Child of Destiny

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"Eh!? We can't inquire right now?"

The group stood stunned and stared blankly at the senior student in front of them.

They quickly went to the Azure Sky Garden, a special place dedicated to the elite clubs within a school. It looked like a business square that could be seen outside the school. There were seven noticeable buildings situated there, scattered in different places.

Each building was occupying a certain area within the garden, signifying that it was their territory. And these buildings that had unique designs had huge logos representing their clubs hanging in front of them. If Shin put them on an in-game term, these buildings looked like a guild residence within the game.

But the strange part was the seven buildings did not represent all of the seven elite clubs. Two of them were from the Student Council, the one that was situated at the center of the garden, while the other was the headquarters of the Disciplinary Committee.

The rest were from the clubs, Martial and Mentalism Union, Warrior Collage, Student Assistant Association, Researcher Union, and the one with the most luxurious building that was even fancier than the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee, the Hand of Midas.

The builders assigned for Sleeping Dragons and Wings of Dawn could not be found within the garden. They might be on the deeper and secluded part of the garden or their assigned headquarters were never been there.

Shin, who was a part of the Research Department and already visited their place, had the idea that the shabby and rundown place was their headquarters.

As for the Wings of Dawn, this club might be in a similar case but should be in a better situation. Unless the members of this particular club were the same as his seniors in the Research Department who loved to fight and destroy their place in the process.

The group went over to this place to see the elite clubs' recruitment process and check if these clubs suited them. But who would have thought that the elite clubs were not currently recruiting any new members? They did not even want to receive any visitors right now.

"Are you telling us that the elite clubs are not recruiting? And at the Recruitment Festival even?" asked Molton for the third time since they were refused by the senior student. He could not believe that the elite clubs would let such an important event pass just like that.

The senior student sighed helplessly at the repeated question. "As I said, it is not that they don't want to recruit any members right now. It is just they could not recruit anyone because of their current circumstances."

And before Molton could even ask another repeated question, he quickly added. "The details are classified, so even the members don't know the exact reason for it. But I heard it is an order from the academy, so they have no choice but to comply."

"Tsk! What a bummer," commented Arthur from the side.

In the meantime, Shin could not help but ask. "Senior, from what club are you?"

The senior student was suddenly taken aback by that question. He then looked at Shin and saw that the latter seemed to be gauging his strength and managed to find out something. 'Interesting. To think that there is a kid that can see through my concealment.'

He then swept his gaze at the others and noticed that all of them seemed to be using their respective means to gauge his strength.

'I guess it is to be expected of the students from the special program,' he added to his thoughts before replying. "I am not from any club. If ever, you can treat me as a student assistant that is supporting the Student Council in dealing with trivial jobs such as guarding this place."

He waited patiently for the group to ask for a few more questions but they seemed to already lack anything to ask. But he still respectfully asked. "Do you still have anything to ask?"

Shin and the others thought for a moment before shaking their heads. Even Molton was shaking his head in a dejected manner. It was a rare occasion to be able to visit the elite club and observe them, so he really felt that it was a pity.

The senior student was able to read the expression on the face of the poor guy, so he quickly added. "Don't worry, once the collaborative mission that the elite clubs are doing is done, they will immediately start recruiting new members. It will be another Recruitment Festival and solely prepared for them."

"And given your abilities, I am confident that all of you will be able to pass their recruitment process and join them," he added as he swept his gaze at the group once again. But this time, he was using a special technique to be able to observe their respective strength.

And what he had discovered shocked him to the core. 'What the heck? These kids are strong. They are too strong. I am afraid that most of the regular members of elite clubs are not as strong as them.'

'Only those special individuals were the ones who could contend against this bunch. Is the quality of the special program students this insane?' he thought as he was shocked by their strength.

He was confident that he would be able to face any of them, though he found it troublesome if he was faced against any of the trio of Shin, Arthur, and Leonard. Those three were on a completely different level.

But what was really surprising about it was all of them being very young. If he tried to make a guess, none of them were older than eighteen years old. No, they seemed to be all 15 years of age.

'I guess the school is really trying to nurture a group of monsters,' he added to his thoughts while also thinking that this bunch was as good as the elite members of the Hand of Midas, Sleeping Dragons, and Wings of Dawn in terms of talent.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Shin suddenly gave him a bow while also thanking him. "Thank you, senior. Maybe we will come back here when the elite clubs launch their own Recruitment Festival."

After that, he beckoned the others as he turned around to leave. And when the group saw him leaving, they quickly bowed to the senior student, saying their farewell, before turning around and catching up to Shin.

"Man~! That is so boring~!" said Arthur as he put both of his hands behind his head while walking.

"There is nothing we can do about it," commented Lorraine while shrugging her shoulders.

Leonard thought for a moment before finally voicing his concern. "It seems like the mission that the elite clubs have is a pretty serious one for them to work together. I wonder what is it."

Cloe then turned to Shin and asked. "You can contact your seniors from the Research Department, right? Do you think that you will be able to ask them about it?"

Shin rolled his eyes at her since he knew that she was just trying to ask him to keep the topic going. "Do you think that they will share any information with me when it is clearly a classified mission? Moreover, I am just a new student in the department. I haven't even started my classes there, so how can I ask them?"

Molton was so dejected that he could not help but keep his head hanging low. Even his shoulders were lowered as if they were carrying something heavy.

Seeing that, Arthur patted Molton's shoulder. "Don't worry. We will have our chance to see those so-called elite clubs."

Molton raised his head to look at his senior brother and nodded his head. "Hmm."

After that, Arthur swiftly turned to Shin while asking. "By the way, what do you think of my suggestion earlier?"

"About what? About creating our own club?" asked Shin with furrowed brows. He then shook his head and rejected it. "Nah! It is too troublesome. Have you seen how hectic it is to manage a club?"

"Given our personalities, I doubt we will bother ourselves at doing such a troublesome thing," he added with a lazy tone.

"Come on~! We can just copy these clubs that come from the game. We can make our Empyrean Talon a club! We are the founders of the adventurer team, so I doubt the others will question it," said Arthur, trying to persuade Shin.

He knew that as long as he got Shin to agree, Cloe and the others would have no choice but to follow.

"It is not like all of us are from Empyrean Talons," said Shin, rejecting Arthur once again.

It was not he was taking the others for granted. But given the actions of Jillian and Molton, it was pretty obvious that the two of them were planning to join their group.

As for Lorraine, there was nothing to talk about her. She was already making a fuss about her not being invited to join their Adventurer Team. Given their relationship, she should have been a part of the Empyrean Talons if not because of her duties in her family.

While Shin and Arthur were bickering with each other, Molton suddenly remembered something as he finally realized why the name Empyrean Talons was familiar to him. "Wait! Are you guys the 'Empyrean Talons'? I mean – that Empyrean Talons Adventurer Team within «Destiny's Fate» Online?"

The group halted their steps as they turned to Molton. They looked at him with the face that seemingly told him that he was stating the obvious.

"Hick!" the poor guy could not help but hiccup when he saw them directing their gazes at him once again before subconsciously lowering his head.

Then Arthur finally broke the tense and awkward atmosphere while saying. "Yeah. It is us. Is there something wrong, junior brother? It isn't like something too special anyway, so is there anything to be surprised about?"

Even though he said those words, the smugness and pride in his tone could not be hidden.

The others rolled their eyes at him before Shin asked Molton. "Yeah, we are the Empyrean Talons. Do you have something to say to us?"

Seeing that her twin brother could not say anything, Jillian sighed helplessly before saying. "As you know, my brother is interested in recording anything and likes to hear about the gossip within the game."

"Your group is pretty famous, especially when you have created wave after wave within the game. It is natural for him to be interested in you, the Empyrean Talons."

She paused for a moment as she hesitated before sighing once again and continuing. "In short-… he is a fan of yours."

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