Child of Destiny

The members of the Empyrean Talons scattered as they explored the airship as it made its way toward the Awakened Continent. The outer appearance of the airship was quite deceiving as it looked rather plain from the outside.

It looked like a huge ship with a massive air balloon on top of it. There was a large propeller on its back that would be pushing the airship as it traveled in the air and a bunch of ‘smaller’ ones on each of its wings that were quite mobile to control the movements of the airship.

Inside this seemingly mediocre ship was a completely different world. It looked like a luxury ship or cruise that could be found in the real world. It had many facilities, including malls, playgrounds, swimming pools, casinos, bars, and all kinds of entertainment that someone could ask for.

There were also training grounds, practice rooms, and fighting arenas that anyone could use so long as they had enough gold to pay for it.

The fees for these rooms were quite costly, but it was not that unreasonable as everything was top class. The mana density within the training grounds far surpassed any place from the Aurora Continent.

The group suspected that these training rooms were meant to help the players adjust to the new environment of the second continent.

They already had an idea how hard it was to move in a place filled with the densest mana as they had already experienced something similar during the special trails that their respective Mysterious Instructors had given them.

Renting these rooms for an hour would cost them tens of thousands of gold coins, and it would be the cheapest that they could afford.

Most of the members of the group instantly became scared after seeing the price. But for their wealthy, something like this was nothing.

Cloe even offered everyone to use some of their team’s funds for this. They did not have much anything to spend anyway. Aside from the salary of every member and a few necessities that they needed like equipment repair cost, potion funds, and such, they were not spending much, so using their pending funds for something like this was the most ideal.

Hearing that, the group also agreed. They did not know about the top guilds or other organizations, but they were confident that their adventurer team was one of the wealthiest groups within the game given the influx of money coming from the Gold Mountain.

They were not humble about this either since they were aware of how much funds their team possessed.

Given that, the members of the group rented a couple of rooms to train themselves as they did not have anything to do during the entire travel period.

Based on the system, the travel time the airship needed to reach the Awakened Continent was at least a week (in-game time) so long as they did not encounter any flying monster horde in the air that would delay their journey.

Since they would be spending most of their time on this ship during that time, it would be better to spend it on something productive. They could also further train their coordination this way, so it would be for the best.

Whenever they were tired and had to relax, the group would go their separate ways to explore the other areas of the airship.

The girls would go shopping while the boys would do their own thing.

Experience new stories on empire

Arthur, who had become a training maniac recently, was pulled by Leonard out of the training room before they dragged Chaotic Luck to the casino. Given the devious grins on their faces, it was clear that they were up to something evil.

Alucard to the bar along with Diablo while Akailu went straight to the swimming pool with an excited look on his face.

Owen brought to Ithilien for a date while Archimedes accompanied Daulla to the library.

Samael was left alone as his little sister was dragged by the other girls for their shopping spree. He did not accompany them either as he did not want to experience the ‘torture’, so he could only look for his entertainment.

In the meantime, Uno, who suddenly disappeared right after boarding the airship was sitting at the bow of the airship where he could see everything – the sky, the land, the sea, and the stars.

He was watching everything while entering a semi-meditative state.

His thoughts were unknown as the air surrounding him constantly changed along with the unpredictable shifts of his aura.

At times, he was filled with killing intent as the murderous air leaked out from his body; sometimes, he was filled with calmness as the air of tranquility; but most of the time, it felt like he did not exist as merged with the world itself.

Not long after, everything went back to normal as he appeared to be a ‘person’ once again. But there was a noticeable change in his being when those who knew him saw the current him.

At this moment, Uno looked no different from an ordinary person. Neither his overwhelming killing intent nor monstrous aura was present.

Using the terms of this game, he was no different from a random NPC that could be seen everywhere if not for the set of equipment that he was wearing.

Regardless, his presence had become so faint that he turned into a negligible character. If others did not pay close attention to his direction, no one would be able to notice him at all.

Even the harmless birds that managed to enter the protection spell of the airship to block the wind and protect themselves from the wild monsters of the sky did not notice his presence at all. These birds even sit on his head and shoulders, treating a part of the airship itself.

“Amazing! This is my first time seeing an Otherworldly Individual, who manages to completely merge with our world.”

It was at this point that a voice sounded behind Uno.

It came from an old NPC that was wearing a set of clothes meant for the crew of the airship. Given the badges hanging on the chest area of this old man’s uniform and the strap attached to his shoulder, it was clear that this old man possessed a very high position within the airship.

Just like Uno, this old man was not emitting any kind of aura, making his presence so negligible. It seemed like he became the air itself.

“What is your name, young man?” asked the old man as he fixed his gaze in front.

Uno did not immediately reply as he regulated his breathing and stabilized his current state. Not long after, he said. “I don’t have a name, but someone called me ‘Uno’ when I was born into the world.”

“What a peculiar name,” commented the old man briefly.

Silence filled the air once again as the two remained still and silently watched the surroundings change along with the movements of the airship.

“People who know how to wield a sword but keep it sheathed is quite rare, especially more for hot-blooded young people. I am curious – where have you learned it, young man?” asked the old man once again after a long silence.

Uno knew that the old man was not merely talking about his ability to wield the sword as those words covered quite a lot of things – one of them was the immense killing intent that he possessed.

The old man was not only asking him how he came to possess such skills to keep ‘it’ sheathed but also asking him how many people he killed to gain such a level of killing intent. At the same time, it was also meant to know if the people he killed were innocent or not.

“I am born with it as I come from the ‘origin’ itself,” answered Uno in a nonchalant tone.

There was a dangerous glint in the eyes of the old man as he heard those words. But kept his position and continued to look at the horizon, seemingly trying to contemplate the words of Uno.

After a brief silence, the old man continued. “Then where are you headed?”

Just like earlier, he was not talking about the destination where Uno was heading with this airship but asking about something else.

At the same time, he slightly clenched his fists, seemingly getting ready do to something. If Uno did not give him a satisfactory answer, then he was ready to strike down this young man and put a stop to the ‘future’ that was about to be born.

Uno smirked when he sensed the hint of hostility directed at him as he answered. “Just like how all rivers lead to the sea, all existence is meant to return to origin.”

“I am nothing but a shadow that follows the light. Whenever my light leads me to, I will always follow,” he added as stared at the rising sun in the distance.

The old man somewhat calmed down when he heard those words before saying. “Whether you become a King that rules the world, an Overlord who conquers all, a Demon that destroys everything, or a Free Spirit traveling the world with absolute freedom – I hope we will not be at each other’s swords when we meet again.”

After that, the old man left the deck and headed back to the control room of the airship, leaving Uno alone.

Uno did not say anything as he continued to stare at the horizon and the rising sun with unknown thoughts.

……