Child of Destiny

Black Hammer only stopped when he was satisfied at beating his brother. This blacksmith sure was cruel. He controlled the strength of his attack where it could only be enough to hurt Black Hand but not enough to threaten his life. And wherever the priest’s HP reached the critical level, he would always slow down his attack or stop completely to make sure that Black Hand could heal himself.

Naturally, Black Hand didn’t have a choice but to heal himself and recover his health bar since they were currently in the middle of a raid. And if he suddenly respawned in the Resurrection Hall and the scouts of their guilds spotted, then he would only risk their operation and leak it accidentally.

All he could do right now was to let his big brother beat him until he vented out all of his anger. After all, he would stop sooner or later once Black Hammer became exhausted. Unfortunately for him, the Chief Blacksmith of the Hand of Midas Trading Firm was not someone who would get exhausted easily which was why the beating lasted longer than expected.

”You better visit our parents next weekend or else I will post a commission on our guild to hunt you down until you quit the game,” said Black Hammer with a fierce glare.

Hearing that, the members of S.Tigris’ group couldn’t help but shiver. They already saw how strong the elite group of the so-called ’Merchant Guild’ was just earlier, so they could already imagine what kind of hell they were going to face if Black Hand didn’t comply with Black Hammer’s words.

And as if adding oil in the fire, Arthur even added. ”Tsk! Tsk! Unfortunately, protecting you from the people of the Hand of Midas is not part of the contract.”

This mischievous guy even exaggerated words and shook his head. ”And since it is a commission posted by the Chief Blacksmith of the firm, I am pretty sure that a lot of assassins will swarm at it to curry some favor from him. Heck! I may even accept it if not because of the contract that we have.”

Realizing what he was trying to say, S.Tigris and the others quickly turned their heads at Black Hand and glared at him as if they were ready to kill the moment when he refused. They obviously didn’t want to go through that kind of hell.

The corner of Black Hand’s mouth suddenly twitched when he saw them looking at him like that. And since he didn’t have any other choice, he could only nod his head at his brother. ”You don’t have to put it that way.”

”Hmph!” Black Hammer then turned around and walked away. And with those actions, everyone went back to their respective jobs while waiting for Shiella to arrive.

…

Not long after, the one that they were waiting for finally showed up when the others were recovering their strengths.

When S.Tigris and his group saw her, they couldn’t help but stare blankly at her for a couple of moments before Raven was finally able to open his mouth and said stutteringly. ”I-isn’t that t-the-… Frost Goddess Snow White?! What is she doing here?”

Unlike him, the other members of the group immediately put the pieces together and immediately realized her identity.

”So she is the one who is being addressed as Young Miss,” commented Ringo.

Nodding his head, S.Tigris immediately seconded. ”I never expect that the identity of the mysterious guild leader of the Hand of Midas is the Frost Goddess herself.”

”No wonder she rarely appears in any kind of official events. It turns out that she is managing such a large guild,” said Black Hand with a bitter smile.

”I heard some rumors saying that she is stronger than Siegfried and Simba even though her rank is way lower than them,” muttered Ara while pursing her lips.

She was also an elite female player herself, so it was pretty natural for her to be aware of the news regarding top players who were the same as her. After all, it was pretty rare for female players to rank on top of the rankings.

But to her surprise, Black Hand’s answer came in confidence. ”That is not just a rumor. It may even be the truth.”

”As I said earlier, she rarely appears in any kind of ranking matches, so it is natural for her not to get an update on her ranking. But if we are just talking about the past and her previous achievements, then I must say that she is no way weaker than the top 3 players of the game.”

Hearing that, both Ara and Raven were suddenly taken aback before turning to Black Hand with an astounded gaze.

Seeing the expression that they were making, the priest couldn’t help but smirk before saying. ”Back in the days of «True Era» online, she was one of the Monster Class Players that can be ranked on the very top of the game.”

”And if you go further back, she used to be the fierce rival of ’Khing’,” he added after pausing for a brief moment.

”Eh!? Khing? That guy who is crowned as the King of Virtual Games and second only to that ’God’ of the previous generation?” asked Raven in disbelief.

This time, it was S.Tigris who answered that question. ”Yeah. Moreover, she and Khing are known to be candidates to become the greatest players of our generation.”

”Though, we are still not sure if that is still the same right now. After all, the current Godlike Players in the top of the rankings are not that weak either,” he added while looking at Shiella with full interest.

Black Hand nodded his head before giving another remark. ”So, she still hasn’t broken through the ’Ethereal Opening Stage’, huh.”

”Not yet, for now. But based on the aura that she is emitting alone, I am pretty sure that she is very close to reaching the next stage,” said S.Tigris.

Hearing that, Black Hand shook his head before saying bitterly. ”Such a pity, anyone who reaches the ’Void Manifestation Stage’ and above can no longer enter any games that had a simulated world like this one.”

When Raven heard that, he couldn’t help but become curious and suddenly asked. ”Already heard about this matter, but I still can’t understand it. Why can’t they enter a simulated world if it is giving us a lot of benefits.”

Black Hand shook his head when he heard that and quickly answered. ”First of all, it is because they can no longer get any kind of benefit even if they manage to enter this world. Let’s not complicate the details since you will not understand it anyway.”

”Second, forget about the gaming helmets, just know that there is no gaming cabin that can contain the powers of the weakest Void Manifestation Expert.”

”With the ’power of void’ that they can get after reaching that stage, even the sturdiest gaming cabin can’t contain the energy that was coming from their bodies when they tried to play the game.”

At this point, S.Tigris suddenly took over and said. ”You should know that our bodies are releasing some of our powers when we are playing. It is because our minds are thinking that we are in a real battle which is why it is ordering our bodies to respond.”

”To contain that energy that is leaking from our bodies, the gaming cabin was going to restrain our power movements and fool our senses a little. It can even circulate that energy according to our breathing.”

”This is the reason why gaming cabins are recommended to every Martial-Artist and Mentalist playing the game.”

Hearing that, Raven knitted his eyebrows for a moment before asking. ”Then isn’t it dangerous to use the gaming helmets?”

The others understood his point since Raven started playing games in the workshop which was why he didn’t experience playing with gaming helmets.

”It is slightly different. Because the stimulation level in gaming helmets is much lower and it was not enough to stimulate our minds and bodies to release those energies,” answered Ringo.

”Oh! So, that is why the synchronization rate for gaming helmets is pretty low,” said Raven in realization.

”Precisely. After all, those gaming helmets are originally created so that ordinary people can experience the joy of the virtual world,” answered Black Hand.

He then paused for a moment before continuing. ”The ’Power of the Void’ is pretty strong to the point that it will make the circuits of the gaming cabin explode. No matter how much the developers strengthen the durability of the cabin and increase its energy capacity, it has always been futile since the power of the void is closely related to the space itself.”

”And after experiencing countless failures, everyone decided to give up on developing such a device, especially since it was going to be useless.”

”After all, experts on that level are going to just train themselves in the real world instead of here. On their level, venturing in the unknown lands of our world is much better than bullying the players here.”

With all of that, Raven nodded his head silently as they watched Shiella walk over Arthur and the others.

....