Child of Destiny

The group immediately gathered right after doing their respective morning training and a quick shower to wash off their sweat. The group immediately gathered at the boy’s villa for the meal that Shin had already prepared.

This had become a part of everyone’s morning routine.

Those who were familiar with Shin’s cooking were still fine since they were already used to it, but the Potter Twins, Jilian and Molton, found it hard to adjust to such a luxury.

The meals that Shin prepared were always way above anything that they had tasted. Even the chefs at home, who were supposed to be among the greatest cooks throughout the continent, were nothing before this meal.

“No matter how many times I taste the meal that Brother Shin, I always find it ‘heaven-defying’,” commented Molton while leaning on the sofa.

He felt too full right now and unable to move.

Hearing his words, Shin chuckled and said. “You are just exaggerating it. It is just a regular meal.”

Molton did not believe it but did not say anything either. The so-called ‘normal’ for these people was something different from what he knew.

Regardless, he still accepted it and would just enjoy the future meals. He just felt a bit worried that he might not be able to find anything taste like Shin’s cooking in the future. Everything else tasted a bit bland after comparing them to the meals that he had in this place.

His taste buds seemed to have become a bit choosy when it came to food because of this.

…

While everyone was resting, they could not help but discuss the events that had happened last night, which was also the cause of the suspension of classes.

“What do you think about the huge operation last night?” asked Cloe right after sitting beside Shin.

She just finished washing the dishes along with Lorraine.

Shin thought for a moment before voicing his thoughts. “I think that it must be the huge clean up both for the Academy and the hidden organizations within the Ace City.”

Jilian pursed her lips a little before injecting. “I’ve asked my grandmother, and she said that it is nothing that we have to worry about. It is just about picking off the spies that have been identified.”

Arthur, who was lazing on the sofa, usually did not care about these matters. However, since Jilian was joining the conversation, he immediately chimed in as well. “That is also what Uncle Naathan has said.”

“However, he said that there are still quite a few that managed to erase their tracks and hide themselves. He also said that the ones that they have captured are nothing but cannon fodder, so keeping them is not worth the trouble,” he added after a bright thought.

“That is also to be expected. After all, you will not know if another Coffin Maker is hiding among them,” added Lorraine.

Coffin Maker was a master of disguise. No one would know if someone of his level would suddenly sneak into the prison by mixing themselves among the captured spies.

The risk was too much for the academy if that happened. After all, such an infiltration method was very common among the underworld organisations.

If something like that truly happened, the consequences would be extremely dire, especially when there were still a few spies hidden deep within their ranks that had yet to be taken care of.

“Just when I am about to challenge some of the seniors from the Combat Department! Why does it have to be now!” complained Arthur while ruffling his hair.

He was feeling a bit bored inside the game because they were currently trapped in that Mission Dungeon, doing nothing but fighting a bunch of jiangshi all the time.

What made it worse was that they could not get anything from those guys, not even a drop of experience points or a copper coin.

Moreover, he could not show off to anyone else since the nature of the dungeon differed every day.

Sometimes they were trapped in a cage and needed to survive the endless horde of jiangshi.

Other times, they were forced to run away from an extremely powerful monster that was impossible to beat.

There was also a time when they had to work together to do some puzzles and escape a trap room, which greatly bored Arthur since he hated these kinds of games that required them to use their brains too much.

He would rather fight the endless horde of jiangshi than do those puzzles that only gave him headaches.

Because of this, he could only train his skills there, just like Shin had suggested. He would then apply some of the insights that he had gained from there in real life, especially when challenging the members of their department.

Today was supposed to be his turn to challenge those seniors and learn a thing or two from them in the process. He also wanted to test quite a few moves that he had invented with his spear techniques against them.

Unfortunately, it was no longer possible because of the sudden development within the academy.

No, it now concerns the entirety of Ace City since the operation last night revolved around it.

“Hmph! Fighting is the only thing you have inside your head!” Cloe pouted before pointing at Leonard and nudging Shin a little. “If it’s just that, then you can just fight that musclehead and this battle junky over here!”

“Ah~! That will be boring too. We have been sparring with each other every day, so what is the point of kicking their *sses all the time? It is getting boring,” said Arthur.

“Beating us, huh? How about a quick round in the training room?” asked Leonard while cracking his fists.

“Nah~! I am not interested in beating you again,” replied Arthur while shooing at Leonard.

He just won their duel earlier, so he was quite smug. He would not give Leonard a chance to take back that win that easily.

From the side, Shin smirked as he said. “From what I remember, I am still quite ahead of you in terms of win-rate record.”

“F*ck! You are only ahead of me by 2 wins! It is not that big of a deal!” refuted Arthur.

“A win is a win, so getting ahead is still getting ahead. Don’t make any excuses,” Cloe also chimed in, joining the fun.

Lorraine, who was on Leonard’s side, also joined in as well. “That’s right! And if we go along with your logic, then you are only up against our Leo with a couple of wins as well!”

Seeing that he was being ganged up on by them, Arthur suddenly became irritated and snarled back. “You guys are working against me again, huh?”

He then turned Molton and dragged him in ‘battle’. “Junior Brother, come! Let’s teach these bad guys a lesson!”

“Eh!? Huh!?” Molton was suddenly caught off guard when he heard Arthur. “Why am I being-…?”

Unfortunately for him, before he could even say anything, Arthur immediately scolded. “What do you mean by that!? You are my Junior Brother, remember? That makes us a team!”

“Ah! I-… I-…” Molton stuttered for a moment, unable to respond.

In the meantime, Alice, who had just finished talking to her manager, came in and saw the current scene.

She furrowed her brows in confusion before walking toward Jilian and asking right after. “What’s happening? Why are those guys being like that again?”

Jilian shrugged her shoulders and just replied. This was already a usual routine for these guys, so it was nothing new to her. She had already gotten used to this kind of scenario after seeing these guys.

They seemed to always be cursing at each other, but these friendly banters only made them closer to each other.

Her family was extremely strict and demanded discipline the most. This was why her twin brother had become extremely introverted.

This made me worried about him when growing up, especially with his timid character.

However, when Molton started hanging out with Arthur, his personality became much brighter and more energetic. This was a good thing.

Unfortunately, not everything was good. She could also tell that this guy was not a good influence on Molton due to his looking for trouble a bit too much.

What was right in front of them was the proof of that.

This crazy guy was either attracting trouble to himself or jumping straight into it just to be at the centre of attention.

With a sigh, Jilian ignored the group and turned to Alice. “You are still in the Alfheim Kingdom, right?”

Alice was somewhat taken aback by the sudden question before nodding her head. “Yeah. I am still currently doing a class-related and race-exclusive quest. Why?”

“I see. It can’t be helped then,” said Jilian before falling into deep thought.

Seeing her expression, Alice seemed to have sensed something and asked. “What’s wrong? Do you need help with something?”

Jilian was about to shake her head and reject the offer when she recalled something. She was currently in the team with these guys now. Even though it was still not official, she and Molton were basically part of the Empyrean Talons.

It was no longer the same as before, when she only had to rely on herself.

Moreover, she was no longer tied to the organization that their family managed within the game after the last operation. There were no longer any risks or conflicts involved when she went to do such quests.

“I’ve just gotten a special quest from a named NPC, and it requires me to build a 5-man team before I can proceed,” she said while pointing at the group. “I originally planned to ask these guys, but most of them are stuck in a special region or a mission dungeon, so none of them is available.”

“Cloe and Lorraine said that they can make it somehow,” she added.

Alice thought for a moment before asking. “Is it a time-limited quest?”

Jilian nodded. “I need to form a team before the end of tomorrow, or else the mission will expire.”

Hearing this, Alice nodded and said. “I will finish my quest or at least reach the save point later tonight.”

“Thanks,” said Jilian before turning her attention back to the group, who were still bantering at each other, before sighing helplessly.

……