Child of Destiny

……

Shin had dedicated himself to training in the next couple of days both inside the game and the real world. He focused on awakening his two innate attributes, making it as his priority while training his techniques were just secondary.

With a clear path ahead of him that needed to be followed, Shin did not need to blindly advance anymore. All he needed to do was to focus on this path and reach his goal.

It only took him three whole days before he was able to awaken both the earth and metal elemental attributes in the real world, making Benedict look at Shin as if he were some sort of a monster.

And with these two innate attributes being awakened, Shin’s strength reached yet another height.

This was the first time Benedict had seen someone grow at an insane pace. This speed of growth was not normal. In his eyes, Shin had become a real monster.

After awakening these two innate attributes, Shin spent some time familiarizing himself with them while consolidating his Mentalism Realm. Since he had awakened two more innate attributes, it could also mean that he could now promote his realm to a higher stage.

With the secret technique that the mysterious priestess had taught him, he was able to wield a power that was comparable to late stage Grandmaster Realm. Even though that realm could be considered fake, his strength was still a real deal.

And that was only his realm. His real battle capabilities were much stronger than that. If he went all-out right now, his strength would not be weaker than a peak Grandmaster Realm. He could even defeat the majority of such experts as long as they were not on the same level as the veteran experts or prodigies like his Seniors in the Research Department or David and Shiella.

With the additional innate attributes, his Mentalism was now at a level much stronger than what it used to be. He was now in a real middle phase Grandmaster Realm.

He was able to quickly consolidate his realm in the real world due to the secret technique that the Head Priestess had taught him before. His Bloodline had also helped a lot in this area, making his foundation much more solid than before.

In the meantime, his progress inside the game was not as smooth as he had expected.

He made huge progress when it came to his techniques and other areas, especially when it came to his control over the elements of earth and metal.

With his current progress in the real world, and awakening the two new innate attributes, he was able to apply most of his knowledge inside the game.

In the real world, his progress in the ‘Golden Immortality Technique’ and ‘Great Dominator Technique’ was rapidly catching up to his mastery of the ‘Solar Breathing Technique’.

This was also clearly reflected in the game.

He even tried taking his Promotion Quest a couple of times during his training period, and his performance was at a satisfactory level. But it was still far from the result that he was expecting.

Even though he was able to incorporate the three breathing techniques into his style and even apply them to the Mentalism Techniques that he had to complement them, he still felt that he was far from the ideal state inside his head.

He was barely missing something. It might be a single piece, but he was sure that it was a crucial one.

Shin first thought that it was because the level of his elemental mana for Earth and Metal Elements was not on the same level as his fire elemental mana, which was the power of the Brilliant Sun.

Due to the gap, the balance in his techniques was obvious. Even though he could also use the ‘Golden Immortality’ and ‘Great Dominator’ Techniques along with the ‘Sacred White Tiger’ and ‘Divine Yellow Dragon’ Methods from the ‘Four Symbol Scripture’, the result that he could produce with them was still incomparable when he was using the ‘Solar Breathing Technique’ along with the ‘Celestial Vermillion Bird Method’.

This higher form of Elemental was the crucial piece that he was lacking. Due to the imbalance between the three elemental mana, he could not produce the result that he wanted.

He also could not merge them due to this problem.

This was the main reason why Shin wanted to train in the independent world where the Rebirthing Place of his Elemental Spirit Companions was located.

But despite how dedicated he was and how much he tried, he still could not promote his Elemental Mana of Earth and Metal. It was much harder than he had expected.

He had no choice but to stop and pause his research on this for the time being, especially when he was feeling a little stressed due to this matter.

Instead, he visited the other regions under the rule of the other Elemental Spirits. He was trying to see if he could get some insights or inspiration from them.

He also visited Phantom Island from time to time, especially when he wanted to train his swordsmanship and other techniques.

But despite his efforts, he still could not shake off the thoughts inside his head. He was still getting distracted by this matter.

He encountered a wall that he could not surpass, and he was running out of options.

It was at that time that he received a call from an unexpected person.

Shin was training inside the game when he received the call. When he looked at the ID of the caller, he could not help but frown deeply before answering.

And before the person from the other side of the line could even say anything, he quickly snarled at them. “D*mn you, Old Geezer! Disappearing just like that and not contacting me up until now? Do you still dare to call yourself my Master?”

Given those words, it was already obvious that the caller was Professor Plum.

“Haha! Given that you dare to nag at me, I guess you are doing quite well there,” Old Plum laughed heartedly when he heard those words.

He let Shin vent out his frustrations for quite some time before finally cutting in. “Alright, alright! I get! I get it already! You don’t have to keep on repeating yourself.”

“And I hear from Henry that you are progressing quite well. Continue doing great and make this old man proud!” he added with a heartful of laughter.

From the look of it, he seemed to be very satisfied with Shin’s performance up until now.

Shin, on the other hand, frowned deeply before saying. “What’s with the praise? It is as if I am using your Martial Arts here.”

“Don’t you hear? My Martial Arts are currently sealed, and I can’t use it for the time being. Instead, I am using my Mentalism Techniques to the fullest! The Old Fatty should be the one jumping in joy right now since I have already completed his ‘stupid’ Mentalism Method!”

Professor Plum seemed to be unaffected by his words and just said. “Potato-Potahto! It is the same thing. No matter what, you are still my disciple, and I am the first to discover you and acknowledge your talent!”

“And I have already heard your situation from Henry, so there is no need to repeat it,” he added while picking his ear with the pinky finger.

After that, he continued. “Anyway, let’s get down to the business. I don’t call you just to catch up like this.”

Shin frowned slightly when he heard that before nodding his head. “Alright, tell me the purpose of this call. You are not the type to call someone to ask how well they are.”

“Tsk! Tsk! Brat! I am still your master! At least show some respect!” said Old Plum before clearing his throat. “Ahem! Anyway, I called you because there is something that I need you to deal with.”

Hearing that, Shin clicked his tongue repeatedly as if he was already expecting it. “Tsk! Tsk! I knew it.”

lightsΝοvel.cοm Professor Plum ignored Shin’s remark and continued. “I guess you have already heard about recent events since you are studying under Henry.”

“The Government has discovered an ancient tomb of an old expert of the previous era. The two were not that important for absolute experts of the current era, but they want to use this opportunity to deal with some hidden enemies that everyone has.”

“The Government and the Council of Elders have agreed. Then they invited all the forces within the Soaring Continent to join them in this operation.”

“Later, your school will send some young talents to assist them. The main mission was to explore the ancient tomb. Only young people in the Ethereal Opening and Peak of Grandmaster Realm or below can enter.”

“This was a perfect opportunity for the younger generation to gain some experience, especially when the forces from the other continents were also eyeing the tomb.”

“At least, that was what it was supposed to be on the surface. But the truth was a whole other matter. Their main purpose was to target a certain organization and uproot some traitors of our era.”

Shin continued to listen until he had gotten the full picture. He then nodded his head and asked. “So, you want me to join this expedition along with the selected people from our class? That shouldn’t be a problem given that Sir Lin Huang is insisting to let us join just like you have said.”

But to his surprise, Old Plum had rejected the idea. “That is not what I want you to do. Instead, it is the complete opposite.”

Shin was confused and creased his brows deeply while waiting for Old Plum to explain.

Professor Plum looked at Shin from the side of the video call before continuing. “I want you not to join this expedition.”

“Eh? What? You want me to drop out of it when everyone in our class is going to be sent there?” repeated Shin. He was very confused right now.

Old Plum nodded his head solemnly. “Yeah. I need you to stay behind and not join them.”

“This-… Can you at least explain it to me or at least tell me the reason so that I can understand?” asked Shin, showing that he would not comply unless Professor Plum had explained it to him clearly.

Professor Plum was silent for a couple of moments before finally sighing. “I can’t explain that much since we are also not clear about the whole situation. But from the information that we have gathered up until now, there is a high chance that a certain person will appear there.”

Shin frowned even deeper when he heard those words. “And what does that person have to do with me?”

Professor Plum was very troubled as he was not sure how to explain it but continued. “Yes. You might not have anything to do with that person, but you will be in great danger when he sees you.”

“What is that?” asked Shin.

Old Plum sighed and chose to hide a little of the truth and revealed a part of the truth. “That person is known for their greed when it comes to ‘Seeds of Hatred’. Whenever he saw someone is a bearing of one, they would immediately become the main target and do everything they could to seize that ‘seed’.”

“As someone bearing a ‘Seed of Hatred’, you should be clear about this. You fully know what will happen to you once that ‘seed’ is forcefully extracted from your body.”

“Moreover, your ‘Seed of Hatred’ is a little special. It is formed after all three types of ‘seeds’ that you have merged, giving birth to such an ‘abomination’. You will not be safe if he learns about your existence.”

Pausing for a moment, Professor Plum continued. “The government and council of elders are planning to set a trap for this person, so we can’t let you get near him and screw us over.”

Shin fell into a deep thought before asking. “This person-… I seem to remember that you have mentioned him to me before. One of the three people who successfully overcome their ‘Seeds of Hatred’ and make it theirs.”

“The ‘Great Demon’ Jan Mateo,” he added as he recalled that name.

Professor Plum nodded. “Yeah. He disappeared in the eyes of the world after Adam and Evangeline had defeated him and wiped out his entire organization with the help of their friends.”

“But he recently resurfaces and leads an organization much more powerful than before.”

He then gave Shin a meaningful look while silently adding inside his head. ‘And he will be seeking revenge on everyone related to his previous defeat. Even those who are related to them will not be safe, particularly their families.’

……