Child of Destiny

Chapter 1420: Cleared!

...…

Shin looked at Alice and instantly noticed that something was different from her. She still had the same appearance, but the aura that she was emitting was completely different from what she had before entering the dungeon.

He knew that it was not because of the acquisition of the new elemental spirit, but because of something different. Her aura and demeanor were way stronger than before. She now carried a mysterious air around her.

He then suddenly noticed the mysterious book that she was carrying in her left hand. A single glance at it was enough for Shin to realize that it was no ordinary item. He could tell that it must be an inheritance item or something similar.

”I guess she also gets an unexpected bonus inside that dungeon,” he mumbled as he walked over to her and greeted her. ”It looks like everything goes well. What is our next plan then?”

Alice exhaled deeply as her feet touched the ground. Keeping the Levitation Spell active for quite a while was quite exhausting for her. She was not sure how much time had passed outside, but she felt that she had been unsealing the iron chains restraining Gaia for a very long time while keeping herself floating at the same time to avoid being distracted by the intense tremors within the dungeon.

It took her quite a lot of concentration to keep her mind sharp while unsealing the sealing runes imbued with the iron chains.

But thanks to that, she became more familiar with the runes that she had learned from her new legacy skill. It was like having a practical test after a long session of studying.

Recovering herself, she turned at Shin and smiled. ”It is fine. The Quest Scenario has already been triggered, so I will have a lot of bonuses when facing the demonic seed. My elemental spirit companions will also help me with their boosted state, so I will be fine.”

”You can go ahead and submit your quest now. It will also be a part of the Quest Scenario if things go wrong. The commander of the Storm Fortress will be the last line of defense and will deal with the finishing blow to the ʼFlora of Deathʼ if it successfully sprouted.”

She then paused and looked at her Elementals before saying. ”Although, I doubt that he will get the chance since these guys are too eager to show their true power. It has been a while since they have returned to their peak forms – even if it is only temporary.”

Shin stared at her for a few moments before nodding his head. ”I see. Then Iʼll leave it to you.”

Alice smiled under her veil and said. ”You can count on me.”

After that, she suddenly floated in the air before flying in a certain direction.

Swoosh!

It only took her an instant to disappear from Shinʼs vision.

Shin stared in the direction where she flew, sensing that there was a huge cluster of Demonic Aura coming from there. He stood still for a while before turning around and sweeping his gaze at the surroundings.

The monster horde had already stopped since the dungeon entrance had already disappeared. The monsters scattered and went back to their respective next while the stray ones started fighting against the dark monsters that were corrupted by the demonic seed.

After cleaning the battlefield one last time, harvesting all the Mana Cores from the bodies of the monsters, and gathering the rare materials that he could get, he went toward the Storm Fortress to finally submit his quest.

***

Not long after, Shin returned to the Storm Fortress and reported everything that he had investigated to Commander Taiga. He did not miss any details and even reported his encounter with the members of the Pandemonium Descendants, addressing them as believers of Demonic Churches.

Commander Taiga was silent for quite a while after listening to everything that Shin had reported. He stroked his chin as he fell in deep thought before turning to Shin. ”I see. I understand. It seems like we have to increase our defenses to prevent any unexpected ambush from those filthy people of Demonic Churches.”

He then paused and said in a grave tone. ”But regarding your suspicion about the Dark Could Kingdom, I am afraid that I canʼt help you with that. You have more concrete and irrefutable evidence before I can help you present it to the Imperial Court.”

Shin smiled under his mask as he nodded in understanding. ”Donʼt worry, Commander Taiga. That is exactly my plan for coming here. I plan on collecting more evidence against those guys.”

”This involves diplomatic and national conflict after all, so we have to be discreet on our decisions,” he added.

Commander Taiga nodded his head and said. ”Donʼt worry. I will do everything I can to support you, Sir Envoy.”

Shin nodded once again as he said. ”I can never be thankful, Commander Taiga.”

*Ding*

At the same time, Shin had also received a notification from the system, informing him about the completion of his quest.

There was also a beam of light that enfolded Shin, which only players could see. It was the indication that he had leveled up. It was not only once, but twice!

”Sweet~!” he whispered as he stood up and said. ”There is another favor that I want to ask before leaving the fortress, Commander Taiga. Canʼt I stay here for a short period and rest?”

Hearing that, Commander Taiga smiled. ”Is that all? You can stay here for as long as you want! You are already our brother after everything you have done. It is not a problem at all.”

Shin nodded and thanked the commander before leaving the office.

…

Outside, while walking through the corridor, Shin checked on the rewards that he had gotten from completing the quest, particularly the new title that he received.

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Title: Storm Raider

Rank: Master

Classification: Special

Description: A Title to those who have passed the test of the Storm Fortress. Anyone who possesses this title will receive special treatment when you are within the Storm Fortress or the Stormy Mountain Range.

Bonus Stats:

+5% to all stats

+10% resistance to any storm-related spells or skills.

+15% increase control harnessing the Lightning Element, or anything related to it.

Extra Ability:

Storm Raider:

-(Active): Summon a Domain of Storm within a radius of a hundred meters, increasing all your Lighting Elemental abilities by 50%

Duration: 15 Minutes

Cooldown: 6 Hours

-(Passive): If you are within a region with stormy weather, this skill will automatically activate with a range spanning the whole area that the weather reached.

Duration: Until you leave the said region.

Cooldown: 6 hours (Starts when you leave the region)

Note: These effects can only be triggered once. If you return to the said region and return, this ability will not be activated until the cooldown ends.

-----------------

Shin was not that impressed with the additional stats as he had already seen much higher bonuses, but the increase when using storm-related abilities, particularly lightning ones, piqued his interest.

As for the special abilities that the title provided, it was also somewhat appealing given that Shin was in control of Primordial Lightning.

He could only say that this title was worthy of its Master Rank. He even cast his gaze on his status window, particularly on the Title panel to check on the high-ranking titles that he had.

Among these titles, the ones sitting on the top provided him with the best abilities such as the ʼGrim Reaperʼ and ʼPhantom Swordsmanʼ Titles that came alongside his Classes; the ʼFirst Masterʼ that he had gotten after being the first to clear the Tier 3 Class Promotion; the ʼEnvoy of the Church of the Sun and Moonʼ that signified his status within the faction that he belonged; then this ʼStorm Raiderʼ Title that he just received.

Then there were the secondary ones such as the ʼJack-of-all-Tradesʼ that he had gotten after a series of tests from the special training grounds; the ʼDuke of Valorʼ that provided him a great diplomatic ability; the ʼPursuer of Corruptionʼ that he had gotten from the early stages of the game; The ʼLieutenant Colonel of the God-Slaying Armyʼ that he recently received; and others.

There were also the less significant ones, which provided him with little stats but gave him interesting abilities.

He just discovered there were also ranks between these titles. He had almost forgotten most of them since it had been a long time since he had received them.

While long through them, he also remembered another matter. ”I-know-it-All, All-Rounder, and Jack-of-all-Trades – these evolving titles are something I have gotten after clearing a series of training grounds and the awakening quest. This one most likely has another evolution that will rival the Master Rank Titles.”

”I guess I have to ask Big Sis to keep an eye on a Master Rank Training Ground in the future,” he mumbled as he entered the room that Commander Taiga had provided him.

After closing and locking the door behind him, he suddenly summoned Solus and Hanzo, consulting them about their plans for the hatching of the green dragon egg.

”It will be better if we head to your independent world fragment, my liege,” said Solus.

Shin thought for a moment before nodding his head. He first sent a series of messages to the people who might contact him when he was away, informing them that he would be entering an isolated map, before taking out the dimension token that would lead him toward the Reaperʼs Realm.

After confirming that he had not forgotten anything, he infused his mana on the dimensional token before a pillar of light swallowed him.

Swoosh!

***

Inside the Reaperʼs Realm, Shin could not help but grasp a little after seeing more changes in them. The place was somewhat the same since the last time he visited, but there was a distinct difference in each region within the realm, which signified that the Elemental Spirits that were residing in them had become much more powerful.

After returning, Vladimir quickly headed to the region designated for him, particularly his castle to rest and recover himself.

Grimrace, despite not having the best relationship with Vladimir, chose to hang out in the territory of the latter even if he knew that they would only be fighting each other.

Seeing the two going at each other, Whitie and Blackie went to their respective regions to also rest.

Besides Shin, there were only Solus, Hanzo, and Astaroth, who would be assisting him with the special ritual.

They went to a secluded corner of the realm, where there was a very weak concentration of mana from the rest of the elements.

After finding the place, Hanzo quickly waved him and formed a huge dome of energy that blocked all the other elements from the surrounding regions. He isolated the entire place to make sure that nothing could affect the hatching process of the dragon egg.

Astaroth, on the other hand, stomped his foot on the ground and summoned a tall and huge platform, spanning the whole area that was protected by the barrier.

He then controlled the platform before erecting different pillars and smaller flatforms, transforming the region into a huge temple. Then, at the center of everything, stood a lone altar meant for the dragon egg.

Solus also got busy as she started writing a series of rune sequences and magic circles in different parts of the temple, filling everything with mysterious arrays that Shin could not recognize.

Then, a huge magic formation was formed at the altar, filling the place with a mysterious air.

Solus then turned to Shin and said. ”You can now take out the dragon materials, my liege.”

Shin completed and took out all the materials that he had harvested from the green dragon while Solus took everything and started polishing the magic formation.

Shin felt like his heart was bleeding as he watched Solus use everything without any restraint. Those were precious materials that could be used to create top-class equipment, yet it was being ʼwastedʼ like this.

The blood of the green dragon was even used to heighten the lines and runes within the magic formation. Given the size of the formation within the altar, it would not be long before all the blood that he had harvested would be exhausted.

Fortunately, he set aside an entire bucket that he would be using for the creation of his ʼTrue Phantomʼ.

Meanwhile, the rest of the materials were scattered in different parts of the magic formation, filling everything.

Hong! Hong! Hong!

Not long after, Shin could sense that the movements of the mana filling the air changed. They gathered toward the altar before being filtered by the magic formation.

The entire magic formation shone brightly before specks of jade-green light filled the entire place. Upon closer, inspection Shin realized that these were concentrated mana of Nature Element.

”It is done,” said Solus as she wiped her invisible sweat before turning to Shin. ”You can now put all the Mana Cores that you have harvested at the center of the altar, my liege.”

Shin walked toward the center of the altar with heavy steps before reluctantly pouring out all the Mana Cores of Nature Element from his inventory into a tall pile, resembling a small mountain.

At the dead center of the altar and the magic formation stood a stone table filled with ancient runes, emitting a dim light. It was absorbing all the Nature Elemental Mana from all the Mana Core around.

Shin did need to know what to do next as he quickly took out the egg of the green dragon from his inventory and carefully placed it at the next situated on the top of the stone table.

Hong! Long! Long!

Shin then heard a humming sound coming from the dragon egg as it greedily absorbed all the Nature Elemental Mana in the surroundings, particularly the ones that the stone table was providing it.

Standing beside Shin, Hanzo stared at the dragon egg for quite a while before connecting. ”It seems like the little guy is starving for centuries to produce such a reaction.”

Solus also nodded before sweeping her gaze before saying. ”It needs to soak itself with such ʼmana poolʼ for an entire month (in-game time) before it fully hatches. These Mana Cores should be too excessive.”

Hearing the latter part of her words, Shin suddenly became excited as he found that there might be a chance to keep a few of the Mana Cores.

But his newfound hope instantly collapsed after hearing the next words of the Fallen God Elemental Spirit.

She then paused before continuing. ”But since it will be undergoing the baptism of the nature element immediately after to transform into an Elemental Dragon Spirit, the residual Mana Cores and energies should be enough to support its transformation.”

Seeing the dejected look of her lord, Solus quickly patted his back and comforted him. ”Donʼt worry, my liege. In exchange for all of these, you will get a powerful elemental in return.”

”If my estimate is right, then it will most likely be on the same level as those two young tiger twins at the very least,” she added.

”Eh!?” Shin felt alive once again when he heard that and turned to her. ”Really?”

”Really! How can I lie to my liege?” said Solus with a smile.

”If that is the case, then everything will be worth it!” said Shin as he stood up straight before remembering something. ʼThough, I feel like Arthur will become even more upset when he learns about this. He will surely sulk for a very long time after this.ʼ

Regardless, what was done was done. He could not take it back now.

He then glanced at the digital clock from the corner of his eyes and realized that it was already time to log out. ”It is this late already!?”

He then turned to his Reaperʼs Retainers and said. ”I will be going back. You guys can stay here for a little longer so that you can recover yourselves. I will summon you again when I get back.”

Solus hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. She felt that she could unlock more of her powers after all the transformations that Shin had undertaken. She could use this time to consolidate her strength.

It was the same for the others which was why they quickly went to their respective regions to train.

Hanzo did not say anything as he tacitly agreed. He just turned around and left for his designated region.

Meanwhile, Astaroth was still the same as ever. ”I will engrave your grace into my heart, my lord! I will pay it with my life.”

Shin shivered when he heard that before quickly leaving the Reaperʼs Realm as if he was running for his life, then returned to the Storm Fortress.

He then logged out.

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