Child of Destiny

……

Ace City, Magic Ace Academy, World Research Center.

Professor Henry was currently overseeing a bunch of research projects through virtual screens before him when the automatic door behind him suddenly opened.

Then Lenon Black, nicknamed Blade, suddenly entered the room and bowed to the old professor immediately after.

“How is it?” asked Professor Henry without turning his head, still focused on the bunch of virtual screens before him.

Lenon then respectfully answered. “I have relied on the professor’s words to the juniors successfully. They should be on their way home now.”

Professor Henry slightly nodded his brows before splitting another virtual screen and tapping on it a couple of times before swiping it sideways.

Beep! Beep!

Immediately after, Lenon’s advanced watch suddenly rang, indicating that he had just received a message.

Realizing that the professor had sent him something, Lenon opened the message and skimmed through it.

At the same time, Professor Henry suddenly said. “Bring a few members from the Wings of Dawn and head to the location pinned on that map. There are members of Sleeping Dragons waiting for you there. Team up with them and finish the mission on that file.”

Lenon immediately bowed and excused himself, planning to execute the order as soon as possible. Given the tone that the professor had, he could tell that there must be something more to it, especially when it required a joint operation between the Wings of Dawns and Sleeping Dragons.

Moreover, since it was given to him, the members for this operation needed to be at least on the same level as him, a graduating student from both clubs.

He wondered what kind of operation it was.

Once Lenon left, Professor Henry squinted his eyes, turning his head toward another virtual screen, which had a virtual footage sent to him by the faculty of the academy. “Chasing after these young spy agents is not going smoothly.”

“Since we are quite busy cleaning up our ranks, it is better to leave this task to our young elites,” he mumbled before focusing his eyes on one of the figures shown on the footage.

He was not too sure about it, but he was having a bad feeling about this young man, who seemed to have the aura of some truly troublesome people.

“The Cursed Immortal, the Faceless One, and the Limitless Savant. They have been appearing one after another. I wonder if the others will also be awakened in this era,” he mumbled before opening yet another virtual screen, which showed multiple murals stuck together.

On that mural, there were a lot of bizarre people seemingly struggling to ascend from multiple constraints that were dragging them down.

Among these figures, there were five to ten most notable ones, which also seemed to be the strongest among the rest.

One of them was a person who seemed to be enveloped by a holy and wicked aura, along with a sun-like halo behind his head. He carried an absolute power that seemed to be capable of destroying the entire world.

The other one was a person in an ancient Taoist robe while wearing a blank mask that only revealed his eyes. He was carrying an extremely mysterious aura that made him distinct among everyone within the mural. This aura also seemed to be pushing everyone else from the mural, making them distance themselves from him.

Then there was a person who seemed to possess multiple faces that were overlapping with one another. There was also a demonic figure behind this person that seemed to be connected to their body, which was also formed by the collection of multiple figures stacked together.

These three were at the forefront of the group of figures, which seemed to be the strongest among everyone else.

Right under them was a massive black beast that seemed to be emitting a terrifying aura. Its size was so massive seemed to be capable of covering the entire world. There were also multiple chains wrapped around its body, seemingly preventing it from breaking free.

The other figures also had a distinct aura that was unique to them, which also carried a certain mystery in them. They were also in different forms, such as humanoid and beasts, mists and miasmas, trees and plant life, and other bizarre beings.

Right above these countless figures was a massive emblem that looked like a combination of an eye, a sun, and a moon, alongside the boundless starry sky behind them.

All the figures that were underneath it seemed to be trying to reach this symbol while it was sending rays of light that further stopped them from ascending.

This mural seemed to be far from being an ordinary one since anyone who looked at it would feel a heavy pressure despite being projected by a virtual screen.

Each figure beneath the eye-sun-moon emblem and the boundless starry sky behind it was releasing an extremely powerful pressure unique to them. These pressures would then mix and gradually fuse with one another, forming an overwhelming pressure that was fighting against that eye in the sky.

Professor Henry stared at it for quite a while before retrieving his gaze from it and closing the virtual screen.

“It seems like the prophesied time for this era is rapidly approaching. Will be able to survive it?” he mumbled in a heavy tone before turning his gaze back at the other virtual screens that were projecting the ongoing research projects.

Squinting his eyes, he could not help but feel a bit more worried. “We have to pick up our pace if we don’t want to get swept by the tides just like the previous eras.”

“Let’s just hope that scary couple is right with their conjectures once again,” he added, recalling the words that David had relayed to him by those two.

***

In the meantime, somewhere in the depths of the Dragon Sunset Valley, Nathan suddenly emerged from a lava pool.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

The boiling lava of the pool seemed to be unable to do anything to him. Aside from the series of hissing sounds coming out from his body while walking out of it, nothing much happened.

He walked out of the lava pool completely naked, showcasing his highly trained body and perfectly toned muscles.

Droplets of fiery red lava come off his body, dripping on the stone floor at the edge of the lava pool.

Waiting for him at that place was Mondragon Springfield, his grandfather, and one of the Transcendent Realm Experts of the family.

Mondragon watched as Nathan walked toward him, squinting his eyes as he could sense an overwhelming power coming out from the latter’s body.

After a while, he nodded in satisfaction and spoke. “Very good! It seems like your gains from the Altar are much greater than we have expected.”

“Your path toward transcendence has further solidified, increasing your chance of reaching it,” he added while smirking.

If Nathan had truly reached that final half-step, then their family would produce yet another powerhouse that stood at the peak of the world.

Samuel was stuck on this stage for quite a lot of time already, so his chances of pushing through the final hurdle were slowly decreasing.

However, Nathan was different. Not only was he extremely hardworking, but he also had a much bigger potential compared to his father. His chances of reaching the final stage were much higher.

“Grandfather,” greeted Nathan as an ancient robe appeared around his body.

Mondragon nodded his head in satisfaction for another before patting the latter’s shoulders. “You should refrain from using your strength too much for a while and further consolidate your strength and all your gains from the Ancestral Altar.”

“Leave everything to your father and his friends for quite a while and stay here for a while longer,” he instructed.

Hearing this, Nathan could not help but frown a little. He knew that there were quite a lot of things that required his presence back in the base, so he had to return as soon as possible, and push harder so that they could further uproot the foundations of their enemies.

Understanding what was running inside Nathan’s head, Mondragon suddenly said. “Reassured, we have already made some arrangements for it.”

“We are aware of the turmoil that is currently happening in the world. Even powerhouses of our level are starting to get shaken by these movements.”

“Then ancestors have also warned us about the storm that is about to come, so we have to gather our strength to make sure to survive this ordeal,” he added with a somewhat heavy tone.

Now that even the two ancestors had warned them about it, they knew that what was about to descend to the world was something much greater than they had expected.

“The stronger you get, the better it is, so focus on the current task at hand before leaving,” he added before turning around, not even giving Nathan any chance to refuse.

Nathan, on the other hand, could not help but frown deeply. The challenges that their family was currently facing were one thing, but that was just one of his concerns.

Earlier, when he was accepting another set of inheritance from their Ancestral Altar, some memories that were supposed to be sealed or erased resurfaced one after another.

Even though there were only bits of them and a bit too fleeting, he was still able to grasp a bit of them.

“Those murals-… a war between races to defy their fate-… and the struggle against destiny,”

“-… and the prophesied time-… they are coming,” he mumbled along with a grim expression on his face.

Immediately after, a resolute and determined expression washed over his face before saying. “This time, I will make sure not to be a burden. I will be standing at the forefront along with you two.”

He then turned around and looked at the lava pool before mumbling. “The corpse of the Ancestral Dragon. I have to see it.”

……