Child of Destiny

……

“I am not telling you to fully master this technique since it is still far beyond your current abilities,” Professor Henry chuckled before continuing. “However, achieving the master of the second stage should be more than enough given your current attainments, even the initial master of the third stage is achievable if you have met certain conditions.”

After that, he pointed at Shin, sending a beam of light that swiftly entered Shin’s mind. A flood of memories and insights entered his mind, alongside the complete scripture of the ‘Heart Realm Technique’.

Shin was forced to slowly close his eyes and sit on the ground cross-legged, meditating and digesting all the knowledge and insights that were given to him.

Seeing this, Professor Henry slightly nodded his head before waving his hand, summoning a dome of energy that isolated this spot from the outside. It was to prevent anyone from disturbing Shin.

From his estimate, Shin would immediately proceed to a trance that would help him enter the first two stages of the ‘Heart Realm Technique’ and reached their initial mastery.

As for the third stage, Shin needed a special environment to partially enter it since he had to familiarize himself with the ‘Spiritual Realm’ first and establish a strong connection to it before he could even attempt to summon it.

The first stage would not be hard for Shin, given his achievements in Mentalism Techniques. The second stage would not be a challenge either since he had already reached the border toward the unification of mind, body, and spirit.

Shin had already experienced it before, so it should not be too hard for him as well.

Professor Herny oversaw the entire process for quite a while, making sure that Shin was able to smoothly digest everything, before nodding his head. “He should have achieved the initial mastery of the second stage once he had exited this state.”

After that, he felt Shin alone, heading to the World Research Center. He still had a lot of projects that required his presence, so he could not be absent that long.

Right after exiting the training room, Randel, who had never left to rest, chose to guard this place instead.

“You should have gotten to rest. No one can enter this place anyway,” the old professor chuckled when he saw this student of his.

Randel bowed respectfully after seeing the professor before replying. “It will never hurt to be careful.”

Professor Henry smiled bitterly when he saw this. “Being too careful is indeed not bad, but being too careful is.”

“They are all your juniors, so you should at least have some faith in them,” he added while shaking his head.

He then waved his hand, leaving Shin in Randel’s care, before proceeding to his business.

Randel watched Professor Henry’s back for quite a while before mumbling to himself. “I will never let another betrayal happen.”

Then a vicious look washed over his face, along with an intense killing intent that filled the entire surroundings. “I will personally punish them this time. And I will never show mercy.”

***

In the meantime, Arthur and Leonard were waiting for Shin and the others at their usual spot so that they could go home together.

“Hah~! The training session is quite hellish this time. The old brute seems to be enjoying torturing us,” complained Arthur, a little while later, collapsing on the bench.

“It is quite effective at the very least,” said Leonard while taking the other bench across Arthur.

Arthur did not refute since he could also feel the obvious improvements caused by those hellish training sessions, albeit being too small to notice.

After that, Arthur changed the matters within the game. “We have finally gotten out of that hellish place. What are your plans next?”

Leonard thought for a moment before replying. “I think I will continue looking for more clues about the three monster bosses that I need to hunt for my Divine Armor.”

“Maybe I will also follow the lead that we have gotten from Senior Laurent and his group,” he added, remembering the ‘payment’ that they had gotten from the Heavenly Resto-Bar for the commission within the game.

Even though the result was not the ideal one that they had expected, Laurent and the organization behind him still profited quite a lot from the information that they had gotten from the dungeon itself.

Although these pieces of information were quite scattered and limited, they could still get a lot from them after they had cross-referenced them with the ones that they had in their database.

Arthur thought for a moment before nodding his head, finding it quite reasonable. “Maybe, I will also follow their clues as well.”

He had also gotten some clues about two other pieces of the Divine Armor that he was looking for, which also happened to be different from the one that he had at hand, so there was a high chance that they would be the other pieces of that Divine Armor.

Thinking about this, he could not help but ask. “Shin is still trapped in that tower, right?”

“Shin Bro says so,” Leonard nodded before adding. “But he seems to be on the third floor now, so he can leave that secret land right after passing that trial.”

The two were still chatting when Molton arrived and approached them.

Seeing him alone, Arthur could not help but frown a little and ask. “Where are the girls?”

Molton shrugged his shoulders while replying. “Big Sister said that they will go shopping and unwind. She said that there is no need to wait for them and we should go home by ourselves.”

Hearing this, Arthur could not help but frown before asking. “They are with the guards, right?”

The situation remained quite tense due to clashes between their families and underworld organizations. Going to the academy was still fine, but going out like this was quite risky, especially when in this state.

Understanding Arthur’s worry, Molto reassured him. “Don’t worry, Senior Brother. The guards are with them. There are also hidden experts that our family has sent to oversee our safety. They should be fine.”

Arthur then nodded despite wearing a deep frown. He understood that the others were feeling quite stressed with the current situation, so it was understandable that they wanted to unwind a little to relax their mind.

“I guess I can’t blame them either,” he mumbled before shaking his head.

Boys and girls were different, so there was not much he could do to help them. After all, boys could just do some random and stupid things as a form of enjoyment, so playing the game and sparring with each other was enough.

On the other hand, girls were complicated creatures, so there were too many things that they had to deal with before they could feel at ease. Even then, it might not be enough to put their mind at complete peace.

“Then, let’s go wait for Shin before going back,” said Arthur while nodding his head.

“About that-… I don’t think Junior Shin will be able to make it.”

It was at this moment that the three suddenly heard a voice right behind them.

An intense shiver suddenly swept through their entire body when they heard this voice, putting the three on high alert.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

They swiftly jumped and went into a fighting stance, preparing for the battle.

Arthur and Leonard were standing at the front with Molton standing a meter or so behind them. The three could not help but look at the other party warily.

They saw someone wearing the academy’s senior uniform, indicating they were a senior student here.

“This guy is dangerous. His scent is extremely dangerous,” whispered Leonard, who sounded almost like a growl because of the pressure that he was sensing from the other party.

“How the hell did he manage to sneak up near us?” asked Arthur, along with a deep frown.

He had never lowered his guard and always kept an eye on their surroundings, so he could not help but wear a grim expression after realizing that someone managed to sneak behind them without noticing anything.

“He is strong. Probably a bit stronger than Big Sister,” mumbled Molton after sensing the danger linger in the air surrounding the other party.

Seeing their tensed expression, the other party chuckled and said. “Don’t worry, my dear juniors. I am not here to do anything to you.”

He then stood up, which made the three subconsciously take a step back.

The other party further chuckled, seeing their reaction before introducing. “How rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Lenon, Lenon Black. You can just call me Senior Blade if you want to, since that is what everyone calls me.”

“I am a graduating student and one of the assistant apprentices that Professor Herny has at the center,” he added before telling them his purpose for being there. “The professor has told me to tell you that Junior Shin may not come home tonight. He is currently doing a special training prepared by the professor and may only be able to return tomorrow night at the earliest or two days later at the latest.”

“Now that I have finished the task given by the professor, I will return to my post,” he said before suddenly disappearing, not waiting for the three to respond.

The three did not immediately retrieve their stances, afraid that something unexpected would happen.

It took them quite a while before they were finally able to relax. That senior had truly given them quite a scare.

…