Child of Destiny

…

Swoosh!

Randel swung his saber, leaving a flash in the air due to its extreme speed. It almost reached its target in an instant, seemingly trying to cut Shin in half.

Swoosh!

However, when it cut through its target, all it hit was a lingering afterimage that was already fading out of existence.

Despite missing the mark, Randel tightly held the saber, forcefully halting its advance before swiftly changing its course.

Whoosh!

The saber seemed to have come alive in his hands, chasing after Shin, who was already moving out of its path.

Swoosh!

However, the saber was too fast even for Shin, reaching him once again before he could even fully get out of its course.

Whoosh!

But just like earlier, the saber hit nothing but an afterimage that Shin had left behind.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

These exchanges continued for quite a while, creating a stunning sight.

Randel created a series of sword flashes with his saber, attacking Shin from every direction. These sword flashes were incredibly fast and deadly, giving those who were targeted by them immense pressure.

However, despite all these, they still missed their mark every time, only catching the fading afterimages that Shin had left behind.

Shin had never moved that much in place, seemingly stationary. However, his upper body kept on moving around, which always left a series of afterimages that confused even Randel.

This was Shin’s version of ‘Phantom Shroud’ in the real world, which was created with the help of his illusionary mentalism technique.

Swoosh!

Right after missing the mark one more time, Randel suddenly sensed a dangerous scent coming from his side, forcing him to swiftly halt his advance and turn toward that direction. He then raised his shield, protecting his body from the incoming strike.

Shing!

Bang!

Randel was forced to take a few steps back due to the collision, but he was still able to quickly regain his stance immediately after and was fully ready for another round.

However, Shin did not immediately continue his assault, understanding that he would be falling into another tempo trap from the opposing party.

Seeing that Shin did not immediately make his move, Randel retrieved his fighting stance and stood straight while giving Shin a bright smile. “That technique is quite fascinating, junior.”

“A combination of defensive and evasion techniques, reinforced by illusion technique, quite an intriguing and creative technique,” he commented.

He had already been exchanging blows against Shin for quite a while now and had gotten quite a decent understanding of this junior.

From his perspective, this kid was not only talented in combat but had a creative mind as well. He could tell that there were quite a lot of combat techniques that Shin had personally created from the ones that he had seen earlier.

Most of them were still in a progression state and had yet to reach their ultimate form, but he could already see their respective potential after experiencing their might in this battle.

“How do you call this one?” he asked, acknowledging that his junior was quite admirable.

“Phantom Shroud,” replied Shin while continuing to wear a deep frown.

No matter which style he used, he was unable to find any opening against Randel. None of the tricks that he had could be used against the latter, but this did not mean that he was powerless.

He was still restricted to a limited number of techniques that he could not use as instructed by Professor Henry.

He could not even take advantage of his unique ‘Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship’, which was the core of his style aside from the sword-drawing techniques.

However, he also knew that this senior was also holding back. He did not even see him use any highly advanced techniques during their exchanges.

The three styles that Randel was using against him were most likely the most basic combat techniques that he had in his arsenal.

While Shin and Randel were having a silent standoff, Professor Henry, who was watching everything from the sidelines, finally decided that the two had gotten their fill of battle.

He felt that it was now the time to get down to the main business.

“That should be enough for the warmup. You can now proceed with the original plan,” said the professor, signaling to both Randel and Selena to make their move.

The two slightly nodded their heads, giving Shin a slight danger.

Swoosh!

Shin immediately retreated, creating as much distance between him and Randel as possible. He was not sure how Professor Henry would mimic the conditions in the game in the real world, but he at least believed that the old professor knew what he was doing, so he had to be on guard at all times.

Swoosh!

While his eyes were fully locked on his opponent, his mental energy was in full circulation. His Spiritual Sense spread in every direction while his True Sight was fully activated.

Poof!

However, despite all these, Shin had still lost track of Randel, who suddenly disappeared from his perception range.

“What!?” He was still shocked by what had happened when he found Randel already standing behind him, pressing the saber to the back of his neck.

“You have just died, junior,” Randel chuckled before retracting his saber.

He had given Shin a couple of seconds to recover before making his move once again.

Poof!

He once again disappeared from Shin’s perception range, not even his Spiritual Sense caught the latter’s presence.

“How’s that possible?” mumbled Shin, extremely confused at what was going on.

From his knowledge, no matter how skilled Randel, he should not have escaped his Spiritual Sense that easily. Even if Randel wanted to sneak behind him, he should have produced some fluctuations in the air, regardless of how small they were.

Given his powerful Spiritual Sense in the real world, which was further enhanced by his special physique, the Five Cycle Embryo, and his Divinity Grade Mental Energy, he should have perceived the tiniest movements in the air.

However, he still completely lost track of Randel, even though he had put all his focus on the latter.

“I refuse to believe that you can escape my perception that easily,” mumbled Shin before adjusting his control over his Spiritual Sense.

Instead of spreading them in every direction, they are too thin due to being stretched too wide.

This time, he compressed and concentrated them into multiple thin lines that looked like threads before spreading them in every direction.

He had created a Sensing Circle around him, which was filled with these spiritual threads that were arranged like the webs of a spider.

Swoosh!

Unfortunately, all these were nothing before Randel, who soundlessly appeared behind him once again.

“What an interesting fellow. You even know how to establish an inferior version of Spiritual Zone that only Venerable Realm Mentalists are supposed to create?” commented Randel while pointing his saber at Shin, who was unable to respond to his sudden appearance.

“You have just died again, junior. It’s twice now,” he smirked while watching Shin fall into further confusion.

Randel then stepped back while resting his saber on his shoulder, and before continuing. “You have quite a lot of highly advanced techniques and know how to properly apply them in battle.”

“Unfortunately, techniques are just one aspect of combat prowess. And their application is also one of their sub-aspects.”

“You have the right tools and know how to use them properly, which leads you to create these fancy techniques that you have right now.”

“It is too bad that fancy techniques are useless against me,” Randel shrugged his shoulders before continuing. “Sometimes, the most basic technique is the best way to deal with such tricks.”

Shin wore a serious expression while looking at Randel, still wondering about earlier events. ‘How can he bypass all those Spiritual Threads without alerting me? My Mentalism Techniques in the real world are still more advanced and much more mature than the ones that I have inside the game, so I should have sharper senses here.’

‘However, despite all these, I am still unable to sense how he gets past all of them,’ he was thinking deeply, trying to find the answer.

He was sure that what Randel had just done was not as simple as it sounded.

“Should we give it another try, Junior?” asked Randel after seeing Shin’s confused yet unyielding eyes.

“Please enlighten me, Senior,” said Shin while shrinking the range of his Sensing Circle.

The range this time might be much smaller, but it was much denser and more solid compared to the earlier version.

Seeing this, Randel smiled and nodded. “Not a bad idea-… but-…”

Before he finished his swords, his figure flickered once again before disappearing from Shin’s vision once again.

“-… it was still not enough to stop me.”

Shin then heard Randel’s voice right beside him, where the latter was standing leisurely while pressing his saber on his shoulder.

“That is a nice attempt, but not good enough, Junior,” commented Randel while hopping back. “Let’s give it a few more tries?”

Shin was currently wearing a solemn expression, still unable to figure out the answer.

…