Child of Destiny

Shin did not immediately open his system log to check on the new notification. Instead, he focused more on getting used to his newly found technique, making sure that he had fully mastered it before exiting his current state.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Under his continuous barrage of attacks that seemed to come out of nowhere, Shin was able to overwhelm the entire army of sand soldiers without encountering any problems.

He also felt that the strains that he supposed to get under this state and while controlling all the phantoms had greatly reduced.

It felt like maintaining this state only required a little energy and concentration. He even felt that he could add an Elemental Spirit Possession or two in the mix without suffering that much burden for his mind.

After a while, Shin gave up control of the Phantom Apparition and let its Battle AI fight the remaining sand soldiers along with its phantoms.

Swoosh!

In the meantime, Shin’s consciousness returned to his main body.

Whoosh!

When he slowly opened his eyes, he felt that his mental strength had greatly improved, suppressing his previous level by a rank or two.

“I see! This kind of training is only meant for improving my understanding and control over my Phantom Swordsman Abilities, but is also greatly beneficial for improving my mental strength.”

“Right now, I feel like my concentration is much tougher than before, while my mental strength is twice as strong when compared to previously,” he mumbled, seemingly understanding what kind of trials were waiting for him next.

“I wonder which ability this tower will target next,” he added before opening his system log to look for the notifications that he had just gotten.

“Comprehending the mysteries of the Phantom Movements and understanding the true essence of the Phantom Dance, huh? Interesting,” he mumbled after skimming through the system notifications.

He did not get that much information about the so-called Phantom Movements, but he at least had a rough idea of what they were.

“It must be about how I can make my phantoms more independent and realistic,” he pursed his mouth a little.

System: Phantom Swordsmen were known for their extreme speed and illusory movements. They were experts in both assassination techniques, which majored in sneaky ambushes, and elusive swordsmanship that carried the essence of mirage.

System: The Phantom Movements are the core of all the abilities of the Phantom Swordsmen, particularly when it came it their battle styles.

System: The Phantom Dance was their signature skill, which also made them unrivalled on the battlefield during all the wars that they participated in.

Skimming through these system notifications, Shin opened his skill panel and looked at the description of the said skill, which was now much different compared to its original version.

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Class Specific Skill: Phantom Swordsman

Skill Name: Phantom Dance

Skill Rank: Tier 3

Skill Rarity: Epic

Skill Attribute: Mirage

Skill Details:

Release 9 identical copies of yourself that will confuse your enemies. Each copy can be controlled or moved independently, just like a regular clone, but they can’t deal any damage to enemies or receive any kind of damage from all sources, making them indestructible.

The caster can swap the position of their original body with any of the phantoms at all times.

All the phantoms could also execute a kind of martial movement that the caster had mastered and create a realistic illusion.

Duration: So long as the caster can withstand the energy consumption.

Cooldown: None

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This skill had become too broken compared to what Shin remembered.

“I see. This skill is much different now compared to when I first got the Phantom Swordsman Class,” he mumbled. “In a sense, it has now become somewhat similar to the exclusive abilities of my transcendent race.”

From his perspective, this broken skill seemed to be similar to the ‘Nephilim’s Wings’ skill attached to his inheritance sword, the [Yamato].

He then recalled the original version of the said skill, comparing the two.

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Skill Name: Phantom Dance

Skill Rank: Epic

Skill Details: Release 9 identical copies of yourself that will confuse your enemies. Each copy is indestructible and can be controlled just like a clone, but they can’t deal any kind of damage to enemies.

At the same time, you can also swap the position of your original body with any copy at any time you want.

Duration: 15 minutes

Cooldown: 3 Hours

———————–

Not only had the cooldown time disappeared, but the duration of the skill had also become completely different.

Shin also realized that the first few parts of the skill had become somewhat different, particularly when it came to rank.

He also realized that there was an additional category; this skill seemed to have an attribute of its own.

“Mirage attribute, huh?” he mumbled before quickly opening one of the skills that he had yet to use under the Phantom Swordsman skill panel.

———————–

Class Specific Skill: Phantom Swordsman

Skill Name: True Phantom

Skill level: Tier 3

Skill Rank: Transcendent Legendary

Skill Attribute: Mirage

Description: Create a clone that could be summoned permanently.

– This permanent clone would start from level (1) upon creation, but it could level up and grow infinitely along with the main body.

– This clone could live on its own and had its own ‘consciousness’ (AI) matching the level of the main body after meeting certain conditions, and could level up and grow on its own.

Note: If the clone’s rank is ‘Perfect’, then it could bypass the rest of the conditions and have a ‘soul’ of its own.

– This clone could wield and wear its own weapon and armor.

– The main body could transfer some of its skills to the True Phantom.

Note: The transferred skills would be considered as ‘transferred items’ and would disappear from the main body’s skillset unless it was returned.

Skill overall note 1: You can only have a single ‘True Phantom’ at a time.

Skill overall note 2: Once the ‘True Phantom’ died, all the skills that transferred to it would return to its main body along with all the experience points, achievement points, and reputation points that it earned, but all the items and equipment that it had would be dropped.

Skill overall note 3: The ‘True Phantom’ could only be revived through ‘Phantom Ceremony’.

When the ‘Phantom Ceremony’ was conducted, everything that the ‘True Phantom’ earned could be transferred back by the main body, aside from the dropped items.

———————–

“I knew it! This skill has also gained its attribute as well!” he mumbled, realizing that the Tower of Inheritance must have more benefits than it could offer.

Seeing this skill, Shin also felt that he was somewhat lagging behind in finding the required materials for its creation.

Uno seemed to be urging him to rush this ‘gathering quest’, seemingly planning something.

Unfortunately, most of the required materials were too rare and hard to come by. He had even commissioned the Secret Recipe to look for the said materials, but could not get any news about it until now.

The Hand of Midas was also keeping an eye on the said materials both in the Aurora and Awakened Continent, particularly the secret shops and large Auction Houses. Unfortunately, even with their resources, they could not find any clue about it.

The most ‘common’ among the materials was the dragon’s blood, yet even that was one of the rarest materials out there in the market.

After a while, Shin also discovered that the other skills from the Phantom Swordsman Class had disappeared, only leaving the Phantom Assassin, which now had a bunch of (?) in its description panel, and the Phantom Apparition, which seemed to have no changes in it.

There was also an additional skill that was currently greyed out and had no details. This was the Phantom Swordsmanship.

At this moment, he only had five skills under the Phantom Swordsman Skills, which were the Phantom Assassination, Phantom Dance, Phantom Swordsmanship, Phantom Apparition, and True Phantom.

“These five must be the core skills of the Phantom Swordsman Class,” he mumbled before falling into deep thought.

“If my guess is right, then the other skills must have been absorbed by the first three skills, particularly the Phantom Assassination and Phantom Swordsmanship.”

He had already mastered the Phantom Dance and was very familiar with its main characteristics, so he knew that all the other skills that disappeared from his skill panel must be either absorbed by the other two.

Recalling the characteristics of those missing skills, Shin could at least guess which skills went to either of the new skills.

Having these skills, Shin immediately realized what kind of trials would be waiting for him on the higher floors.

“Tsk! Let’s forget about these for now,” he mumbled before turning toward the ongoing battle in the distance, before casting his gaze toward the Sand General, who happened to be staring back at him.

“I guess it is time to clear this floor, huh?” he mumbled before taking the initiative to recall the Phantom Apparition and its phantoms.

This time, he would be acting personally and unleashing what this newly acquired power truly could do.

…