Child of Destiny

As Arthur and Leonard were engaging in an intense melee with the two mechanical puppets, the rest of the group, aside from Shin, quickly made their move.

They charged ahead and went straight to the clay golem that seemed to be waiting for them since earlier. It did even move an inch while the two mechanical puppets were keeping two of the monster trio busy.

Alice and Jillian lead the charge as they flanked the clay golem from both sides. Their speed was quite fast despite having an unstable energy circulation. Instead of covering their entire body with their Mental Energy, they only focus on reinforcing the parts they needed for certain movements.

The clay golem finally showed some signs of movement as the two girls charged at it. And when it stood, the two could not help but pause their steps for a moment as they finally saw how huge it really was.

The clay golem’s true height was actually three meters tall with limbs much thicker than the girls’ entire bodies. Not only that, but it also had four arms and two heads that were facing different directions, seemingly to cover all its blind spots.

With such a scary and creepy appearance, the group could not help but look at it with stunned expressions on their faces.

But it only took a moment for them to recover themselves and continued charging at it.

The clay golem was about to slam its arms on the ground, seemingly planning to create a strong shockwave that would push the two girls.

But before it could even do what it panned, Lorraine, who remained in her position, quickly acted. She was lying flat on the ground while relaxing her body as she held a sniper rifle in front of her.

She took a sniping position as she targeted the head of the clay golem. She was already familiar with this kind of golem since her family where using similar ‘practice dummies’ when they were training their shooting abilities.

From what she could remember, clay golems could absorb strong impacts that were directed at its body. It could also let the bullets hit itself before absorbing them into its body.

Having that in mind, Lorraine could only rely on her special method of infusing her bullets with Internal Qi or Mental Energy to make them stronger. It was to create an impact powerful enough to either blast the parts where it would land or at least force the golem to halt its movements.

She was a Dual-Practitioner like Shin. But unlike the latter, who had the perfect vessel for being a kaleidoscope mentalist and specialized in combat, she was only a Psychic Mentalist. She also majored in enhancements and enchantments, so her fighting style was completely different.

In their group, she was actually the one who had her battle capabilities unaffected. She only needed to have enough energy to maintain her real combat power, which was also being a marksman.

She could reinforce the bullets with Mentalism Enhancement while wrapping them with her Internal Qi through the specialized method that her family had created.

Bang!

Right after she pulled the trigger and released the reinforced bullet from the barrel, a streak of light suddenly flashed through the air. It quickly arrived at the face of the clay golem, creating a powerful blast that pushed its head back.

And due to it, the earlier action of the golem was suddenly disturbed, making it unable to continue.

Alice and Jillian took advantage of that opportunity and launched a powerful attack that targeted the legs of the clay golem.

Bang! Bang!

Their attacks produced a powerful impact that made the entire body of the clay golem tremble. But aside from that, nothing else happened – it was completely unaffected.

The smoke only its face had also been cleared, revealing its undamaged face despite receiving such a strong blast from Lorraine’s shot.

A sudden chill suddenly run through the spine of everyone as the eyes of the clay golem suddenly produced a dangerous glint.

Alice and Jillian quickly tried to retreat as they saw all of that. But the arms of the golem came a little too face as it swung them at the two like huge hammers.

Realizing that it was impossible to escape, the two quickly halted their steps and instead braced themselves for the incoming attack. They crossed their arms above their heads while gathering their Mental Energy from them as fast as they could.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

But during this predicament, a pair of silhouettes suddenly traveled in the air with an insane speed and headed toward the descending arms of the clay golem. And before those arms could even gather enough momentum to crush Alice and Jillian, they were immediately blasted away by the two people.

Bang! Bang!

Cloe and Molton took action! They moved fast enough to redirect the descending arms of the clay golem and redirected them to the side even though they could not completely stop their descent.

Alice and Jillian quickly responded to that current situation. The Mental Energy that was gathered in their arms to protect themselves was now being used to launch a strong attack.

This time, instead of trying to destroy the tough legs of the clay golem, they chose to force it to lose its balance and prevent it from moving freely. But their efforts were still in vain as their attacks did not have any effect against the golem.

Realizing that they quickly retreated away from being supported by Cloe and Molton. There was also the cover fire from Lorraine from the distance, making it easier for them to escape.

Then they tried to circle around the clay golem as they observe its movements. They were looking for its weakness that they could use to defeat it. They were also attacking from time to time, trying to look for the most effective attacks against it.

Seeing what they were doing, Shin slightly shook his head and shouted. “Don’t solely think about defeating it. You also must focus on yourselves. Train your energy control while observing them. Remember our main topic in an earlier class, look for our innate attributes and understand their nature.”

Hearing those words, the group was suddenly awakened, making them nod their heads. They would not blindly attack the clay golem this time, but instead, observe it as well as themselves.

The group quickly went into action while treating the clay golem as a training dummy. They were trying to familiarize themselves with the current circulation of their energies, which was currently disturbed, while also polishing their teamwork.

Jillian was giving out a couple of instructions during the battle. She instinctively did it since she was a leader in the previous groups that she was in. She did not do it when Shin was leading them, but this time, it seemed like her old habits suddenly came back.

But since there was nothing wrong with her instructions, the rest of the group did not have any objections. They followed it while also keeping in mind what they had to do if the situation did not go according to the plan.

Jillian and Molton coordinated well as expected. They were twins, after all, so such a thing was only natural. They were working as if they had a single body, reading the intention of each other without saying anything.

Alice, who used to be alone and did not regularly take orders from the others, was slightly having a hard time adjusting herself. But with her experiences with the Empyrean Talons inside the game, working with a group was not entirely foreign to her.

She was relying on her strong Spiritual Sense to read the movements around her and respond to them accordingly. She was also using the advanced techniques of her family to support others and save them when necessary.

It might take her quite some time to adjust herself, but she was steadily advancing and heading toward that positive direction.

Lorraine, on the other hand, was in a completely opposite situation. She was part of a gunsmith family, which was also a family of marksmen. With such a background, she was used to working with others, especially with the training that she had at home.

Moreover, she was also a part of an adventurer group within the virtual world, which was where she majorly gained the experience of working with others. And since her class was mostly related to marksmen, she was able to fire her guns without worrying about accidentally hitting the people on her side.

Her accuracy was top-notched and she could even hit the target between a narrow margin. This surprised and impressed Old Man Lin, who was watching everyone in the distance despite his leisurely appearance.

Regardless, the one who impressed him the most was still Cloe, who was now his personal disciple. The more he looked at her, the more satisfied he became.

Not only Cloe’s foundation was perfect, but her reflexes and reaction speed were also solid enough. Her situational and environmental awareness was also on a similar level.

Despite not being too familiar with the other three people fighting alongside her, she was able to work with them without a problem.

That remark might even be an understatement since she looked like someone who already worked with the others for a very long time.

Not only she was filling the gap that the others left, but she also became the bridge that connected Alice with Jillian and Molton.

She might not have a flashy or advanced technique in her arsenal, but she could make others feel at ease with her supporting capabilities. She had the air that could make anyone feel safe as long as she had their backs.

Old Man Lin observed the entire class from a distance and nodded his head when he noticed that they were starting to understand the real purpose of this stage.

He never expected that any of them would be able to finish the task that he gave them since he knew better than anyone how crazy and difficult it was. But he believed that they were able to understand his intention after running through the entire course a couple of times.

This was what surprised him a little. He was expecting them to only realize his true intention after they did the course the second or third time but achieving it on the first try impressed him a little.

He must admit that he underestimated them a little. But if these brats thought that his ruthlessness could only reach this far, then they were completely mistaken. He had to beat them up a little more to make them all nice and tender.

“The main dish is yet to be served,” he muttered as took a couple of grapes from the table beside him, that came out of nowhere.

He savored their juice before continuing to talk to himself. “I wonder who will be able to have the first taste of it.”

……