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The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling.
We are told at the beginning ofSolo Levelingthat a hunter’s power is fixed from the moment they awaken.This is what sets Sung Jinwoo apartas the protagonist, as the only character whose power can level up after he acquires the System. With a few minor exceptions, Jinwoo is the only one we see at the beginning of the series who can grow stronger.
However, Season 3 ofSolo Levelingwill likely introduce a character that will turn this foundational rule of the world on its head. This character, a psychic named Norma Selner, possesses the power of an upgrader, allowing her to grant increased powers to hunters in a similar vein to a reawakening.Jinwoo may have to deal with previous enemieshe has outscaled, who are gaining new powers of their own to attempt to rival his.
Who is Norma Selner?
Her Power To Enhance Hunters
Around a decade before the series began, Norma Selner was a woman who already possessed a form of psychic power, even before the hunters awakened. When the gates started to open and magic flooded into the world, Norma’s natural psychic abilities were enhanced with her awakening. Her awakening as a hunter granted her an enhanced sight that, among many other things, allowed her to see into the future. She also gained the ability to upgrade the powers of other hunters, which is possible thanks to her enhanced ability to see other people’s auras and source of power.
Those who gain the benefits of Norma’s enhancing ability receive a substantial 20-30% boost in power over time, and it has seemingly no major drawbacks for the recipient. However, for Norma, the upgrading process is taxing, forcing her to rest for long periods afterward. This means she has to be selective with who she upgrades, since she can’t upgrade everyone that the FBH might want her to, and is only able to help a few potential candidates every year.
“As you know, all the awakeners have a limit. No one can exceed it. So, unless you are reawakened, you will never be able to reach a higher rank… I have the ability to help others go past that limit.” Norma Selner explaining her powers to Jinwoo in Chapter 109.
Jinwoo Meets With Norma
The Experience Terrifies Her
In theSolo Levelingmanhwa,Jinwoo becomes quite famous after his interventionduring the Jeju Island raid. His fame starts to extend outside of his native Korea, reaching the ears of the esteemed Federal Bureau of Hunters based in the United States. The FBH holds a great deal of power in the world ofSolo Leveling,using a secret weapon to keep strong hunters under their employ and control. This secret weapon is the psychic and upgrader hunter Norma Selner. By offering foreign hunters the chance to get stronger, the United States recruits a vast number of strong hunters and maintains a powerful position on the world stage.
Michael Connor, the Deputy Director of the FBH, attempts to bring Jinwoo under their control by tempting him with the power of Norma. Since the upgrading process takes place in three stages, Connor hoped that giving Jinwoo a taste of upgraded power would leave him no choice but to join the United States for the other stages. However, when Norma meets Jinwoo and attempts to use her power on him, what she sees inside of him causes her to lose her composure, and she screamswhile witnessing a vision of Jinwoo’s power.
“When I looked into him, he was also looking back at me. It wasn’t Hunter Sung Jinwoo, but rather, it was the endless darkness inside him…it was looking at me!! And… he… he does not have a limit.” -Norma Selner shaking in her seat while describing what it was like to look at Jinwoo’s aura in Chapter 109.
Connor’s plan to entice Jinwoo is foiled because Norma’s powers seem not to be able to affect him. Unlike other hunters, Norma considers him a “king” who has no limits, meaning that her ability to increase the limits of a hunter’s power would be useless to him. Jinwoo seems not to understand any of this, staring at her confused as she screams in agony. Connor excuses Jinwoo, who is escorted away. While Normamay not have been able to enhance Jinwoo’s powers directly, she did improve the powers of dangerous hunters like Hwang Dong-soo, who is plotting his revenge against Jinwoo and his family.
Solo Leveling
Cast
A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
