Child of Destiny

......

Shin continued to walk toward the deeper parts of Saint Heaven Mountain. He was not lost this time or returned to the mountain's entrance. With the help of his True Sight, he was able to see the flow of mana in the air while his Sensing Circle was letting him feel the movements of the air itself, which led him in the right direction.

With the combination of the two skills, he was able to roughly figure out the way out of the maze formation covering the entire mountain.

Just like what Shin had expected the mana density within the deeper parts of the mountain was more concentrated and much heavier than what he felt outside.

His movements were getting harder and harder as he went deeper into the mountain – even walking itself was becoming more challenging.

This made Shin pause his advance and start adjusting himself. He unsheathed his sword and started training his swordsmanship. The mana density of this place might be affecting his movements and making it hard to do anything, but it was also a perfect place to train himself.

Shin started with the most basic forms of swordsmanship, solidifying his foundation, before proceeding to the more advanced movements and techniques.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As Shin continued, his movements were becoming smoother. When he adapted to the place, his techniques became more refined than what they used to be. Some of his skills had also become much stronger compared to what he originally remembered.

"This is not bad either," mumbled Shin after realizing all of this. "Don't tell me this place is some sort of a training ground."

After adjusting himself and making sure that he would no longer have any problems with his movements even if he encountered a monster, Shin continued walking forward.

But what he discovered when he reached another part of the mountain baffled him. This time, the gravity had become much stronger on top of the highly concentrated mana filling the air.

"Just what kind of place is this, exactly?" he mumbled with a deep frown.

Just like he did earlier, he paused his advance and resumed training again to adjust himself to the new environment.

This progress repeated multiple times until Shin almost forgot how many times he had done it. This also made Shin reevaluate the place that he was in. He had been walking within this place for quite a while now, even more than a day, but he seemed to be walking a long path that would never end.

Shin adjusted himself to the environment that was slowly getting more ridiculous as time passed.

When he just finished readjusting himself and was about to continue his journey he realized that there was something different in the place that he was currently in.

Sweeping his gaze at the surroundings, he saw that he was in the middle of an open field in the middle of the forest which was not supposedly be found in a place like this, particularly in a mountain.

What was strange about this was that he found the place seemed to be too flat and wide to be found in a mountain place such as the one that he was in.

When he looked a little closer, he realized that this place seemed to be an arena or something similar.

Raising his brows, Shin seemed to have gotten an idea of what was going to happen next. "This seems to be some sort of a test," which confirmed his initial suspicion.

Not long after, a monster appeared in front of him, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

Bang!

It was a giant bear that stood at least three meters tall. Its body span was quite large too, especially its broad shoulders and wide waist. Its strong arms and legs carried immense strength that was making Shin shiver just by looking at them.

The brown furs on its body seemed to be no different from ordinary monsters, but Shin could feel that it was so tough and durable that it could rival the defenses of the highest quality armor that the players could dream of on the current stage of the game.

Sharp claws dug into the ground while saliva kept on dripping from its mouth as the monster showed its pointed teeth and fangs.

Shin was confused when he saw the monster. It was not because he was disappointed, but it was because he found this seemingly ordinary monster was more threatening than the King Class Monsters that he had faced up until now.

While having his doubts, Shin used True Sight Skill to look at the details of the monster. What he saw baffled him even more.

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[Monster Name]: Savage Bear

[Rank Classification]: Normal

[Monster Type]: Beast

[Life Rating]: None

Level: 160

HP: 2,000,000

Skills:

…

…

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Shin became even more confused as he read the details of the monster in front of him. It was just a normal monster with a slightly larger Health Bar compared to the ones he encountered with a similar level and rank.

What confused him even more was the long list of skills that rivals the number of skills a King Class Monster should have.

"What kind of regular monster is this?" Shin was sure that this was not an ordinary monster despite how simple the system had described it.

At the same time, Shin's eyes also caught a vague black aura leaking out from the body of the Savage Bear. It was an aura familiar to Shin since he had seen the multiple times when fighting against the Corrupted Monsters and Demonic Monsters.

What was confusing here was that the monster was clearly described as a regular monster despite the dangerous aura that it had, especially the dark aura that it was emitting.

"Is it because of the surroundings?" he mumbled with a knitted brow.

Due to how potent and dense the mana in this place, the monsters living here might have evolved to what he was seeing. But the irony of that was this monster was too powerful to be labeled as a regular monster.

While Shin was thinking about this, the Savage Bear finally made its move.

Bang!

"Fast!" Shin was surprised when he saw the bear almost upon him when it moved. Given its massive size, he did not expect it to move this fast, especially with how strong the gravity was in this place.

The bear roared as it pounced at its target. It was already in front of Shin when it swung its massive claws.

Shin could also feel the heavy air current that was accompanying the bear when it reached him. Realizing that he did not have the time to counterattack, he could only use the 'Void Steps' elemental skill to dodge.

Swoosh!

He appeared five meters away from his previous location, making the bear miss its attack.

Boom!

But to his surprise, there was a strong shockwave quickly followed the swing, which signified how heavy it was.

Shin could not help but sweat when he saw it. He had gotten more confirmation that this supposedly regular monster was as strong as a King Class Monster of the same level. The produced gust of wind that swept through his body was so heavy that it almost blasted him away.

But that was not the end of the surprises.

Bang!

Right after the bear missed its swing, it suddenly sprinted toward Shin with a momentum that made it look like a huge truck charging at him.

Sensing the air current that was accompanying the Savage Bear, Shin knew that he could not take this too lightly.

Assuming his signature stance, Shin called Solus out to possess the [Yamato] before channeling his energy on it.

Click!

When the bear reached his attack range, his thumb gently pushed the guard of the sword, slightly revealing its sheathed blade.

Shing!

As he fully unsheathed the sword and horizontally swung it in front of him, a blazing crescent was unleashed and swept toward the monster.

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Blazing) – Solar Flare'

Swoosh!

The Savage Bear bravely charged through the blazing energy, not carrying how powerful it was.

Boom!

(-15,523)

A thick cloud of smoke blocked Shin's vision as the explosion erupted.

Swoosh!

The smoke cloud in front of Shin did not even last that long as it was immediately swept away by the huge body of the Savage Bear that was charging straight at him.

Its furs were slightly scorched due to the previous explosion. Some parts were still on fire, but that did not mean they were dealing damage to it.

What surprised Shin was that his 'Solar Flare' did not deal that much damage despite the bear charging straight into it. If it was any other monster that he encountered in the past, they would most likely receive a serious injury, especially when they directly got hit like that.

"What kind of ridiculously powerful defense is this?" mumbled Shin as his expression suddenly grew solemn. "What kind of regular monster is this?"

He could not help but feel like he was sent back in the early stages of the game where most of the people were still struggling to fight a single regular monster.

Seeing that the bear was about to slam its massive paw at him, Shin quickly used the 'Moonlight Steps' to turn himself into a streak of light that pierced through the body of the monster and appeared behind it.

Bang!

As the massive paw of the bear landed on his previous location, a strong shockwave was sent in every direction while the ground itself sank into a crater.

While the rock fragments were flying in the air, Shin was already above the monster and ready to unsheathe his sword once again.

He slightly angled his body midair before slightly tapping the air under him with 'Mondi's Jump' to propel himself downwards.

Swoosh!

'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw (Blazing) – Flash Descent'

Shing!

Shin's figure flashed downwards as he slashed toward the exposed back of the bear. He went straight to the spine of the monster, planning to break it with a powerful impact and paralyze this giant bear.

Boom!

Another explosion erupted as the blazing blade of the [Yamato] landed at the back of the monster. The flames even flew upwards, forming a mushroom shape before gradually spreading out while slowly dissipating in the air.

(-15,023)

The corner of Shin's mouth twitched when he saw the damage that he had dealt. Moreover, the bear seemed to be completely fine despite taking the full brunt of his attack. Aside from the ground sinking further and having multiple cracks that spread in every direction, this Savage Bear seemed to be completely unaffected.

"Tsk!" clicking his tongue, Shin when he saw this. He then quickly hopped backward while using another charge of 'Moonlight Steps' to dodge the swipe of the bear while doing a roll to shake him off from its back.

Landing on his foot a few meters away, Shin stared at the Savage Bear with a solemn expression. Given its insane speed, powerful strength, and tough defense, this monster was without a doubt beyond what it was supposed to have, especially with its rank.

The only saving grace here was this monster not having powerful regenerative ability. Its passive regeneration was at least on an acceptable level. But since he was not dealing that much damage to it, the health bar of this monster barely moved. It would not take long before it went back to full.

Shin slightly frowned as he was thinking of a way to deal with this powerful defense. His current choice was using the 'Primordial Lightning' along with the 'Chaos Slasher Possession' or the 'Void Powers' that he could barely control while combining it with the 'Dimension Cutter Possession'.

The first choice was his primary pick since he was more familiar with it now on to of it being more powerful than the rest of the combinations that he had. He could execute powerful attacks with it while also having a numbing effect that it passively provided.

Meanwhile, the second choice was slightly weaker since he would be lacking in control. Unless he was under the 'Descent of the Fallen God' berserk form, he would not be able to reach the same level of control and power as the former.

At least not until he fully mastered the 'Void Powers' and promoted it on the same level as the 'Primordial Lightning' without the help of that berserk form.

But he knew that the 'Dimension Cutter' was the better choice right now due to its strong penetration effects that could cut through most of the defenses within the game.

Thinking about this, Shin decided that this would be his primary weapon in this battle while the rest would be the supporting tools.

He would not be using the special berserk form of his race since he did not know how many tests were waiting for him. But he would be going all-out to avoid any kind of accident.

"I will be checking the secret of this place later. But first, let be deal with this first hurdle."

...