MMORPG: The Elementalist

Enemy Faction player killed!

One Honor Point awarded!

Lightning-Elemental Divinity awarded!

… Received one Legendary-quality equipment: Helm of Storms!

… Received one Enchantment Gemstone!

… Received one Star Diamond!

After he had used the Tidal Roar ability—granted by the Water Dragon Staff—to kill Tiger Cub in a single strike, Qin Ruo’s tightly suppressed emotions came surging forth explosively, like a mighty volcano that had lain dormant for eons!

The tragedies that had occurred over the course of moments, all his rage and anxiety… in that moment of Tiger Cub’s demise, Qin Ruo let out everything he had kept bottled up inside.

He had made it in time to stop that scoundrel Tiger Cub from stealing away the Divinity.

The Tidal Roar had served him well, as a straight-line area-attack. It had struck true, finishing off the last of Tiger Cub’s HP.

Whew! That felt much better. Nevertheless, Qin Ruo did not dare hang around, first snatching up the violet Divinity crystal right away, and then stuffing the rest of the loot into his backpack with a speed like never before.

Much better, much better!

Time to go, time to go!

Qin Ruo scrambled madly to gather up all the treasures of the Spirit Sovereign. Even Poochie was a part of these festive customs, picking up a piece of Dark Golden equipment as well as other items that had been dropped by Tiger Cub and Fateless, and dragging them over to its master’s feet.

However, the Spirit Sovereign had no intention of allowing Qin Ruo to so easily make off with his entire hoard.

Upon noticing that half the treasures in its vault had been removed one-by-one by that shameless human Aquamancer, it unleashed an attack ahead of itself: five black skeletal claws lunged down the tunnel, grasping for prey!

Qin Ruo’s Darkfrost Shield held up rather well – it managed to withstand two of these attacks before shattering.

The remaining three strikes passed right through his Barrier and hit Qin Ruo directly.

‘Still alive? Keep looting!’

Next, a searing hot Pet Egg was rolled into his backpack, but when he reached out for a handsome short sword, he found he could not take it in hand. There came a cold, unfeeling System Notification:

‘Carrying capacity exceeded!’

Qin Ruo nearly fainted dead on the spot! Running out of space at a time like this! What a fool!

Just as Qin Ruo was lost to despair, ready to receive the final blow from the Spirit Sovereign, Poochie hopped up onto the lid of the treasure chest, holding something up for him to see. Squeaking excitedly, it pressed the small black object into his hands.

Qin Ruo looked closer at it—it looked like a ring. Alright, his backpack could still fit a tiny item like that.

Without another thought, Qin Ruo immediately stuffed it into his pack, never even stopping to wonder where it came from or what it might be worth.

And then he heard the furious howl of the Spirit Sovereign, saw a violent surge of dark magic closing in around him, and his world was swallowed in darkness!

***

You have died.

By the time this merciless system notification rang in Qin Ruo’s ears, his surroundings had changed completely! Scorched skulls loomed in his vision, and a cacophony of countless voices, coming in from all directions—from the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods, he had now been returned to the Resurrection Point of Savis Town.

Qin Ruo did not immediately check to see what equipment he might have lost—the most valuable loot from the Graveyard of the Gods was already in hand, with at least two Legendary-quality items in his backpack, not to mention the Dark Golden equipment (the Golden and Dark Golden items had mostly been passed over to Violet Orchid for safekeeping already).

Even if he lost the most valuable item he had been wearing, he would not bat an eyelash. In any case, he could still feel his fingers closed tightly around the Water Dragon’s Staff.

Hah! Was there anything to be dissatisfied about?

Standing upon the Resurrection Portal, Qin Ruo let out a long sigh, enjoying the reassuring hubbub of chatter which told him he was safe now, shrugging off the maddening tension from being in the Graveyard of the Gods.

***

A few moments later, Qin Ruo noticed the Resurrection Portal behind him flashing several more times, and a number of players stepping out from it one after another. This was immediately followed by a hush that fell over the area, along with a lot of uncomfortable gazes being directed this way, too obvious to be ignored.

There was some subdued whispering, some speculative discussions…

“Another party bites the dust…”

“Heh, looks like the Demon Faction really does have the advantage.”

“Was there ever any doubt? Consider that the Demon Faction has fielded four Leagues of their own, while we can barely scrape together three. And who has more Tier-5 Supreme Champions? They have seventeen, we’ve got thirteen—what hope is there for our side?”

“Too true.”

“Sigh. Over on the Demon Faction, Death Jesus and Black Widow have already claimed their Divinity, and are soaring freely through the heavens now. What about us? Damn it, I haven’t even heard of a single one of our players getting there yet.”

***

Overhearing the discussion about Divinity, Qin Ruo finally looked around to see who was talking.

Eh? To think that it had been the players coming out from the Resurrection Portal, every one of them clad all in Dark Golden equipment, and every one of them missing a piece somewhere. They were probably the same as him—recently slain within the Graveyard of the Gods.

Just that they were people from the Bauhinia and Netherspirit’s Claw Clans. Qin Ruo hesitated for a moment, but when he couldn’t recognize a single one of their faces, he quietly stood to a side, and as he continued to listen in on their belly-aching, he meanwhile sent out invitations to the newly deceased Judge, Fateless, and Black Rock to join him in a group chat session.

Soon, the impromptu band of six from the Graveyard of the Gods had all reconvened at Qin Ruo’s behest.

“Such impeccable timing! If you’d done this any later, we’d have lost some respect for you, Qin Ruo. Heh heh… we were just discussing whether you’d wait until all the loot has been safely put away before slinking out to make contact with us again.”

Black Rock’s grand opening had given Qin Ruo a moment’s dread, but upon hearing his casual tone and how freely he was speaking, a surge of warmth flowed through his heart—although they had assembled into a party at the spur of the moment, and had only been comrades for a brief while, a bond of camaraderie had formed between them.

After that final battle, when they had been willing to ignore the Dark Golden equipment and bravely give their own lives in sacrifice, there was nothing more that needed to be said.

“Come to Savis Town. We should split the loot. Also, Fateless—the equipment you dropped, I’ve picked it up for you.”

“Great, that’s saved me a bit of money. Oh, and we heard that you’ve dealt with Tiger Cub. Thanks for avenging me—it makes up for losing a level. I may have lost a level, but so has Tiger Cub, along with an item too! Totally worth it!” Fateless laughed gratefully. “Hang on, I’ll be right over.”

“Save your thanks, I’m still pissed off over here. I should have fished out more of the loot back there. You guys don’t know how depressed I felt, looking at a whole chest full of treasure—but I only managed to take a bit of it, and then my backpack was full. Damn it all!”

Qin Ruo’s report drew more curses from Subjugator and Black Rock.

“Go to hell! I thought you’d cleaned it out!”

“I’m going to be sick. My backpack was empty. Why didn’t you just pass me all your Blink scrolls?” Black Rock was taking this news the hardest, and he continued to rant in frustration. “Argh! Tell us honestly, now: How much did you leave behind, there? Any Legendary items?”

“Pah, if you’d been the one doing the looting, it would all be lost now—and Tiger Cub would have made off with the Divinity, too. You were already long dead at the time, alright?” Judge stepped in to cut Black Rock down a notch, and Snowleaf seemed like she had her own piece to say as well.

“… Uh, is that so? Haha! Oh, I’m here! Where’s Qin Ruo?” Black Rock hurriedly changed the topic.

“I’m at the Resurrection Portal. Come over here, I can see you already.” As he spoke, Qin Ruo saw several familiar figures appearing through the Teleportation Portal. Clad all in Dark Golden equipment and standing amongst a crowd of people who were wearing mostly Violet stuff, it was difficult not to draw attention.

“Eh?”

“Those fellows… where have I seen them before?”

The players from Bauhinia and Netherspirit’s Claw, standing nearby in their own Dark Golden equipment, had taken notice of Judge, Fateless, and the rest. Immediately, the topic of their discussion switched over from the Graveyard of the Gods to these mysterious newcomers.

After all, a full set of Dark Golden equipment was currently still an uncommon sight in the game, especially on unaffiliated players who belonged to no Clan. The owners of such magnificent items must be among the best of the best!

“They’re coming this way?” They began to turn to each other, inquiring, “Does anyone know them?”

As they spoke, a fair-skinned Aquamancer who had been standing nearby turned and walked over to greet Judge and the others.

The two Bauhinia League members suddenly recognized him, and each blurted out their own exclamations.

“It’s him!”

“The Level 40, he’s dead too!”

The two Netherspirit’s Claw players were also looking up the details on Qin Ruo, now fallen to Level 40. Their eyes narrowing, they watched Qin Ruo and company laughing as they met up, linking their elbows and slapping each other on the back as they made their way to the appraisal shop together.

Their hearts were filled with ice. Qin Ruo the Winter Demon—there was no longer anyone who dared to underestimate this Aquamancer. Anyone who could make it to the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods was considered a champion by default.

However, they could not help feeling curious—the whole bunch of people seemed terribly pleased for having just died, as though something incredibly good had just happened to them.

Exchanging a look, they wordlessly began to follow after them.