MMORPG: The Elementalist

“What’s going on? The ones who’d suddenly called this meeting are you Fallen Angels, so how is it that all four of us are here already, but Qin Ruo hasn’t shown up yet?”

As Netherclaw entered the newly created chat Channel, he scanned through the four names listed, and inquired this with some bewilderment.

“Well, Netherclaw, my friend, our buddy Qin isn’t chairing this meeting. The Fallen Angels generally leave various affairs in Violet Orchid’s hands—just like how this meeting was actually Miss Violet’s idea—Qin Ruo won’t be joining us.”

“Oh?” Netherclaw was taken aback by this.

To think that Qin Ruo had long ago left the party he used to be in with Slayer’s Heart, but he still held on to his loyalty to them, demonstrating absolute faith in his friends—to the point that Violet Orchid could be entrusted with all the business concerning his own Clan and League.

“In that case, the representatives of the Five Great Leagues are all here now?”

Scarlet Bauhinia spoke up. “Violet Orchid, don’t waste any more time. Let’s get started!”

“Alright.”

The only female voice in the Channel spoke up:

“Our Five Great Leagues have worked together before. Previously, we managed to breach Sin City, devastating the Demon Faction. This was thanks to everyone’s earnest efforts and seamless teamwork. I’m sure we’ll be able to do even better this time, and claim a great many winning places during the Grand Tournament.”

“Grand Tournament?” Netherclaw gave a start, even as he noticed that none of the other three spoke up to comment on this. “So we’re here to talk about the Grand Tournament?”

“That’s right.”

“Yesterday, the Angel Faction laid waste to Sin City,” Violet Orchid explained. “This has angered the Demon Faction greatly—they consider it a cheap shot. What’s more, our Five Great Leagues went on to lead all the major Clans onto the Mythical Battlefield, significantly diminishing the Demon Faction’s usual yield of Honor Points. Now, the Demon Faction is issuing us a challenge on the official game forums!”

“So that’s what’s going on.” Netherclaw understood better now. “Feh, who cares what they want?” Although those articles on the forums carried the voices of millions of Demon Faction players, since when had there ever been anything but constant war between the Factions?

And then there was the battle over Moonrise City, when Tiger Cub had hidden himself away like a sewer rat, provoking seven days and seven nights of vicious debate between the Angel and Demon Factions.

“Well said, League Master Netherclaw. Of course we needn’t concern ourselves with such a matter. However…” Violet Orchid’s tone changed. “There has been word that, in an effort to cleanse themselves of this recent disgrace, the Sixteen Great Leagues of the Demon Faction have assembled all their winged champions in order to form some sort of alliance!”

“Eh?” That was Netherclaw again. He was suddenly aware that he seemed to be the only one who found any of this to be news.

Majestic Hero, of the Hall of Heroes; Black God, of the Black Jail; Scarlet Bauhinia, of the Scarlet Dynasty… in their silence, it felt as though everyone else had already heard all this before.

Netherclaw found this to be a deeply disturbing thought.

The Fallen Angels had particularly strong ties to these three Leagues, and had probably briefed them all in advance, before the meeting itself. He’d been mistaken to think that the Scarlet Dynasty and the Fallen Angels wouldn’t be able to work together.

That didn’t seem to be the case at all.

While he contemplated this, Violet Orchid continued to speak evenly. “In their efforts to oppose the Angel Faction during the Grand Tournament, the Demon Faction champions have agreed upon a secret system of signals, which will allow them to identify each other in battle.”

“I’m guessing this is of little use to them during the preliminary stages?”

“Indeed. The Demon Faction intends to employ this system only during the final two stages. Although later in the tournament, teams will be randomly matched against other, an identification system like this would allow them to conserve their strength for use against us, allowing them to achieve better results overall.”

Netherclaw fell silent.

In the final stage, every battle was expected to be especially fierce. For the sake of greater glory, not to mention rewards such as rare and precious potions, Mana Cores, Scrolls, it would likely be a no-holds-barred free-for-all between Tier 5 champions.

And then there were a number of forbidden skills which, if used at the right time, could very well trump an unprepared Angel Faction.

At this thought, Netherclaw finally understood the reason why Violet Orchid had invited them all to this discussion.

“Very well, let’s hear your plan, then. Perhaps we can give the Demon Faction a shock that will soil their pants!”

***

‘Custom-made spell successfully upgraded!’

‘Tier 3 spell ‘Compressed Frost Bullet’ successfully upgraded to Tier 4 spell ‘Frostburst Blade’!’

‘The maximum for your spell Mastery Level has been raised! Your Mastery Level has been demoted from Maximum to Expert!’

‘Tier 4 skill, ‘Frostburst Blade’: single-target attack spell, Expert Mastery Level; Magical Attack 50, applies Chill effect, reduces movement speed of nearby targets by 40%. Upon a hit, it can reduce the target’s movement speed by up to 80%. Upon a hit, the ice blade may detonate with a Sudden Explosion, dealing 50-55 damage to targets within a radius of ten meters, as well as applying a Laceration effect, dealing 60 damage per second for 10 seconds!’

After the series of System Notifications had come to an end, Qin Ruo’s expression was one of enthralled fascination.

His spell had been upgraded? He’d never heard of such a thing!

From a Tier 3 Compressed Frost Bullet had been created a Tier 4 Frostburst Blade.

Its function was essentially unchanged, just that the spell’s Mastery Level had dropped a little—far preferable to having to train up a completely new skill from zero.

But the reduction in Mastery Level suggested further room for improvement in this newly minted Tier 4 spell, in terms of Magical Damage, effects, and so on!

But what he was most excited about was how the area of effect had expanded from a radius of five meters to ten, with the Frostburst Blade.

Qin Ruo was absolutely certain that this was a result of the ‘Pierce’ technique. Not only was the new spell more powerful than the Compressed Frost Bullet, even its range had been extended. The Laceration effect had been enhanced slightly, as well.

No matter how you looked at it, a long day of hard work down in the Underworld had turned out to be time well spent!

However, although the Tier 4 Frostburst Blade meant a slight improvement in his offensive capabilities, it hadn’t been Qin Ruo’s true goal.

Majestic Hero’s ‘Black Hole’, Savior’s mysterious ‘Light: Devour’, these were all spells which produced effects of epic scale. This Tier 4 Frostburst Blade wouldn’t be enough to allow Qin Ruo to match them.

Of course, being able to upgrade his Compressed Frost Bullet after just half a day’s labor was encouraging, too.

Qin Ruo took a deep breath, but his thoughts only scattered further away.

The way that Xiaoxiao had invented the Compressed Frost Bullet, she’d combined the ‘Form’, ‘Freeze’, and ‘Burst’ techniques, squeezed it all together, and in so doing had accidentally stumbled upon one of the most powerful Tier 3 attack spells possible.

Now, with the addition of ‘Pierce’—another mid-tier Elementalism technique—another phenomenal Tier 4 attack spell had been found.

Since it was possible to upgrade spells, could this Tier 4 custom-made spell be evolved any further? Perhaps to Tier 5?

Qin Ruo’s heart leapt. Another deep-blue Aquaball floated up over his hand, water churning furiously once again!

The azure blade was formed again, and as its surface was smoothed out and sharpened, Qin Ruo tried something new:

“Shift!”

This was a high-level Aquamancy technique which altered the very structure of the elemental water, distributing everything more evenly while packing it together more densely, thus heightening the potency of the spell!

However, this technique was the most time-consuming. Manipulating microscopic particles too fine to see with the naked eye, Qin Ruo had to rely upon his Elemental Perception to direct the process. As the molecular rearrangement went on, the azure blade began to hum loudly.

Now the blade was quivering dangerously. It looked like he was going to lose control of another spell!

***

There was another loud splash of water!

Not far away, Fateless once again had to turn aside.

***

“Where did I go wrong?” Ignoring Fateless’s futile attempt to hide his amusement, Qin Ruo stood in place and replayed the whole thing in his mind, muttering to himself.

The way he saw it, the only applicable Tier 5 technique was ‘Shift’. The other two, ‘Swell’ and ‘Sense’, couldn’t be of any use with the Frostburst Blade.

And yet, Qin Ruo had clearly felt something, just now. When he’d compressed the water blade, and then subjected it to elemental rearrangement, it had been enormously difficult. The water itself had been resisting his efforts, moving about wildly and paying no heed to his will.

And then, when he’d tried to apply a little more force, the whole thing had burst apart!

“Let’s try that again.”

Qin Ruo was not one to despair. This could be seen from the way he’d spent the whole day standing in one spot, practicing his skills ceaselessly.

It was one failure after another.

With Fateless, Xin Yu, Pretty Woman, and the others as his awestruck audience, Qin Ruo drenched himself repeatedly over countless failed attempts, and was drawing ever more attention from onlookers.

The so-called Winter Demon, making a fool of himself so many rounds at a go… it was a rare wonder.

“Haha, what in the world are you up to?” Fateless couldn’t help himself any longer. Truth be told, the two parties farming XP in the area were already in quite a state from watching Qin Ruo’s curious antics.

“Upgrading spells.” Qin Ruo nonchalantly belted out a term which thus far only he would understand, stunning Fateless and leaving him flabbergasted.

“What’s that?” he finally asked.

It was easy to understand his bewilderment, considering few Elementalists would even be able to recognize this term, to say nothing of a Bandit like him.

Since he hadn’t been able to find any success for a while now, Qin Ruo paused to explain everything that had happened to Fateless.

“Custom-made spells can be upgraded?” This was the first he’d ever heard of it.

It was quite possibly the first time such a thing had ever been encountered in the game. There weren’t a lot of custom-made spells in the game to begin with, and typically you’d be pleased just to have discovered one—who would think to keep experimenting further with it?

As for what Qin Ruo had done, it was basically unthinkable: To have upgraded the spell from Tiers 3 to 4, but to still not be satisfied; to continue searching for some way to bring it up to Tier 5, as though anything was possible as long as he wished for it.

“Isn’t that good enough already? That was a one-in-a-million fluke. How could you hope to get one after another, just like that?” Fateless admonished.

“No way. I’m gonna figure it out by today, no matter what. Don’t mind me.”

Rolling his eyes, Fateless turned away in exasperation, and returned his attention to Xin Yu, leaving Qin Ruo to his personal struggles. Having just raised a Tier 3 spell up to Tier 4, he was immediately trying to upgrade it again to Tier 5…

… Stubborn fool.