Child of Destiny

Swoosh!

When Shin appeared in the Reaper’s Realm, he was immediately greeted by a newly transformed world.

The sections of the realm that represented the elements of the Reaper’s Retainers were still present, but their size and appearance became much larger compared to what they used to be.

The size of each territory was more than twice the original size that he had remembered.

This realm was becoming more and more of an independent world as the time more time passed.

It also seemed to be connected to his strength as the whole place was slowly transforming depending on power. The more he leveled and became more powerful, the greater this world became.

On the surface, the different sections of this realm were still somewhat the same as the original appearance aside from the drastic increase in their size.

He swept his gaze at the surroundings before pausing in front of a dense forest filled with tall trees and a variety of plants.

“Ah! This place must be…” Shin did not have to make a guess which territory this forest belonged to.

From what Solus had told him earlier, the baby green dragon must have hatched from its egg and successfully become an Elemental Dragon.

“Should we meet our little girl?” he mumbled as he flew toward the center of the forest where a tall altar was erected.

This altar was the one that the other Elemental Spirits had built when trying to hatch the green dragon egg. But since Shin was away for quite a while, he was unable to visit it, much less monitor the entire progress.

Fortunately, he was practically the owner of this realm, so his connection with all the beings who resided or would be residing in this place was no different from a master-servant or lord-and-subject relationship.

Swoosh!

Not long after, Shin found the location of the altar and descended on it.

The altar still possessed the traces left behind by the entire incubation process. The runes engraved on the floor of the altar remained intact, albeit losing their original luster.

As Shin was observing the place, he suddenly noticed ‘something’ in the distance. He knitted his brows and walked toward the center of the altar.

He then found a stone bed in the center where a little figure was sleeping soundly and comfortably.

It was a little toddler, but not of a human race. She had noticeable features that made it easy for others to realize her race.

She had a pair of little antlers sticking out of her forehead, slightly parting her cute bangs. She also had a green air that seemed to be neatly braided to resemble the vines of a tree.

There were also green scales on different parts of her body, particularly her forearms, her shoulders, around her neck, and her legs.

There was also the noticeable reptilian tail on the back of her waist, which wrapped around her as she curled into a ball while sleeping.

This little dragon girl was sucking her thumb as she slept on the stone bed.

“Fortunately, she is wearing a proper dress instead of leaves attached joint with one other, or else the cops will hunt me down,” he mumbled while heaving a sigh of relief.

“Hmm?”

At this point, the little dragon girl seemed to have finally sensed his presence, slowly waking up. She drowsily opened her eyes to look at her surroundings while cutely rubbing her eyes.

But when her gaze landed on the figure standing beside her, her eyes suddenly turned wide and quickly pouched at Shin.

“Eh!?” Shin did not know what to do due to the sudden turn of events. The moments of this little girl were a little too fast that it became somewhat hard to avoid her.

Even someone like Shin would have a hard time reacting to her movements.

‘She just hatched for a few days, right? A couple of weeks inside the game at most, doesn’t she? How can her stats be this absurd already?’ Shin could not help but doubt his initial thoughts before quickly realizing the reason.

This was the Reaper’s Realm, which was also where the cores of his Elemental Spirits were located along with their Rebirthing Place.

In this realm, their stats and levels would be set at their maximum potential without having any kind of restraints.

Moreover, this little girl was still a dragon despite being a hatchling. Her strength was something he could not underestimate, especially in this place, where she could be at her most powerful state.

Fortunately, he could not feel any ill intent coming from the little dragon girl, which made Shin stay still and not avoid her.

But what he heard from her next stunned him.

“Papa!”

Shin was frozen in place, unable to move. He did not know how to react as the little dragon girl jumped into his arms and hugged him.

“Huh?”

Shin was still trying to recover his composure when the little girl tried her best to wrap her little arms around him while repeatedly calling him ‘papa’.

“What the heck is happening?”

To save him from falling into the deep abyss of confusion, Solus suddenly appeared behind him and explained. “My Liege, because of your connection to this realm and her being born into this place, her connection with you is much closer than any of us.”

“In a sense, she will see you as her father as it is the more fitting and closest to the relationship that she is currently feeling,” she added.

The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched when he heard her explanation before turning to the little dragon girl in his embrace. “Did I-… become a father just like that?”

…

In the next couple of hours, Shin was forced to play with the little dragon girl as she was too excited and too energetic due to finally seeing her ‘father’.

As for how they play-… he was forced to ‘spar’ against her.

…-or more like him acting as a practicing dummy and defending against the magic spells that she was throwing at him.

“She is indeed a dragon. To have such instincts and natural control over her elemental magic despite being so young, only those legendary creatures can achieve such a feat.”

“But what kind of game is this!? Just who is the bastard that taught her this!?” cursed Shin as he cut the vines that were besieging from every direction.

At this point, Astaroth, who was training within his territory, felt an intense shiver down his spine for some unknown reason. He quickly heightened his senses and sharply scanned his surroundings while wielding his sword.

But he suddenly knitted his brow when he could not find anyone within his territory, making him doubt if it was just his imagination.

Fortunately for Shin, the little dragon girl was not using any powerful spells that were hard to defend. It seemed like she was instinctively aware of the current strength of Shin, making her hold back with her spells.

After hours of playing, the little dragon girl felt tired once again. She went back to the altar while dragging Shin toward her ‘bed’ once again.

She first her Shin sat on the stone table before lying there herself while using his lap as a pillow.

“She doesn’t have a name yet, right?” asked Shin to Solus, who was respectfully standing behind him.

“That’s right, my liege. Once you have given her a name and she has accepted it, your bond will be solidified. It is also different from her forming a contract with my liege as a new Reaper’s Retainer,” she replied.

“A name, huh?” he mumbled as he tried his best to think of a fitting name.

He was also quite careful this time as he did not want to mess up giving this adorable girl a good name.

However, he also knew that this was not his strong point.

As he was trying to think of a good name, his eyes were suddenly attracted to the surrounding trees before suddenly casting his eyes on the entire forest.

He then started smiling as he said. “Silvana-… let’s call her Silvana, which means ‘of the forest’ or ‘of the woods’.”

The moment he said those words, the little girl, who was originally sleeping on his lap, suddenly smiled and mumbled. “Papa Liege is the best!”

*Ding*

Right at the same time, a system notification rang in his, informing him that he had already formed a contract with Silvana.

But Shin ignored it as his mouth suddenly twitched after hearing the little girl’s words. Everything about this girl was cute until he heard the words ‘Papa Liege’ earlier.

He did not have to guess where she heard it as he could already see Solus proudly looking at Silvana earlier as she continued to address Shin as such.

“With all the things that you can teach here, why do you have to include-…” Shin could only sigh helplessly as he could no longer change the habit of the little dragon girl, especially when he saw how much she liked calling him that way.

Throwing his complaints at the back of his head, Shin proceeded to the system notifications that he had just gotten.

System: Green Dragon has been successfully named – Silvana.

*Ding*

System: Silvana has become your Reaper’s Retainer!

System: Please set a code!

Shin paused for a moment as he thought of a good code for the little girl before shaking his head. “Green Reaper sounds lame. Let’s settle with Nature Reaper for now.”

*Ding*

System: Congratulations! A new Reaper’s Retainer has been registered!

After that, Shin quickly pulled out a virtual screen and looked at the Reaper’s Retainer panel to look at this little dragon girl’s information.

—————–

Spirit Name: Silvana

Status: Reaper’s Retainer – Nature (Wood and Plants)

Race: Elemental Dragon Spirit

Bloodline: Green Dragon King

Purity: Dragon (Royal)

Transformation (Sealed): ???

Ability Status: Still in Growing (Hatchling)

Tier: Current 3 (Potential ???)

Level (Growth Pace): Adjusted to 180 (Max: Unknown)

——————-

The corner of his mouth rose as he read through the information panel while comparing it with the rest. The stats were already very similar to the other fully grown Elemental Spirits, making him quite satisfied with it.

However, that was when compared to the sealed state of the others given that their full potential was currently held back by Shin’s current strength.

Moreover, she was still at her growing pace, indicating that she would be much stronger in the future.

She would be more powerful than what she currently was, making her a full-grown dragon.

What made Shin quite interested in this information panel was the sections on ‘Bloodline’ and ‘Purity’. “Dragon King Bloodline and Royal Dragon Purity? This is somewhat different from what I know about Elemental Spirits.”

Hearing those words, Solus quickly explained. “Elemental Dragons and other ancient creatures have a different rank classification from Elemental Spirits, but they are somewhat similar in terms of strength and ability.”

“Those from the Royal Bloodline have the potential to become a dragon king of their tribe. They are on a level comparable to the Elemental Monarchs, Supreme Elementals, and Spirit Kings,” she added.

“I see,” nodded Shin as he wondered. “What is the Bloodline Purity of Arthur’s Dragons then?”

He then shook his head and mumbled. “Given that guy’s character, I am pretty sure that they all have Royal Bloodline.”

After that, he turned to Silvana before carefully removing her head from his lap and gently putting it on a makeshift pillow made from leaves.

“I will be leaving for now as I still have other matters that I need to attend to,” he said to Solus as he looked at Silvana. “I’ll leave her in your care for now.”

Hearing those words, Solus immediately bowed. “You can rest assured, my liege! You can entrust her to me. I will make sure to teach her well.”

The corner of Shin’s mouth suddenly twitched when he heard those words as he cursed inside. ‘I am already getting worried about it.’

‘Should I ask Old Hanzo instead? Nah, that will be even more dangerous. The same goes goes for the others. They are more of a disaster.’ After not finding anyone more suitable for the role, Shin left it as it was and forgot about it before sighing helplessly.

‘Let’s just hope that everything will be fine,’ he was already regretting his decision, but he could not do anything about it.

He could shake his head with a bitter smile before taking out the token and activating it again.

Swoosh!

He could only leave it to the hands of ‘gods.’

…