MMORPG: The Elementalist

The player descending from Eternity Peak was Dark Annihilator, a Field Commander from the Carefree Clan, an Associate Clan of Netherspirit’s Claw League!

As one of the few Tier 5 players from a warrior class, Dark Annihilator had tremendous confidence in his own combat skills. Before coming in, he’d even summoned his Pet already, ready to face the challenges of the Buried City.

However, he’d never expected to happen across such a chance encounter!

There hadn’t been a single Undead in the mountain pass beyond the Eternal Barrier. Darius and his Dire Wolf had sat around watching him idly for three minutes, before suddenly announcing that he’d passed the test, and then handing him an Elemental Shard so he could go down and slay twenty Spectral Shamans.

Things had been going a little too smoothly, in fact he had not even faced the lowliest Undead creatures in the region before Darius had kicked him out of the Eternal Barrier.

Dark Annihilator hadn’t been happy with the way things had been going.

Spreading his Angelic Wings, he had flown around the summit of Eternity Peak for a couple of rounds, and had eventually spotted, halfway down the mountainside, the one who’d broken the flow of the Undead Horde.

“Well, that’s no good.” Banking into a steep dive, he immediately recognized the player in the distance.

Qin Ruo, the Winter Demon. That name had been coming up a lot recently.

From the start of the ‘Graveyard of the Gods’ event until now, he kept hearing about him. His fellows in the Netherspirit’s Claw very frequently brought up the fights between Qin Ruo and Dark Dragon, Buttcold, or Crackpot.

Defeating Crackpot at Tier 3, escaping from Dark Dragon’s wrath while bearing a Red Tag at Tier 4, and then instantly killing off Buttcold’s pet in a direct confrontation, before emerging victorious.

Although none of these three battles sounded like that big a deal, Dark Annihilator considered each one to be a valuable lesson.

Especially that last one!

Many in the Netherspirit’s Claw were well-aware of Buttcold’s skills! Considered a Field Commander, he was a Swordmaster of unsurpassed ability, not far behind the likes of Dark Annihilator.

However, even with a Pet by his side, he was so badly trounced by Qin Ruo that he appeared helpless to defend himself. It had inspired feelings of pity as well as shock from Dark Annihilator.

One could say that Buttcold hadn’t had the chance to demonstrate the full extent of his abilities during that fight—but then, perhaps the same could have been said of the Winter Demon. If anything, to have won the fight while the Pet’s level was still so far behind its master’s, one might even say that Qin Ruo had clearly been more skilled than his opponent.

Ever since then, Dark Annihilator had kept Qin Ruo’s name in mind!

Even so, he hadn’t imagined their first real confrontation to happen like this. With confusion tumbling through his heart, he glided down to inspect Qin Ruo’s equipment more closely, and then immediately halted in alarm, careful to remain at least fifty meters away.

“Legendary quality!”

Dark Annihilator felt his heart go cold. Even from this distance, he could clearly tell that Qin Ruo’s equipment was very different from what he wore a few days before, during his battle with Buttcold.

At the time, Qin Ruo had barely just collected a full set of Dark Golden equipment—but now there were two new items of Legendary quality. There was a pair of faintly shimmering boots; and underneath his robes, a pair of bracers winked and sparkled with scintillating light.

Perched upon the sheer cliffside, his power seemed to have increased tremendously all of a sudden!

Dark Annihilator gasped in spite of himself. Earlier, his Angelic Wings and his recent promotion to Tier 5 had unconsciously given him a sense of superiority, so that he’d been looking down his nose at Qin Ruo. However, he now felt a rising wave of foreboding, bearing the distinct sensation of danger.

Only then did it occur to him that the one who stood before him now was the Winter Demon himself—the man who’d slain Buttcold! At the time, Qin Ruo had been Level 40! Now he was Level 49, with two Legendary items… he was likely even more fearsome than before!

He was not to be taken lightly!

Dark Annihilator went on full alert, grimly observing the slope upon which Qin Ruo stood, as well as the two precariously balanced Frostramparts nearby.

Wincing, he thought to himself, ‘Nothing less from the Winter Demon himself! So cocksure, so cool… to be fighting monsters in a place like this…’

What’s more, in the circumstances, Qin Ruo should have had plenty of time to withdraw from the area and avoid a fight—but instead he had chosen to stand his ground.

Hovering upon his Angelic Wings, Dark Annihilator hesitantly drew closer to Qin Ruo’s position.

As he came within detection range, a pair of cold eyes locked upon him.

***

Qin Ruo made note of the Netherspirit’s Claw emblem that Dark Annihilator bore. The latter halted his approach when the former began channeling water magic through his Water Dragon’s Staff.

“Surely Darius didn’t give you a quest to attack me?” Qin Ruo shot a scornful look at the well-built man, hovering in the air several dozen meters away, and tried to remember where he’d seen him before.

“Of course not. I was just wondering why, despite receiving the quest, there were no Undead for me to fight. I decided to take a look around.” Dark Annihilator remained at a safe distance, shrugged his shoulders at Qin Ruo, and mused, “Now I’m thinking about whether I ought to thank you.”

“No need,” Qin Ruo decided for Dark Annihilator.

Taken aback, the latter rubbed his nose mischievously. With a wry smile, he muttered under his breath, “No really, thanks so much…”

Still stinging from the first insult, Dark Annihilator now drew another malicious jab from Qin Ruo: “I’ve already heard your thanks. Anything else?”

“Uh…” Caught off-guard by Qin Ruo’s blunt manners, Dark Annihilator was momentarily lost for words, unsure of how to proceed. Since he’d just expressed his ‘gratitude’ to Qin Ruo, surely he couldn’t jump straight to declaring that he’d actually come to kill him?

“Er, perhaps some introductions first? Carefree Clan, Field Commander, Dark Annihilator.”

Qin Ruo raised his eyebrows. “So it’s you?” Now he knew why the guy seemed familiar.

What looked like a Tier 5 Berserker was the fellow who had single-handedly fought the Tier 3 Overlord, Gargantuan Demoncroc, back in the Devil’s Swamp. Because he’d had his Water-Elemental Affinity on at the time, even now he still remembered every inch and contour of Dark Annihilator’s body.

“You know me?” Dark Annihilator was startled by Qin Ruo’s response.

“How could I not?” A smile lit up Qin Ruo’s face. “I caught a glance of you, back in the Devil’s Swamp. Back then, I’d only just made it up to Tier 4, still a total noob. I guess you wouldn’t have noticed someone like me at all…”

This only confused Dark Annihilator further. Stroking his chin, he wondered if perhaps he was more attractive than he had realized. To think that another man had kept him in his thoughts for so long…

(Translator’s Note: Yes, this is a faithful translation of the original. As is what follows…)

Little did Dark Annihilator know, he was the first person Qin Ruo had ever looked upon as a true champion. As a gleaming example of overflowing might, he was someone Qin Ruo sincerely admired.

That day, a new kind of desire had been awakened in him. He had found someone worth pursuing:

The Field Commander known as ‘Dark Annihilator’—that was who Qin Ruo was after.

That was how important this person was to him, so of course Qin Ruo would have held onto a memory of him.

He had never imagined that his second encounter with Dark Annihilator would be happening in a place like this. Thinking back to that time in the Devil’s Swamp, he had used Aquamorph to watch from the shadows, as Dark Annihilator put on his awe-inspiring display.

This time, it was just the two of them: face-to-face, meeting as equals.

The feelings in his heart were almost too strong to contain!

Qin Ruo sighed faintly as the memory came to him, unbidden, of what it had been like back then, and the kind of person he used to be. A single piece of Gold-quality equipment, and he would be up all night with excitement.

Nowadays… heh.

Qin Ruo looked down and tore 50 MP from a Hellhound caught in his Million Arrow Sleet. Driving all stray thoughts from his mind, his eyes narrowed as he returned his gaze to Dark Annihilator.

“I know you’re here to kill me for Dark Dragon. Pity that you’re two days too late.”

Dark Annihilator frowned, making no reply.

It was a matter that Qin Ruo talked about through gritted teeth. This expedition to the Buried City had cost Netherclaw a tremendous amount of Gorefiend Spider Demon body parts. They had been sent down here for only one purpose:

“If you find Qin Ruo, kill him!”

It was also why Dark Annihilator was displeased about having been the one with the fortune to actually stumble across Qin Ruo.

First of all, he did not like picking fights with people he had nothing against, especially if they were at a lower level than him. He also did not like being ordered to do things he did not agree with.

This task combined all three of his dislikes in one. It was the worst kind of job.

However, he’d already accepted the mission, and he could not allow the Carefree Clan to fall from grace before the rest of the Netherspirit’s Claw. He had to take a stand.

In these kinds of situations, most men chose to look at the bigger picture.

Dark Annihilator was such a man.

***

Steeling his resolve, Dark Annihilator returned his opponent’s glare.

“You sure?”

“Try me.”

“With pleasure.” Dark Annihilator grinned. A palpable menace began to emanate from him, as he went into his Berserk Fury!

Seeing the change in Dark Annihilator’s demeanor, Qin Ruo shook his head and lamented, “All you newly minted Tier 5 players just don’t measure up. Maybe if you were a Tier 5 Elementalist class, I might be a little worried; as a warrior, you have no chance at all.”

Dark Annihilator huffed slightly, paying little heed to Qin Ruo’s words. The massive Dark Gold broadsword in his hand jolted, and several rings of golden light issued from the hilt, pulsing violently. This seemed to fill him with energy and confidence—combined with his Angelic Wings, it was like beholding a god!

“I think a change of venue would be wise.” Provoked by Qin Ruo’s words, Dark Annihilator had decided to hold nothing back, but he still wanted a fair fight. Qin Ruo was trapped in an inconvenient location, within reach of so many Undead, placing him at a severe disadvantage.

With superior levels and the Angelic Wings, the odds were already stacked in favor of Dark Annihilator—he did not need the terrain advantage, as well.

After he had spoken, he watched as the two Frostramparts were assembled together, their surfaces morphing rapidly to form a staircase of ice, leading up towards another perch higher along the mountainside.

Dismissing the Million Arrow Sleet, Qin Ruo headed up the icy staircase while the monsters remained Chilled, casually scaling the sheer surface of the mountain. Once he’d arrived at the next level, he was no longer within reach of the Undead creatures’ attacks.

Every action clean and precise, Qin Ruo found his footing, then turned calmly to face Dark Annihilator.

“Come at me!” he said, as though he had rehearsed this moment countless times. So elegant and composed was he that even Dark Annihilator, who thought he’d seen everything by now, felt awkward by comparison.