Child of Destiny

……

Shin was very satisfied with the Sacred Relic that he had gotten. Even though it was not a main weapon like Arthur had and not as domineering and easy to recognize as Leonard’s helm, this cloak pretty much suited his taste.

He could also keep a low profile with this, making him able to trick most of his opponents.

But now that he realized that something like this existed, he started to become more wary of his future rivals. Given that most of the players who could create their own legends within the game could possess such a powerful item, the competition in the future would be much more difficult.

Recollecting his thoughts and adjusting his mindset, Shin finally decided to check out of the inn. It was time to do his real business next.

He had to hurry if he did not want to be left behind by the rest of the leading pack. Arthur and Leonard had already given him an idea about how difficult the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quests could be, so he had to make haste to get used to it as soon as possible and look for a solution on how to clear it.

After walking out of the inn, he immediately headed out of the city and found a secluded place in a random region.

He then swept his gaze at the surroundings, making sure that there was no one around. After that, he took out a token from his inventory and held it tightly in his hands.

This token would lead him to the Trial Grounds where he was supposed to clear his class promotion quest.

Shin observed the token for a couple of moments as he was somewhat captivated by the radiating auras that it was emitting. The black and white auras were very familiar to him since they were the power of the Brilliant Sun and the Abyssal Moon.

A few moments later, he closed his eyes while injecting his mana into the token.

Swoosh!

The token shone brighter when he did that, illuminating the whole place with its blinding light.

Swoosh!

A moment later, the light suddenly shrunk with an imaginable speed along with an invisible sphere that swallowed Shin’s figure before disappearing.

Whoosh!

Shin did not feel anything strange until a few more minutes had passed. This confused him a little, making him frown deeply.

He waited for a few more minutes before finally deciding to open his eyes. The moment he did that, he could not help but squint his eyes once again while protecting them with his right hand.

A brilliant light suddenly blinded Shin when he opened his eyes.

It took him quite some time before he was finally able to adjust himself. When his vision finally returned, he quickly swept his eyes on the surroundings as he discovered that he was already in a foreign place.

He was standing in the middle of an ancient ruins that he could not recognize. Just a little further away, he could see the tall trees surrounding the whole ruins, which gave him a rough idea of where he was.

But after a few more moments, he found that something strange. He could feel that this was not supposed to be his destination. He could feel that he was not in a trial ground, or any isolated dimension meant for a test or anything.

Trying to confirm his suspicion, he quickly opened his virtual map. That was when his suspicion came true. He was still in the Atlas World even though he did not know where exactly he was.

From what he heard from Arthur and Leonard, he was supposed to be sent to an isolated word for the trial, so the virtual map could not be used in that place – or at least not the map meant for the Atlas World.

If he was going to get a map, then it was supposed to be the one meant for that trial ground.

Thud!

While he was lost in his thoughts, Shin suddenly sensed someone appearing behind him.

The step of that person was very silent and could not be sensed easily, but for Shin, who always kept his ‘Sensing Circle’ active along with other sensory techniques, sensing the unknown person was nothing.

Swoosh!

Turning around, Shin quickly grabbed the hilt of the [Yamato] and swiftly unsheathed it. He swung it as he spun around while also entering the state of Reality Manifestation.

Shing!

‘Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Flash Orbit’

Swoosh!

The sword cut through the air as he spun around.

His actions were a little too fast for an ordinary person to respond, but it was nothing in front of the person who sneaked behind him.

There was something standing behind Shin and he could clearly see it, but his sword only cut through an afterimage, making him to be on full alert.

But before he could take any other actions, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from a distance.

“Not bad. It seems like you have grown quite strong since our last meeting.”

Recognizing the voice, Shin immediately realized what was going on. He heard from Arthur that if he had a secondary combat class, then he would most likely suffer in the Tier 3 Promotion Quest since he had to do the quests meant for the two classes together.

Worse, the quests could also be a combination between the two just like what Arthur currently had.

The owner of the voice that he heard was ‘Kentas’. That strange guy with a weird habit of cosplaying other professions and disguising as other people.

Shin was already expecting that this guy was under another disguise right now. And when he turned around, his guess was instantly proven right.

What he was seeing was an average-looking man with an outfit of an explorer. From Shin’s guess, Kentas was most probably impersonating an archeologist or something.

Given the current setting that they had, it was most likely the case. This ancient ruin alone was more than enough to prove that point.

Kentas did not know nor care about the thoughts running inside Shin’s head as he quickly said. “Given that you are here right now, and you even used the token of the Primordial Eclipse to find me, it can only mean that you are already prepared for another trial for your next Awakening (Class Promotion).”

Kentas paused for a moment and put down the huge travel bag on his back before sitting on it. He then took off the explorer’s hat that he was wearing and used it to fan himself.

He squinted his eyes a little while observing Shin before nodding his head. “Not bad. You are really incredible. To think you can grow this much from a short period of time – I am not sure if it is because you are an Otherworldly Individual with infinite potential and rapid growth rate or if it is because you are just too amazing.”

“Regardless, you still live up to our expectations.”

“Or should I say that I really have discerning eyes at looking for talent? I have chosen a very good successor of my art.”

He then paused for a moment and continued. “But I must say, kiddo. You slightly disappointed me. I can sense that you have entered a realm that most of your kind can’t accomplish, but you never have used my art properly.”

“This is really a pity,” he added as he shook his head.

He then stared at Shin with a pair of serious eyes before asking. “Kiddo, do you know what it means to be a Phantom Swordsman?”

Shin was slightly taken aback by the sudden question. He then contemplated about it for a few minutes, trying to find a good answer.

But after realizing that he could come up with a decent answer, he decided to be honest. “Please forgive me, Senior. But I am afraid that I don’t know what it means to be a Phantom Swordsman.”

Sigh~!

With a sigh mixed with disappointment and understanding, Kentas waved his hand. “There is no need to be too down about it, kiddo. I just have to blame myself for not spreading my teachings far enough for you to learn about it.”

“You may not know about this since there are not many, who are aware of my past deeds and achievements. But I am comparable with those guys that you call heroes of the previous eras.”

“I am not trying to flaunt or anything, but it is the truth.”

“I used to be quite notorious in the battle and everyone became scared of me whenever they heard about my name, but I guess no one is aware of it now.”

Kentas was having a nostalgic feeling as he tried to tell Shin about his achievements. But after seeing that the young man was not fully impressed with his tale, he started to become a little more dejected. “This is really making me sad.”

With another sigh, he turned to Shin and said. “Let me tell you, kiddo, my Phantoms are not ordinary. What you know about my class is not even the tip of the iceberg.”

“Do you think that I make this path just to be an ‘average’ one? No! It is meant to be comparable with the Transcendent Classes out there, and one of the top Ascended Classes that you can think of!”

He became a little more annoyed when he saw that Shin was still not that impressed and added. “What you are seeing right now is nothing but one of my Phantoms!”

“My Phantoms are not like any other. It is even more powerful and much better than the True Clones that you can find! They have a life of their own. Every one of them has a piece of my soul and carries one of my powers!”

“And if I combine all of them together and return into a whole being once again, not even that arrogant guy from the Supreme Temple can take me lightly!”

He had a long speech that made Shin’s head spin a little. But despite that being the case, he was listening attentively as these were important pieces of information about this Second Combat Class.

And from the looks of it, it sounded like an overpowered one like Arthur’s Dragon’s Cavelier Class, if not better.

What made him more interested in this was when he heard about the ‘Living Phantom’, a phantom that could live on his own like a true being.

“D*mn! Isn’t it a little overpowered? If it is really the case, then this means that I really have really struck gold this time around,” muttered Shin to himself as listened.

It took Kentas quite a while before he was finally able to calm down. He was huffing pretty hard as he tried to catch his breath and calm himself down. His chest was moving up and down as he rested his hands on his knees while glaring at Shin.

“Now, kiddo! Tell me if my art is not that impressive. I dare you to make that expression again.”

Kentas was like a kid who became upset due to not agreeing with him. He was glaring at Shin sharply while waiting for the reply.

Seeing that, Shin shook his head and sighed. “I think senior has misunderstood me. I am not looking down on your art or anything. I am just in the middle of an important conjecture of my path.”

“I am quite confused and don’t know how to proceed properly.”

“My path has multiple intersections that I don’t know which one is right and will lead me to what I really want to be.”

“Since I can’t decide properly, I am making myself familiar with each other and building up a solid foundation on each of them.”

“I am not neglecting the other roads. I am just trying to look which among them suited my ideals completely.”

Kentas was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “Kiddo, you are making things a little too complicated.”

“This is the problem for smart ones. They think too much before making a ‘rational’ judgment in everything.” ｅｌ．𝚌ｏ𝚖

“Let me tell you. When it comes to this, what you have to do is follow your feelings. Following your heart is always the right thing to do since it will lead you to what you truly seek.”

“Just like when all rivers run into the sea – all our paths will all merge into one and return to its origin.”

“Do not dwell too much about it as you will eventually come across with the right answer.”

After that, he raised his hand and continued. “I will help you with this one. Since you are here for your trial, I will give you the most suitable one for your current circumstances.”

“You will eventually see what you seek when you look at it from outside the box,” he added with a mystifying tone before snapping his fingers.

Snap!

And before Shin could even respond, he found himself being sucked into another dimension. His vision was blinded by an intense light for a moment before it turned completely black.

Bang!

He then landed flat on a hard surface after a few moments of being thrown into an endless void.

When he picked himself up and looked around, he found himself in the middle of a strange place filled with nothing but a white void.

It seemed like a vast world of emptiness.

“Where the heck am I?” he mumbled before he found something that shocked him.

He suddenly felt a little sense of déjà vu as he looked at the few familiar figures standing silently in the distance. “Why do I feel that I am in deep trouble right now?”

That was when the system notification arrived, answering his questions.

……