Child of Destiny

...…

After logging out of the game and getting out of his Gaming Cabin, Shin quickly did his morning routine before preparing for school.

As usual, he prepared their breakfast since it had already become a daily routine for him. But this time, the three girls – Cloe, Alice, and Lorraine – joined them for the meal before going together to the academy.

During the trip, Arthur and Leonard kept on complaining to Shin because he became ahead of them once again. They kept pestering him not to head over to the Awakened Continent on his own and wait for them. They wanted to explore the new continent together. It would be better if the entire Empyrean Talons headed there together.

During this instance, Shin asked them about their respective progress and the current situation in the Sacred Light Kingdom.

"Since you have already done with your Promotion Quest, there is no way that I will slack off and let you leave us to dust," said Arthur as they walked toward their classroom.

"With the information that you have given us, I think I can finally find a way to proceed with the second part of my quest."

"Tsk! Having a secondary combat class has its drawbacks too," he complained as he knew that one of the reasons why his Promotion Quest was harder than the rest was due to the secondary combat class.

Leonard had just recently gotten his secondary combat class too during his last visit to the Temple of the War God, which made him slightly regret his decision. But he did not complain that much after knowing the growth that he was making during the entire quest.

In the meantime, Alice suddenly injected. "As for the events in the Sacred Light Kingdom, I think the situation is getting a little hopeless."

"There is no way that the 'Withering' can be stopped now. The seeds of corruption spread out in every corner of the kingdom, making it impossible to stop," she added.

"Aside from the Maze Forest, where your teammates have destroyed one of the main corruption seeds, most of the Kingdom is already under serious corruption," said Lorraine, chiming in.

Lorraine headed to the kingdom with her Adventurer Team, the Secret Society, to join the event since she felt like improving their progress before settling in the new city that Shin wanted to build with Shiella.

With the recent progress that her team had made, they were able to put up a good fight there, but she knew that they could barely help due to how large the scale of the corruption was.

"I will try heading there and help once I am done with the matters on my side," said Shin as he nodded his head.

They chatted for a moment before entering the classroom, where they met with Molton and Jillian and sat at their usual spot.

"Brother Shin! I have made a lot of progress on my promotion quest thanks to the information that you have given me!" said Molton after greeting the group.

"I'm glad that it had helped you," nodded Shin as he took a seat.

Everyone in the class was already present and they were only waiting for Professor Kyrie to enter and start the class.

When she arrived, everyone immediately turned silent and paid attention in front of them, especially when they noticed a strange atmosphere surrounding the professor.

Professor Kyrie swept her gaze at everyone before nodding her head when she saw that everyone was present. She then cleared his throat before talking. "I am an important announcement, so I hope everyone will pay attention."

She waited for everyone to adjust themselves before continuing. "The academy will be issuing a special mission for everyone in this class, and they want everyone to cooperate."

"But before I tell you what it is, I want you to know that this is not a compulsory mission. You can refuse and not join the rest of you have other matters that you need to attend or if the professor from your respective departments has a different arrangement for you."

"But still, this is a good opportunity to hone yourselves and gain more experience!"

"Even Sir Lin Huang is strongly supporting this idea. In fact, he is the one who pushes this mission to you and convinces the board to agree."

Hearing her words, the entire class immediately became interested, especially when they heard that it was an arrangement from Martial King Lin Huang. From their understanding of that old monster, they knew that this mission would make them grow stronger and faster.

She paused for another time as she looked at everyone before explaining the details of the special mission. "Recently, the government has excavated an ancient tomb, and it seems to be related to an ancient cultivator with a decent reputation-…"

As she was explaining, the whole class paid extra attention as they were really curious about this mission.

In the meantime, Shin could not help but frown deeply.

He somewhat had an idea of what was going on. His master had already called him about this matter earlier, and he also had deduced it before, so he was not that surprised.

But despite all that, he knew that he could not join this mission due to the warning of his master. He could not afford to risk his life when someone as strong as the 'Great Demon,' Jan Mateo, would be coming there for some reason.

Given that this top expert, a notorious wanted criminal and head of a powerful organization, was coming to the continent, the government would naturally set up multiple traps to catch him.

Even though they did not know why this person was coming to the Soaring Continent, they could not afford to let their guard down.

They were confident that he would not be attacking them, or getting in their way during the exploration of the ancient tomb since that was not his style.

From what the government and the elders' council had deduced, there seemed to be something that piqued his interest in the continent.

Or it was also possible that he would be seeking revenge on Adam's friends for what happened during the incident a dozen years ago.

Either way, Professor Plum and Grandmaster Benn would not dare to let Shin join the exploration team after knowing that Jan Mateo would possibly 'pass' by.

That guy had an insane greed when it came to 'See of Hatred'. If he learned the existence of the seeds within Shin, then the trouble that they would be facing would be beyond their imagination.

They could not take the risk.

After explaining everything, Professor Kyrie swept her gaze at everyone before asking. "So, who among you want to participate? Raise your hands, and I will list your names."

Before anyone could even raise their hands, someone from the class suddenly injected. "Isn't it better to ask who will not be joining the mission? I think that is a more appropriate question."

Hearing his words, the rest of the class laughed. After all, who would want to miss such a rare opportunity? This mission was a special occasion where they could hone their skills and gain practical experience.

Professor Kyrie paused for a moment before joining the laughter of her students. She then nodded her head and asked. "Right. Is there anyone who doesn't want to partake in this mission?"

She had asked that, but she was actually not expecting anyone would say yes. After all, this batch of geniuses would never back down from such a challenge and an opportunity to improve themselves.

At least that was what she thought at first, but she did not expect that there was really someone who would raise their hands.

Moreover, the person who did this was currently ranked number 1 in the class.

She failed to process what was going on as she was caught completely off guard. She remained silent for quite some time as she refused to believe what she was seeing.

The rest of the class was the same. They turned their heads and looked directly at Shin with eyes full of mixed emotions. They were also having some doubts about whether they were seeing the right thing or not.

In their minds – "What the hell is wrong with this dude?" –

It was the same for Shin's friends, especially the ones who were very familiar with him. From their knowledge, there was no way for Shin to refuse to join and let go of such a rare opportunity!

They could not help but look at Shin with weird gazes, seemingly thinking if he was ill or something.

Being at the center of attention and receiving such gazes from everyone, Shin could not feel a little uncomfortable.

He then awkwardly scratched his cheeks before clearing his throat while whispering to his friends. "Ahem! I have my reason."

After that, he smiled at Professor Kyrie and explained. "I am sorry, Professor Kyrie. But my department has some arrangements already. My master and Professor Henry seem to have come to an agreement."

It was only at that moment when Professor Kyrie snapped out of her daze and laughed. "Is that so? Then It can't be helped."

She then paused and asked for another time, making sure that Shin would not regret it. "But are you sure about this? This is such a rare opportunity, and we don't know when it can happen again."

Shin shook his head and said. "I am sorry, Professor Kyrie. But I have already decided."

Seeing that Shin would not be convinced, Professor Kyrie nodded her head and moved on. She then started the class immediately after.

*******

Afternoon, when everyone was done with the training that Old Man Lin had prepared, they were shocked to discover that they had finished way earlier than scheduled.

They were dismissed way earlier than their usual time.

While everyone was catching their breath and lying on the ground, Old Man Lin suddenly stood in front of them and said. "I am sure that you all have heard the special mission already, so I will get straight to the point."

"Starting tomorrow, I don't have you to attend my afternoon class until the day of the mission. I want you to focus on maintaining your forms and preparing yourselves for this mission."

"You have to take this mission seriously not only because it can help you with your growth, but also because there are some risks accompanying it."

He paused for a moment and put his hands behind him before continuing. "There is going to be a serious contest in for this exploration mission. You are not the only ones who will be entering the tomb as the other strong forces within the continent and some foreign forces will be joining too."

"Moreover, our academy's long-time rival, the Top Military School, will be sending their students too. And I must warn you – you can lose to anyone but those guys. Once I hear that you have been beaten by those guys, then I make sure to prepare a new obstacle course for the whole class for your future training."

"Don't try to be cheeky too and avoid any collision against them since I will be one of the overseers who will be guarding the tomb, so I will receive the reports as soon as possible. There is no way you can hide anything from me."

Boom!

Right after he was done with his speech, the entire class suddenly felt a heavy pressure pressing on them.

They felt that a massive mountain was pressing on them, making it hard for them to move and suffocating them greatly. Some of the more exhausted ones lying on the ground started convulsing as if they were about to die.

Fortunately, Old Man Lin knew his limit and stopped when the weakest ones were about to faint and collapse.

Even the brightest and strongest students in the class were sweating profusely due to experiencing such heavy pressure.

Old Man Lin swept his gaze at everyone, before turning to Shin. "Hey, brat! Came with me for a second. I have something to discuss with you."

...