Child of Destiny

...…

While Shin was having an intense battle against the Elite Minotaur, his fight was being projected by a magic stone. The battle was being watched by a person, who was sitting on top of a boulder at the peak of Saint Heaven Mountain.

This man was wearing a set of ragged clothes, making him look like a beggar or a homeless person. But despite his rough and dirty appearance, there was a mysterious air that was enfolding his entire body. He felt like a person that seemed to have merged with his surroundings, or the surroundings had merged with him.

Watching the intense battle projected by the magic stone in front of him, this man suddenly commented. "This kid seemed to be more decent than the rest. He is much better than those Otherworldly Individuals that happen to stumble upon our formation."

"He seems to be personally invited by the 'Will of the Hevean' as well. He must be the chosen one," he mumbled.

Standing respectfully behind him, another person was also watching the battle. He was wearing an exquisite set of armor. He seemed to be an honorable knight given the aura that he was releasing. But despite greatly contradicting the appearance of the previous person, this knight seemed to be quite inferior to the latter.

Hearing the comment that the person in ragged clothes had said, the knight suddenly turned his head before asking. "Captain! Don't tell me you are planning to invite him right away. He still hasn't passed all the tests that we have prepared for him and everyone else."

These people were the Head of the Mysterious Instructors that were scattered throughout the entire Aurora Continent and his right-hand man respectively. They had been watching Shin since he stepped into the vicinity of the Saint Heaven Kingdom, so they knew what he had experienced up until now.

The Head of the Mysterious Instructors shook his head when he heard what his subordinate had said. "There is no point in continuing. This trial will be useless to him given his abilities."

"Moreover, the other monsters that we have prepared are not much different from this Minotaur – those High Orcs, Dread Trolls, and the rest were on a similar level, so there is no point testing him any further."

"Aside from that, he fits the description that our 'Apple Vendor' has reported, so there is no need to learn more about this young man," he added while continuing to watch the battle. He seemed to be very entertained.

After a brief silence, he continued. "You should know why were are sent here by the 'Council' – we are to find the worthy individuals, who can help us repel the upcoming invasion. The 'Divine Oracle' even tells us that we can't show our prejudice to these Otherworld individuals as they possess the blessings of the 'Divine Will of Heaven'. They will be of great help to us."

"Moreover, this kid far surpassed the limits that we have set for his kind. We just prolonged his test because you are too insistent on testing his full capabilities."

"But from what I can see, this kid seemed to have an endless potential. If we continue testing his limits, then this trial will never end," he added while looking at Shin with great appreciation.

"On top of that, you should also know that the current situation on our continent is getting worse. It may not be visible on the surface, but the underlying current is already flowing at full force. We can't afford to delay this any longer."

Hearing those words, the knight remained silent for a couple of moments before shaking his head. "But these Otherworldly Individuals are quite disappointing. Only a few of them are worthy to carry the 'Divine Will' – some of them even pointed their swords at us and sided with those filthy demons and corruption."

The Head of the Mysterious Instructors smiled bitterly and shook his head repeatedly when he heard the words of his subordinate. He found that this man had become too naïve after being away from his duties for quite a while.

"Just like there is light in our hearts, the darkness also exists. People can freely choose which side of theirs will they take – some just happen to let the darkness consume themselves rather than embracing the light."

"We are dispatched here to guide these people toward the light and look for the potential 'Protectors' while those Missionaries of the Demonic Churches and Corrupted Cult are tasked to spread their influence and create more 'Martyrs'."

"We just have to remain faithful to our beliefs while leaving the rest to the 'Will of Heaven'."

"Fate will take its course while the Destiny will await those who are deemed worthy. Fate is our guide while Destiny is our destination," said the Head Mysterious Instructor, chanting the universal mantra of the Council of Righteous Churches.

Hearing that, the knight kept his mouth shut, realizing that his captain seemed to have seen something from Shin that others could not.

Among all the people that were sent to this continent to be the 'guide', this person was the most mysterious and unfathomable.

The knight was not sure what his captain had seen from Shin, but he could tell that it was something beyond reason since it could pique the interest of such an individual.

…

Boom!

Going back to the other side, Shin was finally able to take down the Elite Minotaur after a long struggle. He had already lost his sense of time during the battle, so he was not sure how long it lasted. But he could at least estimate that it was at least an entire day or so (in-game time).

The moment when the minotaur fell to the ground, Shin quickly bent his knees as he stabbed the [Yamato] on the ground, supporting himself with it. He was too exhausted to even continue standing.

He glanced at his skill bar and saw that all his berserk and domain skills were already in cooldown as he used everything aside from the absolute trump cards under his arsenal.

"Tsk! I thought I had already become powerful enough to look down on these monsters, but I guess I am wrong," he mumbled as recalled the details of the battle.

If not for his Battle Genius Talent that helped him continuously grow in battle, then he would not have reached the ideal swordsmanship that he envisioned.

He must thank this opportunity as he found new problems with his Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship, which helped him fix them before it could even become a habit.

He also discovered a few new tricks that he could mix with his swordsmanship with the help of other skills that he rarely used now just like the Telekinesis Elemental Skill that he had gotten from Grimrace.

Since Grimrace had become a real Supreme Elemental and turned into a true Eldritch Psychic Spirit, this Elemental Skill had also evolved and reached another level. Its name also became 'Demonic Telekinesis', which indicated that it had become more powerful and more flexible.

Aside from normal telekinesis, this newly improved skill also gained new features. It was no longer limited to lifting and controlling light objects as he could now form more tricks with it.

He could now form a transparent hand through this skill and even grabbed a huge amount of earth that he could throw at this opponent. He could also form a Force Field or a Barrier that could restrain his opponents or protect him from some of the attacks directed at him.

The Psychic Barrier was weak against physical attacks, but quite strong when faced with elemental or magical attacks.

And the most important thing about this skill was it no longer had any cooldown, which meant that he could use it whenever he wanted. Enjoy stories on m_v lem|p-yr

Adding this newly improved elemental skill, Shin was able to execute more complex attacking patterns and a variety of tricks that he could use in every situation. He could even wield a few more swords if he wanted to, but that would require more mental strength and increase the burden in his mind during the battle.

But if he mastered this technique, it would be no different from the Flying Sword Techniques of the previous eras or the Sword Manipulation Techniques of the current times, which would also be a requirement to form a Mind Sword or something similar.

A Mind Sword was similar to the Qi Weapon and Armor of Void Manifestation Stage Martial Artist or Magic Arms of Rulers Realm Mentalist. It was a manifestation technique meant for Swordsmen or Weapon Experts in the real world while the Sword Manipulation and Flying Sword were the set of movements to control them.

Shin was far from achieving those realms in the real world, achieving something similar to those within the game, which would also act as his preparation for the future.

While he was reassessing his performance and the details of the previous battle, a portal was suddenly formed at the end of the area-like space within the forest.

Shin instantly realized that this trial had finally ended. He was not sure how he would feel as he wanted to curse the Head Mysterious Instructor for preparing such a difficult trial to test the abilities of the candidates while also being thankful for the opportunity as he learned about himself and his style due to this occasion.

Calming himself down, Shin walked toward the portal to meet this Mysterious Instructor.

Swoosh!

Right after stepping out, Shin immediately found himself standing at the peak of the mountain, where he could see most of the kingdom on the horizon. This very scenery was the reason why the mountain was named after the kingdom itself.

"It seems like you are not surprised."

He then heard a voice coming from behind. Shin did not need to turn around to know who it was since there could only be a single person waiting for him there.

When he turned around, he was surprised when he saw the appearance of the person, who called him. He even activated his True Sight to look at the details of this NPC to make sure that he was not wrong about his assumption.

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[NPC Name]: Longinus, the Pinnacle

[NPC Title]: Head of the Mysterious Instructor (Temporary), ???

Race: Conqueror (Ascended Human)

Class: ???

Level: ???

???

???

-------------------

Aside from the name and the two basic information, Shin could not see anything aside from a bunch of question marks. This indicated that the gap between their strength was enormous.

Moreover, he could also see that the title 'Head of Mysterious Instructors' was just a temporary title, which meant that this was just a side job or something similar.

Head Mysterious Instructor Longinus was smiling at Shin meaningfully when saw the latter using a special ocular skill to inspect him. "You have a quite special pair of eyes, young man."

"True Sight, is not something an ordinary person could achieve. Even those talented ones can't get it either if they are not hardworking enough," he added, complementing Shin.

At the same time, Shin also noticed that the eyes of Longinus were releasing an oddly familiar glow. Those eyes seemed to be observing him just like how his True Sight was observing the latter.

Seeing that Shin finally noticed, Longinus smiled even wider before saying. "Alright, that is enough for now. Let's proceed with your lesson since we don't have much time left."

He was about to continue when he suddenly remembered something. He then stopped smiling and looked at Shin with a serious expression. "But before that, let me ask you a few things. What is your relationship with Kentas, the Phantom Swordsman, and Supremo, the Duplicator of the Supreme Temple."

"Eh!?" Shin was caught off-guard by the sudden change in atmosphere. The welcoming air instantly disappeared before being changed by a solemn atmosphere.

He could also feel that Longinus was looking at him closely. He could also feel that it was impossible to lie as the latter would be able to instantly realize it.

"Kentas is one of my mentors. I inherited his skills and techniques. As for Supremo, I have only met him once," he answered truthfully.

But at the same time, he was also quite confused about Supremo. He had already suspected that that NPC was related to Supreme Temple, but he was still unaware of the entire story.

But from what he could see from Longinus' eyes and tone, it seemed like that guy had a much more complicated and special background than he originally thought.

...