Child of Destiny

…

Hiss!

The Gaming Cabin inside the room suddenly opened, letting Shin climb out of it. “Hu~!”

“In the end, I can deal with any of the last four targets,” he mumbled with a bit of frustration.

He was expecting to clear the second floor of the tower last night, or later tonight at the latest, but it seemed like it would take quite a while before he managed to do that.

After learning what kind of opponent he would be facing as the fourth target, Shin decided to go and scout the other three as well.

However, he realized that his earlier estimate was way too off. The next three targets were much more troublesome than the fourth target.

If the fourth target was a Lizardman with a Warrior or a Knight Class, which were known for being tanky and having sharp senses, then the next three targets that were supposed to come after it were much trickier to deal with.

The third strongest, according to Shin’s initial estimate, was another warrior-type of humanoid monster. It could also be considered as a metal golem or a knight golem when it came to the terms used within the game.

It seemed like a ghost-type monster that possessed a knight’s armor, making it alive. Moreover, it was not your regular knight as well, since it was using a pair of rectangular shields that were as tall as its body and wide enough to block each of its sides.

Aside from that, these shields also had thick and blunt edges that seemed to be used for striking or pounding their opponents, turning them into a meat paste.

This guy was not only tanky but also possessed an extremely powerful destructive power. Additionally, it seemed to be an extremely durable monster due to its tough armor.

But the most troublesome thing about this humanoid monster was the ghost that was possessing it, especially when Shin knew that it would be the key to dealing with it.

If only he had his regular strength, then he would have no problem dealing with since he had plenty of cards that could deal with ghost-type creatures. The Eternal Flame alone was more than enough to erase its existence.

Unfortunately, Shin was unable to use any kind of elemental powers during this trial since he had chosen to hone the skills and abilities of the Phantom Swordsman Class.

He was gaining quite a lot during these trials, but he also knew that he had to suffer enough in exchange for this power.

The second most powerful among his final targets was yet another knight or warrior-type of opponent, which made Shin suspect that the tower wanted him to train his assassination techniques against extremely tanky opponents.

This time, it was an Elemental Beast that majored in metal and earth elements.

This Elemental Beast was similar to Astaroth, who had formed a contract with Shin. However, unlike his current Guardian Reaper, who was a real warrior, the one before him leaned more to being a monstrous beast rather than a standard humanoid creature.

It still shared quite a lot of features that a humanoid creature possessed, but it was more of a gorilla than being close to a human.

It had a height of three meters, making it much taller than the Lizard Warrior that Shin had found before it. Its body was extremely muscular and seemingly made of stone, indicating how tough it was.

However, despite having such an extremely sturdy body, this elemental creature was still wearing a set of metal armor that protected all its vital spots.

It also had a thick and long tail that could be used to protect its back from anyone who would be foolish enough to ambush it from behind.

This tail could also be used offensively, increasing the variety of attacks that it could use during battles.

Just staring at it gave Shin a headache, much less trying to think of a way to deal with it.

After seeing these three ‘targets’ of assassination, Shin suddenly felt like the tower was toying with him.

First, it was a Lizard Warrior with a sword and shield, then there was the Knight Golem with a pair of huge hammer shields. These two alone were more than enough to make him curse its creator.

Unfortunately, the ‘joke’ did not just end there since the third one was a creature that was not meant to be assassinated. Its basic features alone were more than enough to tell Shin that the tower was ‘mocking’ him.

As for the fourth and final target among the remaining ones, Shin fist felt that it was going to be much more absurd compared to the other three.

After all, this one was supposed to be the strongest among all of them.

However, when he went to scout this ‘final boss’, Shin found out that it was not the case. The one that was waiting for him at that location was a Drow, which seemed to be a Twilight (Elven Thief) based on the equipment that it was wearing.

Shin could also feel that this Drow was much stronger than any other monsters or creatures that he had encountered up until now.

Of course, it was not as strong as those pinnacle existences like Dracula, Longinus, or any other people at this level.

However, this Drow was definitely among the strongest underneath those guys.

This Drow seemed to be meditating on top of a flat boulder and waiting for something or someone.

Shin instantly knew that the other party was waiting for him. Or more specifically, waiting for the assassination attempt that he would launch at them.

Recalling his findings within that floor, Shin could not help but sigh, understanding that even the second floor would be hard to deal with. “I guess my initial plan would be more challenging than expected.”

He was originally planning to let the members of Empyrean Talons, Hand of Midas, and Deicide try their luck in the Tower of Inheritance.

He wanted to turn the tower into a specialized training ground for everyone, but it seemed like there were quite a lot of problems along with this plan.

Forget about the monthly entry that the players should have when challenging the tower; the time and effort that the challenger had to allocate to it would be much larger than he initially thought.

It was still quite feasible, but they had to plan their entry first before challenging it. After all, they could not just let anyone enter it whenever they wanted.

What if they had sent a large number of their elites and got stuck in the test for quite a while, then something happened outside?

The number of challengers needed to be in small groups, making sure that they would not lose too much force when an emergency occurred.

“I guess I have to plan it first before calling the others over,” he mumbled.

He originally wanted Shiella to deal with this troublesome stuff. However, after recalling that this Big Sister was currently busy and already had a lot on her plate, he decided to deal with it himself and present the proposal later.

This way, Shiella would have fewer things to worry about.

Shin was about to do his morning routine before preparing breakfast for everyone when he suddenly realized that his advanced watch was blinking with a green light.

This indicated that he had gotten a message and had yet to read it.

Furrowing his brows, Shin felt that another trouble was on the table. After all, no one would send a message late at night during regular occasions.

He quickly tapped his advanced watch and opened the message, intending to read it.

Not long after, his brows frowned quite deeply, especially after skimming through the contents of the message.

“It is only a month or so since the classes had resumed, yet they are suspended again?” he commented.

The message was an announcement from the academy, telling the students that they did not have to go to school for a week due to the higher-ups being busy doing some cleanup.

It was vaguely explained in the message that the Magic Ace Academy had launched a huge operation last night, targeting the spies that were hiding not only at the academy but also in the entirety of Ace City itself.

“I see, so they have already made their move,” mumbled Shin while raising his brows.

He had already reported to the Springfield Family about the sudden ambush that he had suffered right after he returned from the operation in the Sun-Moon Kingdom and told them about the spies planted by the Black Serpent Mafia.

Most of these were executioners and secret agents trained for espionage.

Given that the Black Serpent Mafia had already taken the initiative to reveal themselves, there was a high chance that the others would be making their moves as well, targeting their respective assignments.

Based on the announcement of the academy, there seemed to be an operation from these organizations last night, which the academy had sniffed out even before it occurred.

Familiar with these situations, Shin immediately realized that the so-called operation was meant to flush out these less important spies to give the most important ones some breathing space.

“Cleaning the house before the opposing parties stepped on their tails, huh? A typical strategy of the underworld organizations,” he mumbled before shaking his head.

Rather than this news, Shin was more curious about the target of the so-called operation that these guys used to sell their spies.

“I wonder what kind of operation it is.”

……