Child of Destiny

Whoosh!

Right after Shin logged in to the game, he immediately found himself in the depths of an ocean. He did not dare to dillydally as he quickly searched for an Underwater Breathing Fill inside his inventory before swallowing it before the invulnerability duration of newly logged-in players ran out.

After making sure that he was safe from any kind of sea creature that might attack him, he suddenly cursed at Uno. “Where in the world have you brought my avatar?”

Uno did not respond as he was too lazy to explain.

Shin frowned deeply before opening the system log to see the recent events that this ‘character’ had done. His frown grew deeper as he read more of the string of notifications recorded in the logs.

“You have done quite a lot, don’t you think?” said Shin as he shook his head.

He then turned his head around, scanning everything. It did not take long for him to notice the underwater temple in the distance.

Raising his brows, he could not help but mumbled. “The Forgotten Sea? And a temple of a forgotten god?”

“Is this the place that Blacksmith Berlin is talking about?” asked Shin as he found this place interesting.

Uno still did not respond, making Shin smile bitterly and shake his head repeatedly.

“From what the old dwarf has told me, I will find something that will complement my ‘Solar Breathing Technique’. I guess it is another breathing technique,” mumbled Shin as he finally understood why Uno wanted him to delay promoting his realm and enter the game first.

“A gift, huh?” Shin chuckled as if he was teasing Uno before swimming towards the temple.

But when he extended his arms, he suddenly noticed something else. He finally noticed that the equipment that he was wearing was completely different from what he remembered. “Eh!?”

He looked at his entire body and realized that he was indeed wearing a different equipment set altogether.

“Yoh~! You have commissioned someone to craft you a full set of equipment? On top of that, it is even a set with a rank that is not known to the public! Based on the stats and effects, it is most likely in the middle of Peak of Black Mithril Rank and Obsidian Rank.”

“It is a growth type equipment as well, so its potential is most likely to be at Meteor Rank to Stellar Rank at the very least,” commented Shin before asking. “I wonder how much of my money you have spent on this one.”

[Heh! I have earned it myself. You can ask your Elementals for the details.] Uno finally responded to Shin.

Shin smirked before asking Hanzo and Solus what happened when he was ‘gone’. What he heard next had somewhat shocked him.

Forget about the battles that Uno had when through since Shin had full confidence in Uno. He knew that Uno would win against anyone as long as the gap in strength was not overwhelmingly large such as a battle between a Core Formation Stage Expert and a Domain Realm Master.

What surprised Shin was Uno robbing a safe of a noble NPC, which was filled with countless pieces of gold and a variety of treasures. Among the treasures, were the blueprints of the equipment that he was now wearing. There were also quite a lot of other blueprints for other things like advanced facilities for a city or a guild-related facility like Master Rank Stables, Training Grounds, and others.

“Is this the real gift that you have prepared for me?” asked Shin as he grinned widely.

[How about looking for more clues about the ‘True Phantom Skill’ that you have?] said Uno in return.

“Huh?” Shin paused for a moment before finally realizing what Uno was planning to do. “You-…! Do you think it will work?”

[We will never know until we try. Just look for more clues about the materials first, then we will get our answer later.] answered Uno before adding. [And don’t touch my things.]

The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched when he heard that before saying. “Since when you have become petty? I am just joking about you using my money. You can use it all you want – we are the same after all.”

[No one wants your money.] scoffed Uno before going back in silence.

Shin shrugged his shoulders before looking at the effects of the equipment set that he was wearing.

He ignored the design altogether as he was more interested in the effects that made Uno want this set. His interest was immediately piqued when he saw that it was a unique equipment set designed by a mad blacksmith from the Ancient Era.

It did not have any active effects like the other equipment as it only had a bunch of passive skills that reinforced the physical capabilities of the wearer, particularly their strength and agility.

All the effects were passive boosts targeting the pinnacle of speed and destructive power.

“No wonder Arthur said that your attack speed and mobility were so fast that it is out of this word on top of a crazy raw power – you have equipped yourself with such a set,” commented Shin as he skimmed through the effects of each piece of the equipment set.

What made him interested was the set effect, which somewhat surpassed his [Apocalypse Set] to a certain degree.

Moreover, the background of the set itself was also quite intriguing.

——————

[Set Name]: Blood Pilgrim Equipment Set

[Rank]: Ancient Rank

[Level and Type]: 155 – Growth Type

Historical Note:

A set of armor designed by a famous blacksmith during ancient times named Andre of the Land of Stars.

He was also known as the ‘Star Forger’ as all the equipment that he forged and crafted was at least at Stellar Rank. Even those that he treated as a failure were at Meteor Rank at worst.

But despite his fame and skills, he was unable to reach the pinnacle of the art of blacksmithing due to his unique condition.

He was unable to communicate with nature and the metals and ores he was using. For a blacksmith, this skill was one of their unique abilities that separated them from the rest.

This also granted them a special ability to ‘grant’ life to whatever they crafted.

And those who harnessed this ability to the fullest were able to reach another realm that all blacksmiths could dream of at that time – the realm of Soul Forging, the Divine Rank.

Mocked and ridiculed by others who are above him, Andre of the Land of Stars designed a set that could give anyone the ability to slay even the gods.

He was successful, but he was unable to forge the set with his own hands.

When those Divine Blacksmiths learned about this, they were unable to accept the fact that someone without the ability to Soul Forge could potentially rival them.

Moreover, the said equipment set was so powerful that it could surpass all the masterpieces that the Divine Blacksmiths of that time.

Not willing to accept their inferiority, they had accused Andre of turning mad, who used the lives of innocent people as the main material for all the weapons and equipment that he had crafted.

They say that it was the reason why everything that he had forged and crafted far surpassed other blacksmiths of the same rank despite not having the ability to communicate with the ores of metals.

He was then executed for the crimes that he did not commit.

As for the last blueprint that he had designed before his death, it was highly coveted by everyone due to its abilities.

But it became ‘cursed’ as some of its contents disappeared, making it incomplete.

Later, this unnamed blueprint was called the ‘Blood Pilgrim’ due to the ‘mad’ blacksmith that designed it.

——————

“What an interesting background,” commented Shin before ‘turning’ to Uno. “And you are planning to bathe the set with the blood of those you killed to awaken its full potential?”

[It is a complete blueprint through and through. Those idiots mentioned on the note are unable to fully awaken it because they are following the orthodox way of blacksmithing.] responded Uno.

[It can be just a setup of the system to give an interesting, but it can also be a clue.] he added. [Regardless, we will know in the future once it comes.]

Shin lowered his head and looked at the back of his left hand, starting at the ‘Mark of the Evil God’ tattooed on it.

Just like when the ‘Mark of Eclipse’ lost its luster and abilities when Uno took over the main vessel, this mark was also unable to show its powers and became an ordinary tattoo.

“I am guessing that you are also planning to use the abilities of this mark for it, don’t you?” asked Shin with a smirk.

But Uno did not respond to him.

Shin shrugged his shoulders before proceeding to the other details of the set.

——————

[Stats]:

Base Damage:

Physical Attack: 25,245 to 30,123

Magical Attack: 20,552 to 25, 235

Base Armor:

Physical Defense: 30,200 to 50,200

Magic Resistance: 50,500 to 50,000

+500% to all stats

+250% AGI and STR

+150% Attack Speed

+150% Elemental and Magical Defense

+100% Physical Defense

+100% Mana Sensitivity and Affinity

+200% Movement Speed

[Set Effect]:

2 Pieces – Enhanced Sensitivity (Passive): Reflex +100

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4 Pieces – Lethal Arts (Passive): Hitting a target at their vital parts caused more damage – (+1000% Critical Strike upon hitting the said vitals)

6 Pieces – Blood Baptism (Passive and Active):

Passive: Upon killing an enemy, a special energy gauge would slowly fill up which boosted the stats of the wearer.

Active 1: Consume some of the Blood Energy Gauge to reinforce each strike of the wearing with Blood Elemental Mana.

Active 2: Consume the entire energy gauge to unleash a powerful attack that would deal True Chaos Damage to anyone who got hit by it. (This attack ignored all kinds of dense unless it was at the Rank of Forbidden Spell, Divine Protection, or similar level of defensive skills and spells.)

8 Pieces: Blood Pilgrimage (Passive): This set grew along sit its wearer by consuming the blood of those who had fallen to [Scarlett Slasher (Right-Hand Sword)] and [Crimson Slayer (Left-Hand Sword)].

10 Pieces: Descent of the Blood Pilgrim (Berserk Skill): Enter a Berserk State where all the senses and stats of the wearer are enhanced threefold.

Increase movement speed by 200% and attack speed by 150%.

Note: This Berserk Skill could be used alongside other Berserk Skills.

——————

The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched repeatedly as he read through everything. “Hey! Isn’t this a little too broken? What’s with those absurd stats?”

“It can even grow as well,” he added as he felt like he understood how much of a monster could be with this equipment set. “This set can indeed slay gods once it reaches its peak potential.”

Then his thoughts halted for another time when he recalled that Uno was trying to ‘awaken’ a hidden feature of this set as well. “Maybe I should start gathering the materials for my Divine Armor so that I will not lag too much behind.”

…