MMORPG: The Elementalist

When the twenty corpses had faded away, and the six Tier 3 players had fled out of Killer Bee Valley, Qin Ruo thought the matter had ended.

He never imagined that, not twenty minutes later, more trouble would arrive.

This time, there was only one person.

A Bowmaster!

Qin Ruo’s brow furrowed. He conjured two Frostramparts, as standard, and watched the newcomer warily, but otherwise didn’t issue any warnings to him. Although it was only one man, he gave Qin Ruo a profound sense of danger, but he could not figure out the exact nature of the threat right now just by looking.

By Qin Ruo’s estimation, compared to the second group that had attacked him, this fellow was more fearsome than all sixteen of those Tier 4 noobs combined. He realized he was beginning to feel genuinely afraid.

The main cause of this fear was not even the Bowmaster’s expression of absolute confidence, or his complete set of Gold Equipment. In the past, these were the signs by which Qin Ruo judged a player’s capability, but he’d already slain his fair share of fully Gold-equipped players upon the Mythical Battlefield. No, what was really making him nervous was the emblem upon the man’s chest:

A talon, alight with dark fire—the league emblem of the Netherspirit’s Claw!

When the Bowmaster had gotten close enough for Qin Ruo to see that league emblem, he was confused, his mind swimming with the possibilities:

Damn it, a member of a league… was he friends with those previous fellows? Was this revenge for what happened with Crackpot? Or perhaps—though it seemed most unlikely—could he have also accepted the contract on Qin Ruo’s life?

Whatever the reason, this was trouble!

Having been around Slayer’s Heart for this long, he’d unwittingly heard about the nasty habits of some league members. Qin Ruo had become more and more aware of just how big and scary a league could be, and ever since what happened with Crackpot, Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid had repeatedly warned him: he had to avoid conflict with the members of any league, at all costs.

Last time, he’d still only been in the low levels of Tier 3, so the Netherspirit’s Claw let the matter pass without remark, lest they become a laughing stock before millions of players.

Now that Qin Ruo was in Tier 4, the situation was completely different!

If they were really out to get a particular player, it could not be simpler for a League to do. Although no single league had the manpower to occupy the hundred thousand settlements across the faction, there were some major locations where someone would always be watching, such as the Mythical Battlefield. Otherwise, the game wouldn’t be quite as much fun to play.

Therefore, when he saw a league member leading a great swarm of Killer Bees toward their location, Qin Ruo began to seriously consider taking Xiaoxiao and leaving right away.

With the “Entrance of the Graveyard of the Gods” imminent, the last thing he needed at a critical time like this was to get himself into this kind of trouble!

But ultimately, Qin Ruo remained undecided until the end.

First of all, he’d always hated the idea of fleeing at the sight of a powerful player—he felt that only those who bullied the weak would fear the strong, and so he refused to behave in such a way.

Besides that, he currently had his dual defenses active, plus Xiaoxiao ready to supply him with Frostramparts. Even if this stranger turned out to be comparable in ability to Slayer’s Heart himself, Qin Ruo felt confident that he would be the eventual victor in a fight.

If the newcomer made a single move… hah! Qin Ruo was absolutely certain that he could wipe the floor with him.

That was the sort of thing he told himself, for reassurance.

And yet, the Bowmaster continued to draw closer, without making any move to attack them. Having brought a swarm of Killer Bees trailing after him, he turned around and casually unleashed two Arrow Showers, wiping them out completely.

Then, he slung his Gold longbow back over his shoulder and stood there, watching them with some interest. His gaze passed over Qin Ruo and Xiaoxiao, but he neither said a word nor made any further moves.

Seeing this only made Qin Ruo even more nervous! Thinking about some safety warnings he’d read on the official forums, he immediately went on full alert, terrified eyes turning towards the entrance into the valley.

“Xiaoxiao!”

Qin Ruo whipped around suddenly to see her sitting on the ground, meditating.

“Mm?” Xiaoxiao didn’t seem to have any clue about what was happening.

Though she had no idea what exactly this odd Bowmaster was here for, she noted that Qin Ruo hadn’t warned him not to approach, nor did the newcomer display the sort of rudeness that the previous players had shown—in fact, he hadn’t said anything at all.

Nevertheless, Xiaoxiao was wise enough to keep wary. When she heard the tone in Qin Ruo’s voice, she hopped to her feet immediately.

“Go back.”

Qin Ruo had finally made up his mind. Something was very wrong. If he delayed any longer, he had the feeling something terrible would happen.

“Okay.”

Xiaoxiao knew it was because of the Bowmaster and his unusual behavior. Obeying at once, she reached into her backpack—

And that was when the Bowmaster, overhearing their conversation, suddenly made his move!

With unthinkable swiftness, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the deft movements of someone who had done it a million times before.

Then there was a whoosh , followed by a supersonic boom that drowned out Xiaoxiao’s yelp of surprise.

All Qin Ruo saw was the stranger firing an arrow with impossible grace, just a simple attack at a speed faster than the eye could follow, and then he heard Xiaoxiao scream. He couldn’t react at all, nor had he expected that the Bowmaster would suddenly attack an innocent Tier-3 player like Xiaoxiao.

The arrow flashed past before his eyes, striking Xiaoxiao with a horrifying splash of red.

Qin Ruo felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched the life leaving her eyes, her frail body gently collapsing onto the ground.

Somewhere in his heart, he heard the soft sound of something breaking.

He stood frozen for a moment, as the tone faded from the system notification of Xiaoxiao’s death. He turned and glared at the Bowmaster, who was now calmly shouldering his bow once more. Qin Ruo had never felt such hatred and fury, burning in his heart and screaming through every fiber of his being.

Even the very air boiled with his rage, elemental water magic condensing instantly all around them. It wasn’t merely an Aquarampart or two—the air shimmered with moisture thick enough to warp light and cast shadow, heavy with unspoken oaths and menace, muting out all other sounds from their surroundings.

The Bowmaster was taken aback for a moment by this show of power, but then he instantly feigned an exaggerated look of surprise and horror.

“Oh no, wrong target!” he crowed, “Ahahahaha… was that your girlfriend or something? My goodness, I truly apologize! Honest mistake, really! Sorry, so sorry! I thought it was the slut I chased off the other day, but I guess they just look alike—who’d have thought? Could you make sure to convey my sincerest regrets to her later on? Please just tell her that I’m really, really, very sorry!”

Water poured out of the air and formed into a solid bolt of ice, hovering over Qin Ruo’s open palm, palpable waves of magic washing over the both of them.

The Bowmaster betrayed only the slightest hint of nervousness, and then he said, with a sheepish tone of apology, “Ah! Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t tell me… you mean to take revenge, by killing me?”

The Compressed Frost Bullet was ready, the ice as cold as Qin Ruo’s gaze.

“Whoa, that’s not the way, man! Everyone makes mistakes… can’t you find it in your heart to forgive me? Your girl’s only, what… Tier 3? What if I paid you a hundred gold? Ah, not enough?

“Well, how about this? I shot your girlfriend once, so I’ll allow her to hit me once in return—that should settle the matter, right? Still not good enough! Then there is no pleasing you. However, no matter what, you mustn’t be the one to strike me in her place. After all, it was her I killed, not you—if you attack me, there’ll be big trouble!”

The Bowmaster seemed to have Qin Ruo all figured out. Such emotion, such theatrics… it was enough to give a Hollywood starlet a run for her money.

Hearing the man’s insincere apologies only caused Qin Ruo’s anger to flare even hotter. Such a brilliant ploy, using a scripted act like this to provoke him into attacking a member of the Netherspirit’s Claw. There would of course be a system record of him making the first move.

Slayer’s Heart was right. If any member of a league wanted to get you into a fix, there was no act too low for them to commit.

Obviously this shameless Bowmaster was such a person. Having noticed his closeness with Xiaoxiao, he killed her off first, knowing how it would make Qin Ruo feel. His aim was to provoke Qin Ruo into making himself an enemy of the Netherspirit’s Claw!

Fine, if that was what he wanted, he’d get what he was asking for!

Qin Ruo’s face was a frozen mask. Paying no further heed to the man’s acting, he let fly with the Compressed Frost Bullet.

‘Now you die!’

“Aha, you really did it! You’ve got balls, kid!” the Bowmaster chortled merrily.

And then, through some unknown technique, the Bowmaster duplicated into two of himself, startling Qin Ruo. The Compressed Frost Bullet whizzed through the fake Bowmaster, while the mocking laughter from the real one assailed Qin Ruo’s ears.

However, the laughter cut off suddenly—a Compressed Frost Bullet was not like your typical Frost Bullet, and could not be evaded that easily!