Child of Destiny



...

The group organized themselves as they carefully advanced forward. They cautiously watched the movements of the clay golem and mechanical puppets in front of them, fully ready to take action as soon as they made their moves.

But after reaching a few meters away from the latter, the group noticed that they would not move unless Shin and the others took the initiative. And when Shin realized it, he quickly gave the signal.

"Leo, Arthur!" he just called their names but the two quickly sprung into action and sprinted ahead.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

'Blood Sutra: Devil's Footprint'

'True Nine Dragon Arts: Dragon Dance'

The two executed their respective movement techniques, charging forward while covering their bodies with their Internal Qi. They were preparing to use their respective Martial Art Skills at any given moment.

Their energy circulations were still disturbed by the restriction cuffs, but they already got used to them after when they experienced the previous stages of the 'obstacle course'. They could now use most of their skills and techniques to a certain degree although they were not at their full potential.

But at the very least, it was more than enough to fight and protect themselves, especially in this kind of situation.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after Leonard and Arthur rushed forward, the two mechanical puppets made their moves and charged at them at a similar speed.

The mechanical puppets almost took an instant to reach the two, appearing in front of the duo all of a sudden.

But as if they were expecting that, Leonard and Arthur suddenly stomped on the ground to halt their charge while simultaneously throwing their fists forward. Those punches were empowered by their Internal Qi, signifying the skills that they were using.

'Blood Sutra: Puño de la Mauerte'

'True Nine Dragon Arts: The Dragon Shatters the Heaven'

Both executed advanced skills despite having restrictions on them. This signified how good their control over their Internal Qi was and how familiar they were with their respective Martial Arts.

But what happened next shocked everyone, making them halt their steps and stare blankly at the two puppets.

Those mechanical puppets threw their fists with almost perfect timing. Their metal fists struck out with the most basic movements, making it look like a simple punch. But when their punches met the fists of the two, Leonard and Arthur were quickly overpowered.

The two were even pushed a couple of meters back, clearly showing the difference in strength!

The group could not help but pause and look at the pair of mechanical puppets standing in front of them, re-evaluating their initial thoughts about them.

These mechanical puppets seemed to be much more powerful than what they originally expected. Moreover, the rest of the group could also see the trembling arms of the two, signifying how powerful the punches that were thrown at them were.

On the other hand, the mechanical puppets seemed to be completely unaffected despite receiving such powerful punches from the two. Not even a scratch could be seen on the surface of the fists of those puppets.

The group could not help but wear a solemn look on their faces as they stared at the two mechanical puppets that suddenly stopped moving after repelling the two.

Not only their group experiencing this sudden awakening. The other groups within the class and the solo individuals were also experiencing the same thing. They all realized that these clay golems and mechanical puppets were much stronger and more powerful than they were expecting.

Seeing the stunned looks on everyone's faces, Old Man Lin, who was currently having leisure time in the distance, suddenly said to them. "Little cubs, do you really think that I am going to prepare an average 'product?'"

"These clay golems and mechanical puppets are personally crafted by those old foxes from the research center. They are the most advanced model that they have, so you better not underestimate these 'products' if you don't want to seriously get hurt."

"If I were you, I will be using everything I have. Holding back will only fail you on this challenge. And if that happens, your grades for the first lesson will be pretty disastrous," he added with a mocking tone, seemingly provoking everyone.

Hearing his words, the class immediately realized what they had to do. They could not afford to hide all their cards in this situation.

They now realized what Old Man Lin meant when he said that he would not let them slack off when running through this 'obstacle course.' It did not mean that they could hide from his eyes, but they would instead force to do everything they could if they want to survive in this course.

"Tsk! Really a crazy old man," muttered Arthur as he took out a cylindrical object from his back pocket.

Then he shook his wrist as if he was shaking out something from the bottom of that cylindrical object. And right after he did that, that object extended down and turned into a steel rod.

He then tightly held it in a reverse manner before swinging his arm down, which led to the meter-long steel rod extending once again. Then one of its tips opened before a foot-long spearhead come out.

He twirled the steel spear a couple of times before resting it over his shoulders with his arms wrapped around it and hanging in a lazy manner. "I guess we have to get serious on this one, do you guys think?"

Leonard, who was standing a couple of meters away from him, extended his hand behind him and took out a pair of knuckle gloves. These gloves looked rather ordinary due to their black color.

But contrary to its ordinary appearance, the materials used to be rather rare and special. His master had given it to him since his old pair were not good enough for his current strength.

This pair of gloves had special enhancements and enchantments that were personally cast by powerful Mentalists. It even had special formations drawn on it, fortifying and strengthening its already special materials.

After putting them on, he bumped his fists together while saying. "Then I'll be trying these new gloves that I receive from Master."

Bang! Bang!

After that, Arthur and Leonard simultaneously disappeared from their respective spots before reappearing right in front of the mechanical puppets.

Arthur stabbed forward as he carefully controlled his Internal Qi and infused it on his spear. He could not use any 'Qi Reinforcement' now to strengthen his body because of the restrictions of the cuffs that were disturbing his energy circulation, but he could at least use 'Aura Blade' to his weapon to further strengthen his attacks.

'Imperial Tactics: Dragon Finger'

Swoosh!

The mechanical puppet did not dare to meet the incoming attack head-on unlike earlier. Despite not being at its full strength, that seemingly ordinary stab from Arthur was much more destructive than it looked, so it had no other choice but to dodge.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Arthur chased after the mechanical puppet with his 'Dragon Dance' foot technique while continuously throwing a series of stabs during the process.

He chased the mechanical puppet away from the rest of the group while keeping his guard up. He could feel that this puppet was plotting something.

Swoosh!

And it came sooner than he had expected!

The mechanical puppet extended its arms wide as it continued to retreat. The pair of steel pipes come out from its palms before gripping them tightly.

Quickly after that, the mechanical puppet started to retaliate with attacks that were much faster than an eye could see.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Arthur's attacks were fast and hard to read, but the mechanical puppet was able to respond to each of them with each. It even welcomed the contest of speed as it swung its metal pipes faster than each passing second.

The mechanical puppet's attacks were simple and rather plain, but each of them was accurately blocking the attacks from Arthur despite his utilizing different spear techniques and martial skills.

It seemed like it was planning to crush him with brute strength, which made him wear an even more serious look than before.

"Tsk! Are you provoking me?" he clicked his tongue and was about to use an even more powerful skill due to his impatience.

It was at that moment when Shin suddenly used a voice transmission to break him out of his thoughts. "Hey! Remember the purpose of this training!"

"Don't focus on defeating that metal scrap and think about your Qi Circulation instead. Focus on your Qi – control it, understand it, and explore its properties. That is the goal of this training!" Shin added quickly.

"Tsk! Alright, Smartass," muttered Arthur as he quickly recollected himself and calmed his mind. This time, he would not focus on defeating this mechanical puppet and instead focus on himself.

After taking a deep breath, his eyes became clear while his mind became focused. He would focus on his progress and the process instead of the result.

In the meantime, Leonard, who attacked at the same moment as Arthur, was now engaging in an intense melee with the other mechanical puppet.

Shin had already instructed him to focus on his Internal Qi and Qi Circulation just like what he had said to Arthur. The purpose of this training was still the same, so they had to focus on that and find their innate attributes and the nature of their energies.

They got a little distracted by the entire obstacle course, so they had briefly forgotten about it. But now that Shin saw how the mechanical puppets attacked and how they fought, he was suddenly reminded of their main purpose for this afternoon's class.

Old Man Lin wanted to check on their foundation and see how close they were to advancing to the next stage. On the other hand, they were meant to explore their capabilities and reevaluate their abilities.

Shin was suddenly reminded of the entire course that they went through and noticed that each of them was targeting different areas – some were meant for their observation skills, the others were targeting their reflexes, some were testing their insights, and the rest were meant to evaluate their physiques.

Looking back at them, he noticed that each stage of the course has its purpose. And this current hurdle in front of them was meant to test their fighting capabilities and teamwork on the surface. But in truth, it was also a way for them to realize the true nature of their energies and discover their innate attributes through battle.

Shin could see how much thought Old Man Lin had put into this particular course. He could now see that this old man, who seemed to be fooling around and making fun of them, was a meticulous training instructor.

He could see why the academy chose and assigned him to train them.

Seeing that, he could not help but thought of a famous quote that he read from a certain book – "The pain that can't kill me will only me stronger" –

...…