Child of Destiny

……

Shin spent the next few days grinding in the secret land, gaining as many levels as he could. Even though levelling up had become much harder the higher his level became, he persisted with his boring daily routine.

The group had already been summoned back by the academy after confirming that everything was fine. They could now go back to the academy and study without thinking much about anything else.

The Magic Ace Academy had already coordinated with the local authorities of the Eastern Sea Region and had reinforced the security throughout the region. The Springfield Family, the Stuart Clan, the Potter Clan, and the Goldstein Family had also made a joint defence with the Magic Ace Academy throughout Ace City and the surrounding places.

Shin and the others could attend their classes without worrying much about any attempt from the Black Serpent Mafia.

Shin had also reported about the spies that the Black Serpent Mafia had infiltrated their ranks to Nathan, and was told that he did not have to worry about it since they had already made their preparations for such situations.

After all, they were aware of how skilled the agents trained by the Black Serpent Mafia were and experienced how tricky to deal with their spies.

However, Shin had taken down quite a lot of talents from their young spies, dealing quite serious damage to their forces.

As for the more talented spies that managed to infiltrate their ranks, the top forces of the Soaring Continent had already prepared themselves for the worst-case scenario.

All Shin and the rest had to do was focus on their studies and the other tasks given to them, especially the ones within the virtual world.

Nothing eventful happened throughout these last few days. Aside from their daily training routine, attending classes during the day, and returning home and playing the game at night, Shin and the rest of the team were not doing that much recently.

It was just a pity that Vincent and Jeremiah were summoned back by their family due to the recent big incidents that successively happened, involving the Soaring Continent and large underworld organizations.

However, they had also gained two new housemates at the same time.

The Potter Twins, Molton Potter and Jillian Potter, joined them, which excited Arthur after learning about it.

Molton joined the boys, while Jilian joined the girls’ camp.

Aside from Arthur’s annoyingness throughout the day, Shin and the others continued their daily life with ease.

He first thought that Shiella would give him a serious scolding and beating due to his recklessness during the previous big operation. He had already prepared himself for it when he realised that Shiella was surprisingly very busy.

They were barely able to see her in their villa since they moved back for the school. She was leaving very early in the morning and coming back very late as well. At times, she did not come back home at all, worrying them.

Shin could not even contact her within the game due to her very busy schedule. The one who was receiving his report was her right-hand person within the game, who was also the acting leader of the Hand of Midas, Alluring Smile.

Unfortunately, the group could not do anything about the situation, especially when they were not strong enough to deal with a more serious situation. They even heard that some huge companies and global conglomerates were trying to tap into the business of the Flying Dragon Corporation, putting a lot of pressure on them.

Fortunately, Jane Levana, Arthur and Shiella’s mother, was doing quite well at fending off all their advances. But in exchange, Shiella had to handle the other business that the family had.

All the group could do was support her and give her their encouragement.

…

Today was Friday, so the special program class did not have much to do aside from attending the special training of their respective departments.

Leonard finished quite early and was currently waiting for the others to finish their respective training so that they could go home together.

Alongside him, Shin had also come back a bit earlier after a quick checkup from Professor Henry’s laboratory.

“Are you still trapped in that secret land, Shin Bro?” asked Leonard curiously.

“There is a high chance that I will spend quite a long time exploring that place, especially when I am alone,” answered Shin while collapsing on the bench, somewhat drained due to the series of tests that Professor Henry had conducted.

Leonard frowned a little before offering. “Do you need some assistance? Should we come back and lend you a hand?”

“You said that there is a high chance that it concerns an Empire Quest, so trying to clear it alone will be quite difficult even for you,” he added.

Shin just waved his hand and rejected the idea. “There is no need to trouble yourself for it. It is not much of a big deal anyway. I am only exploring the place at a steady pace while also grinding some levels. It is not like I will be in trouble that easily.”

“Moreover, I don’t even have any idea what kind of quest it is, much less where to find the trigger for it.”

“You will only waste your time there if you come. It is better to continue what you are doing in the God of War Temple and gain more foothold within it. I hear that training there is also quite beneficial for you.”

Leonard stared at Shin for a while before nodding his head. “So, how is your progress overall?”

Shin furrowed his brows quite deeply before shaking his head. “Well, I think I am still far from finding the true purpose of that place.”

“I can’t even fully map out the entire region due to how large it is. I barely explore a small portion of it, but the monsters that I have encountered along the way are already very troublesome.”

“I still have to grind for levels a bit longer before I can proceed to the deeper parts of the region.”

He then pursed his lips before complaining a little. “Level up has become very difficult these days. I have spent all my time and effort hunting monsters, yet I have only managed to increase my experience bar by a little over 7.5%.”

“That is all I get after grinding nonstop the entire week! It is almost an average of a little over 1% EXP a day! Tsk! Tsk!” he added with a helpless sigh.

Leonard thought about it for a moment before concluding that he also had a similar result even in the Bestial Mountains of the Beastmen Race.

“I think that running dungeons and doing quest has become more important for grinding levels,” he said.

Shin thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. “You’re right. I think that the game developers are encouraging the players to run more dungeons.”

“As for hunting in the wild, it has become more of a material gathering. Harvesting the important materials from monsters’ corpses has become more important, especially the ones with high life rating,” he mumbled before adding. “The Beast Cores and Elemental Cores have also become more important for lifestyle players’ researchers as well.”

“I heard that they have become a huge demand in the market,” he then suddenly paused, recalling his harvest these last few days and added. “Now that I think about it, I have ground quite a lot of them from the secret land.”

“All the monsters there have a decent bloodline, which makes it easier for them to form such cores. Even the defective monsters that have become a bunch of abominations had a small chance of dropping them.”

The cores had become a mainstream material that the players were looking for since they could be used in multiple areas. It had even become a unique currency when it came to dealing with a few businesses.

Hearing this, Leonard could not help but laugh. “It looks like we will be earning quite a lot from that place again.”

He could not help but recall all the business that their adventurer team had tapped into, along with the Hand of Midas.

There was no need to tell about their gains from the Saint Heaven Kingdom. After all, the influence of the Hand of Midas throughout the kingdom was currently unmatched.

They had countless branches throughout the entire kingdom, almost having a branch in every city, regardless of their rank.

Then there was also the Shin’s Dukedom, the ’Gold Mountain’ in the Sky Deceiving Valley, which connected the Saint Heaven Kingdom to the neighbouring Frozen Kingdom, which was an extremely high neutral region.

There was only a single access toward the Frozen Kingdom aside from the Golden City and its teleportation formations. The player traffic within the city had become so serious that they required some help from their respective churches to ensure security throughout the city.

Then there was also the Sacred Light Kingdom, which was the capital of the apothecary profession. The Hand of Midas had also spread their influence throughout this kingdom, along with the help of its partners.

Adding this newly founded region that Shin had discovered, Leonard could feel that no one would be able to rival the Hand of Midas and Empyrean Talons when it came to wealth, once they had developed in this region as well.

The two were chatting casually when they both sensed something was amiss. Their eyes suddenly turned sharp as they scanned their surroundings, looking for signs of people watching them from the darkness.

Frowning deeply, Shin squinted his eyes and mumbled. “I wonder who has the guts to make a move within the academy premises.”

……