Chapter 172
Chapter 172: Silentdeath Jungle
With Burning Rose’s incessant questioning, Qin Ruo explained the fundamentals of attacks from Tier 1 Elementalism to Tier 4 Magic Attacks to her. As she was a Pyromancer herself, she was very quick to lap up his explanation and pointers.
However, there was a particular one that try as she might, she just could not fully understand how it was done—it was Tier 1 Fire Elementalism. With all the Fire-type spells that she had seen, she knew that practice makes perfect. She could distinguish the type of spell to perform under various circumstances. It was just the most basic Fire Elementalism that had her stumped.
Controlling one Fire Element before rapidly condensing and transfiguring it already required six seconds to do it. It would be impossible to execute dual control—controlling more than one Fire Element simultaneously while performing a fusion of elements.
After trying repeatedly, Burning Rose shook her head in frustration and sighed, exasperated that her efforts were insufficient.
“Why can’t I do it? The speed of decomposing and combining is slower than the casting speed of normal spells. In fact, it requires twice the time…”
Upon saying that, Burning Rose lifted her head and looked at Qin Ruo.
“Ruo Ruo, be honest and tell me. Are there some key points and parts that you’re not telling me?”
Hearing Burning Rose’s question, Qin Ruo smiled and touched the tip of his nose as he answered. “There is one thing I haven’t been clear about. Your skill in controlling Elements is only at the very basic level. It takes a lot more than that to perform Novice and Intermediate Elementalism. You should spend more time trying to combine Tier 2 and Tier 3spells. Don’t run before you’ve learned how to walk properly.”
“Huh?”
Qin Ruo’s words got Burning Rose down a little. When she saw how he was able to use one Elementalism to create two Darkfrost Stings without waiting for skill cooldown while launching his attacks at the same time, she thought it was amazing. She thought if she could learn and do it too, her strength would increase by leaps and bounds, which would help her in engaging a Boss. But never did she think…
It was clear that she had a harder time mastering Tier 1 Fire Elementalism compared to Tier 4 Magic Attacks. She was amazed at how Qin Ruo was able to do it, and with such monstrous strength too!
At that time, Violet Orchid suddenly opened her mouth and asked Qin Ruo, “Little Ruo, from using a Tier 1 Elementalism ability to mastering it, how long did you take to do it?”
“Hmmm…” Qin Ruo thought for a moment.
“Let me see… In order to master the control from Condense to Freeze, I believe I used three days, but to fully master it was a week. Frostburst took more than that. And after that, I used Ice Sting for about half a month to be completely familiar with it. Things after that came easier as time went by…”
After hearing what he said, everyone in the party other than Brother Da had astonishment written all over their faces. They were rendered speechless by his simple words.
“Are you freaking serious?! Ruo Ruo, you spent a whole month mastering Novice Tier 1 Elementalism?!” Burning Rose was utterly surprised at how much time he took to do what she was trying to. And now she knew why his Elementalism was on a different scale. The effort he put into learning it…
“Ruo Ruo, you’re not a professional player. Why do you have so much interest in improving your Elementalism? Tell us honestly. Are you getting tips from a master somewhere?”
Brother Da who could no longer hold himself back suddenly lifted his arm up!
“I must make it clear first… I’m not some sort of master.”
The few of them stared at him awkwardly.
‘No one said you were…’
However, after that, they were all ears when he continued.
“Little Ruo asked me a simple question one day back at the office. He asked me how to kill monsters without jeopardizing the quality of its hair and skin, keeping it above 9 points.”
“…”
It was something new and everyone was instantly on full attention as they leaned over a bit. The little brat who was already very close to him seemed even more curious as she looked at him.
“What did you say?”
Brother Da purposely smiled mysteriously.
“Hehe… I was just doing my work then. I randomly searched about Professions and the quality of raw materials, and showed him a post about them. Just like that, he sort of became possessed with training his Elementalism all of a sudden.”
“That’s it?”
Violetmoon Devilite did not seem satisfied with his answer by the look on her face.
Brother Da nodded absentmindedly.
“Yes.”
“Hmm… Why would Brother Qin want to maintain the quality of monsters’ hair and skin?” Violetmoon Devilite asked again.
Despite not wanting to elaborate further, Brother Da continued, “Skin and fur of high quality are more valuable when they’re sold. Those with lower quality are usually unwanted. You can just throw them as they most likely will not be sold.”
With that answer out, some of them gave Qin Ruo strange looks. Violetmoon Devilite on the other hand had a blank expression on her face as she continued with her questions, appearing more interested in the details more than what Qin Ruo had been doing. “What kind of monsters are we talking about? What fur, what skin? What do we get when we sell them?” Violetmoon Devilite was like an absolute amateur. She was totally unaware that there were players who collected skin and fur from the bodies of monsters, and also about what they were used for.
Until the big mouth of a brother let the cat out of the bag, everyone else had assumed Qin Ruo was a mere rookie. Who would have thought he had been trying to earn a fee from raw materials by fighting Tier 3 monsters in the game?
“Gibberish.”
“Brother Qin has no problems at all battling a Boss on his own. Why would he need to collect raw materials to earn money?”
Violetmoon Devilite and Gold Digger Babe were adamant about their beliefs that all that was said about Qin Ruo was not true. They thought Brother Da was pulling their leg. That was until Qin Ruo himself admitted to it. They could not believe their ears—their minds were boggled. It just seemed so strange that someone as powerful as Qin Ruo was doing such a regular task of collecting raw materials.
But Qin Ruo had no intention of wasting any more time by answering anything else. He quickly changed the topic to attract their attention to Burning Rose. He said, “Sister Rose, you can always wait for your Pet Egg to hatch before training your Elementalism along with your Pet. You should do it at places with high Fire Element affinity. It would be easier and faster for you to master the skills.”
He continued on explaining everything Burning Rose would possibly need to know about Elementalism. With some cautionary advice from Slayer’s Heart after that, the party walked to the border of the safe zone without harm.
***
The second region of the Mythical Battlefield was substantially more treacherous. Different terrains brought about different high-level monsters and Bosses with special abilities. Slayer’s Heart had selected a thick and flourished black jungle which was named Silentdeath Jungle.
Silentdeath Jungle. Even the name was foreboding and one could tell it was no simple place where anyone can just walk in and out safely. It was a name given by Bauhinia League.
Comparing with the other surrounding terrains, Silentdeath Jungle had the most extensive coverage of nature. It was deemed the most complex, most dangerous in the whole region.
Silentdeath Jungle was the habitat to a tremendous number of evil Dark-type monsters. They were divided into three categories. First, Bandit type. They were the ones with the ability to cloak themselves from plain sight. They were very good at hiding themselves in any nook and cranny of the jungle. Second, Dark Magic type. They used Dark Magic to attack, and were real ball-busters. The Magic Damage they caused and the Dark-type magic they used were extremely difficult to deal with. Last but not least, special type monsters. They were merely known as the evil dark creatures that lived there that had unexpected complex abilities.
Entering the jungle was like dancing with death. A single slip of negligence could cost them their lives. This was why usually players who aimed to gather Honor Points did not venture into this particular region. The surrounding areas were popular spots where opposition parties prepared to fight.
And that was exactly why Slayer’s Heart had chosen that place. There was a lower chance that they would run into opposition players.
***
The few Dark-type monsters that appeared were killed off, enabling the small party to further their journey into the jungle. Upon entering, Qin Ruo could immediately feel the sense of dread and gloom from all directions. It was terribly silent. No matter where they looked, there were trees of different heights with their branches blocking out light and casting shadows all over. They could barely see thirty meters away.
The only thing that allowed Qin Ruo to feel at ease was the abundance of water as there was hardly any sunlight. Even just ten meters in, Qin Ruo could already sense water within a fifty-meter radius with his Elemental Perception: Water without activating it.
The next thing that happened was Dinosaurcerer activating his Summoning skill to bring out a Dark-type creature that resembled a dark toad.
The moment they laid eyes on its bumpy skin, the ladies scrunched their noses, disgusted by the view.
However, Dinosaurcerer was not in the least bothered by it. On their way there, he had accepted a quest earlier that required him to find a path. The Dark-type Death Toad was perfect for it.
After Summoning it, Dinosaurcerer commanded it to leap further into the jungle.
Ten seconds later, a strong magic wave came from the 10 o’clock direction. Dinosaurcerer wiped off beads of sweat from his foreheads as he ended the shared vision with the Death Toad.
“Phew… three enhanced demons. Before it could even get the chance to lure them over, they finished it off. From the 10 o’clock direction.”
“Great job!”
Slayer’s Heart nodded as he soon posted out the information about the Enhanced Incubus.