Child of Destiny

...…

Shin was already exchanging many blows with King Yulis, and he felt that the latter was gradually getting stronger the more they fought.

He was not sure if it was because of the changing phases of this boss monster or if it was due to the necromancer controlling it was getting familiar with it, but the difficulty of the battle was indeed getting higher and higher.

He had memorized all the skills that this fallen elven king had, both the sword skills and nature magic spells, which was why he was able to hold his ground against this opponent despite the huge difference in stats.

Moreover, this monster was completely different from the ones that he had fought before.

First was it being a complete humanoid monster with a complete set of skills, which were being utilized with a variety of high-level techniques. It felt like Shin was fighting an NPC with very advanced AI, which also made it look like a fighting a real person.

This had given Shin a whole new experience inside the game.

It was not his first time fighting a humanoid monster. He had even fought others that were much stronger and had a higher base and overall stats. But there was something different about fighting this guy.

Of course, Bellion and Draco who he had met in the Frozen Kingdom were way superior to this guy. Lycan, who had become Leonard's Elemental Beast Partner, was also way stronger, especially when he turned into his Werewolf form.

But those three were exemptions since they were at the peak of this plane. They were either a Sovereign Being in their peak or close enough to reaching that state.

If Shin would compare this fallen elven king to other humanoid monsters, then he would pick the two generals, who turned into Fallen Humans: the Vanguard King Nel and the Archer King Caelum.

But those two were stronger than most of the King Class Monsters, bordering Emperor Class ones. They were also in level 175s, so they were obviously in Tier 3 as well.

Their classes were also Ascended Class, which was a notch higher than regular classes and indicated that they would be stronger than most.

But Shin was also fighting with the others during those times. He had the help of other highly skilled elites from their group, which greatly reduced the difficulty of the battle.

But this time, he was facing an enemy with slightly inferior skills and techniques alone.

He was also currently in Tier 3 Class, so they were mostly equal. The only difference was he was a player while the other side was a monster with higher stats parameters and multipliers.

What surprised Shin the most was the utilization of the skills as well as their combinations and rotations.

Now that Shin was fighting against a humanoid monster of this level alone, he was able to discover and learn quite a few things, particularly in swordsmanship.

He might not me followed the orthodox way of practicing the sword and could not be a real Swordsman and could only Mentalist Swordsman, who applied Mentalism to their swordsmanship.

Due to this, he could not form a 'Sword Heart,' which could greatly help a swordsman in their path of sword. This could also enhance their swordsmanship, making it more powerful compared to most swordsmen from the other disciplines.

'Sword Hearts' also varied from one person to another, depending on their respective talents. The more talent a person was, the greater their 'Sword Heart' could be.

It also depended on how early someone could form their 'Sword Heart' since they could nurture them much earlier, making them build a firmer foundation.

Aside from that, 'Sword Heart' could also give the sword a clear state of mind in the path of the Sword. When they fought, all false appearances and illusions would not work on swordsmen when they formed it.

It was somewhat similar to the 'Mind's Eye' of the Martial Artists that could read or sense the intention of their opponents during battle. It was also the same as the 'Spiritual Sense' of the Mentalists when it came to most of their abilities.

But with a 'Sword Heart', the sword practitioner would have a higher degree of integration with the sword. Thus, they could accomplish twice as much even with half of their when they were training their sword skills and techniques or during a battle.

Their understanding of the path of the sword would be much deeper and more refined when they possessed a 'Sword Heart'.

This was one of the most surprising things that he had seen from King Yulis.

Having a 'Sword Heart' as a monster? Of course, that was surprising. Even if King Yulis was previously an elf, Shin still found it amazing and unbelievable to find someone like such a thing inside the game.

He had heard about certain mutated monsters that could be found in the depths of the Forbidden Valley of the Dark Continent in the Real World before from the Springfield Family. He had also read its details from one of the books in the library of the household.

But he still treated it as a legend as no one was able to prove its existence yet after it was 'discovered' by a certain 'explorer'.

But rumors said that this mutated monster could grant an individual a 'Sword Heart' after it was defeated in a duel and got its core and soul extracted from its corpse.

To be more precise, these core and soul had to be crafted into a special elixir by a powerful Mentalist, who majored in medicine and alchemy. Once an individual consumed that elixir and fused it with their cores or settled it in their dantian, they would be able to form a 'Sword Heart' of their own regardless of the discipline that they were practicing.

Shin found it unbelievable as there was not enough evidence for it. He had to ask someone from a swordsman family in the real world about this information since they were the ones, who were concerned the most about it. They held most information about swordsmen and sword practitioners as it was their main field of profession.

Looking at King Yulis, Shin could not help but think of a certain possibility. – "Was it possible to do the same thing here inside the game?" –

He knew that the game developers would be not bored enough to design a monster like this just to troll the players. A monster with a 'Sword Heart' was not weak. Even if some circumstances resulted in the current situation, this kind of monster was not a joke.

The system might have generated it too since King Yulis was supposed to be an NPC inside the game that turned into its current state. But designing someone with a 'Sword Heart' was still their job initially, they were still the ones to be 'blamed'.

However, he was not aware that most of the NPCs within the game were designed based on real people from the real world and were only generated by the system.

When Shin watched King Yulis execute a series of movements by only using the limited sword skills from his arsenal but was able to produce different results through a variety of utilization, he could not help but desire this 'Sword Heart'.

Even though he knew that he couldn't produce a 'Sword Heart' in the real world since he was just a Mentalist Swordsman, he would still be able to experience what was like to have such a sword base within him. He would be able to understand what was like to have a swordsmanship that was supported by a 'Sword Heart'.

He would not be able to take it out in the real world, but the experience of having it would greatly help him in his path of sword.

He wondered if the information that he had read from the real world would also apply here or if that 'legend' was the model of this monster.

"But before that, I first have to deal with that person," Shin mumbled to himself while glancing at the hooded figure standing beside the throne.

If his suspicion was correct, then that guy was a necromancer controlling this fallen elven king. If he wanted to extract the core and soul of this monster without any distraction, he had to take down this person first so that the summoned creature would be freed from his control.

If he was about to finish off King Yulis later, and this necromancer suddenly jumped in and joined the battle, then he would be in trouble. There was also the chance of unsummoning the fallen elven king, which would lead to all his efforts going to waste.

Shin did not want that to happen, so he had to find an opportunity where he could eliminate the necromancer and make sure that no one would disturb him later.

With that in mind, Shin started formulating a series of plans inside his head while fighting King Yulis. But he did not expect that the necromancer would take the initiative to join the battle.

Slightly licking his lips under the mask, Shin focused all his senses while preparing for the much hectic battle.

...