Child of Destiny

……

Shin walked through the valley entrance of the Starry Spears Mountain Forest while observing the surroundings. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, he had yet to encounter a single monster along the way.

Looking at the walls on each side, he could see how tall these stone mountains were. There were a couple of vegetation along the road and a few grasses and herbs stacked at the high level of the cliff.

But aside from that, the place was not much different from barren land. And just like what he had expected, the whole place was rich with Earth Elemental Mana.

Seeing this, Shin curled his lips before muttering. “This is going to be a good opportunity for Astaroth.”

After that, he waved his hand and summoned the Mutated Guardian Spirit. “Guardian Reaper, Astaroth.”

Swoosh!

Right after those words left his mouth, one of the specks of lights circling around his body broke free from its cycle. It then hovered in the air for a brief moment before manifesting a humanoid figure.

After releasing the light, the elemental spirit’s appearance was out to see. He still had that muscular and robust body with dark skin that had a mixture of bronze and metallic color. With his bare upper body, the shining golden tattoos spread from his arm to his chest and the entirety of his back.

There was also a pair of golden rings wrapped around his biceps, seemingly restraining his muscles.

The thick bull-like horns on the side of his head, slightly above his ears, were curving forward.

His long ashen white hair was combed back to reveal his cold-looking face and left hanging behind him. There were also golden tattoos on his forehead and right below his eyes, making his appearance more ferocious yet also majestic at the same time.

He was wearing nothing but baggy pants which complement his dark skin. There was also a thin fabric wrapped around his shoulders and arms. It might look soft and flexible, which could give the feeling that it could easily be ripped apart, but it was actually made from pure mana of earth and metal.

Right after his appearance, he quickly kneeled like a knight before Shin. His head was lowered, and a hand on one of his knees, with the other, was clenched into a fist and pressed on the ground.

He was clearly showing his respect to his master. “Greetings, my Lord!”

Shin was slightly taken aback by the booming voice that the elemental spirit had released. It was as if a huge explosion just occurred. It even created a shockwave that spread out in every direction.

Fortunately, he was able to quickly recover himself before observing the latter. And the more he looked at the mutated guardian spirit, the narrower his eyes became. ‘Is it just me, or has this guy really changed compared to the last time I have seen him?’

‘Not only that. He also seems to be much stronger than before,’ he added as he could also feel the overwhelming pressure that was spreading in every direction.

He might be thinking to himself, but his thoughts were transferred to his elemental spirits.

“It is not your imagination. The little guy really becomes different,” said Hanzo before quickly adding. “Before, he just recovers his form and adjusts with the two elemental powers that he controls. But after such a long time, he is able to familiarize himself with everything and now able to control his powers to the fullest.”

“His real strength has also been sealed like us, though. It is because our master is still weak. He is holding us back,” Grimrace chimed in.

This nutjob had become more arrogant after being promoted into an Eldritch Psychic Spirit. He was too full of himself that he saw everyone as ants.

And as if he was not enough, Vladimir, who had been promoted into a Noblesse Crimson Spirit, had become more conceited. “That is right. I am ashamed that this awesome and amazing such as myself is following such a weakling.”

And to add more to his headache, Blackie, who was not an Abysmal Penumbra Spirit, was always picking a fight with the two whenever they threw some insults at Shin.

Just like now.

“How dare you sully the name of our liege! I will punish you for your crimes!” she shouted as she charged at the two.

And adding to that, Whitie, who was also arrogant to the bones but respect Shin on the same level as her, always joined the fight despite him clearly being weaker than any of them. “Judgement!”

Fortunately, they were currently in the form of specks of lights. If not, then he would not be able to handle the destruction that they could cause during their battle.

Ironically, Solus, who was supposed to be more loyal to Shin and treated him with full respect like Blackie, Whitie, and Astaroth, did not join them. She always watches the clashing specks of lights from the side while saying. “Youth! How I much such feeling. It is really good to be young.”

“They have always been full of energy,” commented Hanzo as he was too lazy to get involved with this scene. He had long used to it already, so he left them be and chose to enjoy the show.

Shin massaged his temples before ignoring them. Though, he also had to admit that he somewhat missed this energetic group since they rarely talk when he was doing the Empire Quest with the rest of the Empyrean Talons.

He just found out that Elemental Companions would not communicate with their masters when doing quests with that level of difficulty, especially when it was a quest that involved several players.

He suspected that this was one of the features of the game that prevented the players from getting too much information from them.

He sighed helplessly before turning his attention back to Astaroth, who was still kneeling before him. “What do you think of this place? Can it help you grow?”

“Replying to the Lord! This place is indeed beneficial to me. I can feel that the monsters in the area have a rich Earth Elemental Mana. Some are even fused with other minerals, which can help me evolve on the same level as the others,” replied Astaroth with a tone that carried his respect yet also his confidence.

Shin could help but feel cringe whenever he heard these elemental spirit companions treating him like this. But he could not do anything about it as they were too stubborn to drop it.

He sighed before nodding his head. From the look of it, it seemed like he would be getting a bonus on coming here aside from getting the materials that he was looking for.

“I see. How are you going to do-… this evolution then?” he asked with a slightly knitted brow.

“I will be needing the Cores of the monster in the area and absorb them. And it will be a large number of them, my Lord,” replied Astaroth before adding. “But if we manage to get the cores of high-ranked monsters, then the effects will also be larger.”

‘Cores? This is my first time hearing that. Is it another hidden feature that is added in the game after the recent patch?’ he thought to himself before asking. “Cores? What do you mean by that?”

Instead of Astaroth, it was Hanzo who answered the question. “It is a source of powers that is unique to monsters that can be found in places with rich Elemental Mana like this place.”

“Not all monsters can have it as it will only be formed if a monster inhabited a place with a high density of mana that they have an affinity with.”

“Though, there are always exceptions. The best example is the Golems. They don’t have organs and flesh, unlike the other monsters. Instead, they have mana circuits that circulated the mana in their entire body. And the center of everything is their Energy Cores, most commonly known as Mana Cores for elemental based.”

“As for the beast-type monsters, it is called Beast Core. That is if they managed to form one,” he added in a nonchalant tone.

Shin nodded his head before looking for additional information from the official forums. And sure enough, it was another hidden feature that not many were aware of.

Though, it was not something that was just added recently, it was still something that only a limited number of players knew.

What was surprising was that it actually had a lot of uses. And most of them were related to forging special equipment and weapons or crafting some gadgets that only Master Engineers and above could make.

After reading through the available information in the online forums, Shin could not help but let his mind run wild. “Don’t tell me when it is combined with both forging and engineering, players could wear futuristic battle suits in the future?”

Thinking about that, he found himself imagining a couple of things.

Who among the guys didn’t dream of wearing such cool battle suits? It was an instinct that men had.

Shin chuckled for a moment before mumbling. “I wonder what Arthur will think about this. I am sure that he will pester both Black Hammer and Tinker relentlessly when I tell him about this.” ．

After recollecting his thoughts, he turned to Astaroth and said. “Since it is beneficial to you, then let’s hunt some of them along the way. We will not leave this place until you satisfy the requirements for your evolution.”

He felt that this evolution of elemental spirits was related to something.

Aside from giving him more powerful elemental skills, it could also improve his Elemental Spirit Possession.

But at the same time, he could also tell that there was more to it that he had to discover. Though, it could wait for the time being as he had to focus on the task at hand for now.

“This humble servant thanks the Lord for his grace!” shouted Astaroth with a booming voice that caught Shin off-guard.

But what was even more surprising was the window panel that appeared in front of his eyes all of a sudden.

…