Child of Destiny

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Shin and Alice explored a large portion of the Stormy Mountain Range and encountered a lot of Mutated Monsters along the way such as Death Trees, Man-Eating Vines, and a lot of plant-type monsters. There were also a couple of beast-type monsters, but most of them carried the properties of nature-related elements such as wood, grass, and others.

Mutated Monsters were slightly different from regular monsters of the same type or breed. They possessed other abilities that were somewhat different from what the monsters of the same type had. These new abilities could be from a different type of power or a unification of the original and newly acquired powers.

Most of the time, Mutated Monsters were born when they met another source of power that triggered their mutation.

These monsters were different from a Variant Monsters which was an evolved monster of the same type. These monsters possessed their original powers and abilities, but on a different scale and might.

Within «Destiny's Fate», these two categories of monsters were on equal terms, not having that much advantage over the other. They were equally powerful but also had unique advantages and weaknesses. However, most of them overcame their weaknesses after their mutation and constant evolution.

Some of these Mutated and Variant Monsters were equally strong as Lords, Overlords, and even King-Class or Emperor-Class Monsters, depending on how much mutation or evolution they went through.

Most of the monsters Shin and Alice encountered were only as strong as regular monsters with a couple of Elites and Special Elites in the mix. They had also encountered a few Mutated Monsters that were equally strong as Lords, which gave them a little challenge during the battle due to the terrain and environmental advantages that these monsters had.

Even if Shin and Alice were strong, especially when they had reached the Tier 3 Class, they were still having some trouble dealing with these monsters due to the region's climate, which limited most of their abilities. The environment was also advantageous to plant-type monsters, so the powers that these monsters had were greatly enhanced.

Alice could take advantage of the storm present in the region. After all, her elemental spirits were called 'Storm Brothers' for a reason, so such an environment greatly enhanced their abilities instead of weakening them.

Her third elemental spirit was also not restricted by the storm since she was a water-type elemental, so most of her abilities were somewhat strengthened with such a storm hitting the region.

Even though Alice could only limit her Elemental Magic to Lightning, Wind, and Water Elements, her firepower and other abilities were not much affected since the environment greatly enhanced magic with such elements.

Moreover, she could also use her version of Elemental Spirit Possession, where her Elven Companions fused with her magic itself when fighting.

On the other hand, Shin was greatly restricted by such an environment, especially when he could only use the Primordial Lighting and the Chaos Slasher Possession.

Even if the might of these powers was also somewhat enhanced by the storm, his other abilities and elemental possession were somewhat limited. Even the 'Dimensional Cutter Possession' was greatly restricted by the strange powers surrounding the entire mountain range.

With the limited powers on their hands, Shin and Alice could not fully showcase their peak potential.

Meanwhile, the monsters that they were encountering were greatly enhanced by such an environment, increasing the challenge of each of their battle.

But the two of them were still apex experts of the game, so they fully welcomed these challenges and faced them head-on instead of avoiding them. They were treating this as some sort of obstacle that would greatly help them improve themselves.

…

As they were exploring the region, Alice suddenly sensed a strange fluctuation in the mana lingering in the air. They followed it and realized that there was a powerful monster at the end of their destination.

"Based on my estimate, this monster can be as strong as an Overlord," she assessed after focusing her elemental sense on the location of the monster.

On regular occasions, any of them could solo an Overlord Monster of this level. Even if it was a Mutated Overlord comparable to a King Class Monster of the same level, the two of them would not be backing down on a battle and would welcome the challenge instead, especially given their current strength.

But with such an environment advantageous to the Mutated Monster and the restrictions that they had, the two fully understood that this would not be an easy battle.

They had to work together if they wanted to go through this hurdle.

Shin and Alice were discussing their strategy when they fought when both of them noticed some small movements coming from the distance.

Alice was constantly employing her Elemental Sense to make sure that they would not encounter any ambush, so she was able to sense any kind of movements in the surroundings so long she heightened her senses.

Shin, on the other hand, was experimenting with his new abilities. With the new Elemental Skill: Demonic Telekinesis, he could now employ a few more Mentalism Techniques that he had in the real world, and one of these abilities was his Spiritual Sense.

By secretly releasing the telekinetic powers that he had and spreading them in all directions, forming an invisible net, he could sense any movements in the surroundings no matter how small it was.

Adding these abilities with his Sensing Circle and Elemental Unification Skills, he was able to clearly pinpoint the exact locations of his targets and even see through stealth, which was quite overpowered.

He was even a little better compared to Alice when it came to this area.

"It seems like we have some company," mumbled Alice as she was about to direct her gaze at the location of their 'stalkers'.

But before she could fully turn, Shin suddenly stopped her actions and said. "There is no rush to expose them this early. I am sure that they still have a few more friends heading in our direction."

"Let's wait until then before taking action. Keeping an eye out for them is more than enough," he added as he resumed their exploration, acting as if he had not noticed anything.

Alice looked at his back confusedly for a moment but still decided to follow his instructions.

Seeing that she followed his lead, Shin inwardly nodded his head while saying. "This is also for the better. They may even lead us to more clues related to our quests-… or at least for my quests."

"The number of mutated monsters in this region is too abnormal, so I am guessing that there is a major cause that is leading these monsters to evolve this this direction. It is highly possible that it is done purposely."

"It is not a corrupted or demonic power, but some sort of strange power. But we still can't ignore the possibility that this is related to Corrupted Cult or Demonic Churches, especially the latter since already involved with the Dark Cloud Kingdom."

Shin was making the chat as casual as possible to avoid any suspicion from the people tailing them.

On the other hand, Alice listened silently while focusing her senses on scanning the surroundings. It was at that moment that she noticed the strange formation covering the entire area.

As a Mage and an Enchanter, she was able to recognize instantly that it was some sort of sealing formation based on the fluctuation of mana in the air-… or at least a part of a whole, a much larger and more complicated formation.

She suddenly became excited as she finally found a clue for her quest. She quickly informed Shin of her discovery. "There is an advanced sealing formation covering this area. It seems to be connected to a more advanced formation-… this can be my lead for my quest."

Shin slightly raised his brows as he fell in deep thought. He then turned to her and asked. "Can you investigate and figure out how to break it?"

Alice slightly knitted her brow before nodding her head. "It will require quite an effort, but it take a few minutes at most if I can focus on it."

"How about if we walk around while you are investigating the formation?" Shin asked again.

Alice was confused as to why Shin was asking this but still replied. "It will not be a problem. All I have to do is spread out my Elemental Sense to feel the formation, and I will naturally figure out the way to break it."

"This one of the advantages of an Elven Sage majoring in Elemental Magic Perception," she added.

Shin nodded. "Then we will do just that. We will take a full circle of the area while you are trying to figure the formation out. Then you can focus on breaking it down while I deal with those guys spying on us and the other possible distractions."

Alice nodded her head as she quickly got to work, releasing her mana, and spreading it in all directions, employing her special elemental techniques along with her Elemental Sense.

While she was busy inspecting the formation through her Elemental Sense, Shin was keeping his guard up and eliminating all the monsters that they encountered along the way.

At the same time, he had also secretly released Blackie, Grimrace, and Hanzo so that they could keep an eye on the people watching them from the dark while also surveying the surroundings to watch out for the other 'guests' that they were expecting.
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…

It took at least a dozen minutes before Blackie reported to Shin that other people were heading in their direction through telepathy. She also informed Shin that there were at least two people, who were strong enough to threaten him and Alice.

She also added that these two people were emitting a dense Demonic Aura that was comparable, if not stronger, than any demonic players that he had encountered. She even compared him with Mephistopheles whom he had fought previously or Haowin, who had been defeated before.

Based on her observation, these two were as strong as Shin, or at least slightly weaker.

"If they are at least as strong as those two, then that means that they are highly likely part of Pandemonium Descendants – belonging to Troupe Members even," he mumbled after hearing the assessment of Blackie.

After thinking a moment, Shin quickly instructed. "Take out those scouts observing us in secret, then kill as many of the others heading this way as possible."

When the elementals received the instructions from Shin, the three quickly moved and took down all the scouts in the vicinity without showing any mercy. They only needed a single strike to dispose of these people. Even Grimrace, who liked to cause trouble, did not dare to waste more time on torturing his victims after hearing the serious tone from his master.

After making sure that they had not missed anyone, the three elementals quickly disappeared as they immediately headed to their next target.

In the meantime, Shin turned to Alice and asked. "Do you still more time to break the formation? It seems like our 'guests' are a little troublesome this time."

Alice felt somewhat dejected when converging with Shin since he always talked about business and nothing else. He seemed to have put up a wall that prevented her from getting closer to him.

She was not sure why she was feeling this way, making her quite confused and affecting her mood to a certain extent. But after remembering that they were currently in a serious situation, she set her feelings and thoughts aside before responding.

"This sealing formation is quite strange. It is very advanced yet also quite ancient; complicated, but also easy to solve," she paused for a moment while deeply knitting her brows. "We can easily break the formation by killing the Mutated Monster ahead of us."

"It seems like it is the center of formation itself, so it will instantly collapse if it is eliminated," she added before turning ahead of them, looking in the direction where the Mutated Monster was located.

Shin thought for a moment when he heard that. There were two members of Pandemonium Troupe heading in their direction, so it could be risky to fight the Mutated Monster, especially when they could be ambushed from behind.

His Reaper's Retainers could buy them some time, but it would not be long once the opposing side realized that they were only summonsed that could be forcefully unsummoned by the Spirit Awe Skill.

He also felt that the mutation of the monsters here was related to these people, so he could somewhat solve his problems with his quests once he dealt with them.

As for the Mutated Monster that was acting as a center of the sealing formation, it could be their crucial clue for Alice's quests.

Since they had mostly figured out where this was heading, Shin decided to deal with their possible obstacles before proceeding.

"Let's intercept those guys first before dealing with the Mutated Monster. It is our safest choice for now," he suggested.

Alice turned to him before nodding. She also understood that this was their best choice at the moment.

...