Child of Destiny

David brought Shin and Leonard into a secluded corner, where no students were passing by. He then looked around to make sure that there was no one eavesdropping on them before setting up isolation and concealment barriers as an extra precaution.

When Shin saw David’s meticulousness, he knew that this matter was going to be serious.

David turned to the two before continuing. “There is an urgent request from Sir Nathan, and he needs the two of you to participate in it.”

“Urgent requests? Is it a special assignment?” asked Shin in response.

David nodded his head. “That is right. This mission is extremely confidential which is why he needs some people that he can trust.”

Shin raised his brows when he heard that before saying. “If that is the case, then he can just ask some of his people. We may be good and already used to these kinds of special assignments, but there are still better choices from his people.”

David nodded his head again in agreement. But quickly after that, he explained. “That is right. But this assignment has a special requirement. It is an undercover mission and the people needed to be in a certain age.”

Shin furrowed his brows. “Age requirement? Is this related to the case concerning kidnapping incidents?”

“Yeah. Somewhat,” answered David.

“From what I hear, Uncle and his people have already captured the culprits,” said Shin before quickly adding. “Oh! And aren’t you one of the main players in that operation? I heard you played a very important role.”

This time, it was David’s turn to raise his brows. “You’ve heard of it? I thought that the information about that operation is betting controlled.”

Shin shrugged his shoulders. “Of course, the detail about that operation is still being controlled. But when Big Sis visited us that night, we heard from her people about the incident when we asked them what happened to her.”

He then raised his brows and said. “You are pretty good at hiding secrets. You did not even mention it when we last met.”

“Kid, you should know why it is called confidential,” said David with a twitching mouth before going back to the main topic. “Anyway, since you already know about it, this is going to be much easier to explain.”

David started narrating what had happened in detail. Of course, he did not forget to make himself good for being the main player in the operation and how he saved Shiella during the incident, which earned him a skeptical look from Shin.

After that, he proceeded to the information that he had gotten from Nathan and Joaquin last night before finally stating the main assignment.

“So, that is the special mission that the elite clubs are taking, which makes them unable to attend the recruitment festival,” muttered Shin after listening to everything.

He then turned to David and asked. “So, Uncle Nathan needs some students to act as undercover agents? Or more specifically, baits – baits that will lure out those people hiding in the dark.”

“But what if the same thing happens to us? Just like our seniors from those elite clubs,” asked Shin.

“Don’t worry. We are already making the precautionary measures to make sure that such a thing will never happen,” replied David with full confidence while adding a little to reassure Shin. “Moreover, we also have backup plans if such accidents happen.”

“Even if you have been captured, we have a way to locate you. No matter where those guys bring the two of you, we will be able to find you.”

“In fact, it is better if you let yourself get captured so that we can locate their hideout,” he added, suggesting an even bolder plan.

Shin fell in deep thought before asking. “Uncle Nathan had already laid out the plan?”

“Not only him, Sir Joaquin and Sir Eugene took part in it and even planning to participate personally,” said David.

Shin knitted his brows after hearing that such experts were planning to join. If peak experts like them were joining this operation, then there was no point in asking youths like them to take the risk.

Seeing that look, David quickly understood what Shin was thinking and added. “They will be ready to make their moves at any given time. What they need right now is to locate where the mysterious group is hiding. Once they’ve gotten their hands on the location, then everything will be a walk in the park.”

Shin nodded his head before asking once again. “Another thing. Since this mysterious group have such a detailed list of who are they going to capture and even have some moles in large organizations such as the Hextech Laboratory, they will most likely know who we are. Especially when we are also elite students of the academy. How are you sure that they will not be suspicious?”

“They will surely be suspicious, alright,” David nodded before quickly continuing. “Which is why we need the two of you instead of asking the other students.”

He pointed to Shin. “You are very skilled in taking up a disguise due to the illusion technique that comes from the ‘Heavenly Black Turtle Method’ of the ‘Four Symbol Scripture’.”

“While I heard that this guy learned the shapeshifting technique, which is much better than most of the disguising techniques out there,” he added while pointing to Leonard.

Shin was surprised before whipping his head toward Leonard. “Is it true?”

As someone who studied under old experts such as Professor Plum and Grandmaster Benn, Shin naturally knew about such peculiar and special techniques.

He heard from Grandmaster Benn that the ‘shapeshifting’ technique was one of the pinnacles of disguising techniques since it did not only have the ability to change the appearance of someone, but it could also adjust the skeletal structure of a person to their desire – which was similar to the skeletal adjusting technique that he learned from Professor Plum but in a much higher level of effectiveness, albeit difficult to master.

Leonard shrugged his shoulder as he replied. “It is not like I achieved it without effort. Do you think moving your bones and adjusting their shapes is easy, much less unpainful?”

“It hurts a lot, you know? I’ve gone through a lot of torture just to achieve a basic mastery of it,” he added with a painful expression. “And with my current level of mastery, I can only have one or two disguises at most. Unlike my master who seems to have countless of it.”

“He is changing his appearance like it is nothing. I even doubt if his real appearance is the one that I remember,” he said with full suspicion.

David, who was listening in front of them, felt like sweating profusely after hearing the latter words from Leonard. He gulped secretly while thinking to himself. ‘This kid hasn’t realized yet that the appearance that he thought his master is actually his grandmaster. Though, Sir Joaquin is just impersonating Master Galileo when he took him as his disciple.’

He watched the two for a few moments before quickly continuing with the topic. “Alright, you can talk about it later. What I have to ask is if you are going to accept this mission.”

“Tsk! I don’t feel like accepting my uncle’s mission right now. I want to focus on our studies for now. I find some interesting and helpful stuff during our lessons. And aren’t you more than enough for this mission?” said Shin indirectly saying that he did not want to take part in this particular mission.

Hearing that, David quickly continued. “This mission is going to be an official one. The academy will be giving out this secret mission. And the merit points that you will receive will be bountiful, especially when it concerns rescuing those guys from the elite groups.”

“Still, it is too risky for us. I don’t feel that this is going to be as simple as that, especially when there are three top experts joining in,” said Shin strongly.

“Which is why the rewards are going to match the difficulty,” said David trying to persuade Shin. “Moreover, you can also establish a good relationship with the elite club members when you rescued them.”

Shin remained unconvinced as he stared at David with squinting eyes.

David sighed before continuing. “You two are critical parts for this plan to work. I also want to volunteer to take this role, but I can do it right now since the mysterious organization will be keeping an eye on me after I foiled the plans of the Hextech Laboratory just recently.”

“I have to make sure to appear in public to make sure that those guys are not going to suspect anything when the operation is ongoing.”

“The military is also in a bind right now because of the conflicts that the two camps are having. The local branch o the military situated in this region is having some conflict with Sir Nathan. There is also the issue of a mole within their ranks, so they can’t move their people properly.”

“The only option is to ask some people from the outside which we can also trust.”

“Sir Nathan actually wants to talk with the two of you, but he has to keep the other branch at bay to make sure that they will not be doing anything reckless, so he asks me to talk to you instead.”

“He is aware o the risk of the mission, but they have already laid out a plan for everything. What we lack right now are the main characters who will play the most important roles.”

Shin thought for a moment before turning to Leonard. And when he saw the expression of the latter that seemed to be saying that he would follow whatever he decided to do, he sighed helplessly.

He looked at David before saying. “At least, let us hear the entire plan first before deciding.”

…