Child of Destiny

Shin looked at Cecil with a slightly serious expression, especially after experiencing a glimpse of her true powers.

Those eerie cries of ghosts and terrifying calls of a devil were indeed hard to deal with. If not for his monstrous willpower, which was further augmented by the Heart Realm Technique.

Shin was still unaware of her true combat prowess, especially that black smoke that she kept emitting. However, given her title as a guide, he could at least guess that she was related to the underworld or something similar.

From his knowledge, the said underworld was another Outer Realm or even an Outer World similar to Hell itself.

Unfortunately, he did not have that much knowledge about it. Aside from having a rough idea about this place, he did not know much that could give him enough of a clue how to deal with the strange powers of his current opponent.

Fortunately, he still had enough strength to withstand the mental attacks coming from that strange and eerie power, warding off the dark influence and tempting voices that were trying to shake his will.

Now that he had the opportunity to fully observe his opponent without losing her tracks, Shin wanted to have a closer look at her techniques, wanting to see if he could incorporate them with his ‘Phantom Series’.

Seemingly understanding what Shin was thinking, Cecil gave him a teasing smile before finally making her move.

Poof!

She disappeared once again before reappearing right before Shin within an instant.

Shing!

Her dagger was already upon Shin when he finally recovered himself.

Swoosh!

He swiftly responded, slightly leaning back to create enough space between him and the incoming strike while also swinging the sheathed sword in a full circle before him to deflect the incoming attack.

Clank!

Shin squinted his eyes because he had gotten a glimpse of his opponent’s movements. From his perspective, Cecil seemed to have entered a void and shuttled through it before reappearing right before him.

The technique seemed to be similar to when he was using ‘Void Steps,’ which was the Elemental Skill that he had gotten when he formed a contract with Hanzo.

However, there were also quite a few distinct differences between them.

Shin suspected that it must be because of the black smoke that Cecil possessed.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang!

Clang! Clang!

The two continued to exchange a few blows against each other, barely suppressing the other party.

However, this time, it was clear that Shin was able to hold himself quite well when compared to the first time he clashed against Cecil, where he barely had any idea about her abilities and techniques.

He was able to clearly see her movements, saving himself from being one-shotted just like the last time.

He was able to put up a good fight and hold his ground properly, without even losing his edge from each of their exchanges.

He was also starting to feel that the pressure coming from Cecil was slowly weakening.

He was not sure whether it was because of Cecil taking the initiative to weaken her pressure or if he was starting to get accustomed to the pressure itself, making it quite useless against him.

Regardless, Shin knew that this trial was ending, especially after he passed through the main ordeal that was prepared for him.

Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh!

With a final clash of their weapons, the two were pushed toward opposite directions, creating a decent space between them.

Shin was about to continue when he realized that Cecil had suddenly stopped and retrieved her daggers.

It was then that Shin realized that he must have cleared this floor’s trial.

“Let’s stop her for now. It could get more serious if we continued,” she said, along with her teasing smile, before continuing. “I am barely able to suppress the battle hunger that I have almost forgotten, so anything more will get me in trouble.”

“After all, I do not want this Tower of Inheritance to punish me and scrap the inheritance that I have left behind,” she added, giving a subtle hint to Shin.

It was at this moment that everything had come back to him.

Shin had suddenly recalled that the main task for this special trial was for him to survive for an entire hour from Cecil’s constant attacks.

Glancing at the timer floating above his head, he realized that they had far surpassed the time limit that Cecil had told him.

Three hours! They had been fighting for a little over three hours already!

This could only mean that he had passed this trial with flying colors once again.

Cecil stared at Shin for quite a while, giving him an appreciative look, before smiling. “Indeed, you are extremely talented. So talented that you look more like a monster or even a demon from other people’s perspective.”

“If not for you being a Transcendent Being, then I will do everything just to take you as my disciple,” she giggled before waving at Shin. “This should be it. I will look forward to how you are going to surprise us in the future.”

“If you have some conscience, then at least bring a few more talented friends for us to play with the next time you visit the tower,” She then hoped backward, stepping into a black door that suddenly appeared behind her. “Until we meet again, Little Hero of the current era~!”

Swoosh!

She did not even give Shin the time to respond and disappeared alongside the black door.

However, her additional parting words lingered on the trail floor before the door could fully disappear. “Who knows, our successors will be among them~!”

Shin immediately understood what she was trying to imply with those words.

“If they are a bunch of old monsters from the previous eras, then their classes and races must be at an extremely high level,” he mumbled, feeling quite excited about this. “There can also be an extremely powerful Ascended or Epic among them who can match the true power of a fully grown Transcendent.”

With this thought, Shin could not help but be reminded of quite a few powerful NPCs that he had encountered, who were not a Transcendent Being. “The Phantom King Kentas and Longinus – the Pinnacle”

“There is also Commander Taiga, who is known to be the Storm General and a notch beneath them,” he mumbled in deep thought. “I wonder how they are when compared to the people trapped in this place.”

*Ding*

While he was lost in thought, the long-awaited notification from the system had finally arrived.

System: Congratulations, Beginner Trialist! You have passed the additional trial for the third floor!

System: You have received an additional reward for your amazing feat!

System: You have received 900 Inheritance Stones!

*Ding*

System: You are the first Trialist who has managed to clear 2 additional trials consecutively, earning yourself an additional reward!

System: Your accumulated inheritance stones will be doubled!

…

Seeing these few notifications, Shin could not help but raise his brows.

Given that he had gotten yet another batch of inheritance stones, he immediately recognized their utmost importance within this place.

This special currency would, without a doubt, play a crucial role within this tower.

He had already gotten two thousand and one hundred inheritance stones in total from the previous two floors, so he would have a total of three thousand inheritance stones.

That should be plenty.

However, the additional reward for passing two special trials consecutively doubled his gains, meaning he would receive a total of six thousand inheritance stones.

He was still not sure how expensive the goods were within the inheritance shop since he still had yet to gain access to it, but he could tell that all of them would surely be useful, especially when he had gotten nothing else aside from these inheritance stones.

“I am becoming more curious about this inheritance shop,” he mumbled while waiting.

He was waiting for the system, wanting to see if there were still more surprises prepared for him.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed since the system had not sent anything else after the last notification.

He could only sigh helplessly before hitting the exit button to leave the tower.

Swoosh!

Not long after he left, multiple presences seemed to descend from the higher floors, casting their gazes at the spot where Shin last stood.

“So, he indeed left.”

“What do you expect? This floor is already his limit. Going further will only be harming himself than gain anything.”

“That’s right. I will be disappointed if his greed has taken over his mind and proceed to challenge the next floor.”

“Sigh~! It has been a while since we have gotten such a ‘visit’ – and from an extremely good seeding at that! I wonder when he will come back.”

“That’s all for now. Let’s hope that he will grow much stronger than he already is when he comes back.”

“Ah~! I hope he does bring some good talent along with him when that time comes.”

Multiple voices filled with different tones and emotions reverberated throughout the floor, filling the entire place with their echoing voices.

They had discussed for quite a while before disappearing altogether.

……..