MMORPG: The Elementalist

At the entrance of the appraisal shop…

With a blank expression, Qin Ruo gazed at the broken, pitch-black ring that he held between his finger and thumb. Honestly, since entering H&G, that was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

***

Broken Ring:

No Attributes

The appraiser had made many vigorous attempts, even extorting an appraisal fee of 1,000 gold coins from Qin Ruo. But what came out was a defective product with no attributes. Qin Ruo had the strong urge to smash the ring on that cunning appraiser’s face! That motherf*cker, how could he be such a bully…

At least Qin Ruo’s temper was still manageable, plus he was not one to get into a fit of rage easily. That aside… the ring was taken from the Undead Sovereign’s chest. A Tier 6 Megaboss could not have possibly held a defective item like that. Furthermore, the appraisal fee was 1,000 gold coins… It cost about the same amount as appraising a Legendary Equipment. At that moment, Qin Ruo tried to stay calm and restrain himself as he asked for more information on the Broken Ring from the appraiser.

Appraisers were generally quite knowledgeable. He gave Qin Ruo a small tip—a scratched Clan insignia was on the ring. It was something like the insignia of an old Clan from the Angel Faction. The appraiser mentioned that rings that were engraved with Clan insignias were granted to Elders who had made honorable contributions to their Clans! The original owner of the ring had to be someone incredible, or at least someone very important to the Clan!

The appraiser told Qin Ruo that it was best to bring the ring to the Elementalist Guild in Moonrise City and find an Elder named Morley. Morley was the Clan Leader of that ancient Clan, so he should recognize the ring.

***

That led to the scene of Qin Ruo staring blankly at the broken ring in his hand before the appraisal shop.

It was obvious!

The ring was totally a hidden quest’s trigger item…

However, Qin Ruo had just returned from Moonrise City. Everyone was waiting for him at the entrance of Savis Town. If he went back to Moonrise City to find Morley, the journey to and fro would cost him a lot of time. Qin Ruo hesitated for a while and finally stored the ring. After that, he jogged all the way to the entrance of Savis Town where the ten of them had gathered and waited for him.

As for the ring, it was best to only pursue it after he leveled up. After all, it was no rush…

***

When he reached the town’s entrance, there was a slight awkwardness in the air.

The entire time, their small party had consisted of ten players. But ever since Qin Ruo became famous, Xiaoxiao had taken over his position. Since then, there was an additional headcount, resulting in one player not being able to join the party.

In the end, Dinosaucerer voluntarily exited the leveling party. “You guys go ahead and train. I’m currently finding a place to train my Deathvenom Spider.”

“Deathvenom Spider? Your Pet hatched too?” Qin Ruo asked in excitement.

Dinosaucerer smiled and nodded. “Captain’s Pet hatched today too…”

“Training your Pet is good too. Its abilities will increase very quickly.”

“Okay, I’ll get going then.”

Dinosaucerer leisurely waved at everyone and headed in the direction of the town’s warp portal—the lower level monster area outside Savis Town was already overcrowded.

“Captain, I think you might as well join him to train your Pet. Let’s see how powerful Ruo Ruo’s pet will turn out. Once your Pets reach Tier 4, our party will have more firepower and meat shields. I have Little Apple with me here anyway. Aren’t Aricus’ small fries a piece of cake to us?” Brother Da asked in a loud and smug tone. He was currently at Level 43, equipped with a full set of Gold Equipment.

As soon as he finished his sentence, Little Apple knocked his head, and Brother Da immediately fell silent.

Little Apple stared at him disdainfully. As Brother Da’s master, Little Apple had gained more understanding of this apprentice of hers. Although Brother Da was very hardworking, he was even more fond of bullsh*tting.

Not a single powerful warrior dared to enter the Aricus Underground Ruins without any protection. Zephyr Swordmasters prioritized agility and dexterity. They were not some odd-Class players. Moreover, Little Apple did not have the ability to duel a monster boss that was at the peak of Tier 4 all by herself yet. That was even truer for her disciple…

Slayer’s Heart only smiled in silence.

He actually wanted to quickly train his Earth Enchanted Spider too.

He could not wait to find out what kind of battle power a Boss monster at the peak of Tier 4 would possess.

Additionally, Violet Orchid had previously brought up Poochie’s abilities. Even if he was not in the party, Poochie could still fully handle odd quests…

With the Shadowfox’s speed and attack effects, it could be difficult for Spiders to break through the Twelve Frostramparts Formation and threaten Qin Ruo as well as the rest.

However, Slayer’s Heart was very unsettled.

Their leveling destination was, after all, the Aricus Underground Ruins. It was Bauhinia League and Netherspirit’s Claw League’s common training ground… Qin Ruo’s history with Netherspirit’s Claw had intensified. If any incidents were to happen, the situation would not look too promising.

If Slayer’s Heart was on the scene, Dark Dragon would not dare to step out of line!

Pazuzu’s Warhammer was not taken very seriously by outside players. But those who had reached a considerable level would have seen the true capabilities of Slayer’s Heart…

With Poochie’s Magic Penetration and Slayer’s Heart’s Fusion Blitz combined, Dark Dragon would have to properly assess the situation if he wanted to look for trouble.

Unless the League Master of Netherspirit’s Claw passed that piece of treasured Divinity to Dark Dragon for him to fuse with, Dark Dragon would have trouble leaving without a scratch if he confronted their party.

***

In Savis Town, Qin Ruo’s party had always been the focus of attention ever since the party consisted of beauties, a berserker, and an unorthodox rookie.

Nearly everyone in the party was recognized by the players who frequented Savis Town…

Since Qin Ruo became famous in the official forum, the attention on everyone in the party increased like a linear graph. No matter where they went, there were bound to be players staring and talking about them.

Unlike Brother Da, Qin Ruo just did not enjoy such encounters. But it could not be helped—that was the price of getting stronger and becoming famous!

***

Like a tiger dressed in sheep’s clothing, Poochie entered Kane Jungle and sent multiple Galewind Wolves flying in the woods, as though it was raining cats and dogs. It made them land right at Qin Ruo’s feet.

Then, there was a flash of blue light!

Mana Drain!

The poor Galewind Wolves already had limited HP levels, yet they had to be continuously knocked senseless by Poochie. What was more, they had to be squeezed dry before they died—50 MP were drained from them to fuel Qin Ruo’s Frostbarrier and Darkfrost Shield.

Occasionally, the Galewind Wolves that were not knocked out would fiercely charge at Qin Ruo, but they were also easily destroyed, until there was nothing left of them…

He was wearing no other armor except for his greaves, as his level was still at Gold Tier. Meanwhile, the rest of his equipment were of Dark Gold Tier. His Holy Magic Defense totaled at a 150 points. In addition to the Frostbarrier and Darkfrost Shield, not even a Mid-Tier 4 monster could harm Qin Ruo, what more a Tier 3 Galewind Wolf?

As soon as his MP bar was full again, a brown silhouette of lightning shot out and landed heavily on the poor Galewind Wolf’s head…

Boom!

A dent was made in the ground.

The “perpetrator” knocked the large wolf to death and did not turn around to run away. Instead, it started to look for new monster preys to hunt.

“…Four seconds.”

Brother Da held his stopwatch as he walked out from behind Qin Ruo with his teeth gritted. “This is too much. Finishing a Galewind Wold in a mere four seconds? As a Tier 4 warrior myself, I’m still a goofball! Ruo Ruo, be honest with me already! Where did you steal this Shadowfox from? Go con one over for me too!”

Qin Ruo silently wiped his sweat away. Since when was it conned over? The Shadowfox was the one that overshadowed him.

Squeak Squeak!

Poochie’s cry of resistance came from the woods, followed by a violently loud thud and a Galewind Wolf’s howl of despair… After all the chaos, a Galewind Wolf appeared, dangling from Poochie’s paw…

Cold sweat began to drip from Qin Ruo.

He quickly changed the subject in case he needed to consume potions to maintain his barrier.

***

“Little Qin, has your Frostbarrier reached its peak level?”

Slayer’s Heart suddenly asked in the Party Channel as they were about to reach the Ruins.

Qin Ruo was distracted for a moment, then he shook his head and answered, “Not yet, but soon. Over 300 Mastery Points to go. My Darkfrost Shield still lacks 430 points.”

“Okay!”

Slayer’s Heart nodded and passionately preached, “As of now, not many have had their dual defenses reach their peak levels… It’s said that when a barrier is at its peak, it can increase Magical Resistance by 15 points, increase Physical Resistance by 30 points, and absorb 20% of Magical Damage as well as 10% of Physical Damage. Defense Value would also reach up to 300. In addition to a Darkfrost Shield at its peak level, there will be an additional 15 points of Magical Resistance and 20 points of Physical Resistance. Even a highly-skilled Field Commander wouldn’t be able take you lightly then.”

Qin Ruo did not understand why Slayer’s Heart brought that up, but his eyes immediately widened. Qin Ruo’s gaze shifted and suddenly spotted 20 over well-equipped players who were sitting or standing around the entrance of the Ruins.

They were uniformly-dressed Netherspirit’s Claw League members…

They stared at the group with unfriendly vibes all over their faces.

Over 20 pairs of eyes were locked on Qin Ruo simultaneously.

The group halted in their steps. Violet Orchid whispered meekly to Qin Ruo, “Before we came here, I was concerned that something like this would happen. And voila…” She then spoke in a softer tone, “Remember, Little Ruo, if they challenge you, just agree to it and don’t say anything. Just attack them openly,” Violet Orchid ordered as if she was not worried that Qin Ruo would be defeated at all.

Qin Ruo responded with an innocent expression—he did not really like fighting!