Child of Destiny

…

Shin thought for a moment before saying. “Given the description that Molton has given, this obsidian crystal seems to be a higher version of Bloodstone that the players could use to gain Awakening Skills during the level 100 to 115 marks.”

When he asked Molton about it, the latter immediately replied.

Molton: Given their characteristics, Brother Shin is right about it.

Molton: However, Bloodstone can be used to upgrade one’s Battle Physique and gain a few Awakening Skills in the process, while the Stone of Samsara directly affects the overall features of a race, particularly their bloodline and racial traits.

“I see,” mumbled Shin before thanking Molton and telling the latter to immediately inform him if he found any more clues about this place.

Molton: No problem, Brother Shin! Just ask me anything else you want to know. It is because of your recommendation that I have gained access to the Imperial Library!

Molton: So long as I can find it from the library, I will immediately look for such clues.

After thanking Molton for another time, Shin closed the message panel before proceeding to look at the floating obsidian crystal once again.

“From what Molton has said, this chunk of stone is capable of awakening the hidden traits of an Ascended Class and directly promoting them to an Ascended Class,” Shin mumbled, trying to organize the information that he had gotten.

“It is also somewhat useful for Epic Races and Classes, which can give them another set of Extraordinary Powers or further enhance their existing abilities.”

“Given its size, the quality of Ascended Abilities or Extraordinary Powers that an individual can get from it will be at the highest possible level.”

“However, it is more effective when someone with Ascended Class uses it since these people have more potential that can be squeezed out of their body compared to those with Epic Classes, since they have already drained most of their potential during their promotion quests to become an Epic Race.”

“Additionally, since this Stone of Samsara is capable of creating a special domain that negates all kinds of Elemental Powers, the abilities or powers that it can provide will be something related to it.”

He then paused for a moment, recalling the most important information that Molton had given him. “Unfortunately, this thing is useless for a Transcendent Race since we technically have no ’potential’ that needs to be squeezed out.”

“Instead, we have these so-called breakpoints that we have to destroy step by step before reaching another level.”

“If we want to unlock more of our potential, then we have to constantly discover more about our Transcendent Traits and awaken them through constant tests prepared for their Predecessors, which will directly help us understand more about our powers and gain more Transcendent Abilities.”

When Shin thought about this, he could not help but think that they were having an unfair treatment from the game developers and the almighty system.

However, when he also thought about the cheat-like advantages that they had, such as having multiple Elemental Spirits that can form a contract with them, the large numbers of Transcendent Abilities provided by their Racial Traits, and the favorable treatment that the NPCs were giving them, Shin could not help but agree that they were too broken for the game.

The large NPC forces that treated them with the highest respect were more than enough to put them way ahead of the other players from the ’lesser’ races.

Moreover, he also recalled the thing that Dracula, the Vampire Primogenitor of the Frozen Kingdom, had told him about the Transcendent Races.

That ancestor-level and Sovereign Being, who stood at the pinnacle of the lower plane, had told him that people with Transcendent Races could constantly improve their level and power without limit and reach the level of a Divine Being with few obstacles.

On the other hand, Ascended Races and Epic Races needed to constantly face multiple tests to break through their limits and escape the constraints of the Heavenly Principle, proving themselves worthy of such transcendent powers.

If he put it in layman’s terms, then Transcendent Races were the favorites of the Heavenly Principle, giving them VIP tickets as a special pass through the so-called tests for their promotion.

Meanwhile, the Ascended and Epic Races were the ’regular people’ who needed to struggle through all the hardships just to seize the qualifications of passing those tests.

Shin could not help but sigh before realizing the special privileges that he had gotten just by getting this Transcendent Race.

He then looked at the floating Stone of Samara before mumbling to himself. “Based on the information that Molton has provided, this obsidian crystal is something that I can’t get through normal means.”

“It requires a special container to seal it before I can even put it in my inventory. Unfortunately, I currently have no means to take it away unless I find such a container somewhere.”

He then looked around before mumbling to himself. “The question is – how the heck did this thing end up in this place in the first place?”

“This Stone of Samara is said to be a unique product of the Immortal Empire, but how does it come to be? How are they made?”

While he was having such thoughts inside his head, Shin surveyed the surroundings with sharp eyes, even activating his True Sight in the process.

Unfortunately, he could not get anything despite all of it.

“I guess I can only explore the area before coming up with my next move,” he mumbled while furrowing his brows. “If I can’t find anything within the vicinity, then I can only mark this part of the map and come back again later once I find a way to store it.”

Having that in mind, Shin proceeded to explore the other parts of this area, hoping to find any clue about the Stone of Samsara.

Unfortunately, he could not find anything helpful with the current situation, leaving him with the only choice of abandoning this place for the time being.

He would come back again later once he had found a way to deal with that obsidian crystal.

After marking this part of the map, Shin proceeded to head for another location, further exploring the entire region.

He was intending to grind more levels while exploring the outer parts of the massive island before proceeding to the huge lake at the center.

He was still quite powerless to explore that region, so he could only explore the outer layers of the island while strengthening himself.

But to his surprise, he found a few more places with conditions similar to the place where he found the Stone of Samara.

However, these special places had their unique conditions that differentiate it from the first one that he just discovered.

One of those places was filled with Death Energy, which was dreadful and eerie at the same time. It hosted a bunch of zombified creatures that seemed to be the residents of the said place during the reign of the Immortal Empire.

There was also a place that was filled with thick life force, opposite to the previous one. This place was filled with dense botanical life, such as rare herbs and magical trees. There were also no signs of humans in this place, just like the first place that he had discovered, but Shin could feel that some of the magical trees throughout the area seemed to be the people who used to reside in this place.

There was also a place that was dominated by multiple beasts, who seemed to be worshipping the obsidian crystal situated at the center of the area and protecting it with their lives on the line.

Shin had discovered multiple areas with strange environments filled with mysterious powers surrounding them.

All of them had their unique environmental feature, which seemed to come from the obsidian crystal situated at the center of each area.

All these obsidian crystals looked the same on the outside, but they all had different properties unique to them. They were also creating a special environment that seemed to reflect the powers that they contained.

Shin then realized that these Stones of Samsara seemed to be more special than he originally thought.

What shocked him even more was the number of obsidian crystals scattered throughout the region. He was barely able to explore a tenth of this region despite exploring it for an entire week (real-world time), which was already quite long.

During his exploration, he had discovered at least dozens of places scattered throughout the region that he had explored.

From his observations, these places that were hosting an obsidian crystal used to be a village or a town under the jurisdiction of the fallen Immortal Empire.

He had also found a much larger area being covered by the mysterious powers of a particular Stone of Samsara compared to the rest. Moreover, the obsidian stone ’protecting’ this place was much larger compared to the others.

Shin suspected that it must be a vassal city of the Immortal Empire, given its size and the more powerful Samsara Stone guarding it.

Looking at the marks on his virtual map and connecting them, Shin was able to draw a rough outline of the other places where a village, a town, or even a city used to be before the empire had suffered such a distance.

Based on this, he was also able to estimate which places he needed to avoid and which were the ones that he could use to grind more levels and such.

In his virtual map, he had already marked the places where a Samsara Stone was located, along with the grinding maps that their forces could use in the future.

Looking at his current progress, Shin could not help but feel somewhat satisfied with himself. “I guess I can be qualified as a bigger explorer now.”

…