities hold council.

After all, if even these three locations, deeply imbued with mythology and faith, lacked beings with Supernatural Power, then there probably wouldn’t be many Transcendent beings throughout all Japan.

However, the fact that Daimon Michiko, a mere surgeon, could unwittingly utilize the Power of Faith suggested that Transcendent Power might not be as rare as Chen Yu had initially thought.

As for why Chen Yu hadn’t discovered the existence of Transcendent Power in the world before, on one hand, he was originally just a mortal and couldn’t perceive the true essence of the world before his promotion; on the other hand, he had always adhered to the law and never flaunted his Transcendent Power, so it had gone unnoticed. Otherwise, people would have likely sought him out long ago.

Reflecting on this, Chen Yu was grateful for his caution an adherence to the law, but he also felt a twinge of regret; had he performed miracles in public back then, perhaps someone with Transcendent Power in this world would have approached him while he was in China.

Continue your adventure with empire

Having others to share insights with certainly beats groping around alone, yet whether those who came looking for him bore goodwill or ill intention was something beyond the current Chen Yu’s ability to deduce.

As for why he was now actively seeking them out, it was naturally because after being promoted to a Certified Necromancer, he had the confidence to do so, at the very least ensuring a safe retreat for himself. And after all, he was just here to date his girlfriend, not to stir up trouble, wasn’t he?