MMORPG: The Elementalist

Qin Ruo walked over and peeked on the five Angel Faction players, who were lingering inside a cramped tunnel. There were two Elementalists, a Berserker, a Swordmaster, and a Bowmaster. Though such a combination was pretty decent, Qin Ruo had no intention to party up with other players. Under such a favorable environment, Qin Ruo figured it would be more efficient and swifter to enter the second level of the Graveyard of the Gods by himself…

But of course, it was not an entirely bad idea to rake in some extra Honor Points before he went down to the second level.

“You mentioned players from the Demon Faction? How many of them?” Qin Ruo approached the Berserker who greeted him earlier and asked.

The Berserker deeply regretted his hastiness and beat himself up for his lack of courtesy. An Aquamancer who loitered around freely in such a dangerous environment was certainly not someone he could simply order around. In addition, with so many Dark Gold Equipment in his possession, why would the Aquamancer bother to burden himself with them?

Seeing that Qin Ruo did not fuss about his previous impudence, he quickly replied, “Yes, there are more than 30 of them who all belong to the Demon Faction. You’ll see them after a few corners going forward.”

“More than 30?” Qin Ruo frowned and asked rhetorically.

It was quite a large group!

Even though Qin Ruo was confident that he could infiltrate the Demon Faction party easily, he risked a grave consequence if he accidentally exposed himself among the scattered Demon Faction players.

“I remember you saying that they’re in groups?” Qin Ruo asked another question.

“Yeah. Initially, there were more than 40 of us grouping up to challenge the Vampire Leech. Halfway through the battle, several of their groups came out of nowhere and chased us away… Our party also lost two members in the process,” the Berserker had regained his calmness when he reiterated the incident to Qin Ruo, while the other members by his side look admiringly at Qin Ruo’s equipment and his Water Dragon’s Staff.

“You guys lost even with the advantage of having more numbers?”

Qin Ruo was rendered speechless. To gank a Boss in the Graveyard of the Gods, the group had to at least send out several sentinels to keep watch. With proper precaution, they should have held an even ground with their numbers even if they were ambushed out of nowhere. It was bemusing how they were completely crushed by just thirty enemies.

Poor guys!

Three people in front were embarrassed by Qin Ruo’s response. The Bowmaster then explained with a bitter smile, “Our opponents are pretty powerful. They’re mostly players from Maverick Vatican or Twelve Zodiacs. Besides, there was also a Field Commander from a small clan, a Titanwraith Berserker with Dark Gold equipment. None of our warriors were able to withhold his charge.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, five of them suddenly sensed Qin Ruo’s eyes getting wider. It was a greedy expression seen only in predators who had found a long-desired prey.

Qin Ruo continued to question them, “Field Commander? Is he from Twelve Zodiacs or Maverick Vatican?”

Five of them fell silent…

Field Commanders from the two renowned Demon Faction Clans? They would have long given up and fled the Frostlake if that were the case.

The Berserker wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and looked at Qin Ruo.

Cough…

“Big bro, the Field Commander just a Level 40 player from an ordinary Clan. He’s not on an otherworldly strong level. Cough , are you planning to wreak havoc on them?” The five of them apparently liked the Berserker’s suggestion. Then, one of the Elementalist continued to speak excitedly, “If you wish to do so, we can go and recruit help. Those who just left may still be around.”

Based on their perception, Qin Ruo, who owned several Dark Gold Equipment, was undoubtedly a Champion player with formidable battle skills. Besides, an Aquamancer did indeed hold a distinctive advantage there owing to the Underground Frostlake’s environment. If the Elementalist really wished to stir things up, now would be the best time since the opponents were all currently focusing on the Vampire Leech.

To their credit, they fittingly guessed Qin Ruo’s intentions…

Qin Ruo had begun to plot an offensive strategy as soon as he learned that the Demon Faction party—consisting of members from Maverick Vatican and Twelve Zodiacs—were currently held up in a Boss fight.

However, to the five players’ surprise, Qin Ruo said, “Forget the others. The five of you will do.”

“Huh?!”

The five Angel Faction players were startled by Qin Ruo’s boldness. Even though they had little doubt about Qin Ruo’s strength, it did not mean that they would blindly obey an unfamiliar player whom they just met less than a minute ago.

Right when they were about to raise an objection, Qin Ruo interjected impatiently and provided them with only two options, “It’s up to you. Either you party with me if you wish to go along and get a portion of the loot, or make yourself comfortable here while I charge in alone.”

After he finished, Qin Ruo shrugged at them for being so hesitant and walked past them to enter the tunnel. He gave them a little push for one last time before he left, “I’m in a rush, so you better make your decision quick…”

“Damn it! Worse comes to worst, I’ll just fight to the death. Count me in.” The Berserker was the first to decide, and he immediately chased after Qin Ruo.

Qin Ruo did not slow down. He maintained his forward rush while he waited for the Berserker to quit his previous party and team up with him.

Soon, the other four caught up with the two one after another. “Big bro, I’d like to join too!”

“F*ck, it’s a dead end either way. Even you, with a body full of Dark Gold items, aren’t wary of losing your equipment, why should I be? I entrust my life to you now!”

“I’m willing to go with you!”

“Me too!”

All five of them were ordinary Tier 4 players who had been on a constant wild goose chase ever since they entered the Underground Frostlake. After much of their spirit had been taken away by a series of dismal events, Qin Ruo’s actions and words reignited their initial excitement and impulse to make a name for themselves in the Graveyard of the Gods. With their backs against the wall, all of them quit their previous party and joined Qin Ruo’s party.

Qin Ruo, being a generous person, naturally left no one behind.

“Just stay behind me and follow my order later.”

The five players trailing him nodded in response to the simple instruction.

Two seconds later, the Berserker named Dark Cyclone reminded Qin Ruo in a low voice after they speedily went around a few corners, “Should we go slower? We’re almost there…”

“No.”

Qin Ruo’s concise reply deeply moved the five followers. Even an insensitive person would have felt the great confidence emanating from Qin Ruo’s tone.

“So, what should we do later?”

“There’s no hurry. I’ll tell you what to do when the time’s right,” Qin Ruo replied.

The five of them were startled once more… ‘ What do you mean by “no hurry”? We’re almost at the fight scene and we might bump into their sentinel any minute now. Will the instructions come in time? ‘ They were deeply concerned by Qin Ruo’s carefree attitude…

Not long after… a blurry, brown shadow was suddenly unleashed from Qin Ruo’s shoulder, and it landed on one of the black rocks lining the two sides of the tunnel. The next minute, it swished by the next corner and disappeared without a trace.

Then, an abrupt and surprised shriek was heard from around the corner.

Following that, several battle notifications were successively feedbacked to the party.

Poochie has hit its target and inflicted 186 damage on rival faction player.

The enemy has been inflicted with Status Effect: Stun, which lasts for three seconds.

Poochie has hit its target and inflicted 259 damage on rival faction player.

…inflicted 262 damage on rival faction player.

Rival faction player has been killed, Qin Ruo gains one Honor Point!

The five people following Qin Ruo were confused by the notifications they received.

‘Who or what is this… Poochie? When did we have this “thing” in our party?’

‘How did Qin Ruo gain an Honor Point? What has he done?’

With numerous questions in their minds, the five of them turned the corner after Qin Ruo and saw a Bandit’s body hanging mid-air in the next tunnel. On top of the corpse, a little, squirrel-like creature looked proudly at Qin Ruo with big round eyes.

“This… Isn’t this…” Dark Cyclone opened his mouth and pointed at Poochie in awe. His expression changed dramatically when he turned to Qin Ruo.

This was because as soon as he saw Poochie, the Berserker immediately recalled a thread, which had recently gone viral in the forums. The thread mentioned a Tier 4 Aquamancer who squared off evenly against a Tier 5 Supreme Champion.

The same Class, the same little creature. The only thing different from the thread’s narrative was Qin Ruo’s currently improved equipment.

“Now they’ll know that we’re here. Alright, let’s not waste our time. The five of you, get ready to battle. We’ll talk about the rest later.” As Qin Ruo spoke, his Elemental Perception simultaneously caught the movement of five red-tagged Demon Faction players who had just entered the tunnel. They were coming towards them fast.

The other four players also finally recognized Poochie as the little pet that successfully tore apart a Black Dragon Barrier. Though they were still shocked by the discovery, they nodded energetically. They had never been this thrilled to face a forthcoming battle.

However, Qin Ruo did not plan to rely on them just yet in the narrow tunnel…

He instructed them to stay behind him closely before he swiftly dashed towards the next corner alongside Poochie.

“Hey, another Aquamancer? This is interesting!”

Qin Ruo put a wide smile on his face after he realized that a player among the Demon Faction party had just deployed a Frostbarrier.

He had never solo killed a Tier 4 Aquamancer in the game thus far. This was going to be fun!

“Let me guess, what will your next move be, Frostrampart? Or Darkfrost Sting?” Qin Ruo sneered wickedly, while the rich Water Element from the Frostlake began to condense quickly within his palm.