MMORPG: The Elementalist

In the Trading Hall of Casanova Clan, Moonrise City.

In the VIP Members’ Hall on the second floor, two dozen rarely seen Tier 5 Supreme Champions had gathered. Greeting them with a smile were the top two people in charge of the Trading Hall: Casanova and Hollow Cast.

Ever since the Trading Hall put up an exhibit of several pieces of Divinity, along with over a hundred Legendary-quality items, word had spread across the Mythical Continent, and it had become a prime focus of attention.

Casanova and Hollow Cast had been thrust into the limelight, their names held up alongside the Seven Great Leagues themselves.

At the moment, however, the two of them had serious concerns on their minds!

These two dozen Tier 5 Supreme Champions, who had coincidentally arrived together in unison, hailed from the Three Great Leagues of the Angel Faction, all of them recently ascended to Tier 5.

Although they were a pale shadow compared to the original thirty Tier 5 Supreme Champions, nor did they command the same level of prestige, the several hundred Tier 5 champions in the game were nevertheless an elite company compared to the millions of Tier 4 players behind them!

And now, although it was unknown where these two dozen players had gotten their information from, they’d somehow found out about the Casanova Clan Trading Hall’s plans to secretly bequeath six Divinity crystals to six selected recipients, and they’d come storming in to put a stop to it.

There was no worry that they’d resort to coercion, nor could they hope to achieve anything that way.

Instead, each of the Tier 5 Supreme Champions had brought a profusion of items to trade with the players for their Divinity!

For example, the Field Commanders from the Hall of Heroes had brought along two rare articles of Legendary-quality equipment. With the Trading Hall acting as a middleman, they hoped to exchange these with the chosen players for the Earth and Lightning-elemental Divinity crystals.

The people from the Netherspirit’s Claw had brought a number of remarkable Skill Manuals and Spellbooks; two Pet Eggs for Tier 5 Minibosses, speculated at a market price of over one million gold; and two Dark Gold items bearing Enchantments.

They had their sights set on three of the Divinity crystals: Water, Dark, and Earth.

Finally, there were the representatives of the Bauhinia League!

Leading them were Steel Dude and the head of the Bloody Mary Clan, Bloodstained King. The latter was a Tier 5 Supreme Champion who stood as an equal to Scarlet Bauhinia himself, and used to be considered the second most powerful person in the entire Bauhinia League—however, with the advent of Divinity, one might say that he had been overtaken by Homme Fatale!

That was why, upon hearing that the Trading Hall was in possession of a Dark-elemental Divinity, he had been quietly keeping tabs on it, while stockpiling high-value equipment to trade for it.

As the only one among them who had been a Tier 5 Supreme Champion since before the new wave, Bloodstained King was the one who spoke with the most authority. Presently, he was in negotiations with Casanova, bluntly offering a full set of Legendary equipment for an Elementalist or Berserker, in addition to two million gold, and either a Skill Manual or a high-level Pet Egg, in exchange for a Dark-element Divinity.

Bloodstained King had made the highest offer yet.

Even Casanova was taken aback, and in truth his heart began to waver. How he wanted to accept the transaction, pushing the indeterminate value of Divinity to new heights, setting a price that would shock the world.

But no, he couldn’t do that.

After all, the six chosen recipients weren’t ordinary people. Some among them had no lack of Legendary items; some among them had already attained Tier 5, and were not lesser to any of the people in the room.

Furthermore, every one of them had expressed an interest in only Divinity of other elements, rather than mere equipment with clearly defined market values.

“… Apologies.” Casanova bowed his head in contrition. “The sellers all come from highly affluent backgrounds. I worry that—”

Bloodstained King lifted a finger to stop him. In a low voice, he spoke softly, “A full set of Legendary Terramancer equipment, another for a Titanwraith Berserker, five million gold, and a Pet Egg for a Tier 5 Elite Miniboss. Make this deal happen, and I’ll be happy to contribute two million to the Trading Hall as commission.”

The assembled Field Commanders behind him recoiled in shock at this extravagant display, finding themselves suddenly short of breath. Some of the Shadowmancers among them, who’d also been aiming for the Dark-elemental Divinity, began ranting in the privacy of their minds.

Two Legendary sets, five million gold, a Pet Egg for a Tier 5 Elite Miniboss…

It was madness! Surely there was no call to flaunt your wealth like that! None of them could scrape together even half of that!

It was not just them—even Casanova forgot what he’d been about to say. Such a wonderful customer, he felt, had to be retained no matter what!

In a private message to Bloodstained King, he requested a moment’s patience, and then began an earnest conference with Hollow Cast, by his side.

Bloodstained King’s offer was simply astounding!

This had to be the most lucrative deal in the history of the Casanova Clan’s Trading Hall. If it really went through, that would be something to be remembered!

What’s more, as far as Casanova was aware, the owner of that Dark-elemental Divinity played a Swordmaster, and had little interest in claiming Divinity for himself. With what Bloodstained King was putting on the table, he was almost absolutely certain he could talk the guy into accepting this heaven-sent deal.

But if he did this, half of the arrangements for the six Divinity crystals might very well fall through. Another two crystals—one Earth and one Lightning—could no longer be traded the way they’d originally planned!

Well, as long as the Earth crystal found its way to somebody, that would be alright. Anyway, the owner was just another Tier 4 player who, although skilled, had little in the way of influence or prestige.

However, the owner of the Lightning crystal was the Winter Demon!

In the short span of four days, Qin Ruo and his Pet had sped up to Level 49. He’d even already begun his Advancement Quest to reach Tier 5.

There was no way Qin Ruo wouldn’t find out that among the six Divinity crystals in their exhibit, one was a Water-elemental crystal. Hollow Cast had even assured him that, upon ascending to Tier 5, negotiations could be carried out immediately in order for him to secure that Water crystal for himself.

If they went back on their word now, Qin Ruo wasn’t likely to take it well!

However, Bloodstained King stood among the elite in terms of station and ability, and rumor held that he’d already secured his own foothold in the mysterious Buried City.

To turn away from a Tier 4 one-time-wonder in exchange for the head of a big-name Clan, it seemed to make perfect sense to him!

“Hollow, what do you think?” After sharing his views on the matter, Casanova sought for a second opinion from Hollow Cast.

Betraying no outward expression, the latter cast him a look. “I don’t approve.”

“Explain your reasoning.” He had been expecting Hollow Cast to vote against it, what with him being the one who’d set up the deal with Qin Ruo in the first place, and all along serving as his main point-of-contact.

“The first is a matter of integrity,” Hollow Cast reminded him serenely. “As second-in-command, my word upholds the confidence of this Trading Hall. Whether it concerns public trading or private deals, I would rather not invite any questions over our trustworthiness.”

He’d adopted a strong moral position. Casanova faltered, falling silent.

“Furthermore,” Hollow Cast added, “Qin Ruo’s star is rising fast! I for one would watch him closely in time to come. If we were to sour relations with him… I would consider it a tremendous pity.”

“But we’re dealing with Bloodstained King, here.”

“Nothing but a Tier 5 player built upon accumulated wealth and manpower.” Hollow Cast mercilessly delivered his assessment through their private channel. “If he were truly anyone of worth, he wouldn’t have come away from the Graveyard of the Gods empty-handed.”

Casanova sighed with indecision, and eventually conceded to Hollow Cast.

“Alright, I’ll turn down his offer.” Saying this, he effected a visage of profound misery and regret as he turned back to Bloodstained King, still awaiting his reply. With fine words and grand language, he declined the exquisite bargain.

Bloodstained King frowned deeply, then laughed. “Fine!”

“Seeing your lack of sincerity, I’ll put up my offer on the game forums. I find it hard to believe the owner of this Dark crystal won’t see things my way.” And then Bloodstained King left the Trading Hall, taking the Bauhinia League members with him.

Casanova’s expression shifted only slightly. Watching the Tier 5 champions leaving in disappointment, he massaged his temples with a wry chuckle, leaned against the table behind him, and spread his hands apart as he turned to Hollow Cast. “I hope you’ve chosen well.”

Hollow Cast smiled and replied, “You have. Take a look at the Level Leaderboards.”

Casanova was still for a moment, then exclaimed with a start, “Are you saying—”

Hollow Cast held up both hands and nodded, smiling gently.

“Another player has joined the ranks of the Tier 5 Supreme Champions.”

Casanova hurriedly pulled up the Level Leaderboards, and found Qin Ruo’s name at number four-hundred and thirty-seven:

Qin Ruo, Level 50 Aquamancer, Angel Faction.

“Note his Honor Points,” Hollow Cast suggested.

Hesitating for another moment, Casanova took his advice and brought up a search prompt, entering Qin Ruo’s name:

Qin Ruo: Level 50 Aquamancer

Party, none;

Clan, none;

League, none;

Remaining Honor Points: 179

Casanova did not get what he was supposed to be noticing, and turned to look questioningly at Hollow Cast, who chortled and explained.

“Upon completing the Tier 5 Advancement Quest, one is typically rewarded with ten Honor Points. The higher the difficulty of the quest, the more points you’ll receive. When Qin Ruo first began the quest, I recall him having only sixty-nine Honor Points!”

Casanova’s eyes lit up. “Are you saying that completing his Advancement Quest gave him a hundred and ten Honor Points? Which difficulty is that?”

Hollow Cast shook his head. “I don’t know. As far as I’m aware, the standard difficulty awards ten points. An elective difficulty awards more points based on how high you go. The day before yesterday, I was chatting with some newly promoted Tier 5 players. The boldest among them had chosen the fifth degree of difficulty, and received fifty Honor Points upon completion.”

Casanova took a shallow gasp of air, and licked his suddenly dry lower lip. Then he rubbed a finger up and down the bridge of his nose, his excitement stoked by the information Hollow Cast had just provided him.

“Contact the other five!”

Minutes later, Casanova declared, “Send out all the Divinity crystals. I can’t wait to find out what kind of show we’ll get to see after this guy achieves his Divinity.”