Child of Destiny

Chapter 1400: Unexpected Clues

...…

*Ding*

System: You have received a crucial clue to one of your World Quest!

Quest Update: You have received a clue that is highly possible to be connected to the spawns of the Devil Ancestor!

Updated Condition: Head to the Depths of the Abyss Brink and investigate the said Dimensional Crack.

Note: This does not have any specific time limit, but you have to finish the investigation before the dimensional war breaks out.

*Ding*

System: A possible bridge connecting the Atlas World and one of the Outer Realms appeared in the depths of the Abyss Brink.

Quest Update: This Dimensional Crack could lead you to one of the Ancient God Fragments in your possession.

Additional Condition: Head to the other side of the crack and look for more clues.

…

Two World Quest under Shin's quest panel simultaneously got an update right after he listened to Longinus.

One of the quests was related to the descent of the Devil Ancestor, a powerful being that was most likely a Divine Being. He had been hearing this name a lot recently, so it could only mean that it said decent was fast approaching.

The other quest was related to the Ancient God Fragment in his possession. He had been delaying this quest since Solus and Hanzo had seriously warned him that he was not strong enough to try looking for the clues related to it, much less wielding its powers.

The two said that he could only try looking into it when he was at least at Tier 4, which was still quite far. He just reached the Tier 3 Class, and leveling this stage was extremely hard.

Based on the clues that he had just gotten, Tier 4 needed the players to at least reach Level 300 to meet the bare minimum of the qualifications when trying to tackle the Tier 4 Promotion Quests, so it was still beyond his concern.

But who would have thought that he would get two clues about the other fragments successively?

One of the clues led him to Hell, which was the world of Demons, while the other was on the other side of the Dimensional Crack in the depths of the Abyss Brink.

Fortunately, based on the words of Longinus, the said war was still quite far. There were at least a few years (in-game time) before the creatures on the other side of the Dimensional Crack could cross the dimensions and descend upon this world.

Building the God-Slaying Army would still require a long time, so there was no need to hurry. The Council of Righteous Churches was only being cautious by recruiting the players now. They wanted the players to develop faster so that they would be strong enough when the war broke out.

Shin estimated that he would be strong enough to tackle these two quests.

Little did Shin know that he was way ahead of the rest.

This content that he just uncovered was supposedly a year-long content that was prepared when there were enough players stepped on the Awakened Continent, and there were a lot of high-level players exploring the higher-level maps such as the Abyss Brink.

This was the result of the recent anomalies that he just achieved up until now. One of the reasons was the number of Supreme Elementals and True Monarchs under his command, which was supposedly impossible for most of the players.

The developers within the headquarters of the World Gaming Organization were currently pulling their hair and gritting their teeth as they watched Shin repeatedly destroy the original plotline that they had prepared along with the other Miracle Players. Those in the monitoring department were the ones who suffered the most since they were the ones to realize these events.

They were supposedly in the World's Metamorphosis Patch, where the players would unlock more races and classes and explore more about the new combat system that would help them reach the Tier 3 Class.

But these 'Troublemakers' were already at the stage where they were unlocking the end-game contents left and right such as looking for the Divine Armors, Promoting their Elemental Spirits into Higher Beings, Opening or Exploring the Dimensional Portals connected to other Worlds, 'Inviting' the True Demons to the Main World (Atlas World), and many more.

The game developers were having a hard time keeping up with these Miracle Players, who kept on defying their expectations.

The way these Miracle Players were thinking was just different compared to regular players. Just like how Shin was thinking about how he would explore the Abyss Brink when it was supposedly done until the mainstream players reached the average strength to set their foot in there.

Shin was among those who were giving the game developers the greatest trouble since he was related to almost half of their problems or more.

But the man in question was oblivious to all of these as he kept on exploring the game at the same pace, thinking that everything he did was normal. After all, his pair of brothers – Arthur and Leonard, who he hung out with most of the time – were on par with his progress.

What he did not know was their group was just too abnormal.

…

After recollecting himself, Shin chatted with Longinus a little more, hoping to get more clues about the quests that he had – or at least get some information about Kentas and Supremo since he was quite curious about the background of the two.

Those two overpowered NPCs seemed to belong to the Legendary Heroes of this world, or at least related to them.

But to his disappointment, he did not get anything as Longinus skillfully dodged answering all his probing and quickly changed the subject.

Regardless, he had already gotten a lot of things and information from this Head Mysterious Instructor, particularly the requirement on how to get accepted to the God-Slaying Army.

This army did not only include the players as its main force was still composed of NPCs. There were just a few players that could be selected as high officers like Shin, who would be able to pass the special tests prepared by the other Mysterious Instructors. They also needed to meet certain requirements that would be hidden from most of the players.

Shin just got lucky as he was the first player to reach Tier 3, which granted him special treatment.

Moreover, he also stumbled upon the special NPC that was connected to the Mysterious Instructors, which further increased his chance of being selected as a high-ranking officer of the army.

Shin had the special invitation that he had gotten from that apple vendor, which he could give to anyone he wanted. He could not think of anyone to whom he could give this recommendation as the errand quests that the special NPCs could help the players realize which combat state fitted their style.

Skipping those quests would lessen the chance of obtaining their ideal combat state, which would do more harm than good.

Unless it was someone, who already knew which path they were taking and already unlocked the combat state that they wanted, the recommendation letter on his hands would be completely useless.

Setting this aside, Shin had already found the ideal requirements on how the players would be able to get the chance to meet Longinus after passing the tests of the Mysterious Instructors for the opportunity of joining the God-Slaying Army.

He planned to share this with his friends, particularly Shiella, who could pass it to specific individuals on their side. This could make them monopolize most of the quota of joining the army, especially when they were planning to build a guild composed of elite cadets of the Springfield Forces along with a few talented individuals.

There were also a few advantages of joining the army. One of them was the special badge unique to the army. The next batch of the badges might not be on the same level as what Shin had, but they would still have a decent state, particularly the increase in Willpower, which was a special stat that could not be found anywhere.

There were also the lesser versions of the two skills attached to the item, which would be a great help to every player, particularly the top experts of the game. The skill 'Master of Energies' would be a great asset for everyone, especially those who could already wield their unique form of mana and created their Energy Manipulation Technique to complement it.

Such an item was extremely rare.

Aside from this item, Shin also found that the players of the army could get a unique equipment set that they could buy from a special camp dedicated to them. This set focused more on stats that could counter the creatures in the Abyss Brink, which would put them ahead of the other players when the map became available to everyone.

Shin might not be interested in the set because he already possessed a high-quality one, and was even in the middle of looking for the materials for a Divine Armor. But for most of the players, such an equipment set would be heaven-sent, especially when it was a growth-type set that could be continuously upgraded so long as they have enough merit points for the upgrade.

From what Shin had heard from Longinus, the set could be as good as Comet Rank Set at its peak, which was way beyond what most of the players could dream of.

The gap between the Obsidian Rank equipment and Stellar Rank ones was too large, which was why there were sub-ranks between the two called Meteor and Comet Ranks.

The current rank of [Yamato] was Peak Obsidian, which was also considered a Quasi Meteor. This sword was already beyond powerful, so it would not be hard to imagine how strong the equipment at the Meteor and Comet Ranks was.

Aside from these, there were also a variety of items and tools that could be brought in the special shop meant for the members of the God-Slaying Army. The higher the rank of someone in the army, the better the items they could buy from the said shop.

Shin compiled all the information that he had gotten from Longinus, particularly the hidden requirements when taking the tests prepared by the Mysterious Instructors, before sending it to everyone on their side.

After chatting with Longinus and knowing that he could no longer squeeze any information from the NPC, Shin decided to bid his farewell. After all, he still had a few tasks that needed to be done. He could only waste a little of his time here.

"I need to get going now, Sir Longinus. I still have a few things that needed to deal with," said Shin as he stood up and bowed at the NPC.

Longinus nodded his head as he smiled at Shin. But he did not immediately say goodbye as his eyes were suddenly attracted to the necklace that Shin was wearing.

"Oh~! It seems like you have quite a few interesting treasures in your possession," he said as his eyes glowed with mana, signifying that he was using a special ocular skill to inspect the item.

Shin paused for a moment before lowering his head and looking at the necklace. It was the [Proof of Eclipse], a racial-specific item that he had gotten after clearing his Tier 3 Promotion Quest. It also became a 'Dissonant Wish Item' after fusing with the previous necklace that he was wearing.

After staring at the necklace for a moment, Longinus suddenly chuckled. "I guess it is fate."

He then stretched his right hand and grabbed something in the air. A scroll was suddenly formed in his hands, which he gave to Shin after.

"I have gotten this when I was young and exploring the Sea of Death. I never have the opportunity to use it, so I am giving it to you and hope that you will retrieve that treasure recorded in it," he said while urging Shin to take the scroll.

Shin did not hesitate to take the scroll, especially when he heard the words 'treasure'. "A Treasure Map!?"

Longinus chuckled when he saw the excited look on Shin's face before explaining. "You are half right. It is a map that will bring you to an independent dimension. In there, there is a treasure, which is related to your Church."

"From what I have investigated, that treasure used to be in a set along with your necklace. You should take a look," he added before snapping his fingers and sending Shin out of Saint Heaven Mountain.

Shin was unable to respond to what had happened. He stared blankly in the air when he found himself standing at the foot of the mountain.

He then turned at the scroll on his hand and saw the familiar pattern of the Church of the Sun and Moon engraved on the seal.

...