Child of Destiny

Chapter 1505: A ʼWarmʼ Welcome

...…

After complaining about how broken Unoʼs equipment set, Shin continued swimming toward the temple in the distance.

While doing so, he also swapped his equipment with the [Apocalypse Set] and weapon with the [Yamato]. The same goes for the bloody cloak and the ghost demon mask as they were swapped with the [Deathʼs Shadow] and the [Nephilimʼs Gemini Mask] respectively.

Even if the [Blood Pilgrim Set] was quite powerful better than his [Apocalypse Set] to a certain degree, he was more familiar with his current set and he liked his style with this more, especially when his Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship worked quite well with this set.

Moreover, the multiple buffs and boosts that the [Blood Pilgrim Set] were too much for him to handle when they reached their full stacks. Even if they gave the wearer more power, such power was too much for most of the people to handle.

Controlling the insane speed while also making sure that they would not lose their balance when swinging their weapons with such powerful strength along with unstoppable momentum.

In Shinʼs opinion, Uno was the only one who could handle such a burden to the mind and body while not suffering from it. He could take advantage of the full stacks of his buffs without encountering any drawbacks.

As Shin swam toward the temple, he felt an unknown power wash over his entire body as if it were scanning his entire being. He did not feel any resistance from the barrier as he went past it nor any ill intent from this foreign power, so he let it scan his body as he continued to swim toward the temple.

But the more he swam, the more confused he became. It felt like he was swimming in the abyss with nowhere to go.

That underwater temple that he was seeing in the distance remained distant despite how much he swam toward it. It felt like the distance was never decreasing.

It was either it was too far despite seeing from his stance or he might remain in the same position all this time.

There was also a possibility that the temple was just a mere illusion, which was also moving alongside him. But he suspected that it was most likely the second case since he felt he remained stationary despite swimming with his strength.

Tilting his head to the side, Shin felt that he was up for a test. It was a trial that was meant to test whether he was worthy or not to set foot on that temple.

Thinking about this, Shin suddenly stopped before calming his mind. He then closed his eyes to empty his mind before heightening his senses to feel his surroundings much clearer.

He was trying to enter the state of being one with nature, trying to ʼmergeʼ with the sea so that he could see the ʼpathsʼ that were invisible to his eyes.

As he communicated with his surroundings, his consciousness blended with it until he felt like he became the sea itself.

Seeing this, Uno, who was silent up until now, raised his brows. [Hoh~! You have learned quite a trick.]

Shin ignored the voice inside his head as he put all his attention on sensing the surroundings, particularly reading the flow of water.

It did not take that long until Shin noticed a strange movement of mana in the water. It was different from the usual mana and water flow as this mana was moving in circles as if it was forming a twister.

Shin observed this flow of mana for quite a while and noticed that this spinning flow of mana was heading deep into the ocean even if he was already at its deepest point as the seabed was right under him.

But from what he could ʼseeʼ through his senses, this spinning flow penetrated the seabed itself and headed toward a deeper part of the ocean.

Slightly frowning his brows, Shin swam toward it before letting himself get dragged by the spinning flow.

He did not open his eyes as he tried to observe a little more with his other senses. But doing that made him nauseous due to the spinning current that was gradually getting stronger as time went by.

Along with his heightened senses, which made him feel his surroundings much clearer, the nausea that was assaulting him became much worse.

Helpless, he could only release his state and let the spinning current drag him wherever it wanted.

After what felt like a year if not months, the water current finally lost its momentum and gradually slowed down.

Not long after, the sensation that Shin was feeling suddenly changed. From being inside the water and being swept by the current, he felt that he was thrown into the air – falling from a high place more specifically.

Shinʼs eyes immediately opened as he swiftly adjusted himself in the air and looked at his surroundings.

Right after he turned around, he discovered that he was now right above the underwater temple that he had just seen from the distance earlier.

He was falling straight into its center, where a huge emblem that resembled a drop of water was located.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that this emblem was filled with strange markings that came from the ancient era. He felt that it was somewhat familiar, but he could not remember where exactly he saw those markings.

After recovering himself from the brief distraction, Shin quickly summoned his wings to hover in the air and observe the surroundings.

But he quickly frowned as he realized that he could not fly in this place despite having his amazing wings.

He continued to fall toward the temple with a gradually increasing momentum. It was as if the gravity within this place was constantly getting stronger as he approached the ground.

He kept his wings before assuming a sword-drawing stance in the air. He was planning to send a powerful attack toward the ground to lessen his momentum so that he could land much easier and safer.

But before he could even accumulate enough energy for his move, Unoʼs voice suddenly rang inside his head. [If I were you, then I would not try such a foolish move.]

Shin slightly frowned as he heard those words before his senses picked up something strange. He felt that someone had locked onto him, watching every move he would be making.

It was as if he would be killed the instant he dared to defile the temple.

”Tsk!” clicking his tongue, he quickly dispersed the accumulated energy and took off his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

He then stared at the ground closely while calculating his distance away from it along with the speed of his descent.

When he felt that it was finally the right moment, he quickly kicked the air behind him to change his direction.

ʼLegacy Skill: Mondiʼs Jumpʼ

He did this multiple times to weaken his momentum as he approached the ground. When he felt that it was enough, he leaped toward the air inside continuing to the ground.

This killed the residual momentum that he had, making it easier for him to land in a very steady manner.

Coincidentally, he landed at the exact center of the huge engraving of a waterdrop on the floor. Then, right after his feet came in contact with it, a string of notifications immediately rang in his ears.

*Ding*

System: All conditions have been met! The first challenger has been detected!

*Ding*

System: The player has been identified as a Transcendent Being! Adjusting the difficulty of the trial accordingly.

System: The player has been detected to be contracted with multiple Elemental Spirits.

System: Identifying the Elemental Spiritsʼ Potential.

*Ding*

System: All Elemental Spirits have been recognized as special rank!

System: All Elemental Spirits are either at Supreme Elemental or Elemental Monarch Ranks – the Player is recognized as ʼMaster of Elementalsʼ! Adjusting the trial difficulty accordingly.

*Ding*

System: The trail is sent to the highest difficulty – Chaos.

*Ding*

System: The player is now unable to use any external help aside from weapons, equipment, and other items you wear yourself.

…

Right after the last notification rang in his ears, all his elemental spirits disappeared and were sent back to his Reaperʼs Realm, where their respective rebirthing place was.

But before he could even complain about it, another string of notifications followed the previous ones.

*Ding*

System: Analyzing the most ideal trial for the challenger.

*Ding*

System: The player is recognized as a ʼMaster of Elementalsʼ – the trials will be presented accordingly.

System: The player is asked to choose which trial he wants to take first.

System: Please consider your choice as the next trails will become harder as you pass the previous one.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three choices were presented in front of him.

Trial of the Primordial Waters, Trial of the Transcendent Beings, and Trial of the Forgotten God.

Shin paused as he looked at the choices, and he got a bad feeling about this just by reading their names.

At first, he felt a sudden déjà vu when he heard the notification. He immediately shook his head as he listened to the system more. ”This quite a greeting, donʼt you think?”

”I just came back and wanted to relax a little. But it looks like I am thrown into another pit of despair and hardship right after returning,” he complained as he stared at the three choices presented before.

...…