Child of Destiny

...

The Elven Kingdom, one of the largest kingdoms among the elven territory. It was even comparable to the Elfiem Empire which was the said homeland of all elves.

This place was quite hostile against humans due to some unfortunate history between them. Some of these incidents were related to the slavery system that some human empires had employed, which was why the Elven Kingdom hated the humans, especially merchants.

Aside from them, the neighboring countries such as the Beast Glade Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom also hated the human empires which was why they formed an alliance with each other.

Given these circumstances, no player with a human race dared to set foot on these lands. And if ever there were some courageous humans who dared to enter the premises of these Kingdoms, the combined forces behind these countries would surely hunt those players down.

Fortunately, it was a different case for Shin. Even if his race had a tinge of human blood, the progenitor of his race was still a savior of the elves. So, the relationship of his Church with the Elven Council was still on friendly terms.

Given that, Shin was quite welcomed by the elders of the council when he arrived in the Sacred Capital of the Elven Kingdom.

Charlotte still had some things that she needed to report to the council, so he was left behind in the visitor's room while waiting for her to return.

Bored, Shin walked around the room and observed the murals drawn in the walls of the room.

From what he could see, those murals were about the heroic deeds that the Elven Hero did during the Warring and Repelling Era.

"I did not expect that the elves would also like to show off their leading figure. I thought they were quite humble about their origins," muttered Shin to himself.

When those words left his mouth, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice coming from behind. "My sincerest apologies, Sir Envoy!"

"Hmm?" Shin quickly turned around to look at the owner of the voice and saw an elf that seemed to be in his late twenties based on human standards.

And while Shin was observing him, the elf immediately bowed at him while introducing himself. "Greeting, Sir Envoy of the Church of the Sun and Moon. I am the crowned prince of the Elven Kingdom, Federith Yuvenciel."

"Ah!" Shin quickly gave the prince a deep bow when he realized the elf's status. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Prince Federith."

Seeing that Shin was acting too formal to him, Prince Federith immediately waved his hand while saying. "Relax, Sir Envoy. The ancestor of your race and the first Nephilim is our savior and benefactor, so it was natural for us to treat his descendants politely."

"How about we stop with the formalities and treat each other as friends instead?" added the prince while walking over to Shin and extending his right hand. "You can just call me by my name if it is fine with you."

Shin was hesitating whether he was going to accept the handshake or not since he was not sure if it was fine to treat someone with that kind of social status in a casual way. He already met quite a few nobles inside of the game, so he knew that some of the NPCs were treating the social hierarchy of the game quite strictly.

Seeing that Shin was still in dilemma, the prince quickly put up a smile and said. "Are you going to let me hang my hand like this? My arms are getting sore."

"Ah!"

Hearing that, Shin finally recovered himself and smiled at Prince Federith while shaking the latter's hand. "Then the prince can call me Sickarius."

"Hey! We already decided to be friends, so why are you still talking to me formally?" said the prince with squinting eyes, demanding Shin to treat him as equals.

Shin laughed for a moment before nodding his head. "Alright, Federith."

After that, the two chatted for a few moments, talking about some random topics. They were even talking about some things regarding their respective kingdoms.

Shin was just going with the flow at first but as time went by, he was starting to become suspicious about the prince's purpose of coming here. It was not in a bad way since the prince might give him some quest if his suspicions were right. But it was still giving him some uneasy feeling for conversing with someone who had some hidden motive.

And not long after, what he was thinking indeed came true.

"I heard that you arrived here alongside the Sage. Are you two in a mission?" asked Prince Federith with a casual tone.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but feel on guard but he didn't show it on the surface. And after briefly considering his words, he immediately replied. "Oh~! About that? It is nothing special. We just teamed up temporarily to hunt down some Elemental Creatures."

"Hunting? Is it because of some bounty?" asked the prince while pursing his lips.

Reaching this point, Shin was starting to become more suspicious of the prince as he could sense some hidden motives from that particular question. And due to that, Shin chose to be more careful with his words before answering. "It is something like that. We are commissioned to get some materials from those monsters."

Hearing those words, Price Federith suddenly squinted his eyes a little before asking once again. "Can I ask you what kind of Elemental Creatures you guys are going to hunt?"

He paused for a moment before quickly adding. "Ah! Don't misunderstand me. I just want to know what monster you two are going to hunt so that I can lend you some of our guards to assist you."

'Assist our hunt? Or monitor our movements?' thought Shin to himself before replying. "Thanks for the kind offer, Federith. But I think we are going to be fine."

"Is that so?" said the prince before patting Shin's shoulder before saying. "But if ever you need some help, don't hesitate to ask for some assistance from me."

"I surely will," responded Shin in an instant while nodding his head.

After that, Prince bid his farewell to Shin before leaving the room. "Then I should be going now. I still have some things that I need to take care of. Thank you for your time and good luck on your hunt."

Shin nodded his head before giving the prince another bow while saying. "As I said earlier, the pleasure should be mine."

This time, Prince Federith ignored Shin acting formally in front of him once again and just walked out of the room. And the latter saw that, he couldn't help but smirk before muttering to himself. "Just like what I thought."

After that, Shin went back to his seat before summoning his Fire and Void Elemental Spirits. "Solus! Hanzo!"

A moment later, Solus and Hanzo materialized behind him with the former having her head low and the latter having an unsatisfied look on his face.

"Greetings, my liege!" said Solus right after appearing. And when she saw Hanzo not greeting Shin properly, she quickly glared at the old elemental spirit with sharp eyes.

But despite the threatening glare that he was getting from her, Hanzo still maintained the indifferent look on his face before saying. "Don't force me, fallen god. Even if you are a legend before, you are still no match against me with your current strength."

"Huh~!?" Solus suddenly looked at Hanzo aggressively before asking. "What do you mean by that? Are you challenging me right now? How about we find out right now who is stronger than us?"

"Alright! I am starting to get tired of you acting bossy all the time anyway," said Hanzo while getting ready to battle.

"Then this is going to be the time for us to settle who is going to be the leader of my liege's servants?" said Solus as she conjured a pair of fireballs on each of her hands before saying.

In the meantime, Shin couldn't help but slap his forehead for having yet another headache. "The heck!? Having a couple of strong Elemental Companions is not that bad, but having another 'Vladimir' and 'Grimrace' is definitely not a good thing."

After that, he quickly raised his hand and quickly put himself in between the two, trying to stop them.  "That's enough! I summoned both of you since I need your opinions about something. So, if the two of you are going to continue fighting, then I think it is better if I unsummon both of you instead."

Hearing that, Solus quickly lowered his stance and apologized. "Please forgive this humble servant, my liege."

"I just want to discipline this rebellious servant in your stead," she added while glaring at Hanzo.

Shin quickly shook his head when he saw how she was treating him before asking. "And Solus, can you not treat me that way? I really feel uncomfortable whenever you speak that way."

On the other hand, Hanzo ignored the glare that he was receiving and asked Shin. "So, what help did you need from us, kid?"

He was in the middle of talking when the expression on his face suddenly turned serious. "But before that, how about we take care of these guys who were trying to eardrop us?"

And right after those words left his mouth, Shin suddenly received a series of system notifications which also bombard his ears repeatedly.

Shin took a quick look at them before cursing to himself. "What is it this time?"

...…