Child of Destiny

It did not take that long before Felicia and Felix finally returned.

The two twins had spent the last few hours retracing the progression of the quest, hoping to uncover a clue they had previously overlooked.

Since they had already gone through this part of the questline before Felicia shared it with Shin, they carefully retraced every step, revisited every location, and examined every detail they could remember in search of the final condition required to open the sealed portal.

Unfortunately, their efforts yielded nothing.

The moment they arrived, Shin looked at the two before asking. ”Did you find anything?”

Felicia simply shook her head before letting out a helpless sigh. ”Nothing.”

”We searched every place that looked suspicious, but we couldn’t find any clue regarding the item or condition needed to open the portal,” she added.

Felix also shrugged his shoulders before saying, ”At this point, I think we don’t have any other choice.”

He then looked at the strange key resting in his hand. ”Should we just take a gamble and try using it?”

That had originally been their contingency plan after the main progression of their quest had gone awry.

Before everything happened, the twins had been advancing the Empire Quest at a steady pace.

Rather than openly pursuing the quest, they cleverly disguised each important step as ordinary expedition activities of their guild.

Every operation related to the Empire Quest was carefully mixed together with the guild’s regular missions, allowing them to quietly progress without drawing the attention of the higher echelons.

Everything had gone according to plan.

Unfortunately, some of the guild’s higher-ranking members eventually discovered the existence of the sealed portal.

Their greed immediately gave birth to betrayal.

The information spread far faster than the twins had anticipated.

Before long, numerous guilds, powerful organizations, and independent experts had all gathered around Oath City, each hoping to seize whatever secret lay hidden behind the sealed portal.

At that point, following the original progression of the Empire Quest had already become impossible.

With countless eyes fixed upon the portal and the entire region thrown into turmoil, the twins no longer had the luxury of patiently searching for the remaining clues.

Left with no other alternative, they decided to gamble everything.

They attempted to forcefully open the sealed portal despite lacking one of the crucial items required by the quest.

From that moment onward, everything spiraled out of control when Immortal seized the opportunity created by the ensuing chaos.

He wove everything into the foundation of his own scheme, dragging Oath City into an unprecedented crisis.

Fortunately, the crisis had finally come to an end.

Not only had Shin dismantled Immortal’s plans, but he had also resolved almost every obstacle standing in the twins’ way.

With the major forces now withdrawing from the region, Felicia and Felix were finally able to return to the original progression of their Empire Quest.

Now, very few people would dare cause them any trouble, especially with the Battle God himself standing at their side.

Felicia and Felix were apex experts in their own right, so they had never feared ordinary players causing trouble.

What truly concerned them were the large guilds and powerful organizations capable of mobilizing thousands of elite players at a moment’s notice.

Now, however, with Shin standing beside them, that concern had almost completely disappeared.

Very few people within the virtual world possessed the courage to provoke the Battle God without first considering the consequences.

...

Unfortunately, despite the freedom they had finally regained, the main trail they had painstakingly followed before had already been severed by everything that had transpired.

The progression of the Empire Quest had been forcibly interrupted.

They no longer knew where to resume the investigation, especially after every key NPC connected to this stage of the quest had met an unfortunate end during the chaos.

That was the part Shin found the most suspicious.

It was simply too much of a coincidence.

Every single NPC who possessed crucial information regarding the sealed portal had either disappeared or been killed.

Shin narrowed his eyes beneath his mask. ”Immortal.”

He was almost certain that the sly strategist had orchestrated this behind the scenes.

Immortal had most likely figured out that the twins would share the Empire Quest with Shin, so he immediately took advantage of the chaos surrounding the Oath City to interrupt their questline.

Instead of confronting them directly, he chose to sever the quest itself.

Although Felicia and Felix had carried out every step of the Empire Quest with the utmost discretion, some of Immortal’s hidden agents had still managed to uncover fragments of their investigation when they happened to be in their guild.

Those seemingly insignificant pieces of information were all Immortal needed.

Using the turmoil engulfing the kingdom as his cover, he systematically eliminated every clue the twins had painstakingly uncovered, effectively cutting off the original progression of their quest.

”Now, this is troublesome.” He mumbled while shaking his head.

Immortal might have retreated, but not without leaving him a rather troublesome parting gift.

After organizing his thoughts, he turned toward the twins. ”What was the last lead you were following before everything happened?”

Felix answered almost immediately. ”We were supposed to meet a hermit living on the outskirts of Oath City.”

”The task he gave us wasn’t particularly difficult,” he continued. ”We managed to complete it without much trouble.”

”The real problem started afterward.” He paused briefly before letting out a helpless sigh. ”He was supposed to forge a special compass for us.”

”A quest item?” Shin asked.

Felix nodded. ”Yes. According to the quest progression, that compass was supposed to guide us to the next stage of the Empire Quest.”

”Unfortunately...” He took yet another sigh before continuing. ”While we were gathering the materials needed to forge it, the situation in Oath City completely spiraled out of control.”

Felicia picked up where her brother left off. ”When we returned to the city after everything was over... we found him dead.”

Her expression darkened. ”We weren’t willing to give up just yet, so we searched for the other NPCs connected to this stage of the quest.”

”We thought they might know another craftsman capable of creating the compass.” She slowly shook her head. ”Unfortunately... they were all dead as well.”

A heavy silence immediately descended upon the area.

”Crafting a quest item, huh?” Shin touched the bottom of his chin as he fell into deep thought.

If the problem was merely crafting an item, then he might have a way around it. He knew quite a few people skilled in various crafting professions, both players and NPCs alike.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the twins and asked. ”Have you gathered all the materials already?”

He paused briefly before adding. ”And do you happen to have the blueprint for the compass as well?”

The twins were initially confused by the sudden question. However, it did not take them long to realize what Shin was planning.

”We have just collected all the required materials,” replied Felicia with a nod.

”As for the blueprint...” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. ”We do have it.”

”However, only a Saint Craftsman or a Sage Alchemist can access its contents.” She added while looking at Shin with a complicated expression.

As the Battle God, it was only natural for him to possess an extensive network of connections throughout the virtual world.

There were even rumors that the Empyrean Talons shared a close relationship with the Hand of Midas—the number one crafting guild in the game.

Because of that, she could understand why Shin immediately thought of finding another craftsman to complete the quest item.

Unfortunately, this matter was not that simple.

”Even if you know people from the Hand of Midas, it won’t help much,” she said helplessly. ”The highest profession rank currently attainable by players is still Grandmaster.”

Felix nodded in agreement. ”That’s right.”

”At the current stage of the game, neither a Saint Craftsman nor a Sage Alchemist should exist among the players,” he added.

However, contrary to what the twins had expected, Shin’s eyes suddenly lit up.

”Is that all?” he asked before letting out a light chuckle. ”Give me the materials and the blueprint. I’ll handle the rest.”

Just a Saint Craftsman?

That wasn’t a problem!

He happened to be quite close to one. Saint Blacksmith Berlin of the Saint Heaven Kingdom had forged him quite a lot of items before.

”Are you sure?” Felicia asked cautiously.

Shin merely smiled beneath his mask. ”Don’t worry. I know a Saint Blacksmith personally. I’ll ask him for a little favor.”

He then looked at the twins before reassuring them. ”Leave the compass to me. You two can either continue searching for other clues or stay here and guard the portal.”

”I’ll also ask a few friends to reinforce this place just in case something unexpected happens.” He added.

The twins exchanged glances before silently nodding. Without another word, they handed over every material along with the blueprint.

Shin quickly inspected everything before storing them inside his inventory.

After confirming that nothing was missing, he gave the twins a confident nod. ”Just wait for the good news.”

......