Child of Destiny

...

Shin stood silently on the side of the throne room and watched the powerful vampires present busying themselves on building a huge area at the center of the room with strange tiles.

The throne room was pretty huge that immediately turned into a battle colosseum right after the arena at the center was built.

In the meantime, aside from the six vampires kneeling at the bottom of the throne steps, the rest of the vampires suddenly turned into bats and hang themselves at the ceiling of the room, making the room even more spacious.

Seeing that everything was ready, Dracula gestured to Shin to walk over and patiently explained the rules for this so-called simple competition. "Since it is for entertainment, let's not put the lives of our retainers on the line. After all, it will be a pity if we lose such good people that can be helpful in the future."

"The rules are simple, we are going to send our retainers on the stage and let them fight until one of them surrenders or is knocked out of it."

"The winner will continue to stand on the stage until the last retainer of the opposing side loses. It is pretty simple right?"

Shin nodded his head as he didn't find anything wrong with the rules. The only problem that he had right now was that he needed to send his Elemental Spirits into the battle, but based on the reactions that they were giving him, he could at least use three of them at most, namely Vladimir, Grimrace, and Blackie.

Those three were the only ones who were showing the stronger reactions which meant that they could only be the ones who would receive temporary boosts from the system.

Based on numbers alone, he would be at a great advantage. That sounded a little unfair, but Shin knew that the system would not give him a task that was impossible to complete.

Looking at the Vampires from the opposing side, Shin could tell that each of them was very strong. He couldn't see any information about them even if he was using his True Sight Skill. Aside from their levels, he couldn't see anything else, not even their names.

But even that was not good news for him. Each of those vampires was at least level 400, which was definitely not something good.

Fortunately, the quest that he got from Vladimir was a good one. But even with that, he was not planning to send this Elemental Spirit first.

To test the waters, he was intending to send Blackie to be the vanguard. And right after he made his decision, notifications from the system were sent to him.

*Ding!*

System: The Bloody Ghost Quest is not being initiated!

System: Based on the quest settings, you will only be able to add two additional helpers based on the compatibility of the elements that they have.

System: Please send your first contender!

…

Reading the string of notifications, Shin waved his hand and summoned Blackie, sending her to step into the arena.

All of his Elemental Spirits were special, even Blackie and Whitie who were transformed from being pets. But compared to the rest, the two of them were slightly inferior. The other five all had unique and extraordinary backgrounds.

Seeing Blackie walk toward the arena, the six vampires standing from the opposing side couldn't help but feel disappointed.

They seemed to have the same thought in mind as they focused their gaze on the crimson speck of light circling around Shin. Given their familiarity with blood elemental mana, they could tell that that particular elemental spirit was somewhat similar to them.

Dracula was wearing an amused look as he had the same thought as his retainers. But seeing that Shin was not willing to send the main contender yet, he could only wait for it patiently.

And when he saw that his retainers were not taking the initiative to walk forward, he could only wave his hand and called out a name. "Earl Cray, you will be going first."

There seemed to be an unsatisfied groan from the six vampires before one of them walked forward. "Understood, your majesty."

As a typical noble vampire, Earl Cray was wearing luxurious clothes, signifying his status. He also had a handsome feature, benefitting from it.

He casually steps into the arena as if he was not putting Blackie into his eyes. As one of the noble vampires, who received direct blood from Dracula, he was very haughty and confident with his abilities.

If it was put on the player's terms, he was as strong as a peak Ascended Being with an Ascended Class. He might not be an Enlightened One yet, but he was very close to achieving it. As long as he followed the arrangements that his king prepared for him, then he would surely reach a breakthrough after all of this was over.

…

Right after Earl Cray stepped on the arena, Shin couldn't help but wear a dark expression on his face. It was because he immediately received the information from the system regarding the noble vampire.

He was now worried about Blackie. He was not sure if she would be able to fight a Level 400 humanoid monster comparable to a peak Ascended Being.

But he later discovered that his worry was unfounded. It was because the system enhanced the stats that Blackie had, matching the current predicament. Though her abilities might be slightly weaker than her opponent, she would not be hopeless during this battle.

There was no referee who would oversee this battle as Dracula's presence would be enough to oversee the fairness in it. He also seemed to be strangely reliable in Shin's eyes, even though he didn't want to admit it.

After a brief moment of a staredown, Blackie and Earl Cray made their moves almost at the same time.

Blackie suddenly disappeared from her spot before reappearing behind her opponent within an instant. She then swung her claws at the back of Earl Cray as black flame covered them.

Swoosh!

Her decisive attack was so fast that the other vampires spectating from the sidelines couldn't help but raise their brows. They had to admit that they underestimated her, especially her speed.

But other than that, nothing else bothered them. They even had the confident look on their faces, indicating that they had enough confidence for Earl Cray.

Swoosh!

It was at that moment when Blackie's claws hit the back of her opponent, ripping a huge chunk of flesh in the process.

But despite that being the case, Blackie was currently wearing a deep frown as she noticed something odd. And while she was thinking about what it was, Earl Cray's body suddenly turned into a pool of blood that fell on the ground.

Following that, Blackie suddenly sensed an immense threat coming from that pool of blood. She quickly jumped away from it right after her feet touched the ground, trying to distance herself as far as possible.

Unfortunately, it was already too late as blood spikes suddenly grew from that pool of blood and shot outward, covering every direction.

But before those blood spikes could even touch her body, Blackie suddenly executed a strange foot technique that made her figure sway left and right, dodging each of the pointed spikes with a very small margin.

Seeing her movements, Shin couldn't help but knit his brow deeply as he found her foot technique somewhat familiar. There were some variations present in it, but he was sure that it was one of his foot techniques.

"Don't tell me she learned it from watching me?" muttered Shin while looking at Blackie with a weird gaze.

And as if answering his question, he saw Blackie execute another set of foot techniques that was very similar to his.

…

At the center of the arena, Blackie skillfully dodged the blood spikes that continuously shot up from the ground. And as she was avoiding them, her foot technique showed some signs of improvement, giving Shin a clear view of it.

During that time, Earl Cray suddenly materialized a few distances behind Blackie while pointing forward with his index finger.

A moment later, a blood pool suddenly spread from his feet and spread forward and rapidly moved towards Blackie.

Sensing the danger coming from behind, Blackie adjusted her foot technique, making her body blur continuously. And after a few seconds, her figure suddenly spitted into two, then into four, and into eight, producing multiple copies of herself.

"That is my Ghost Evanesent!" When Shin saw that, he was now sure that Blackie was copying his foot techniques and using them now in battle.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The blood pool heading over to Blackie suddenly shot blood spikes at her while continuing to move forward.

But despite their insane speed and great numbers, none of them found their target as they only hit the afterimages that Blackie had left behind.

A few moments later, she suddenly appeared near Earl Cray with an expressionless face. And quickly after that, she swung her claws forward, sending an energy wave at the latter.

The dark wave was so fast that it swept through her target within an instant. But unfortunately, the same thing happened again as Earl Cray's body turned into a pool of blood for another time as it was split into halves.

…

In the meantime, Shin ignored the exchanges that happened as he focused his gaze on Blackie, especially her foot technique. Now that he confirmed his suspicion, he couldn't help but re-evaluate Blackie's potential.

"She may be much better than what I think."

...…