MMORPG: The Elementalist

Watching how Sentinel had gotten all emotional and worked-up, and then ended up blurting out all kinds of nasty hidden thoughts and insecurities, Qin Ruo did not know whether to laugh or cry. It was hard to take seriously. Throughout all his time in this game, this was the first he had ever seen somebody so twisted and shallow.

Swearing a grudge just because a friend would not lend him a valuable item of equipment, and even hiring other people to come help beat up his former friend, all just to get his hands on the item. What a joke!

What made this even better was how he brought up a female player, one he still seemed to have some feelings for, but who apparently did not much care for him in return—so his grudge toward his former friend also carried the bitter flavor of the loser in a love triangle.

Oh, it was too precious!

While Qin Ruo found this whole scenario profoundly amusing, the Beastblood Berserker and Electromancer were clearly losing patience with their employer.

“Are you finished? Can you shut your damn mouth now?” the Beastblood Berserker barked at Sentinel. “I came here to help you kill somebody, not to let you talk my ear off all night. Quit your god-damned whining!”

And then, he turned and gave some sort of secret signal to the Electromancer, before presenting Wandering Soul with a final ultimatum.

“Hand over your stuff, and we’ll let you go. Otherwise, we’ll take it from you ourselves. If it comes to that, well… don’t think you’ll ever enjoy a moment’s peace in Bailey Town again!”

“Cut the crap!” Wandering Soul was clearly not in the mood to cooperate. He clenched his longsword tightly in hand. Now that Sentinel had revealed the depth of his depravity for all to hear, there was no point in talking further.

“I gave you a chance. You asked for this!”

“Attack!” As the Beastblood Berserker roared this command, the Electromancer behind him released the Lightning Bolt he’d been holding at the ready!

Zap!

Electric magic struck as fast as flashing lightning—there was no hope for Wandering Soul to dodge it, and it struck directly upon his suit of magical earthern armor. The armor shuddered from the hit, sparks exploding in all directions, but underneath the armor Wandering Soul seemed unharmed.

Qin Ruo could see the problem. Wandering Soul’s magical armor was probably thanks to a skill granted by his equipment, and seemed to function in a similar way to an Elemental Barrier. However, it didn’t seem to provide much Magical Resistance, otherwise it wouldn’t have been shaken so badly from just a Tier 3 spell.

As long as the Beastblood Berserker and Sentinel were able to keep Wandering Soul at bay, it shouldn’t take long for the Electromancer to shatter that earthern armor, and then Wandering Soul could say goodbye to his equipment.

To make matters worse, Wandering Soul was trapped at the mouth of a cave. If he retreated down the tunnel behind him, it would only lead to a dead end. With the Beastblood Berserker and the others penning him in, escape was all but impossible.

As Qin Ruo had predicted, Wandering Soul was able to stand up to the combined attacks from both the Beastblood Berserker and Sentinel for a while, thanks to his earthern armor, but when the third stroke of lightning hit, fine cracks appeared all over the armor—it appeared to be on the verge of breaking.

Wandering Soul’s battle cries grew even louder! And then, ignoring the attacks from the Beastblood Berserker, he charged straight towards the other Terra Swordmaster, Sentinel!

A dull yellow glow appeared over Wandering Soul’s blade, and as he slashed with it, several after-images of the same blade followed in its wake.

This skill! Qin Ruo’s eyes lit up. As far as he could recall, a Terra Swordmaster did not have such a skill.

“Ahh! Help me!” Sentinel seemed to recognize the skill, and was clearly afraid of it. With a panicked cry, he turned and fled.

But it was too late. No matter how quick he was, he couldn’t outrun the incoming attack. The ghostly blades slashed across his body, and he cried out in pain as if he’d been hit by a runaway train. He staggered a few steps, and then fell over.

Qin Ruo was startled to see Sentinel’s health plummet by over five hundred HP, just from that one attack.

However, now Wandering Soul was in truly desperate straits!

In that instant when he had turned all his might on Sentinel, the Beastblood Berserker slammed his axe into his back, producing two grievous fractures upon his armor. Following closely after, a bolt of blinding white lightning struck Wandering Soul with a deafening thunderclap, and the armor burst apart into a million motes of ruddy brown light, dissipating away into the air.

His armor had been shattered!

“There we go! Attack!”

“We’ve broken his armor! Quick, finish him!” Shouting frantically, the Beastblood Berserker pressed the attack.

Although heavily wounded, a wide grin spread across Sentinel’s face upon hearing this. Swiftly downing a potion, he gave a shout and turned back around to join the Berserker in triumph.

His magical protection destroyed at the most critical point of the battle, Wandering Soul was clearly dismayed. With a final roar, he threw himself into a suicidal attack on Sentinel.

And then, against all odds, something strange happened!

The Beastblood Berserker, charging in from behind with a wild peal of laughter, brought his battle-axe around for a mighty blow… but mysteriously paused in mid-swing.

What should have been a fatal attack against Wandering Soul had now been stayed, just long enough for Wandering Soul and Sentinel to exchange blows against each other—as Sentinel’s weapon fell upon his former friend, Wandering Soul brought his own sword down on the traitor with all his anguish and wrath, slaying him in that instant.

And for that, the red glow upon Wandering Soul’s body grew brighter still!

***

Originally, Qin Ruo had not intended to get involved. Even if Sentinel’s actions were deplorable, he had to consider whether the one he would save was worth saving.

What did he think about this Wandering Soul? Incredible sense of alertness, knew some extraordinary techniques—whether self-created or granted by his equipment—and was a talented player. However, seeing how he’d been doing in this fight, Qin Ruo now felt tremendously disappointed in the boy.

Even he could see that Wandering Soul’s conjured earthern armor could have withstood several lightning attacks. He should have figured out a plan from the beginning, should have attacked right away to break through the containment, and gotten rid of the slow-moving Electromancer first. With his magical armor and that special attack technique, he could then very well have taken down the Beastblood Berserker and Sentinel all by himself.

Sadly, he had not done that. Instead, he had stupidly chosen to take them head-on—earning himself a red tag. Qin Ruo had lost interest.

From his point of view, a warrior who couldn’t think for himself, and only knew to charge into one battle after another until death finally claimed him—such a dull-witted lummox, even if you saved him once, he had just get killed soon afterward by somebody else!

He saw absolutely no reason to get involved.

But when he noticed the Beastblood Berserker’s subtle little pause in his attack, Qin Ruo’s brows knit together, and he couldn’t stay out of it anymore.

That had been the last straw! For the sake of personal gain, he’d even allow his own employer—his own teammate—to be killed! Such shameless measures… he was fouler than your typical scoundrel! It reminded Qin Ruo of the Ron Couple, and that thought caused a burning rage to swell in his heart!

“Freeze!”

***

The truth was, the first moment he had heard from Sentinel about his friend, Wandering Soul, who had an item that granted the use of the Earthern Carapace skill (Physical Resistance increased by 20, Magical Resistance increased by 10, absorbs 30% physical damage, endurance 300, costs 30 MP, cooldown time 30 minutes), and had even offered to pay for his help—he had immediately realized the true value of that item, and secretly intended to take it for himself.

When Wandering Soul suddenly rushed in to finish off Sentinel, he had naturally held back and allowed it to happen. And then that was mission accomplished: with a red tag already hanging over his head and one Infamy Point to his name, Wandering Soul had now made himself a Villain with two murders by his hand!

In H&G, the more murders you commit, the more equipment you would lose upon being slain! A single Infamy Point meant one or two items might be lost, but with two Infamy Points, you could lose three items or more—greatly increasing the chances of getting that item with the Earthern Carapace skill, once Wandering Soul had been taken out.

How could he be anything but delighted?

Knocking down Wandering Soul with a smack from his battle-axe, the Beastblood Berserker raised his weapon high overhead, and then brought it down. In his mind’s eye, he could already see those Golden bracers falling into his hands, along with tens of thousands of gold.

***

But as his axe descended, something strange happened!

With a great splash, he was suddenly doused in the face with water.

The Beastblood Berserker was confounded. Somehow his axe had not drawn blood, only water.

“Who’s there?” The Electromancer had been standing further away, so he’d had a clearer view of what happened. He immediately recognized the intervention of another player nearby, and looked about frantically, already preparing another spell.

The Beastblood Berserker felt anxiety rising up in his throat! Without a word, he raised the axe up again, and vehemently swung it down at Wandering Soul, who was already scrambling to escape. There was no way he’d let somebody else snatch this prize away from him!

Splash!

Another fountain of water—by the time his axe blade reached Wandering Soul, it had been slowed down too much to do enough damage.

This time, Wandering Soul knew what to do: He got up, turned around, and ran away as fast as his feet could carry him!

“What are you doing? Kill the red-tagged!” Obstructed by two Aquaramparts, the Beastblood Berserker roared frantically at the Electromancer, desperate not to lose his prey to another player.

The Electromancer responded instantly, unleashing the spell he already had prepared, but with a blast of cold air, a glittering white Frostrampart suddenly appeared before him!