MMORPG: The Elementalist

Two hours until the “Entrance to the Graveyard of the Gods”. Across the domains of the great Angel and Demon Factions, every town and city was alive with excitement!

It was the hour of the day when school and work had ended, and basically every player who had any interest in the event was already logged into the game. Every street and alleyway surged with people, and the marketplaces were full to bursting!

The warp portal in the corner of the square kept flashing non-stop!

Countless players were shouting all at once, caught in a mad frenzy.

“Potions! Does anyone still have any MP Potion (M)? Let me know! I need five batches!”

“HP (L)! I need HP (L)! If you have any to sell, send a Private Message to…”

“Buying Mana Cores! Especially Tier 4 Lightning-Element ones! I’ll give you 5% better than market price! Any prospective sellers, meet me outside the restaurant!”

These were all players who had not been in the game for a while, and had just realized that they would need to stock up on potions and scrolls before heading into the Graveyard of the Gods.

However, they had already missed the chance to buy such items at standard prices!

MP Potions, always a scarce commodity even on normal days, had all been completely bought out by the various Clans, to the point that the Chemists themselves had been reserved for the next few days on all their stocks of MP Potion (M) and HP Potion (L).

A few Chemists took advantage of the situation by raising the prices of the most sought-after potions by 50%. Cursing their greedy hearts the whole time, players ravenously snatched up these potions regardless.

As for Magic Scrolls, it was now impossible to find any of Tier 3 or higher for sale. You could still hope to find some Tier 3 Mana Cores, but definitely not Tier 4.

The more wealthy players began to cast reluctant gazes towards the Alchemists’ Guild, where one could buy any number of Magic Scrolls… at much higher prices.

There was no helping it—supply was at an all-time low. If they did not come up with some way to scrape together some useful goods, what hope did they have of making it in the Graveyard of the Gods?

Maybe MP Potions (S) would do? Small or Medium HP Potions were better than nothing! Maybe a pile of low-tier Magic Scrolls, plus a pitiful one or two high-tier ones… maybe that would be enough?

Thinking about the random starting locations within the Graveyard of the Gods, every player imagined being dropped into a maelstrom of chaos, monsters, and enemy players—a situation of incredible danger, where you had nobody to count on but yourself.

Faced with such peril, they would have to make their way all by themselves!

Only the most well-prepared would be having the last laugh.

And when it came down to essentials, what was best to help out a player and keep them safe, if not the sudden burst of health from a HP Potion, the enduring capability sustained by MP Potions, and the instant spellcasting power of magic scrolls?

High-grade supplies, normally already quite expensive, were sold out in the blink of an eye! What little remained had now become the rarest and most exorbitant luxuries!

***

Qin Ruo himself did not possess that many potions—he only had about five batches of MP Potion (M) remaining, along with fourteen bottles of HP Potion (L). Then again, with the Mana Drain and Aquaheal skills to keep his MP and HP topped up, where any sort of prolonged combat was involved, he should be considered the most well-prepared player of all.

Besides that, he was also carrying seven vials of Darkfrost Potion, two shots of Guardian Potion, and one dose of Sacred Potion, along with all the magic scrolls he had prepared for their last expedition to the Aricus Ruins.

Most of all, he now had a capable companion by his side: Poochie.

It was the equivalent of bringing in a party member with him. As long as he did not have the extreme misfortune of running into an elite champion right from the start, any other player he came across would be in for a bad time!

When darkness fell across the land, and the solar eclipse had begun, a System Announcement rang out loudly. Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Ruo crushed the Spirit Orb Scroll in his hand.

Whoosh!

Ten rays of dazzling darkness shot out from the scroll, tearing a gray void in the air nearby. A gentle force from the void tore away his Frost Barrier and Darkfrost Shield completely.

“Ah!” This was all very alarming for Qin Ruo. Before he could make another move, an overwhelming force caught him and dragged him into that colorless crack in reality!

Even now, the sound of the System Announcement was still fading away.

“The Entrance to the Graveyard of the Gods is opening now!”

Countless Elementalists were experiencing the exact same thing, their double layer of defensive spells instantly stripped away by the opening of the portal! Bandits had their Stealth broken, Swordmasters had their Combat Auras smothered, and the Berserkers’ Rage was stilled.

Fortunately, Summoners who had performed a Beastform Fusion beforehand were spared. Instead of having the effect forcibly canceled, they were simply pulled into the portal in their half-beast, half-human amalgamate form!

There was a Summoner from the Demon Faction who had lucked out in this way. When he opened his eyes, he found he had been placed in a majestic forest of gargantuan trees! Because he had fused with an agile Storm Leopard, his movements were lithe and graceful, and when he was thrown from the dimensional rift, he rolled as he hit the ground, finding his feet instantly and scanning his surroundings with feline, emerald-green eyes.

His reflexive movements clearly demonstrated the high caliber of this Summoner’s skills. In fact, as he swept the area with his gaze, he just happened to catch something, thirty meters to his left: the sudden appearance of another dimensional rift, and then an Elementalist being violently hurled out of it.

There was no hint of any defensive magic protecting the newcomer, and his back was turned to the Summoner. Best of all, he was a player from the Angel Faction, and a Devil to boot!

‘Hot damn!

‘To think that I could hit such a stroke of luck, this guy must be heaven-sent!’

In his excitement, the Summoner basically took no further precautions. Violet lightning dancing across his leopard claws, the Beastform Summoner pounced mightily, leaving behind four deep imprints in the ground.

Thirty meters flew by in an instant, but then…

… by the time Qin Ruo noticed the incoming threat, it was too late for him even to use a magic scroll. For everything he was worth, he hit the ground and rolled to the side.

“Poochie!” he cried. In that moment, Qin Ruo felt as though he was back in the Kane Jungle, fighting Galewind Wolves. Finding his calm in that moment of danger, he threw himself to the side, while at the same time drawing out a measure of elemental water from the air, and raising it up in the face of the incoming Summoner.

Witnessing his deft movements, the Summoner was a little startled.

“Eh?”

Devoid of his protective spells, his enemy already right on top of him, and he could still keep his cool, and use his magic this well? This was no easy prey!

‘And… what was this “Poochie”? Could it be…’

Just as the thought occurred to him, the Summoner saw a streak of brown shadow suddenly come flashing out from his opponent’s body. They were already less than two meters apart, and the two beasts collided forcefully into each other.

‘ Aah!’

When the Demon Faction Summoner recognized the little brown thing was in fact a small monster, he broke out in a cold sweat, overcome by a sense of danger like never before.

Sadly, he was already doomed.

Even if he now realized that the creature was a Pet, and that his chosen opponent might actually be an incredibly capable player, they were already in close-combat now—it was too late to break away and withdraw.

‘Let’s fight, then!’ The Summoner narrowed his eyes and snarled.

He attacked in Beastform, purple leopard claws crackling with lightning, and like a whirling hurricane, he slashed twice in quick succession, tearing through the hastily formed Aquarampart to leave two gashes upon Qin Ruo’s stumbling form. The Aquamancer was sent flying away.

Attacked by Enemy Faction Player: 367 damage received!

Attacked by Enemy Faction Player: 482 damage received!

‘Crap, successive strikes? That’s bad!’

The string of damage reports gave Qin Ruo a chill of terror. For this Summoner to attack an Elementalist so viciously, did he have no shame? It was a good thing that Qin Ruo wore a total of four items which increased his maximum HP, up to a total of 950, otherwise…

This opening attack alone would have been enough to instantly kill off any Elementalist without their dual defenses!

In the same instant that he struck Qin Ruo, the Summoner was also knocked back himself, unable to avoid the unexpected attack from Poochie, which slammed directly into his chest.

The Summoner wisely chose to take the Pet’s attack head-on, in order to strike the enemy player with his full strength! As long as the Elementalist wasn’t wearing anything too amazing, a kill was almost guaranteed!

As it happened, Qin Ruo had an embarrassingly high amount of HP for an Elementalist. Furthermore, the first attack had been dampened by his slapdash spell, so that he was just able to hang on to life somehow.

Meanwhile, Poochie’s Shadow Strike had left the Beastform Summoner stunned for the next three seconds.

The Beastform Summoner’s heart was now consumed with anguish. How could he have been so unlucky, to run into someone so powerful right from the start?

It was one thing to have a Pet, and so what if the player’s skill as an Elementalist was a little better than average… but how could Pet and player both be so overwhelming?