MMORPG: The Elementalist

The Mercenary Guild of Mythical Continent.

Regardless of players from the Angel or Demon Faction, the Mercenary Guild was never short of visitors. All sorts of players from different Tiers, strong or weak, powerful or timid, could find a suitable position in the guild and make a name for themselves here.

Ever since the Underworld declared war against the Mythical Continent, the Mercenary Guild had multiplied the number of quests offered to probe and annihilate the hostile invaders, including the never-before-seen Quest of Honor.

This inevitably made Mercenary Guild the trendiest and most visited place across the entire Mythical Continent at the moment.

Although he was trapped in the Underworld all this while, Qin Ruo was still aware of some popular topics that revolved around Mercenary Guild. Among them, the team quest, Lich Hunt, was the most sought after task likened by many powerful veteran players.

Taking down a single Lich would not only earn the team gold coins, but the Mercenary Guild would also reward the party a whopping total of 800 Honor Points. This was equivalent to half a day work of a player who focused on other less fruitful Quest of Honor (killing other known Specter Bosses also provide Honor Points, but it was way lesser than killing a Lich), making it a more time- and cost-effective target.

Qin Ruo was informed that within this period, Xiaoxiao, Violet Orchid, and Dinosaurcerer had been constantly on the move to locate the monster and would immediately organize a hunting party once a Lich was found. This was what made the three great clans stand firm at the top three positions in the Angel Faction Honor Points ranking.

Although he had braced for it, Qin Ruo was still stunned by the bustling crowd and the ceaseless announcements that flooded the hall of Mercenary Guild that he was stepping into.

“Newly acquired Lich coordinates. This information will be available for 1000 gold coins and one Honor Point! PM if interested! Old customers will be prioritized.”

“Forming Lich Hunt Party! Only accepting skillful players. Leechers are strictly prohibited. Good players will be recruited for long term collaboration.”

“Tier 5 Radiant Swordmaster here in need of a hunting party. For f*ck sake! Get lost you filthy Tier 4, don’t waste my time… Request for a Tier 5 Party. I am a nemesis of Specters, a natural enemy of Lich! PM asap!”

“Tier 4 Magic Skillbook for the Umbra Swordmaster Class. PM for the price if interested.”

“Brother who dream of becoming Dragon Rider, here’s your chance! Newly dropped Pet Egg of Skeleton Dragon. Twenty thousand gold coins, final price! First come first serve!”

“Great price slashed for all types of Specter Pet Eggs! Flying Venomfang Vampire, on sale for 7000 gold coins only! Little Zombie, 3500 gold coins! Little Skeleton, 2700 gold coins! Little Hound, 4000! Little Bow, 3000! Better be quick and bring one back today!”

“Want to buy Light or Fire-type Pet! Miniboss or Elite Miniboss tier preferred. Price range below 30,000 gold coins. Offer me through PM, thanks!”

“…”

One after another wave of sound pierced Qin Ruo’s eardrum continuously. He stood rigidly in front of the entrance for a while and was unable to react. ‘Is this still the Mercenary Guild that I remember? I thought this was supposed to be a quest distributing center? Why the hell are all these people asking for a party, player, or merchandise here? This place is more chaotic and noisier than a wet market!’

‘A day in the Underworld, a year in the upper world? How things have changed!’

Qin Ruo lamented and finally gathered himself enough to walk into the guild hall.

Luckily, the crowd did show some self-restraint by not obstructing the paths that led to the NPC counters.

Despite that, it still took Qin Ruo some effort to emerge from the sea of people and reach one of the counters.

“Eh?” But he soon recognized he had made a mistake.

‘I am not here for a quest but rather to complete one. What was I thinking?’

Qin Ruo sweated realizing that he got carried away by the jubilant atmosphere. He wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and took another good look at the players jammed inside the guild hall, without realizing that the players lining up behind him were now either throwing him a furious or weird stare for the prolonged inactivity.

“Well, hello…” Qin Ruo crouched back on the counter and inquired, “May I know where will the Elder be?”

The pretty lady at the other side of the counter smiled professionally. “You are looking at one. How may I assist you?”

“You?”

The pretty lady tilted her head and met Qin Ruo puzzled eyes. “Yes. How may I help you?”

‘What!’ Qin Ruo was once again astounded. ‘Why are the Elders from Elementalist Guild a bunch of old folks while the one at Mercenary Guild is a beautiful receptionist? Such a disparity. No wonder the Mercenary Guild is full with people now while the Elementalist Guild is dead quiet. Tsk! Pretty girls certainly draw more attention than boring old man!’

***

The pretty player who lined up directly behind Qin Ruo was on the verge of bursting out in anger.

‘I have seen some shameless men, but this man is definitely worse.’

Others usually came to the Mercenary Guild to have a quick look on the quest list, pick one from it, then leave immediately. Only those looking to consign quest through the guild would approach the NPC. ‘This lad did not lay an eye on the quest list and had also not mention anything relevant to the NPC. He is just busy chatting with the pretty lady behind the counter all this while. How inconsiderate!’

‘Tsk, a lame Level 42 Warrior. Humph, must be an ugly useless guy who ran out of luck with girls. That’s why he is spending so much time talking to the pretty counter lady. No doubt, judging from his Purple Grade Equipment. What a pitiful man.”

The female player imagined all sort of ill-fated explanations and cursed viciously in her mind.

Suddenly, she noticed that Qin Ruo said something to the NPC and took out a transparent glass vial, as well as an antique broadsword from his backpack. He proceeded to pass the two items to the pretty counter lady.

‘Wait…’ The female player tipped closer to get a clearer look.

‘Quest Item? He is actually here for a quest? Unbelievable!’

The female player immediately changed her perception toward the seemingly shabby player in front of her.

At the Mercenary Guild, these kinds of special items would only appear in rare Advanced Quest. The more peculiar the item was, the more difficult the quest would get, the greater the reward in return.

The vial which contained sand-like substance was weird enough, on top of that, it was handed over together with the unusable broadsword that must have had a long history…

‘Maybe this guy is a powerful Champion!’ As soon as this idea came to her mind, a white glare flashed in front of her. She then realized the lame player she so despised a moment ago had suddenly vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Aya!” She exclaimed and her eyes followed the light glare upward. The player was nowhere to be found.

She lowered her head and looked into the counter. The NPC inside the counter had also turned into a different person.

Gasp!

‘Hidden Quest! This must be a Hidden Quest!’

This was the first time she saw something like this happen inside the Mercenary Guild. The NPC vanishing with the player after receiving two items was also never-before-heard.

“Pretty Woman, you are really such an idiotic pig. You kept complaining that you can’t find the Hidden Quest all this while, but now you just let one slip by right in front of your eyes!”

She stomped her feet, angry at herself. She neither accepted a new quest (which she had initially intended to) nor left the hall. She just stood there and asked Xin Yu to wait for her outside the guild for a while more, as she was determined to wait for the guy to reappear again.

***

After Qin Ruo surrendered the Evildoer’s ashes and weapon to the NPC, the scenery in front of his eyes changed immediately. The vibrant noise surrounding him earlier had disappeared altogether as well.

Qin Ruo realized he was now in a different room after he got a good look around the new surrounding.

He was accompanied by a few NPCs, one of them being the lady whom he talked to earlier at the counter. They all stood respectfully beside a spirited old lady who was holding a magic wand.

“I am the Guild Master of Mercenary Guild, known by the name Delia. It is thou, I heard, that had brought back the ashes and relic of Evildoer from the Underworld?” Her tone was half kind, half stern. Qin Ruo was moved by the mixed emotion in her voice.

“I do, my honorable Guild Master,” Qin Ruo answered humbly.

“Qin Ruo, Aquamancer, Level 52, the Clan Leader of Fallen Angels, who is also the no.1 Combatant who has topped the Honor Point Ranking of Angel Faction. The primary attribute of your Ring of Honor is Cloak… No wonder, no wonder…” Delia assessed Qin Ruo thoroughly and was praising profusely. “Being able to escape the Underworld at Tier 5, you should be very proud of yourself.”

Delia paused at that point, then continued sorrowfully, “If only the Warp Point is opened up earlier… Then they would not have fallen miserably in the foreign Underworld.”

“…” Qin Ruo felt the same grief. He bowed his head to mourn for those Champions who were killed in the Underworld.

“My son, what Evildoer had gone through in the Underworld was all carved on his weapon in details. As a reward for your noble act in returning such an important piece to the Mercenary Guild, please accept the following rewards…”

Delia changed the topic suddenly and mentioned about rewards sooner than Qin Ruo had expected.

To be honest, Qin Ruo didn’t anticipate much from this quest at first. After all, this was a rather simple errand. Simply put, he was only a delivery boy.

But after he was greeted personally by the Guild Master Delia, Qin Ruo began to think that this might not be as simple as he initially thought.

Now that he thought deeper, this was actually never an easy task. The quest was discovered at the very beginning of his long journey. He went through a lot of hardship—first locating the campsite, then the gathering ground of the Undead and finally the warp portal that was connected to the Buried City. Not to mention what he had to endure to finally access the portal.

It was true that Qin Ruo had solved all predicaments along the way, but not a single one of it was easy to a Tier 5 player. It was even safe to claim that these tasks were never supposed to be overcome by a mere Tier 5.

First of all, it was not possible to activate Divinity for an extended period in the Underworld. It was lethal to even open up the wings at some points. Thus, if Qin Ruo was to travel the Underworld on foot without his Aquamorph or Aquawing, the possibility of him finding Camp Edgar would be close to none.

The most probable scenario would be that he had exhausted all his supplies and had himself resurrected at Camp Edgar. All there was left to be done after that would be to stay alive, which was a nightmare in the Underworld. A Tier 5 player might be capable of surviving by themselves under normal circumstances, but the environment in the Underworld was designed to greatly limit the player’s strength and battle continuity. Especially when one was fighting alone and short-handedly, he or she simply did not have enough endurance to reach the Undead’s gathering ground soundly.

Last but not least, even if, by chance, the player did reach the gathering ground, they would not have enough strength left to challenge the horde and gain access to the warp point. Not without unbelievably huge storage space.

After he thought of these details that he had not paid attention to before, Qin Ruo finally understood why Netherclaw was so unexpectedly decisive in ordering an assault against him and Fallen Angels when he was in the Underworld.

At the same time, he also turned to Delia ecstatically. He couldn’t wait for Delia to announce the sumptuous rewards that he was going to get after fulfilling the impossible task—coming back alive from the Underworld.