Child of Destiny

……

Shin walked out of the abandoned blacksmith shop in Berlin after talking with the Saint Blacksmith.

It took him quite a while to calm Berlin down from his excited state. Shin did not know that muttering the words ‘Devil Ancestor’ would have such a serious effect on Berlin.

He was quite flustered about it earlier, and it took him a great effort to calm Berlin. He just realized how crazy an NPC could be just by ‘following’ the ‘script’ of the system.

He was sweating bullets the entire time.

On the other hand, Shin also felt that this would be a good opportunity. Having a Saint Blacksmith serve him would not only benefit him greatly, but it would also include his allies as well such as the Hand of Midas and Empyrean Talons, especially now that they were about to build and develop their territory.

Even though he could not constantly ask Berlin to craft them a batch of equipment, he could still make him a consultant or a special instructor for the Blacksmith of the Trading Firm.

lightsnοvεl.cοm Shin was sure that not only the chiefs of the Hand of Midas could learn from a Saint Blacksmith, but it would also greatly develop their respective crafts. Black Hammer and Harmony would greatly benefit from Berlin due to their professions, especially the former.

Black Hammer was a blacksmith too, so there was no need to talk about him. But Harmony was a tailor. Even though Berlin majored in blacksmithing, he was still a descendant of the God of Craftsmanship and Blacksmithing, so he was still quite knowledgeable when it came to other crafts.

Berlin did not become a direct subordinate of Shin, but he promised to support Shin to the best of his abilities. Developing an army might still be out of the question currently, but helping his friends would not be a problem.

Berlin had already asked Shin if he could recommend a friend for the materials that he had gotten from the corpse of the ‘Wrath of the Burning River’ earlier and he chose Akailu for it.

Akailu had already converted his class to a special class called Spiritual Beastmaster. It was a class that seemed to be a fusion of a Human Summoner and Beastman Hunter (Tamer). He had gotten it just recently and was able to successfully change his class in a single trial.

The class greatly pleased Akailu as he said that it perfectly suited him and his play style. His Ranker’s Title was also ‘Beastmaster’, so there was no need to ask how satisfied he was.

Shin had already consulted Berlin about this earlier. Based on the materials that they had gathered from that giant alligator; he could guess that the set of armor that could be forged from it was a plate or light armor.

Akailu’s class was meant to use leather armor, so he was quite worried that the armor made from the scales and bones of the giant alligator would not fit him well.

But Berlin reassured him that he could fix that problem. After all, he was a Siant Blacksmith. For little problems like this one, he could easily solve it.

With that, Shin called Akailu over for the great news.

How could Akailu refuse such an opportunity? Although he was busy doing his Promotion Quest, he instantly dropped what he was doing and immediately exited the trial ground.

He was quite jealous of Owen, who had gotten a powerful class after Shin defeated Demon God Justin and even received all the equipment that the fallen god previously had.

What kind of equipment were those?

Of course, they were top-class! They were equipment from a renowned Godlike Player, after all. Moreover, Justin was the commander of the Silent Night Adventurer Team, which was not only a famous group but also quite rich as well.

The equipment set that Owen had received was not inferior to the sets that the gods of their team possessed. Shin and Arthur had even admitted it, so it was natural for Akailu to be a little envious.

Even Ithilien had received an overpowered bow, which Shin and the others had gotten from Caelum. It was a top-class weapon, so the might that it had surpassed most of the weapons in the game.

But given the personality of the leaders of their Adventurer Team, Akailu waited patiently. His patience paid off as it was finally his turn.

He was very excited!

Shin did not wait that long outside the blacksmith shop as Akailu rushed to the shop right after receiving the news.

He could not help but smile helplessly when he saw the latter excitedly run toward him. “There is no need for the rush, don’t you think? It is not like your armor was going to run or anything.”

Akailu chuckled a little when he heard that and said. “Vice-Commander, you should understand how I am feeling! I have been waiting for this!”

Shin laughed before turning around and entering the shop. “Alright, alright. I understand. It is finally your turn. Follow me inside.”

Akailu did not hesitate as he followed behind Shin after closing the door.

Shin explained everything to Akailu as they walked toward the secret room. “You are in luck since you will be receiving one of the best equipment sets in the game. Your equipment will be crafted by the only Saint Rank Blacksmith of the Kingdom, and one of the best in the entire continent. You should be grateful.”

Akailu was dumbstruck when he heard those words. He first thought that his equipment would be crafted by Black Hammer, the best blacksmith in the entire game. But from what Shin had said, it seemed like he would be receiving equipment from an NPC. Moreover, it was someone with a very high status and highly skilled.

His brain seemed to have short-circuited after realizing this fact. He could not pay attention to the next words that Shin had said as his mind was already floating somewhere else.

He was only able to snap back to reality when Shin had repeatedly called him.

“It looks like you are absentminded. Is the news that shocking?” said Shin while chuckling.

Akailu dumbly nodded his head as he still hadn’t fully recovered.

Shin shook his head when he saw that. Then he quickly changed the topic. “How is the progress with your Promotion Quest?”

Being reminded of this matter, Akailu could only smile bitterly. “Terrible. I can’t even endure for more than ten minutes. Much less, beating the entirety of the quest.”

“That is fine. There is no need to rush. Just learn from your experiences in the quest and train more,” said Shin, trying to console Akailu.

Then Shin suddenly remembered something. “Oh! How about your progress with Reality Manifestation?”

Hearing that, Akailu could not help but groan. “Urgh! Well, it is not like I don’t get it or anything, but I feel like this secret mechanic is not suitable for me. It restricts some of my techniques and skills, especially with my current class.”

Shin immediately fell into a deep thought when he heard that. It did not take him that long to figure out the problem.

Akailu’s class was Spiritual Beastmaster, and his signature technique was fusing with his tamed and summoned monsters. If that was the case, then it would naturally conflict with the ‘Reality Manifestation’ since this special state was to summon the Martial Arts or Mentalism of an individual into the game.

If Akailu was in his beast form, then the martial arts skills that he had in the real world would not fit with his current body structure within the game.

Because he had already experienced the might of the Reality Manifestation, Shin felt that it would be best for everyone to learn it the same way he did. Arthur, Leonard, and Dylan (Zero) also showcased great strengths under the influence of that state, so he had a misconception that everyone would experience the same.

This was a miscalculation on his part, so Shin did not blame Akailu for it. He just felt that the secret mechanic of the game was not as simple as it seemed.

“So, it turns out that not everyone fits for the Reality Manifestation,” he mumbled as he was immediately reminded of Diablo and Haowin.

Diablo showed him that there was another state aside from the ‘Reality Manifestation’. He heard from Arthur and Leonard that the secret mechanic that Diablo had used was an advanced version of ‘Hyperactive Immersion.’

Then there was Haowin, who fought him just recently. From what Shin had seen, that guy had neither used the Reality Manifestation nor the Hyperactive Immersion. It was clear to him that no matter what it was, it was on the same level as the two states that he knew.

Thinking about this, he turned to Akailu and said. “That is fine. You don’t have to force yourself if it does not suit you. We can just find another method that you can use.”

He then opened a virtual screen and said. “I will be sending you the record of my battle against Haowin. You can try and study it. I feel like his special method may be suitable for you. But since we don’t have any information about it, you can just study it yourself.”

“But you are always welcome to ask me or the others for some advice. We will do our best to help you,” he added while sending the battle video.

Akailu was very grateful when he heard that. He had also seen the battle between Shin and Haowin in the online forums, so he knew how amazing his opponent was.

At the same time, he also agreed with Shin as he felt that the special method that Haowin had used during that battle was perfect for his style.

He repeatedly thanked Shin for that.

Shin smiled helplessly as he said. “There is no need for that. You are already a part of our team, so it is natural for us to help each other.”

They had already arrived at the secret room at this point and Shin had instructed Akailu on how to activate the teleportation formation.

After that, he said. “You will find yourself in the heart of a volcano a little later. Then just follow the path leading to outside the cave that you will be in and find the NPC named Berlin. He will take care of the rest.”

“I have already informed him about you, so you don’t have to worry about anything. But you must treat that old dwarf as a real elder. He has a nasty temper for strangers.”

“But given that you are acquainted with me, I doubt that he will treat you that coldly,” he added, chuckling.

Akailu nodded his head and readied himself. But before Shin could even step out of the room, he suddenly remembered something and called out. “Ah! There is another matter that I want to tell you!”

Shin paused his steps and turned around. He then looked at Akailu with a curious look, waiting for the latter to continue.

Akailu thought for a moment before continuing. “I am not sure if this will be helpful, but I accidentally stumbled upon an interesting quest before I tried taking my Tier 3 Promotion Quest previously.”

“The quest is a little strange. It is a part of quest chains that keep on asking you to run some errands and other trivial tasks.”

“I heard it from some random players in the town where I meet the NPC that leads me to my Promotion Quest.”

“I get a little curious at that time since it is quite strange to have such a trivial quest chain in that high-level map. I have tried quite a few of them and find something strange.”

“Quests are indeed strange and relatively easy. But they did not give anything – not even a simple reward. But that is only for ordinary players and the ones who are not aware of the hidden mechanics and special methods.”

“If I don’t know about your Reality Manifestation, then I will also think that it is just some errand quest. But since I am aware of the existence of these special methods, I have this suspicion-…”

Akailu had yet to finish what he was saying when Shin immediately realized the purpose of these quests.

He had already suspected it before, but he knew that the game developers would at least give some clues for the players to discover these hidden secrets.

After all, these secret methods were one of the keys to getting through the Tier 3 Promotion Quests.

The version that the players would get after completing those ‘trivial’ quests might not be as good as the real deal, but they would at least give the players enough understanding of those secret methods.

Nodding his head, Shin said to Akailu, “Alright, I will investigate it later when I have time. Send me the coordinates and I will head over there later.”

Akailu quickly sent the coordinates to Shin before telling the latter that it was all.

Shin also noted the coordinates before saying goodbye to Akailu and wishing him good luck. After he had exited the room, the latter quickly activated the teleportation formation excitedly. It was clear that he could not wait for his equipment set to finish.

Sensing the changes inside the room, Shin could not help but smile bitterly as he could feel the excitement of Akailu.

After organizing everything, Shin felt that he had to take a rest. He had already completed most of the urgent tasks that he had.

The only thing left was for him to head over to the independent world where the rebirthing place of this Elemental Spirit Companions was located and train his Elemental Mana there.

When he finished forming a higher form of Mana for the Earth and Metal Elements, he would re-take his Promotion Quest and see if he would be able to finish it.

But before anything else, he had to look at the new quest that he had gotten from Berlin and see how difficult it was.

“Let’s see. Given my experience with the previous gathering quest, I am sure that this one will be much more difficult to complete.”

“But the reward will surely be worthwhile!” he added as opened the quest panel.

…