Child of Destiny

*Ding*

System: Congratulations! Your Elemental Spirit Companion, Astaroth, has successfully evolved into a Supreme Elemental!

System: Your Guardian Reaper Astaroth has evolved into an Obsidian Earthen Spirit!

*Ding*

System: The Elemental Skill, ‘Heart of Stone’, has fused with a new Elemental Skill, ‘Heart of Steel’, due to the evolution of your Elemental Spirit.

System: A new skill has been generated! ‘Metal Synergy’ Elemental Skill was created, please look at the information panel to read more about its details!

*Ding*

System: The effects of the Elemental Skill, ‘Pulse of Earth’, are further enhanced due to the evolution of your Elemental Spirit. Please look at the information panel to read more about its details!

…

Shin felt a little strange as he read through the system notifications right in front of his eyes. He was not sure how to feel about the new and improved elemental skills as he was no longer too reliant on them.

Regardless, having an additional card under his arsenal would never hurt. It could always help him in certain situations.

Given that, he opened his skill window and turned at the elemental skills panel to take a look at them.

——————–

Skill Name: Metal Synergy

Skill Type: (Passive & Active) Elemental Skill

Skill Rank: Special

Skill Details:

Passive 1: All your defensive capabilities will improve by 100%, boosting their maximum potential.

Regenerative abilities will be doubled. You could now regenerate your Health Bar even within combat.

Passive 2: Your movements will not be too restricted when wielding heavy weapons.

Their weights will be reduced to a fourth of their original weight as long as they are either made of metal or earthen material.

Active 1: After activation, you will be immune to all kinds of Crowd Control Skills aside from grappling and grabbing skills.

Duration: 3 minutes

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Active Skill 2: Upon activation, All kinds of metal in your surroundings – within a 50-meter radius – will be in your absolute control. You can reshape or manipulate them according to your will.

Duration: 3 minutes

Cooldown: 5 minutes

——————–

The corner of Shin’s mouth could not help but twitch when he saw the information of the skill. Aside from the ones that he had gotten from Solus, this elemental skill was the most broken out of them all.

Not only did it have too many passive skills, but it also had two more active skills. Moreover, the effects of the previous skill ‘Heart of Stone’ were also included in it.

He was not sure about the other skill named ‘Heart of Steel’, but he could at least guess their effects given the information this new Elemental Skill had. ．

What amazed him a little was that absolute control over metals within a certain radius. It was somewhat similar to the Elemental Skill, ‘Blessing of the Sun’, that he had gotten from Solus, but also somewhat different at the same time.

That skill from Solus gave him a huge boost when it came to sensing and controlling the Fire Elemental Mana within surroundings, but this particular skill granted him control over metals.

He was not sure about the weapons that his opponents would be wielding, but he suspected that even if he could not control them, he could at least influence their movements to a certain degree.

“Regardless, this skill is still way too broken,” he commented as he shook his head while reading the information about the skill.

At the same time, another idea flashed through his mind while thinking about this. He thought that his particular skill would work well with his other Elemental Skill, the ‘Telekinesis’ skill, that he had gotten from Grimrace. “Maybe, I have to look for a time to test it out later.”

After that, he proceeded to look at the improved effects of his other Elemental Skill.

——————–

Skill Name: Pulse of Earth

Skill Type: (Passive & Active) Elemental Skill

Skill Rank: Special

Skill Details:

Passive 1: +500 STR +500 VIT

Active: After activation, you will be able to sense all the movements within the 100-meter radius away from you as long as they are standing on the ground; every player in stealth included.

Duration: 3 minutes

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Passive 2:

1. If the first active skill of the ‘Metal Synergy’ is activated during the activation of this skill, 50% of the incoming damage will be converted to your HP.

2. If the second active skill of the ‘Metal Synergy’ is activated during the activation of this skill, its range will be extended to 100 meters.

Note: You can only activate one of the effects of this second passive at a time.

——————–

Seeing this, Shin could not help but shake his head. “Of course, since the partnered skill is already broken, its pair will naturally have to be broken too so that it can be ‘balanced’.”

He was chuckling at himself while seeming to want to mock the developers. Or more accurately, the AI that was controlling everything and generating these broken skills.

Unfortunately, such skills would no longer be too important in the battle due to the current update. After all, real Martial Art Skills and true Mentalism Techniques were also too broken in their own right.

Regardless, these skills would still be helpful in certain circumstances.

After that, he finally turned to the information window for his Elemental Spirit Companions and looked for the new details about Astaroth.

————-

Spirit Name: Astaroth

Status: Reaper’s Retainer – Guardian

Race: Hybrid Elemental Spirit (Earth and Metal)

Bloodline: Obsidian Earthen Spirit

Purity: Supreme

Transformation: Earth Warden

Ability Status: Temporarily Sealed

Tier: Current 3 (Potential 5)

Level (Sealed): Adjusted to 170 (Max 500)

————-

Shin slightly nodded his head as he found it somewhat similar to what the rest of his elemental spirits had.

But the noticeable difference that Astaroth had compared to the rest was the special border that his information panel had like the ones that Solus and Hanzo possessed.

He also had a unique border for himself!

Shin could see that the border that Astaroth was filled with earthen design. It had cracks that were releasing metallic luster from time to time, seemingly a pulsing heart given the rhythm that they had.

Fragments of small rocks were being peeled off from the earth-like border before falling down and dissipating like specks of dust.

Shin now confirmed that this special border reflected the strength of an Elemental Spirit. Having these special borders indicated the overwhelming strength that they had.

This also confirmed that the other three Elemental Spirit Companions that had been promoted recently were still not at their peak form and are currently in the middle of their evolutionary stages.

Once they were done, they would gain their respective special borders that were designated just for them.

After that, he closed the information window and turned to Astaroth, who was currently walking toward him.

He observed this hybrid elemental spirit for quite some time and did not discover any distinct changes. Aside from the slightly darker skill and brighter light that his golden tattoos were releasing, Astaroth was not different compared to before.

At least, appearance-wise.

But when it came to the pressure and aura that he was passively releasing, Shin could tell that this so-called Obsidian Earth Spirit was way more powerful than his previous self.

Shin repeatedly nodded his head as he watched Astaroth walk over. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

At that moment, the hybrid elemental spirit finally arrived in front of him and suddenly knelt down. At the same time, he shouted with a booming voice. “This unworthy servant will be forever grateful to the grace of the lord!”

The corner of Shin’s mouth suddenly twitched when he heard those words, not sure how to respond.

At the same time, the entire cave also shook due to the powerful voice that Astaroth had. Fragments of rocks fell from the ceiling while the cracks that the cave started to grow larger and spread in every direction.

Afraid that he would be buried here alive, Shin just nodded his head at his Elemental Spirit Companion and unsummed the guy immediately after.

He was not in the mood to entertain this troublesome attitude. He had a more pressing matter that he needed to attend right now.

He first stretched his waist before sending a message to Harmony that he would be leaving. His business here was already done, so he had to proceed to the next one.

Now that he finally completed all the necessary materials for the upgrade of his main weapon, he could now visit that blacksmith dwarf after a very long time.

But before anything else, he first checked on the quest one more time to make sure that he had missed anything and completed everything.

———————-

Quest Name: Peak Potential of [Yamato]

Quest Type: Special Gathering Quest.

Quest Difficulty: Chaos (Highest Difficulty)

Quest Details: You’ve heard from Grandcraftsman Berlin how to recover the peak form of the [Yamato].

Quest Conditions: Gather all the required items for the upgrade of [Yamato] before going back to Grandcraftsman Berlin so that he can reforge it for you.

Quest Progress (100%):

? Fruit of Nirvana 1/1

? Lunar Essence 1/1

? Sunfire Fragment 1/1

? Moonfrost Shard 1/1

? Ancient Void Metal 6/3

? Heart of Abyss 7/5

? Lava Cores 8/5

? Earthen Charcoals 30/10

? Meteorites 50/20

Quest Reward:

+5 Levels

+20 Skill Points

+10 Legacy Points

[Yamato] Obsidian Rank

?????

Quest Penalties:

None

———————-

He did not care about the rest of the rewards as they were not as important as before. What he really wanted from this was the promotion of his main weapon, which would have a direct effect on his overall strength.

Moreover, he was also quite excited about this since he would be the first person to own an Obsidian Rank item within the game.

That was if his calculation was right.

But given the timing and the current stage of the game, it was most likely the case. He did not have to worry too much about it since even the top gods within the game like Arthur, Leonard, and Zero did not own a single piece of Obsidian Rank Equipment, much less a weapon.

Even the suspected wealthiest player in the game, the guild leader of the Hand of Midas Trading Firm, the Frost Goddess Snow White, was the same.

His chances of being the first player to own this kind of weapon were infinitely high. And he was very excited about it.

It was strange, but it seemed like he was finally starting to understand what Arthur was feeling when playing the game. That excitement when discovering new places and creatures, owning special and unique equipment, and learning about new things was starting to really hit him.

It seemed like he started to understand Arthur’s addiction to playing games. And it looked like he was starting to get influenced by it.

Laughing at himself, Shin shook his head before pulling out a city-return scroll from his inventory and crushing it immediately after.

Swoosh!

He then turned into a stream of light that pierced through the ceiling of the cave and flew through the sky, heading toward the direction of the nearest city.

Bang!

When he appeared at the teleportation hall of the city, he was immediately greeted by a huge crowd of players.

He looked around and saw that these players were also new arrivals just like himself. Moreover, there were more players that were arriving at the teleportation hall, making the place fully packed and crowded.

Slightly confused, he observed everyone and saw that most of these players seemed to come from the same organization. And based on the emblems that they wore on their chests, he immediately understood what was going on.

“Looks like the next war is getting near,” he muttered as he saw the players affiliated with Black Market arriving one after another.

He could also spot the members of the Hand of Midas, who were wearing the special cloaks that were covering their appearances.

They could hide from most of the players, but Shin, who was both a regular consumer and a special guest of the trading firm, was very familiar with these unique cloaks.

They were the cloaks that were specially designed by Harmony by using his [Nightwalker’s Cloak] as the main model. How could he not recognize such a design when he was wearing one, or at least the better version of it?

After looking around for a few moments, Shin shook his head and walked back to the nearby teleportation circle. “This is none of my business anymore. They can already handle themselves.”

He then re-activated the circle and set its coordinates to the Holy City of the Saint Heaven Kingdom as his destination.

Not long after, his entire body was swallowed by the light of the teleportation circle before disappearing.

A few moments after his disappearance, a group of players appeared in the nearby teleportation circle one after another. When they arrived, they approached a figure in the distance, who was clearly waiting for them.

One of them noticed that the player was looking at the teleportation circle near theirs and could not help but ask curiously. “What are you looking at? Did you see a pretty chick or something?”

The other player turned to him before replying. “It is nothing, Susanoo. I just found an interesting fellow. He is quite strong, and I want to exchange a few bouts against him.”

“Too bad he already left,” he added before turning around and leading the rest outside the Teleportation Hall.

The previous guy suddenly became interested. “Eh!? Really? The mighty Martial God Ashura is interested in fighting someone?”

“Who is it? Don’t tell me it is Sword God Zero? Or Dragon God Siegfried? Maybe War God Simba? Come on! Tell me, tell me!” he bombarded Ashura with a series of questions.

But unfortunately, the latter totally ignored him and continued to walk ahead, leaving him helpless.

Regardless, he could not help but feel a little interested in this mysterious person, who made their battle-crazed commander want to fight them.

…