MMORPG: The Elementalist

At the entrance of Aricus Underground Ruins stood twenty-four Netherspirit’s Claw League members. They were all directly under the Netherspirit’s Claw Clan and were apparently the most elite group because even the worst of them had a complete set of Gold Equipment.

They were led by two warriors clad in Dark Gold Equipment—Level 46 Titanwraith Berserker, Altos and Level 47 Umbra Swordmaster, Buttcold.

Both of the party leaders turned serious and ceased chatting when Qin Ruo’s party entered their sights. They walked out from the crowd side by side to “greet” the Aquamancer.

Besides being Netherspirit’s Claw League members, Altos and Buttcold owned another hidden identity in the Clan. Both of them were also members of their Clan’s Hunters.

Hunters—a term only qualified for those with way longer on-line periods, superior battle experience, and far greater manslaughter counts; a term certainly well-deserved by Altos and Buttcold.

Their experience in PVP was outstandingly rich even when compared to the other 200 Hunters in their Clan. The two veterans had been actively involved in numerous clashes, big or small, including duels, group fights, Clan wars, Mythical Battlefield skirmishes, etc.

With such loaded experiences, their battle strength went without saying.

Only players with extremely excellent battle experience and powerful skills were eligible to be selected into the Hunter party. Some of them even had the strength of Field Commanders. Unfortunately for Qin Ruo, Altos and Buttcold happened to be such individuals.

They were selected by Dark Dragon personally to be redeployed in Savis Town. Their mission was to stay there until Qin Ruo showed himself. Their target appeared after a one-and-a-half-day wait.

***

Qin Ruo never fought a fight that he had no confidence in winning. He felt especially uneasy when he had never heard of his opponent.

“What’s their strength and skills?”

“They don’t ring a bell,” Slayer’s Heart answered through the Party Channel while he looked at the two approaching players.

Qin Ruo groaned and asked in a weird tone, “Then can I assume that the two of them are noobs?”

“Of course not.” Slayer’s Heart rolled his eyes. “There are a great deal of Champions out there who fight well despite not being popularly recognized. Don’t underestimate them. Although Dark Dragon’s narrow-minded and unforgiving, it doesn’t mean that he’s a moron. He’ll definitely not ask some random John Doe to help build your fame…”

Burning Rose continued with a nod. “Slayer’s Heart is right. Even though he won’t be shameless enough to ask a Field Commander from his League to come at you, there are still many in Netherspirit’s Claw who are pretty much just as strong.”

“Field Commander level?” Qin Ruo opened his mouth slightly and asked Violet Orchid in a low voice, “Do I really have to fight him?”

Violet Orchid glared at him and nodded decisively. “Unless you wish to hide for the rest of your life.”

“Umm, okay then.” Qin Ruo accepted his faith and let out a long sigh. He walked up to the approaching Altos and Buttcold near the Ruin’s entrance and thought, ‘This is your own doing, don’t blame me.’

***

“Hi everyone, here we meet again.”

Altos had a muscular figure but talked rather politely. However, his rounded eyes showed that he was vexed, thus it did not seem like he meant what he said. Somehow, his hideous sight was focused on Slayer’s Heart. His chin was raised as if he was looking down on Slayer’s Heart all the time. It looked like he was there to provoke Slayer’s Heart more than intimidate Qin Ruo.

Altos’s actions baffled Qin Ruo. He really wished to turn back and ask Sister Violet if Slayer’s Heart had offended them before and was actually using him as a scapegoat.

While Qin Ruo’s thoughts ran wild, the Umbra Swordmaster named Buttcold looked at him and asked, “You’re the infamous Qin Ruo, right? After I watched your video, I couldn’t wait to fight you. Let’s do a round of sparring, shall we? Regular duel or fight to the death, your choice,” Although he asked nicely, it was clear in his tone that he would not take no for an answer.

Qin Ruo would never have taken someone like him seriously. But after he remembered what Violet Orchid told him earlier, he had no other choice but to shrug and say, “I choose regular duel.”

His straightforward answer stunned the Umbra Swordmaster and Altos, who was still having a staring contest with Slayer’s Heart.

Buttcold’s intention was to bait Qin Ruo with his sparring request. Since Qin Ruo was not a League member, any form of rejection or negligence from him would be regarded as disrespectful and provide the opponents enough reason to immediately call upon their other twenty-two members to gank him. Qin Ruo’s only way to avoid that scenario was to say yes, which he did.

Thus, it caught both Altos and Buttcold a little off guard. They did not expect the Aquamancer, who appeared to be moderate and peace-loving in the forum discussions, to be unafraid of violence at all.

‘I did not see that coming!’

Moreover, after only one day, all his equipment had changed to Dark Gold Tier ones. It was all totally beyond the Netherspirit’s Claw gang’s expectation.

Nevertheless, since the Umbra Swordmaster dared to answer Black Dragon’s call, and he accepted the job despite Qin Ruo’s fame, he obviously had a lot of confidence in himself. He regained his composure within seconds and spoke calmly, “Great. I’ll be your opponent then.”

After that, the Umbra Swordmaster began to explain to Qin Ruo some of the important dueling rules, “In this fight, both parties can use their Pets.”

Qin Ruo nodded casually. His chances of winning were equally high, with or without his Pet. The opponent was digging his own grave by allowing Pets to join the fight. But when the Umbra Swordmaster mentioned the second rule, Qin Ruo’s heart pumped uncontrollably faster.

“One may kill his opponent’s Pet in the fight.”

‘You’re allowed to kill the opponent’s Pet?’ Qin Ruo frowned doubtfully. ‘That’s unusual. A Pet’s HP can normally go up to several thousands. This is a known fact. Killing the player is a more direct way of winning a duel, especially when the Pet is of high movement speed. I wonder why someone would take the trouble and aim for the Pet first?’

Qin Ruo’s instinct told him that something was fishy about the odd rule.

“Any type of potion is allowed in this duel, including Attribute Potions,” When the Umbra Swordmaster spelled out the third rule, Qin Ruo hyperventilated. His instinct was proven right.

‘Attribute Potion! That’s the reason why! He must have brought a Frost Resistant Attribute Potion with him. Damn! No wonder he’s so confident and he requested the permission to kill his opponent’s Pet.’

Qin Ruo squinted under his cloak and glared at the Umbra Swordmaster’s calm face.

“Lastly, no Boss Sealed Mana Core is allowed during the sparring.” Buttcold’s sight turned equally sharp as if he felt the hostility in Qin Ruo’s eyes under the shady cloak.

“Do you comply?”

Qin Ruo nodded ceremoniously. “As you wish.”

“Great!”

Once, he received the nod from Qin Ruo, the Umbra Swordmaster retreated gradually until he was thirty meters away. A cold sneer could be clearly seen at the corner of his mouth.

Altos and Slayer’s Heart made space for the fight, backing away several dozen meters at the same time.

“Little Ruo, be careful. He may be using a Frost Resistant Potion. Beware of his Pet too, it’s likely a Boss-Tier,” Slayer’s Heart’s voice rang in the Party Channel.

Qin Ruo did not reply. His eyes were fixed on Buttcold who had positioned himself 30 m away. He began to manipulate the Water Element in the air and swirled it rapidly…

As though he felt the slight magical fluctuation in the air, the Umbra Swordmaster who had retreated out of Qin Ruo’s attack range made no delays and activated his Combat Aura. Thick, dark Combat Aura began to take form and surround his outer body.

The ten individuals by Qin Ruo’s side, including Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid, were shocked by what they saw…

Advanced Level Shadow Combat Aura—when activated, chances of being affected by negative Magic Buff would be reduced by 80%, Attack increased by 40%, and Defense enhanced by 50%.

“The difficulty has just gone up a whole new level.” Slayer’s Heart rubbed his nose as he watched Qin Ruo who had just summoned out the Water Wolves. A sense of worry flashed past his eyes.

***

On the opposite end, Altos and the other twenty-two Netherspirit’s Claw members crossed their arms and watched the confrontation with bloating confidence. They were relaxed and exchanging opinions in whispers.

“Hey, you guys wanna bet on how Butt is going to humiliate this guy?”

“Rubbish! Butt said it himself. He’s going to kill the Pet first.”

“Err, why make it clear to the opponent what he’s gonna do from the beginning. That’s no fun.”

Altos interjected their happy chit chat with a frown, “Cut the crap, you guys. That monster isn’t that easy a target.” Being Buttcold’s best friend, Altos naturally understood his purpose of adding such an odd rule in the duel.

The Shadowfox had shown its overwhelming power in the Graveyard of the Gods. Besides its Movement Speed, high Physical Attack and Stun ability, it also possessed the dangerous Laceration attribute. Its resistance towards physical attacks was also exceptionally high, making it a very resilient target. Although the Umbra Swordmaster had a hidden trick, it was still very difficult to finish off Qin Ruo’s Pet in a short time.

So, he was actually trying to play mind games when he said that.

If Qin Ruo paid too much attention to that specific rule, he would be restrained and the fight would basically be a sure win for Buttcold…

***

In the midst of his thoughts, Buttcold raised his arm steadily. The warrior in Dark Gold pointed his sword at Qin Ruo as a signal of his duel request.

Baraag!

With the blow of a trumpet, the sound of weapons clashing rose within the Kane Jungle.

Following the starting cue, both of the fighters dashed forward simultaneously.

Qin Ruo knew he was in trouble as soon as he saw his water wolves meet a cloud of dark mist, which appeared out of nowhere. The dark mist covered a radius of five meters and completely shielded the Umbra Swordmaster’s figure from Qin Ruo’s vision. That consequently neutralized the wolves’ homing attack. The more shocking thing was how the dark fog seemed to be acting on its own. It continued to rush towards Qin Ruo while ut maintained its gaseous state.

‘This is not a spell, it’s a monster! Sh*t! It’s Gas-form Pet?!’

Qin Ruo’s will was completely shaken. He immediately stopped his forward dash and decisively gave up on his control over the Lycan Barrage while he retreated to safety.