MMORPG: The Elementalist

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Windy Groan was really good. Or, at least a little better than other high-level Tier 5 players because he knew how to use his head and could casually point out the essential points in a problem. It was through Windy Groan, who had pointed out that one time Qin Ruo provoked the Underworld Creatures, that Qin Ruo was able to remember to use his Angelic Wings to solve that issue where the warp portal continuously spawned Underworld Creatures.

"Boss Qin, so you still don't believe me quitting Netherspirit's Claw?" Windy Groan detected Qin Ruo's doubts and sighed. "If Netherclaw could turn his back on all ten of us in the Underworld, then I could do the same. You'll see my determination to leave Netherspirit's Claw after we leave the Underworld."

Qin Ruo smiled candidly. "It's alright. I believe you, just for a little."

Then, he deactivated Aquamorph and activated his Divinity.

Swoosh!

He spread his silver-white Angelic Wings above the massive Underworld horde.

Vrrroooom!

The moment Qin Ruo displayed his Angelic Wings, the horde that was headed toward the Specters that were marching toward the "gathering ground" turned back simultaneously. The countless cold and deadly eyes were all focused on Qin Ruo. To the brooding Specters, Qin Ruo was shining so bright that it almost felt like he had turned into a super light bulb lit by one hundred Watts.

Seeing the Specters starting to congregate toward him from all directions, Qin Ruo carefully activated his Darkfrost Shield and Frostbarrier—even though most Specters could not reach him when he was airborne, there were still Skeleton Dragons, high-tier Vampires that could fly and get into melee range. He must take precautions because the Specters that could fly, though few in number, were quite powerful. ( B oxnovel.c om )

Yet, the location that he picked was quite good. It was the only area that had no high-tier Vampires and Skeleton Dragons. So, it would take at least a few minutes before these pesky ones arrived from afar.

Thus, Qin Ruo had enough time to observe the reactions from "Specter Gathering Ground".

And as he thought…

Several minutes later, waves after waves of Specters swarmed out of the caves from the mountain bottom—all moving toward the same direction. From top to bottom, there were Specters at every visible corner of the mountain. In just a few moments, there were so many of them that the mountain looked like a beehive that was struck by a stone.

Although Qin Ruo was mentally prepared to see an army of Specters, his jaw still dropped when he saw what he saw.

There were so many of them!

What a sight!

It only took another few minutes before high tier Vampires and Skeleton Dragons arrived via air. As the Specters on the ground were moving toward the peak, the vampires and Skeleton Dragons were also circulating the entire mountain. It was as though there was a live fedora on top of the mountain as a huge black shadowy cloud enveloped it from above. And at the tip of the "black cloud" were two Liches—the ones that were chasing after him earlier.

"Fuck!"

Qin Ruo, in that instant, realized that while this method was clever, it was still almost as difficult as storming into the mountain by foot. How could he reach the gathering ground while having this many Specters locked on him? And it would also be rather impossible for him to just fly over to the warp portal while avoiding a dogfight with the Liches and other airborne Specters.

Perhaps using Aquawings? That was impractical too.

It would take too long. Evading the airborne Specters in the air would use up most of his time and the moment he deactivated his Angelic Wings, the Specters would disengage him and start returning to the gathering ground—it would be not possible for him to reach to the warp portal before the Liches.

It was impossible to storm into the warp portal alone!

Qin Ruo, without hesitation, deactivated Aquawings and retreated. As he retreated, the Specters also stopped pursuing him and started to return to the gathering ground. It was rather difficult for this sheer amount of Specters to retreat to the caves. For an undetermined amount of time, there were thousands of Specters stuck in a seeming deadlock. It took a long time before the "Spectral Gathering Ground" returned to its quiet state.

Qin Ruo and Windy Groan's plan to leave the Underworld ended up in failure yet again. If he wanted to pull this off—to lure the Specters out and away of the mountains, he would require the help of another Winged Champion. They needed more people to pull this off.

***

After poking at the "Gathering Ground" for a few more rounds, Qin Ruo returned to Edgar's campsite, disheartened. He approached the dispirited Windy Groan and dropped two equipment in front of him.

"What are these…"

Windy Groan's eyes gleamed brightly—those were the equipment he took away earlier.

Qin Ruo took a deep breath and spoke to him, "If every single warp portal toward the Buried City has this kind of defense… even if we have a full team of Tier 5 players with us, it's still going to be difficult for us to travel back and forth between the Mythical Continent and the Underworld…"

Then, Qin Ruo paused momentarily as Windy Groan's face turned pale—he understood what Qin Ruo was trying to imply.

"In other words, even if we have one hundred thousand Tier 5 players, we could still barely survive in the Underworld…"

"Exactly."

Qin Ruo too was reluctant to give in. Yet, that was the reality.

There were three hundred to four hundred camps accommodating players from the Angel and Demon Factions. Although Windy Groan might have correctly predicted the number of the trapped players, "one hundred thousand players" was an overly idealistic number.

If the condition of the Underworld was this dire, it would be quite hard for it to reach one hundred thousand players—the Underworld would get overly crowded by then. And this would stop many veteran players from getting into the Underworld too.

Therefore, it was quite foreseeable that…

Before they could leave the Underworld, Qin Ruo and Windy Groan would need to struggle in this dreadful world for perhaps half a month… a month… or even longer! The Demigod NPCs were right. He should never have stepped into the Underworld this early.

Qin Ruo sighed and continued, "So, it doesn't matter if you're still Netherspirit's Claw because it would seem that it's destined that you'll be my company for the time being. Keeping the equipment away from you would not benefit me at all—you'd end up needing to the remake your character from scratch while I'd be trapped here alone. Take your gears back. At least I'll have someone to talk to if you stayed—it's better than facing these soulless NPCs every day."

Even though Qin Ruo did not sound warm and welcoming as he returned him the equipment, Windy Groan was overjoyed. He not only got his equipment back, thus increasing his survival chance in the Underworld, Qin Ruo seemed to not mind him leaking information before and had decided not to treat him as hostile.

After getting his gears back and gaining Qin Ruo's trust, he did not have anything else to worry about in the Underworld. Of course, after hearing Qin Ruo's discouraging words, Windy Groan could not help but feel dismayed again. As Qin Ruo went into Yaeger's tent, Windy Groan followed hastily.

"Boss Qin… don't you have any way to leave the Underworld?"

"Isn't the situation now quite obvious already?" ( B oxnovel.c om )

Qin Ruo was too depressed to even look back.

"How about adding me into the equation? I could fight with you."

Windy Groan bit his lower lip and continued, "It's alright even if I died. I've died twice already so I don't mind losing more Experience Point."

Qin Ruo raised his head and looked at him then sighed: "That wouldn't work. You're a Bandit and you don't have Divinity on you. Sacrificing you to the horde would accomplish nothing."

After hearing Qin Ruo's reply, Windy Groan's face turned pale and grim, as though his life had been sucked into the depressing sky above. He sat on the ground outside of the tent and chanted weakly, "A month…? A month? I can't stay for a month…"

Qin Ruo turned to him again, this time with curiosity. "Why?"

"Next month would be my dad's 50th birthday. I was hoping to earn some cash after advancing to Tier 5, to buy him a present as a proof that I've changed… that I'm not a jobless loser anymore."

Windy Groan smiled at Qin Ruo bitterly. "Back then, all that I knew was to play video games and only video games, nothing else. I… I've always been a dead weight to my dad. A few days ago, I was almost there… I was so close to succeeding in proving to him. To prove to him that his son, me, isn't a useless dead weight…"

"Why…"

"He… Netherclaw ruined me. Yet, he could still smile and tell me to wait here in the Underworld." Windy Groan felt a lump in his throat as he was speaking. And then, his voice started to crack. He lowered his head as he clenched his fists tightly, nails cutting into the flesh in his palms. Then, Qin Ruo could see tears rolling down his cheeks.

Then, more and more tears rolled down. They, then, hugged his chin temporarily before dropping down onto the dry soil next to his feet.

Even Yaeger, the stone cold Chemist, was moved and stopped his working on his potions.

Qin Ruo sighed and gently patted on Windy Groan's shoulder before walking out of the tent.

Windy Groan's story was probably true. This was most probably the reason he chose to forgo his loyalty for Netherspirit's Claw, lost his faith in Netherclaw.

However, there really was not much that Qin Ruo could do for him.

He was not able to leave the Underworld himself after all.

***

Edgar the Demigod Archer, who was watching the two Tier 5 players, suddenly spoke, "Actually… you could help him."

"…"

Qin Ruo stopped walking and looked at Edgar curiously. "In what way?"

"Ability. You have the ability to help him."

Edgar turned and pointed at the sobbing Windy Groan and then move his finger to Qin Ruo. "Both of you have a chance in reaching the Buried City's warp portal…"

A glimmer of hope appeared in Qin Ruo's eyes again.

Windy Groan also suddenly raised his head and looked at Edgar with his swelling red eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, you've got a Ring of Honor on you, right?"

Qin Ruo was shocked when he heard Edgar mention his ring.

"How'd you know?"

"Your carry weight and your body mass don't seem to match. And your other gears don't seem to possess abilities to store items. Only the Ring of Honor has that unique skill…"

Edgar's words had blown Qin Ruo's biggest secret!

Qin Ruo was surprised yet again. He quickly rushed to Edgar, completely ignoring the fact that Windy Groan was only a foot away, and asked, "So you're saying that… if I used this ring… I could leave the Underworld?"

"If you have unlocked its advanced attributes." Edgar nodded.

After hearing this, Qin Ruo's spirit sank again. "You think I don't want to unlock them? I was so close. I needed to kill just one Tier 5 Light-type Megaboss then the darn quest would be completed. If I don't leave this cursed place, where do I find a Light-type Boss?"

After listening to Qin Ruo's bawling complaint, Edgar smiled peculiarly. "Who told you that there's no Light-type Boss in the Underworld?"