Chapter 1216 Promotion Quest (Part 1): Two Clones and Two Phantoms
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*Ding*
System: You have initiated your Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest!
*Ding*
System: Transcendent Race and Class are detected! Adjusting the quest difficulty.
*Ding*
System: Secondary Combat Class is detected! Re-adjusting the quest difficulty.
*Ding*
System: Secondary Combat Class – Phantom Swordsman is labeled as the top Ascended Class! Re-adjusting the quest difficulty accordingly.
…
…
…
*Ding*
System: Quest Difficulty is set as the highest difficulty!
*Ding*
System: You have entered the Trial Ground – The White World.
System: Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest for Grim Reaper and Phantom Swordsman is now starting! Good Luck!
…
Shin read through the entire series of system notifications, making him frown quite deeply.
Then he turned his attention back to the figures standing in the distance. There were four figures standing in there and each of them was emitting an aura that even Shin could not overlook.
Upon a closer look, Shin instantly saw that those figures were much like himself. Or to be more precise, they seemed to be a clone of himself.
But each of their aura had some difference compared to one another. But at the very least, each of them had a power comparable to what he had.
Starting from the furthest left, the clone standing in that spot was holding a pair of katana pointed at each of its sides. One was a snow-white katana while the other was a pitch-black one, which released a black and white mana respectively.
Shin was very familiar with those flows of mana as they were one of his signature techniques. Those black and white flows of mana enfolding the two swords were the powers of the Abyssal Moon and Brilliant Sun, which he was using for his 'Eclipse Wielding' Combat Technique.
It was a technique that he was using to mimic the 'Yin-Yang Swordsmanship' that he had from the real world.
A single glance at this particular clone clearly indicated that the technique that it majored in was based on that swordsmanship and fighting style.
Standing next to it was a clone without a sword. Instead, it had a group of floating daggers hovering around it along with a few paralyzing needles that could not be easily seen by the naked eye.
This clone was emitting a shadow aura that was continuously flowing through its body. At the same time, its figure was continuously flickering as if its body was alternating between illusion and reality.
Its aura was also constantly disappearing and reappearing as if it were some sort of ghost.
Shin figured that this second clone most likely adapted his pure assassination style with the Phantom Swordsman as its base class – or at least similar to it.
The third clone was someone who was holding a sword on its right hand and a sheath on the other. It was releasing an aura that seemed to be composed of different elements.
Sometimes it was Fire Element, other times it was Void Element, a few times a Shadow and Darkness Elements, a couple of times it was Light Element, there were also times it was Earth Element, Blood Element was also coming out from time to time.
Along with the changes in the aura that the clone was emitting, the sheath that it was holding on its left hand was also alternating into different forms like an illusion.
A single glance at it was more than enough for Shin to realize what fighting style it had – it most likely possessed the 'Mondi's Style' and other legacy skills related to it.
He also suspected that Regan's Method was somehow mixed with it due to the flow of different mana that the clone had.
In the meantime, the fourth and final clone seemed to have the swordsmanship and fighting style that Shin was most familiar with other than the 'Ying-Yang Swordsmanship'.
It was holding a sheathed katana in its left hand while standing silently. It was emitting a dangerous feeling that could even pose an immense threat to Shin.
It was pretty obvious that it had the sword-drawing style that Shin had. He just did not know how advanced that swordsmanship was or if it would be using the other versions of that style with different elements.
There was nothing out of the ordinary from this particular clone, but it was the one that had the most terrifying threat at the moment given Shin's observation.
It was not because it was the strongest, but it was due to the threats that were hidden from its ordinary appearance. Shin could not clearly gauge the real strength that it had, unlike the other clones.
At the same time, he also noticed the names floating above the clones' heads. Starting from the left once again, the names were Eclipse Clone, Doppel Phantom, Elemental Clone, and Sword Phantom.
Those names were more than enough to tell him their respective abilities.
After observing them for a few more moments, Shin found another problem. He did not know if he had to fight these clones one after another or together.
If it was the former, then he would most likely be fine. But if it was the latter case, then he would be in deep trouble.
Based on the information that he got from the two, the fighting capabilities of these four clones were at least as strong as him even when he was using the Reality Manifestation. And given their experiences in their respective Promotion Trials, he would most likely be fighting these four simultaneously.
The trial had not started properly yet, but Shin could already tell why the players were treating the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest were impossible to beat.
"The Secret Game Mechanics are not enough to clear these Promotion Quests. We must be missing another piece to clear it. And it seems like it is the most crucial one compared to what we already have," muttered Shin as stared at the four clones in the distance.
Even though Shin and his friends were already ahead of the others due to their early access to Reality Manifestation, he could still feel that it was not enough to further widen the gap between them and the rest of the players.
"What was it?" he asked himself while wearing a deep frown. But after a few moments of contemplating without finding any good answer, he threw it at the back of his mind for the time being.
For now, he wanted to experience what kind of hell this Promotion Trial was. He wanted to personally see how hard it was.
He wanted to see whether Arthur and Leonard were not exaggerating things.
Having that in mind, he took a step forward and started walking toward the four clones. Right after he took a few steps, he suddenly received another notification from the system.
*Ding*
System: The Promotion Quest has been initiated! The first Trial is now starting!
Shin could not help but come to a sudden halt when heard the notification. He was briefly stunned due to the latter part of the notification.
"What 'first part' you are talking about?" he cursed at the system as he was gotten somewhat off guard.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
He did not have the time to dwell on it as the four clones, which were standing silently earlier, simultaneously opened their eyes and suddenly came to life.
The Doppel Phantom first disappeared. It even erased its presence, making Shin cautiously scan his surroundings.
Swoosh!
Shin did not even hesitate as he quickly retreated. He had a rough idea of how strong these clones were, so he would not let himself get surrounded by them and beat them up one-sidedly.
During his stride, he held the sheathed [Yamato] a little higher, positioning it right beside his waist. He then placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword, waiting for the right time to take action.
Click!
He pushed the guard of the [Yamato] with his thumb, slightly revealing its blade, as he sensed some fluctuation of mana in his surroundings.
Based on the rules of the trials that he had gotten from Arthur and Leonard, he could not use his Elemental Spirit Possession, so he could not be in his strongest form at the moment.
But that did not mean that he would not be able to use his other techniques.
The Power of the Brilliant Sun was more than enough for him to have a higher form of mana that he could use in battle while the Solar Breathing Technique would help him gain better control over fire elemental mana.
That was more than enough to compensate for some of the strength that he would be missing when using the Celestial Vermillion Bird Method and Fire Form of his Quick Draw Style.
Whoosh!
As a blazing tongue of white flame stuck out from the gap between the sword and its sheath, a pair of shadows suddenly appeared on each side of Shin.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
One seemed to come out from the void while the other emerged from the shadows beneath Shin.
They were planning to pincher Shin from both sides.
The Elemental Clone was holding a pair of swords right now. A katana on its right hand while an illusionary longsword on its left hand – both swords were covered with the flow of elemental mana, but with different properties.
The katana was covered with blazing fire while the other was enfolded with freezing ice.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Right after using the 'Void Step' Elemental Skill and walking out from the spatial rift, the Elemental quickly swung its swords at Shin multiple times.
On the other side, the Eclipse Clone, which was wielding a pair of katanas, also completed its materialization.
The swords that it had had a similar case to the Elemental Clone, they were emitting a flow of mana on their blades with opposing properties; one with the power of the Brilliant Sun while the other had the power of the Abyssal Moon.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
It also swung its swords at Shin, throwing a series of slashes that quickly filled the air in front of it with multiple sword silhouettes.
Trapped between the two clones and their barrage of attacks, Shin calmly took his stance before pulling out the sheathed [Yamato] and throwing a series of slashes in his surroundings.
Shing!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The area around Shin was immediately filled with sword flashes that were intervening with one another and blazing trails of white flame crisscrossing with each other, forming a dome-like shape in the air.
'Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Blazing Firmament'
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Cling! Cling!
The sounds of metal clashing against each other reverberated as a series of flashes and blazing sparks flew in the air.
When everything stopped, the two clones were slightly pushed back by Shin while maintaining the final postures of their earlier attacks.
Shin also had an ending posture where he was holding a scabbard on his left hand right beside his waist while having his right hand raised in the air with the blazing [Yamato] in it.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
At that time, he sensed a series of flying daggers heading his way with an insane speed along with the paralyzing needles hidden in the tracks.
Without any hesitation, he raised the sheath that he was holding in front of him and twirled it with great strength, deflecting the incoming daggers and needles.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of clanging sounds could be heard as Shin retreated while deflecting attacks.
Swoosh!
It was at that moment when another sneak attack arrived.
Coming from behind, the Sword Phantom suddenly dashed straight to him in the form of illusionary light.
Shin did not even have to look at he could already tell what kind of sword or technique the phantom was used just by reading the fluctuation of mana in the air.
It was the 'Moonlight Splitter'!
Even if Shin turned into a streak of light and retreated while using the 'Moonlight Steps' this phantom would still catch up to him and slash him with this attack.
Not even needing to think deeper into it, Shin used the 'Eclipse Pulse' Skill to form a barrier around him, intending to block the barrage of flying daggers and paralyzing needles as well as this incoming sneak attack.
Bang!
But to his surprise, another attack came and instantly shattered the barrier with a single strike.
Shin was completely caught off guard as he did not expect this to happen. He did not even sense where the attack was coming from.
Glancing in the direction where the barrier first collapsed, he saw the Elemental Clone holding an earthen greatsword and slamming it at the 'Eclipse Pulse' Barrier.
He could also see some hints of flame embers surrounding the huge sword as it shattered the barrier into pieces.
Shin did not exactly know what happened but the information seemed to have entered his mind, clearing his doubts.
The Eclipse Clone combined the 'Destructive Slash' Extra Skill and 'Solar Cut' Slayer Skill to form a new skill.
It then used the melting ability of the Fire Element to weaken the barrier before shattering it with the heaviness of the Earth Element.
To maximize the strength of that attack, the Elementa Clone also used the 'Judgement Form' of the 'Mondi's Style' Legacy Skill to have a perfect weapon to host everything.
All those factors and abilities came together, producing the result that Shin was currently seeing.
"D*mn! This clone is quite resourceful," he seemed to have gotten a sudden enlightenment as he watched everything.
All of this happened within an instant, making it impossible for him to respond.? Moreover, he was quite amazed at what the clone had done, so he chose not to retaliate as a form of compliment.
He really liked this clone, which also made him quite curious about the others. He decided to restart the fight and begin with a fresh mindset.
"This is going to be very interesting."
It was at that moment when the incoming attack from the Sword Phantom finally arrived and cut off his head.
Swoosh!
His head flew and rolled in the air, making his vision rapidly spin.
Thud!
And when it landed on the ground, it produced a soft sound. His final vision was the two clones and two phantoms that gathered together around him before everything turned dark.
He slightly chuckled to himself as he really found the situation quite funny.
"To think that I will die like this on the first try. If those two hear about this, they will laugh at me for sure."
But despite being dejected, he was rather excited for the next round. He did not even hesitate when he pressed the restart button right in front of him.
...…
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