Child of Destiny

...…

Shin's day passed quite early as he wrapped up his training earlier than the usual time. It was because he wanted to rest a little and recover his peak condition before logging in to the game.

But surprising enough, he seemed to have learned more of the sword principles during this shorter period of training. He did not only learn more wills that he could infuse with his sword, but the training itself became more efficient.

He suspected that it might be because of the earlier enlightenment that he had gotten inside the game. Applying what he learned in his battle style and putting it into practice greatly increased his understanding of different sword principles.

He could even combine them, producing surprising results. He just felt pity that he could not use all of them along with his innate attributes. It was because some of the wills were not suitable with the ones that he had already awakened like the flexible sword that was more suitable to be used for water attribute and somewhat effective when used with wood attribute.

But setting that aside, his training reached another level. His swinging of different weapons for at least a thousand times seemed to pass without him knowing while writing the word related to them became much easier.

It was for this reason that he felt that he was starting to master this training method that Old Ryong had given him.

He immediately went back home after wrapping up his training. He originally wanted to wait for Arthur and the rest, but after remembering that they were all preparing for the exploration of the ancient cultivator's tomb, he quickly disregarded that thought and went back home alone. He would be able to contact them within the game anyway, so there was no need to rush.

Little did he know that Arthur was quite upset about something. After learning that Shin was doing something fun alone, he almost went to Shunkai Forest and joined those so-called hunters.

The guy also learned that Shin had gotten another title from the people, making Arthur almost go crazy. – "Come on! That guy possesses three individual titles already aside from his official Godlike Title!" –

Fortunately, he suppressed his urge to join the 'event' before things could go something chaotic.

***

Meanwhile, in the Silver Wing Continent, where the headquarters of the World Government was located, there was a school with the same level of curriculum and training facilities as the Magic Ace Academy and Top Military School of the Soaring Continent.

This was one of the world-class schools that could produce high-quality talents. They were also renowned for being one of the top schools across different continents.

But unlike most of those world-class schools that were tied to their respective continents, this particular school was under the direct jurisdiction of the World Government. It was an institute where the government nurtured their young talents before joining them.

It was called the Central Institute, a place where geniuses were said to gather.

In one of the special programs of the institute that was meant to prepare the elite students for the next Empire Wars and Battle for Supremacy in the upcoming years, there was a certain group of students that shone the brightest among the rest.

And the one who was leading this group was the current leader of the ranking board, indicating that he was the most talented person in the class.

This student was currently sitting under the shade of the three while resting. He was even leaning on the tree with his arms crossed in front of him.

*Ding*

While he was resting, he suddenly received a notification that made his advanced watch vibrate.

He slowly opened his eyes and raised his wrist, opening a virtual screen to check what it was. He then realized that the notification was from the secret portal meant for the apex experts of the game such as the top Godlike Players or well-known Maverick Gods.

Raising his brows a little, he checked the direct message that was sent to him and realized that it was an interesting person.

Battle God Sickarius: Our duel may be delayed a little. I need to log out a little to attend my training class before recovering to my peak condition.

Reading the message, he could not help but smile as found this person more interesting for every encounter that they had.

He thought for a moment before sending his reply.

Martial God Ashura: I am worried that you will be too exhausted to issue the Godly Challenge Rights. Let's meet at 8:00 pm. I will come and find you.

After that, he closed the virtual screen before going back to his nap. But before he could even dwell on it, someone suddenly called him from the distance.

"There you are, Michael! The professor is looking for us. It looks like they want us to join the sparring match with the seniors from the State University."

Opening his eyes, he turned his head and saw a muscular student with a height of two meters. This guy looked like much older than his actual age due to his fully fit physique and mature features.

Michael shook his head and said. "Tell them that I will not be joining. Unless they issue a challenge to Imperial University, I will not be joining any kind of martial practice."

The muscular guy tilted his head to the side and frowned before sighing "I agree with you. The institute became boring when Diel and Falcon left for the exchange program. Dylan also doesn't choose to come here and go to the Magic Ace Academy of Soaring Continent instead."

"There is also that trio that popped out of nowhere and then left again before also heading to the Soaring Continent. I wonder what is in that continent to pull a lot of talented people."

"I will be dying of boredom if the Imperial University is not around," he added while shaking his head.

Just like the Magic Ace Academy, Top Military School, and Central Institute, the Imperial University was also one of the world-class schools that could produce talents that could shake the world.

The only difference of this university was they only accepted the young talents from noble families within the Silver Wing Continent, particularly the imperial family that had a long history.

Within the Silver Wing Continent, aside from the World Government, the other major force residing in this place was the Imperial Palace that was living here for centuries already. They were said to be one of the earliest to reside in this continent even before the government set their base here.

There was an initial conflict between the two forces. After all, no mountain could be ruled by two tigers. There were always clashes between the two forces, resulting in deep grudges with one another.

But the two forces suddenly got along for some unknown reason.

Even though there was still a dividing line between the two, they were now living in harmony aside from a few skirmishes that happened from time to time, which were instigated by the revolutionaries who wanted to sow discord between the two forces.

Setting that aside, the geniuses and talents of the two schools were almost at each other's throats because they wanted to prove that their side was better than the other. This also resulted in frequent competition between them and the schools, making the students become rivals.

After voicing out his complaints and dissatisfaction, the muscular student suddenly said. "Anyway, let's go and have a look. I feel like there is going to be an interesting show later."

Michael ignored those words and was about to return to his nap. But he suddenly remembered something and said. "Oh, right! Before I forget. You guys can finish the Empire Quest without me. I have some matters to attend later tonight."

The muscular student looked at Michael in full suspicion. He might be a musclehead and a battle maniac, but he was not stupid. He immediately noticed that there was something strange with the words of his friend.

Looking back at their last exchange before logging out, he suddenly realized something. "You! You go ahead and join the mission of the Supreme Temple, don't you?"

"D*mn! I know that there is something wrong when you don't log out of the game along with us! It turns out that you go to the Saint Heaven Kingdom and have fun yourself!"

Michael smiled helplessly when he saw this knucklehead suddenly become smart at times like this. He shook his head and said. "There is nothing you can do. I have already scheduled a duel with the target later this night."

"D*mn it! You always act this fast! I should have headed over there earlier when I received the news!" cursed the muscular student before smirking. "Well, it doesn't matter. I will pull the others and head there to watch the show. Who knows if we can also join the fun?"

"I heard that the Corrupted Cult and Demonic Churches are also involved in this. I will have my fun playing with them while you are busy with your thing," he added as he suddenly became excited.

After that, he quickly turned around while contacting someone. "Hey, Susanoo! Guess what, our commander ditches us and goes ahead challenging the expert that we are talking about. How about we clear the quest with the others now and follow him in the Saint Heaven Kingdom to stir up some trouble?"

"Don't worry. We have more than enough time to clear that Empire Quest. We only have one island to clear anyway. Contact the others and tell them to gather as soon as possible. We can let him have all the fun by himself."

Michael stared at his friend's back before repeatedly shaking his head. The guy seemed to have completely forgotten his reason for coming here. But since it worked well for him, Michael just ignored it and went back to his nap.

***

Soaring Continent, Ace City

Within the dorms of the Magic Ace Academy, Diel Hendrickson just come back from the special training classes and was about to rest when someone knocked on the door.

He slightly knitted his brows and was about to ignore it when he realized that the knock was done in a special rhythm. He did not need to look through the pinhole and the camera to know who it was since that particular knock was a special code.

He knew that it was his close friend and personal assistant – or back home, a personal butler – Falcon.

Opening the door, Diel immediately said. "What are you doing here? Are you not exhausted after that intense training?"

He then walked back inside his room, leaving Falcon to close the door. "I know that the world-class schools are working a little differently compared to the Imperial University, but I don't expect that it is at this extent."

"Young Master, you are a student at Central Institute and not of the Imperial University," said Falcon before adding. "And we are from the Dark Continent. Why are you talking as if it is the other way around?"

Diel clicked his tongue as he knew that his identity was quite complicated as someone who was born with parents married with an arranged marriage. His mother was a noble from the Silver Wing Continent while his father was of a humble background and from the Dark Continent.

Like the usual drama, the family on his mother's side was against his father, but since his maternal grandfather, who was the head of the family at that time, had already agreed to the marriage as a sort of promise paternal grandfather, there was nothing the family members could do about it.

The reason why he did not join the Imperial University and entered the Central Institute instead was to avoid any conflicts with the other nobles, particularly with the members of his mother's family. But who would have thought that they would see him as someone who betrayed his roots instead?

This was the reason why he accepted the mission to join the Magic Ace Academy and spy on them. He did not want to get entangled with the political issues happening in the Silver Wing Continent.

As Diel sat on the sofa, Falcon closed the door behind him before saying. "I received a call from the Palace. It seems like they will be sending a few people to join the external forces that will be exploring the ruins. They want us to assist them."

Diel paused before realizing something. "Tsk! They must be here because of that 'thing'. They are just using the current exploration as a cover."

He then fell silent for a moment before saying. "Get ready. It seems like we have to prevent them from getting their hands on it. I will be reporting to the base in the meantime."

...