MMORPG: The Elementalist

As he moved across the lower second floor of Aricus Underground Ruins, Qin Ruo was completely unaware that he had been targeted for recruitment after his previous battle. He remained silent as he followed his party members from behind. Qin Ruo stayed attentive to handle the Gorefiend Spiders that were emerging from all directions. At the same time, he was also being attentive to Burning Rose, who seemed to be behaving craftily all of a sudden.

Ever since Qin Ruo defeated Crackpot, the ladies on the same party had been looking at him very differently. They seemed to be amazed by him.

However, Qin Ruo did not feel very proud about taking out a Tier 4 player in the support class, a Radiant Priest. Back then, he was merely focusing on weakening the odds for other parties in acquiring the key, nothing more.

“Ruo Ruo, just be honest and tell us, what exactly did you do to defeat that brat?”

With Violet Orchid supporting them from the rear, their current situation was much safer than the situation they were in the day before. So, Burning Rose seized the opportunity. She picked a suitable time and asked Qin Ruo about what happened earlier. She remained unconvinced that Crackpot would be so lame to the point that he could not even determine Qin Ruo’s position and direction of movement.

Qin Ruo had to have used some special cover-up in order to pull it off!

Qin Ruo let out a long sigh. Then, he opened his mouth and said, “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

Burning Rose and iLittleArrow who stood right beside him perked up their ears at the same time…

“Alright then.”

Actually, Qin Ruo never intended to keep it a secret from them.

After getting along for the entire day yesterday, Qin Ruo was able to see that Slayer’s Heart, Burning Rose, Little Apple, and iLittleArrow were the kind of people who seemed cold, but had enthusiastic souls that would warm up towards those who were close to them—at that time, he was obviously just a Tier 3 rookie whom they hired for muscle. Hence, he was still deemed unqualified to split the loot after they won a battle. However, unexpectedly, not only did they give him the share he deserved… they also supported him and gave him enough respect.

Judging from that alone, these people seemed to fit Qin Ruo’s preference in making friends!

Almost immediately, Qin Ruo was very pleased to reveal information on the quest he accepted in the afternoon and Aquamorph, which was the quest reward to everyone in the party…

After asking a simple question randomly, Burning Rose did not expect Qin Ruo to turn over such precious information like an obedient boy. She was instantly stunned on the spot. The remaining members of the party had also paused in their steps as they heard what Qin Ruo said. They seemed deeply surprised as they looked at Qin Ruo with a serious expression on each of their faces.

In fact… although everyone was logged into a game, more than often people would reflect some aspects that were close to reality, or extreme reality in the game world!

While people were playing their respective roles, they also exposed their truest side…

Some were good, and some were bad. There were also some who were selfish as well.

Most of the players would not necessarily say or explain everything about themselves to their friends, not even their close friends. At the very least, they would subconsciously keep certain Ultimate Skills and Life-Saving Skills to themselves just in case!

Qin Ruo’s Aquamorph was an extremely important magic skill. Although the attribute of the skill was not very appealing, Qin Ruo was definitely the first player in the entire server of H&G to be capable of morphing himself. The importance of his existence went without saying (it was self-evident)!

Furthermore, in the eyes of melee players such as Slayer’s Heart and the others, Aquamorph could even roll out crucial effects in other aspects during battles with other players… as evident a while ago! Even a Tier 4 Bowmaster could not notice Qin Ruo’s presence when he sneaked quietly behind the crowd. Judging from that alone, this magic skill could really inflict overwhelming effects in certain areas of the game.

However, Qin Ruo did not seem to show even the slightest hesitation as he honestly told the others about it. His sudden action could only be used to explain one thing: Qin Ruo did not treat them all as outsiders…

As the captain of the party, Slayer’s Heart understood Qin Ruo’s intention from the first moment.

After nodding his head, Slayer’s Heart remained silent. He just charged at two Gorefiend Spiders that were charging towards them from afar, and engaged the monsters in a fierce battle…

Qin Ruo knew that it was not a good place to talk. It was also not the time to chat as well. So, he immediately concentrated and continued to follow the party as they pushed forward.

Ten minutes later, the party of six arrived at the border of the Ruins’ lower second floor. It was also the same spot where everyone slew monsters to grind their levels. When they entered the vicinity, they noticed that there was another party in the area as well. On top of that, it was a party led by members of Bauhinia League.

That area was a truly popular spot. There would always be people occupying that area. Qin Ruo sighed quietly in his heart. Fortunately, their destination was no longer in that area…

The party stopped in front of the dark cave by the corner of the border. Their surroundings seemed bald. There were no trees or bushes, only one or two Gorefiend Spiders spawning repetitively. It felt like a deserted land. However, it was actually the warp portal that led into the lower third floor of the Ruins.

Slayer’s Heart walked to the side of a small stone pillar, which appeared ordinary in the corner. He recalled something…

He took out the metallic cross key that he obtained from the Crypt Messenger as he looked at Qin Ruo.

“I’ll reintroduce myself then. Bauhinia League, Slayer’s Heart, Level 45 Titanwraith Berserker. I also used to be one of the Field Commander’s in Bauhinia…”

“Field Commander?!”

Qin Ruo’s jaw could not help but drop. Regardless of how calm he normally behaved, his state of mind experienced a shock so intense that he unconsciously took a deep breath. He opened his mouth with the intention to say something, however he soon realized that he did not know what to say.

A Field Commander!

In H&G, a Field Commander was equal to one of the elites with the strongest battle power in a Clan. It would never be too much to say that such an existence was one in a million…

Even though Qin Ruo had never gotten a chance to come into contact with the champions who stood atop H&G, he still knew a little from the partially scattered information revealed on the internet—not only did these people have to surpass other ordinary high-tier players with regard to level, equipment, and battle skills, they also needed to possess a strong sense of teamwork and a certain ability to command.

Each Clan only had ten Field Commanders.

These elites symbolized the Clan’s greatest battle power. At the same time, they also symbolized the greatest form of glory for the Clan, and acted as the sole worker to intimidate other Clans!

However…

Currently, Slayer’s Heart seemed disgruntled with the image of a Field Commander, which Qin Ruo had in mind. It would especially be… absurd for a player with the capability of becoming Field Commander in Bauhinia to be incapable of gathering a full set of Dark Gold Equipment, right?

Slayer’s Heart seemed to have anticipated Qin Ruo’s reaction and thoughts. Without bothering himself with such things, he smiled as he started to explain to Qin Ruo. “That was a long time ago. Back in the day, Bauhinia had yet to grow so strong. There were only about 2,000 members in the Clan and it was still unrecognized by the public. Everyone was not playing the game so realistically at that time…”

Qin Ruo moved a little. He soon learned from Slayer’s Heart’s words that he was once the number one Field Commander in Bauhinia back in the day. No one could match his battle skills at that time. However, as time passed, the Clan expanded along with the ambitions of Bauhinia Clan’s founders, which grew relentlessly hungrier. Another nine Field Commanders appeared. Since then, disputes within the Clan began to occur as well.

At that time, Slayer’s Heart was bored with these disputes that were happening more frequently than before. Furthermore, he also faced some challenges regarding his own family and his work. Hence, he decided to resign from his duty as one of the Field Commanders. The reason he gave was that he had too little time to commit to the game anymore. Since then, he became an ordinary member of Bauhinia as he slowly retired from the Clan’s circle of senior management.

Speaking of that, Slayer’s Heart also introduced Qin Ruo to the other ladies of the party. The three ladies; Burning Rose, Little Apple, and iLittleArrow were all colleagues with Slayer’s Heart in the real world. Violet Orchid was just a Radiant Priest who had gotten very close to Slayer’s Heart. After Slayer’s Heart had quit being a Field Commander in the Clan, a few of them formed into a small party as they purely wanted to enjoy the game without any special purpose…

After listening to his story, Qin Ruo finally understood what he was trying to express.