Child of Destiny

……

Roar!

The deafening dragon’s roar shook the entire field, even making the barrier isolating the five platforms tremble violently.

Even the ground itself seemed to have sensed the arrival of an apex predator and started shaking itself.

Cobra, who was directly subjected to this pressure, seemed to have seen Arthur growing larger and transforming into a huge ancient dragon with golden scales.

He no longer had to guess who his opponent was since the answer had already been laid before everyone. If he still not guessed the identity of this person despite all the clues that he had, then he had to doubt his own intelligence at that point.

Understanding the strength and abilities of his opponent, Cobra understood that he could not afford to underestimate his opponent, especially when Arthur was one of the most established names throughout the game in the current era.

Whoosh!

Seemingly taking his side, the originally day setting of the trial suddenly became night, which could greatly enhance his abilities.

Along with the darkening surroundings, Cobra smirked at Arthur before hopping backward and entering stealth.

Given his skills, trying to find him in such an environment would be difficult.

However, before he could even fully meld with the surrounding darkness, Cobra suddenly noticed that a certain gaze had totally locked on his figure.

When he raised his head and saw where that gaze was coming from, he realized that Arthur was looking at him intently with a pair of golden eyes.

Arthur activated his dragon eyes almost instantly when he noticed the current situation. Adding the fact that his eyes never left his opponent, Cobra was unable to fully escape his gaze.

Bang!

With an extremely loud explosion, Arthur’s figure suddenly disappeared from his current location and instantly appeared before his opponent, who was about to enter stealth.

“Tsk!” Cobra could not help but click his tongue when he saw the tip of a spear that was rapidly approaching him.

Left without a choice, he could not only use one of his lifesaving skills right off the bat.

’Extra Skills (Tier 2): Gale Steps’

Swoosh!

This was an extremely useful skill for all assassins and thieves, which also became the core of their different styles due to its universal usage.

The instantaneous disappearance, alongside a couple of seconds of invulnerability provided by this skill already had extreme usage for multiple occasions. Adding the boost of speed that lasted for at least five seconds on top of that, this particular skill had become a true lifesaving skill for such a profession.

Alongside the natural stealth abilities that Cobra possessed and a few stealth-enhancing skills and techniques that were passively working, he was able to instantly erase his presence right after disappearing in front of Arthur.

Shing!

The golden spear struck nothing but air, making Arthur knit his brows a little.

However, he was not disappointed in the slightest since he had already foreseen such an outcome.

Along with a skillful turn in the air, Arthur twirled his spear around before striking the ground with it.

Boom!

A massive explosion immediately followed, destroying the grass field around him and making the ground sink.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The debris flew in every direction alongside a violent gust of wind that swept through all directions.

With the outward force of the explosion, nothing could approach Arthur, which included his current opponent.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Cobra understood what Arthur was planning to do, so he did not throw any counterattack in that window and continued to retreat with the help of a boost in movement speed that he had.

He also made sure that his movements followed the gust of wind, even gliding while riding it, so that Arthur would not be able to pinpoint his location due to fluctuations in the air.

He knew that Arthur would be able to instantly find him once he created an irregular movement that went against the chaos that had been created.

Realizing that his opponent managed to hide from him, Arthur did not make any move and stood still, seemingly waiting for the storm that he had created to calm down.

When everything settled, Arthur could be found standing alone in the middle of a huge crater. It was clear that he had created a battle arena without any distractions or obstacles.

It was just a concave crater that looked like an inverted dome at a glance.

With such a clean field, Arthur had created an arena where his opponent could not hide.

The grass field earlier was already something that could be considered a bane for classes that majored in stealth, particularly when the grass could expose their movements.

However, such a disadvantage was nothing to the top experts of the game since they could negate most of it through highly advanced techniques or tricks.

They could even use the movements of the grass to their advantage, fooling those weaker or less skilled than them.

Arthur chose to create such a stage to avoid all the annoying stuff that might arise throughout the battle.

Moreover, this battle arena that he had created was more favorable for him, especially when his class countered most of the assassins and thieves of the game.

It was clear that Cobra belonged to the assassin class regardless of his race.

As a veteran player, who had been playing games since he was in grade school, Arthur naturally knew where his strengths and weaknesses lie.

Even though he enjoyed the thrill of fighting the top experts of the game, he had never put himself at a disadvantage. He would always put himself in a spot where he could bully his opponents.

“Tsk! Tsk! Look at this guy already setting up a stage for a confrontation,” mumbled Cobra as he sat on his feet right at the edge of the crater.

What Arthur did was not just getting rid of all the obstacles around them. It was also a form of invitation for Cobra, an invitation for direct combat.

Without any unique terrain that he could use as a cover, the only thing left for him to use was his unique skills and techniques.

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice,” he mumbled before helplessly accepting the challenge.

Since there was nowhere to hide, it was better to give his all and teach this arrogant kid a lesson.

“You three, don’t be lazy and get to work,” he mumbled while taking the initiative to remove his stealth and reveal himself.

Arthur immediately spotted, especially when he was standing at the edge of the crater, where he could easily be spotted.

At this point, Arthur could also see the three specks of light flying around Cobra, which turned into three different snakes behind him with different colors. One of them was pitch black like a shadow, the other was as green as grass, while the last seemed to be like smooth jade.

They coiled around Cobra while hissing aggressively at Arthur before turning into blazing figures that fully engulfed their master.

’Elemental Snake Possession (Triple Fusion): King Cobra’

Right after the possession, a huge image of ’King Cobra’ manifested behind Cobra, staring intently at Arthur with full authority.

Seeing this, Arthur pursed his lips a little before undergoing his version of Elemental Spirit Possession.

“Eira, let’s teach this little snake a lesson,” he mumbled, summoning his Ice Dragon.

Roar!

A huge white dragon first manifested behind his back, showcasing its beautiful and majestic body filled with smooth and rounded scales.

She opened her wings wide, releasing a powerful and cold gust of wind, which seemed to signify the arrival of winter.

Roar!

Along with her commanding roar, the weather seemed to have changed, making the snow fall from the sky.

She then started shirking while also fusing with Arthur’s body.

Right after, Arthur’s armor lost its original black and gold color, turning it into a set of clean and beautiful white armor.

The runes engraved on the armor’s edges and surface began to pulse with a blue luster, making his appearance more majestic and commanding.

His red cape also turned blue, resembling the deep ocean, while his shield and spear complemented the color of his armor with their white-lustered surfaces.

The segment of the spear that connected its tip and shaft blazed with bluish-white flame that seemed to be acting as its tussle.

This was the full and new transformation of this version of Elemental Spirit Possession when Eira somewhat regained her true powers.

’Elemental Dragon Fusion (Ice Dragon): Winter Emissary’

Roar!

With yet another deafening roar, Arthur released an extremely cold and commanding air, which greatly affected the surroundings.

This time, the mysterious power that was supposed to cover Arthur’s appearance from everyone else seemed to have failed to hide all of these, making everyone witness all the changes that occurred with him alongside the change in weather.

This seemed to have reminded everyone that there was a huge difference between certain Elemental Spirits, particularly the ones with special backgrounds or unique elements.

Arthur stared at his opponent with a provocative air that was telling the latter the different qualities of their elemental spirits.

It was as if he was telling Cobra that this sole Elemental Dragon alone was more than enough to deal with the fusion possession of his three Elemental Snakes.

“This arrogant brat,” mumbled Cobra while squinting his eyes before jumping off the edge of the crater, also disappearing at the same time.

Moreover, Arthur was unable to see through his stealth for this time despite using his special Dragon Eyes.

This signified how much enhancement Cobra’s went through right after the possession.

…