Child of Destiny

…

Seeing the internal struggle that Shin was having, Doran smiled and said. “But you don’t have to worry that much. You will be fine so long as you have not used those eyes that you have gotten from the Duplicator of the Supreme Temple in front of a lot of people.”

He then paused for a moment, thinking about something, before continuing. “The inheritance from the Phantom King, on the other hand, is a bit sensitive.”

“It is still manageable with your current level of mastery and abilities since there were quite a few people who also majored in illusions and cloning techniques.”

“However, once you understand the true depths of his legacy, trouble will truly come your way,” he warned with an extremely grim tone.

Shin immediately understood what Doran was trying to tell him, so he nodded his head heavily and prepared for what was next.

Given that Doran had taken the initiative to come down from the higher floors just to meet him, Shin knew that there was something more to it than the ‘simple’ information dump that this elder had given him.

“Your trial on this floor is supposed to be finished after taking down those three before,” started Doran before suddenly smirking. “But isn’t it a waste to just leave like that? I am already here anyway, so why not take a little trial from me as well?”

“But since it is going to be an extra trial, I will also give you an additional reward in return,” he added.

Right after saying those words, a notification window suddenly appeared before Shin.

*Ding*

System: As you have been performing well during your trials in both the first and second floors of the Tower of Inheritance, the administrators of the tower have decided to give you an extra challenge.

System: Would you like to accept?

Warning: Accepting this challenge will change the nature of the succeeding trials, greatly influencing your progress. However, a corresponding reward will be given for every additional trail you pass.

Note: Each succeeding floor will have an additional trial prepared for you, which also corresponds to your initial progress throughout the floor’s original trial.

…

While Shin was contemplating whether to accept the extra challenge or not, Doran continued. “Challengers of this tower usually take two to three months before they can proceed to each floor. This is the standard that the citizens of the Immortal Empire used to follow during their time.”

“For someone like you, who only takes less than a month to pass both the first and second floors and about reach the third floor, we have decided to elevate your standard as an elite member of the tower.”

He then paused for a moment, seemingly recalling the details that the others had told him, before continuing. “Usually, a challenger needs to clear the third floor before they can be considered as a ‘Beginner’ member of the tower, which also corresponds to a reserved member of the imperial army of the Immortal Empire.”

“Geniuses like you, who progress a bit too fast compared to the others, belonged to the most elite unit of the army. Thus, those people decided to give you a chance to be treated as one of them.”

Hearing this, Shin seemed to realize that he might be being ‘scouted’ to be a ‘scholar’ student for a university. A talent that was being invited as a unique talent to be specially enrolled.

“I accept this challenge, Elder Doran,” answered Shin, who also chose the ‘accept’ button on the virtual window before him.

Hearing this, Doran suddenly smiled and repeatedly nodded his head. “Good! As expected of the successor of those two people.”

Snap!

He then made a snap with his fingers, summoning a bunch of stone pillars behind.

These stone pillars were divided into multiple categories. Some of them were thick, requiring at least three fully grown men just to hug it completely. Others were as thick as the regular poles in the real world, with the rest being as thin as a simple rod that could be used to hit someone.

Aside from their thickness, these pillars were also divided by height. Each thickness was divided into five levels, which expanded their category.

Moreover, the pillars were also divided into different shades of grey color such as pale grey, cement grey, dark grey, and ash grey.

With all these categories together, Shin knew that he was up to a real challenge. They even reminded him of one of the exercises that Professor Plum had given him before, where he had to either hit, dodge, stop, or deflect each of the swinging and hanging wooden flanks that the old master had meticulously arranged just for him.

They were also painted with different colors, which corresponded to what kind of actions he needed to do to deal with them.

What was even more annoying was when Professor Plum constantly changed the designated assignment for each wooden plank, purposely and randomly.

Recalling his hellish experiences when dealing with those wooden planks, Shin could not help but shiver all over.

He then cast his gaze at the complicated arrangements of these stone pillars and saw the complicated setup that they had. The expression that he was making behind his mask was already grimacing about another torturous experience that was about to befall him.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he mumbled as he watched the pillars rise from the ground and fill the entire place.

Ignoring the words that Shin had just mumbled, Doran explained the rules of the trial. “The rules are simple. All you have to do is run through the entire course by stepping on all these pillars at least once.”

“You are forbidden to repeat your step on any of the pillars here,” he emphasized before continuing. “Their thickness indicates which foot you need to use to stand on them. The thickest ones are for both of your feet, the thinnest ones are for your left foot, while the middle ones are for your right foot.”

“However, you also have to keep your ears sharp since I will regularly shuffle their designated foot whenever I feel like it,” he added, along with an evil grin.

He then ignored the silent curses that Shin was giving him and continued. “The color, on the other hand, represents the direction that you need to face whenever you land on them. The pale ones are for the north direction, while the dark ones are for the south direction. Then the light and ash grey ones are meant for east and south directions, respectively.”

“Just like what I have said about their thickness, I can also change their assigned directions whenever, so keep your ears and mind alert at all times.”

“Meanwhile, their heights are just to spice things up. You just have to step on them in order, from shortest to tallest,” he added, along with a teasing tone, before suddenly grinning evilly. “But we can also change the order at random to match the others.”

“That will make things even more interesting, don’t you think?” he asked, seemingly enjoying this.

In the meantime, Shin tried to keep his calm, especially when he could sense that Doran was purposely messing with him.

At a simple glance, Shin could already tell that this trial was not going to be as smooth as he had originally thought. It might even be more troublesome than trying to launch a slightly successful ambush against Doran, which he first thought of during the time he saw the latter previously.

Then, looking at the number of pillars that were almost filling the entire field, Shin knew that he would take quite a lot of time before he could even clear this challenge.

Adding that Doran would most likely interfere with him from time to time, he would most likely take much longer time than his initial guess.

To make it even worse, Doran suddenly added. “Ah! Before I forget! Aside from using unique techniques, you are forbidden to use any kind of skill during the entire process. Once you do, you have to start over again.”

“The same for falling on the ground,” he added while smiling evilly. “Once any part of your body touches the ground, you also have to start from the very beginning, while I will re-arrange the assignments of each pillar.”

“Tsk! Tsk!” Shin could not help but click his tongue and shake his head repeatedly once he heard these words.

He could instantly tell that Doran had prepared something more for him while he was taking the entire trial.

‘He will most likely attack me as well, aside from messing up with the assignments of these pillars, further increasing the difficulty of the entire trial,’ he thought, feeling that Doran just went to this floor to mess with him.

“I guess aside from being alert for the sudden changes, I also have to always be cautious of any ambush that may come out of nowhere,” he mumbled before sighing helplessly.

……