Child of Destiny

…

Shin swept his gaze at his surroundings and observed all the sea creatures heading in this direction. He did not know why these creatures were gathering this way, but he could at least tell that they had some sort of feud with the ‘World Serpent Race’, which was the race of this temporary avatar that he currently had.

From the domineering name alone, Shin could already tell that this was not a simple race, especially after seeing how the other participants did their best to eliminate those who were from this race.

Shin suspected that they were the actual ancestors of the other Nagas available to the players. However, he could also tell that this was still not the origin of this race as he could feel something missing from their existence.

Regardless, this was also more than enough to make those other sea creatures somewhat scared of them.

Shin could not blame them either since the breathing technique of the World Serpents was too powerful.

But that did not mean they were the strongest since Shin could also see some of the creatures that were not afraid of these Nagas.

One of them was someone from the Whale Tribe and the category of Devouring Whales. It was the muscular humanoid creature earlier, who mocked the Kraken.

There was also a blue-skinned humanoid creature that was carrying a bone spear that resembled the bones of a fish. This creature also did not have a nose, but instead breathed through the gills on its cheeks.

Then there was the mermaid that was holding a long scepter with shattered crystals floating above it. This creature was emitting an overwhelming magical power that became visible to the naked eye. Experience more on empire

There was also another Naga that seemed not to belong to the World Serpent Race, but possessed a breathing technique that was not weaker than what Shin called the ‘Boundless Ocean Technique’.

Moreover, this particular Naga was emitting an overwhelming aura of slyness. Shin could tell that this might be the sliest creature that he could find in this place.

This Naga might not be the strongest that he could find, but it was without a doubt the most dangerous one.

There were still others, but these were the ones that Shin felt that he should be wary of.

…

As the atmosphere was getting heated by the intense fighting intent that everyone where releasing, the voice of the person who appeared at the beginning of the tournament sounded once again.

“Fifty percent of the total participants have already been eliminated. You can now proceed to the next round.”

At the same time, the system also informed Shin about his successful survival of the first.

*Ding*

System: Congratulations! You have survived the first round. frёewebnoѵēl.com

System: You have been rewarded with a chance to choose a special benefit. Would you like to accept?

Please take note that you can get greater rewards at the end of the trial if you give up on accepting these special benefits.

…

Shin raised his eyes when he saw the notifications before smiling. “Is there any need to ask? Of course, I will pass on this one.”

“Getting an additional reward at the end is nothing but giving me so freebies,” he mumbled as he turned to the surroundings, observing everyone.

He wanted to see how the next round should start. He also wanted to take this opportunity to familiarize himself with the Boundless Ocean Technique.

As he was trying to expand the range of his sensory field with the help of his Spiritual Sense and the newly acquired breathing technique, Shin felt that the space suddenly became unstable and distorted.

But he did not feel any danger from these occurrences, so he did not panic and kept his calm while looking around.

He then saw that the others seemed to have sensed the distortions too, but they kept their stances and let the spatial fissures swallow them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Not long after, the remaining participants who survived the first round were sucked by the nearby fissures and disappeared one after another.

Shin then finally realized why these sea creatures wanted to gather in one place when the first round was about to start. It was for them to choose which fissure they wanted to enter.

Or to be more precise-… the creatures wanted to enter the fissures where their targets would be heading.

Those with grudges with one another would enter the same fissures while those who wanted to target someone would just follow them to the fissures that sucked them in.

The weaker participants were sucked by the spatial fissures without any resistance while those with higher ranking were able to withstand the suction forces and resisted until their respective targets entered.

Some of the arrogant and confident ones just picked a random fissure and jumped into it voluntarily. They did not care who would be their opponent for the next round as they believed that they would not lose to anyone.

Shin watched all of these unfold with a slight frown on his face. Up until now, he was still not aware of the true nature of this trial and why he was sent into such a setting right after it started.

If he wanted to uncover some of its clues, then he had to investigate the reason for this competition.

“I seem to hear that the champion will be granted an audience with the Kings of the Sea or something,” he mumbled as he was trying to recall what the ‘host’ of the tournament had said earlier.

“If that is the case, then winning the title is most likely the best way to take it,” he continued to talk to himself before picking a random fissure near him.

The one that came from the Kraken Race, who was picking a fight with him earlier, saw Shin disappear in one of the fissures. It smiled creepily before extending one of its tentacles toward that fissure cleverly.

The moment his tentacles touched the fissure, the sea creature was immediately sucked and sent to the same location as Shin.

The World Serpent that Shin had ‘helped’ earlier also followed them with a nonchalant expression on his face.

***

As Shin was busy with his sudden trial, the rest of the Empyrean Talons were busying themselves with their respective training routines.

They all realized that they were still too weak to explore the Awakened Continent, so they had to do their best to promote their respective strengths as soon as possible before the other players caught up to them.

Fortunately, the entire team gained the pioneering rights due to being the first to arrive on the continent.

The team had already explored quite a few places within the city that they were currently in and even visited quite a lot of advanced facilities that they had never seen before from the Aurora Continent.

But what made them even more intrigued by this place was the chance to be sent to the other regions that were ruled by the other races.

The Divine Empire was a neutral region, where most races could go. But it was still ruled by humans which was why most of their facilities and other places were meant for accommodating those from of Humans.

The other major regions would greatly help the players of the same race as the ruling race of the said region.

After all, their facilities were meant to be utilized by their race and train their capacities to their fullest potential.

Among these major regions, the Alfheim Kingdom of the Elves, the Atlantis Kingdom of the Sea Creatures, and the Bestia Mountain of Beastmen Race were the largest aside from the Divine Empire, which covered almost half of the entire continent.

Of course, the sea was also larger, but Atlantis Kingdom was just one of the regions there as there were also other sea creatures and tribes that formed their faction.

The Nidavellir Kingdom where the dwarves and gnomes lived and the Forsaken Islets which was the home of the undead, were slightly smaller in comparison to the other four regions, but their harsh terrains and special environment made them unique.

There were also unknown regions that were ruled by hidden races, particularly those of the Transcendent Races who distanced themselves from most of the civilizations just like the Dragon Race.

…

Alucard kept his magic rifle after a series of shooting training. But he was yet to be satisfied as he sheathed his rapier next for his sword training.

Akailu, who just come out from the adjacent room, saw him and could not help but shake his head. “Still training? Are you not tired of it?”

Alucard did not even turn his head as he took a stance. “Should I say you are too laidback, or you just don’t feel any pressure?”

“Have you seen how much those monsters are improving? If we don’t put more effort into our training, then we will be left behind by them and unable to catch up,” he added not waiting for Akailu to respond.

“Are you afraid of being thrown away just like what happened to your old organization from the previous games?” asked Akailu before shaking his head. “I don’t think our leaders will end up like those people.”

“You should already know that their background is not simple, yet they are unlike those young masters and princesses that we have seen up until now.”

“They also don’t care about any profits, so what is there to worry about?” he added with a bitter smile.

“That is because they are too young,” refuted Alucard as he proceeded with his training.

Akailu smiled bitterly as he heard that. “But so we are. We are only two to three years older than them we just happen to be part of a professional gaming workshop and experience a little more of the industry than them.”

“Have you seen Diablo and that Evil God? Who recently joined us?” countered Alucard while swinging and stabbing his rapier. “If you continue to laze around and do nothing, then more people like them will come and your spot will be taken away.”

“Tsk!” Akailu could only click his tongue as he could not refute those words.

He then complained after a brief silence. “Damn! You remind me that you are at least on the same level as Diablo! I should be the one complaining about you!”

……