MMORPG: The Elementalist

No matter where you went, the sky above the Underworld was always shady. The murky atmosphere brought an unexplainable gloom and discomfort to those who were there the entire time.

However, to the Undead, it was their sunny day.

Up in the air, a platoon of Skeletal Dragons glided calmly across the sky. They patrolled their lifeless surroundings proudly like any other normal day, marking the territory under their watch.

However, their peaceful routine was destined to be interrupted that day. Those Skeletal Dragons suddenly hissed in alarm like disturbed beasts. They turned around to display their hollow green eyes, which were filled with murderous intent.

It was the aura of Divinity!

The scent of humans!

Howl!

The more than ten Skeletal Dragons flapped their wings repeatedly and changed direction. Their targets were none other than the three dark spots growing larger and larger on the horizon.

A few seconds later, an odd Party combination entered their field of vision.

The leader of the group was obviously a noble class Vampire. Behind the Vampire were two despicable human Elementalists who wore distasteful Angelic Wings on their backs.

The highly-intelligent Skeletal Dragons immediately recognized the Vampire as the notorious Predator that resided around the area. It did not give out any human scent, implying that the Vampire had not been captured by humans lately. They could also clearly distinguish the information on the two human adventurers. What puzzled them the most was…

‘Why is the Predator being escorted by the two humans without harm?

‘Besides, why haven’t the other Undead troops been alerted by the presence of these humans this deep within the Underworld?’

With those questions in their minds, the more than ten Skeletal Dragons rushed towards the two human furiously. Activating Divinity in their territory was obviously an insult to the natives of the Underworld.

***

As the two winged humans were pursued by the Skeletal Dragons, several dark caves in a gray mountain on the ground were suddenly lit up by countless green eyes. The ferocious eyes of death were accompanied by frequent sounds of vibration…

Flap! Flap!

A large swarm of black bats rushed out from the caves.

***

“I’ll go first.” A screeching noise was heard coming from the Electromancer’s hand right after he finished that sentence.

Next to him, the Terramancer rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I knew you’d say that.”

On their way there, the Electromancer was had been the one leading the charge. The Terramancer had long gotten used to it.

He did not try to conceal his jealousy as he looked at the glowing sword-shaped electric current that formed in the darting Electromancer’s right hand.

‘It’s hard to blame him.’

If the Terramancer had been the one who owned such an outrageous skill, he would have also volunteered to attack first every time. The transformation from an Elementalist to a Swordmaster had to be extremely fascinating.

Speaking of which…

It was rather hard to believe that a single spell could turn the usually cold-hearted Homme Fatale into a completely different person. Perhaps no one would believe Black Rock if he claimed that Homme Fatale was now a hot-headed combatant.

‘Hehe.’

In the middle of his monologue, another voice traveled into his ears from the rear.

“Stop daydreaming. We have company.

“Fatale, finish them off quickly! Rock, prepare to engage!” The voice was apparently coming from the striking figure in between Black Rock and Homme Fatale—a predatory Vampire that was strangely covered with a layer of Frostbarrier.

“Haha! After traveling for so long, this is by far the most exciting news I’ve heard all day.” Black Rock had also noticed the dark swarm of bats, which were ascending rapidly towards them from below. He immediately recognized the bats as the precursor of the actual Predator.

Once it located its prey, that monster would first catch up to it in the form of numerous small bats, which would then merge into its true battle form—a noble Vampire named Predator.

Qin Ruo and company acknowledged the monster’s great power and agility. The three of them had to admit that the Predator was the type of monster you could only fight to the death and never run away from.

Even so, none of the three of them were afraid of the Level 66 Predator. This was evident when Qin Ruo did not stop Black Rock from jumping head-on (literally) into the swarm of bats alone with his Pet, Little Face (Grand Reaper).

***

A crisp screech from an eagle blasted across the Underworld sky.

Sparks were seen flying as the player and his Pet cast an AoE Thunder Spell at the same time.

The next moment, under the protection of his barrier, Homme Fatale dashed to up to the Skeletal Dragons with authority. He was seen using an attack mode that did not belong to an Elementalist.

He flapped his Angelic Wings majestically.

The Thunderbird Sword in Homme Fatale’s hand extended and struck the bodies of the more than ten Skeletal Dragons like a bolt of lightning.

Blitz!

Blue sparks circulated the Skeletal Dragons, which had been hit directly by Homme Fatale.

Paralysis!

The long-ranged spell from the Skeletal Dragons was ineffective against Homme Fatale’s barrier. He seized the opportunity to strike them at close range and successfully triggered the scary Paralysis Effect of the Thunderbird Sword. The effect would last for five seconds, and it was long enough for Homme Fatale to condense the devastating Multi Thunderburst.

After the blinding blaze was set off by Homme Fatale, the Skeletal Dragons on the edge were easily cut into half by the Electromancer and their body plummeted to the ground lifelessly.

Seventeen Level 65 Ethereal Skeletal Dragons were annihilated by Homme Fatale singlehandedly within a short time. The human Electromancer made no delay and immediately powered his wings to aid Black Rock who was now tangled up with the Predator.

***

Homme Fatale’s attack prowess was unreal, but so was Black Rock’s Defense.

The hideous Grand Reaper had summoned a giant skull before the battle ensued. It crashed hard into the swarm of bats with a dense aura of death.

Although the Level 55 Little Face could not compete with a Grand Reaper’s Attack and Defense that were at full strength, the resilience of its Death Barrier was not to be doubted.

No creature could harm the Grand Reaper before the 1,008 Endurance on the barrier was burned out first.

Moreover, the Demon Swamp, which the area around the Grand Reaper at a thirty-meter radius, had turned the surrounding air extremely sticky, causing all enemies that entered the area to be slowed down by 80%.

The bats hissed and displayed their fangs ferociously early into the fight. However, the Grand Reaper only planned to delay them with its Swamp effect. It avoided confrontation and only focused on slowing down batch after batch of incoming bats.

After a few rounds…

Despite being hit occasionally, the damage inflicted on the Death Barrier was negligible. Black Rock’s strategy was a huge success as majority of the bats were clumped together.

They were unable to break away from the Swamp or harm the Grand Reaper and the despicable Terramancer who was hiding behind the barrier.

That made the Predator(s) utterly restless. Taking the opportunity, a Predator that did not belong to the mass sneakily approached the pack from behind by going around the Swamp.

One after another, chilling Frostramparts were assembled behind the Predator(s) speedily. But since the bats were too absorbed by the Grand Reaper and the Terramancer, they had failed to realize the presence of a suspicious ally, that was wearing an indifferent smile amid their difficult situation.

From afar, when the Electromancer leveled alongside the Terramancer, eight to nine Frostramparts had already been formed behind the Predator.

Homme Fatale raised his eyebrows when he saw the formation…

Had he used the other spell, Fatale may have been able to intervene and help out. But since the “Predator” was using such a standard crowd control spell, there was no need for him to get involved anymore.

“Explode!”

Ten Frostramparts were pushed forward as a raging growl shook their surroundings as well as the Predator(s). The Frostramparts exploded into a gorgeous snow flower high up in the Underworld sky.

***

They were not keen on the loot dropped by the Predator, and since they did not need to clean the battlefield up (they were fighting mid-air), the three of them only took a quick rest before they resumed their journey in the same direction. After they reinvented the power of their fused Divinity, the holy aura emitted by their Divinity no longer alerted the Undead Horde.

Not more than ten seconds later…

Homme Fatale turned back and looked at Qin Ruo. “Why don’t you familiarize yourself more with the new spell?”

“Master Level is good enough,” Qin Ruo replied him concisely, influenced his style of speech.

Black Rock went speechless behind them. He initially thought that going on an adventure with two other Demigod players would be fun. Disappointingly, his two companions were like two dull blocks of wood.

“Sigh!” Black Rock let out a sigh dispiritedly. ‘Luckily there are monsters along the way to kill time. Otherwise, I’d be bored to death by these two mundane people!’

Qin Ruo’s tone suddenly changes. “The number of Predators has increased quite drastically from before. I think we’re very close to our destination. Be prepared. We’ll land on the hill over there…” Before he finished his sentence. “Huh?”

Qin Ruo squinted his eyes. A peculiar scene unfolded in front of them behind the hill a few kilometers away.

“What’s that?”

As they drew closer, a zone behind the ordinary hill that was shrouded in a dark fog appeared clearly before their eyes.

The area was one-kilometer-square-wide and completely covered up. The zone was enclosed by hills all around its perimeter.

“Is that a miasma?”

“Should we go down?”

“It seems dangerous. I can’t penetrate the area with my Elemental Perception.” Qin Ruo frowned as he watched the swirling black gas underneath them. It was as if the dark zone was giving them a stern warning not to trespass.