Show Me the Money

Chapter 169 - The Damaged Elemental Mystery Realm

"Dead. 30 lives left. Trial starts in 8 minutes."

"Dead. 20 lives left. Trial starts in 10 minutes."

"Dead. 10 lives left. Trial starts in 19 minutes."

……

"Dead. 1 life left. Trial starts in 28 minutes."

"Congratulations. You have passed the Elemental Trial, Metal Forest. You are rewarded Basic Elemental Mastery: Metal. Do you want to enter the next stage, Wood Forest?"

"No."

Fatty staggered from the Metal Forest trial space and promptly chose "No" before logging off. Although Fatty hadn't been in the Metal Forest too long, only several hours at most, he still felt completely exhausted. He was even more worn out than he was after a ton of heavy exercise.

Fatty knew the feeling was an indication that he'd been mentally drained and then some. Nothing, other than a lot of rest, would allow someone to recover from this sort of exhaustion.

After sleeping for nearly six hours, Fatty was finally recuperated. He found something to eat, then went online once again to prepare for the second stage: Wood Forest.

Fatty had straddled life and death the entirety of the first stage, Metal Forest, so his level had bounced up and down repeatedly. When he finally succeeded, his level stopped at 13.

Level 13, not a very lucky number.

While this was called a "trial," it was more like a place to train the Movement Art. As for the Basic Metal Mastery reward, it increased the power of Metal attribute magic.

The experience gained from the first stage made the next four much easier for Fatty. After about three days, he finally passed the Wood Forest, Watery Deep, Fire Valley and Earth Mountain trials.

These four stages bore the same purpose as the Metal Forest and only differed in composition. The monsters were wood demons in Wood Forest, water beasts in Watery Deep, fire spirits in Fire Valley, and earth monsters on Earth Mountain. Fatty utilized the elemental Movement Arts accordingly to pass through each trial and gain the elemental mastery rewards. At the end of it all, the predecessor finally recognized Fatty as qualified.

"Congratulations, young successor of the Elementalist. You have passed the Elemental Trials. From now on, you are an official Elementalist Heir. Now, please accept the true legacy of the Elementalist." The predecessor's timeworn voice slowly echoed. Unexpectedly, joy resounded in its typically indifferent voice.

Whoosh! A five-colored aurora fell from the sky and enveloped Fatty. The long absent Elemental skill book flew from Fatty's body and hovered above his head.

A familiar, warm sensation ran through Fatty once more. The skill book's pages fluttered rapidly overhead until, all at once, everything seemed to freeze—

Ding!

System Notification: Congratulations, you have obtained the true legacy of the Elementalist. +10 million exp. The Elemental Armor set has evolved to Silver. The Elemental Sword has evolved to Silver.

Along with the system notification, several golden lights flashed. The 10 million exp. reward sent Fatty's level skyrocketing to 30. The evolution of the Elemental Armor and Elemental Sword required a share of Fatty's exp. After feeding on a large chunk from Fatty's exp gained, the equipment finally evolved to Silver tier. The Elemental Armor gained a new attribute and looked more brilliant as a five-colored light radiated from its surface. As for the sword, it also gained a reasonable additional property.

"Now, you are invited to enter the true Elemental Mystery Realm."

As the predecessor spoke, the scenery before Fatty's eyes changed completely. The original green prairie disappeared, and barren mountains and scorched earth sprouted in its place. The riverbeds were dry and cracked, and there was no sign of the animals bounding wild and free from earlier. The entire space was a deserted, lonely place filled with an air of death.

Startled, Fatty asked, "This is…?"

"As you can see, this is the damaged Elemental Mystery Realm," explained the predecessor, pain and sorrow carried in his voice. "Many millennia ago, in order to steal the Demon-Sealing Stele and destroy its seal on the entrance to the Demon Realm, several rulers of the Demon Realm created an alliance. They intended to break out and ambush the previous Elementalist, Wu Junxiao. However, after a grand battle, Wu Junxiao expired, and the Demon-Sealing Stele was stolen. The result is the Elemental Mystery Realm that you see before you now."

Elementalist Wu Junxiao? Fatty recalled the scene he'd witnessed when he first entered the Elemental Realm. That's the mysterious person who went against an entire army of demons by himself!

"Every hidden class heir must have their own realm in which to train. For instance, the Yin Yang Inquisitor has the Yin Yang Phantasm Realm," the predecessor continued. "But, the Elemental Mystery Realm is heavily damaged and unable to provide the heir a training place. Young heir, will you accept a mission from me?"

"Let me have it," replied Fatty shortly.

"Take back the Demon-Sealing Stele and restore the Elemental Mystery Realm," the predecessor gravely declared.

"Definitely." Fatty was resolute in his decision.

Ding!

System Notification: You have accepted the mission "Restoring the Elemental Mystery Realm". Objective: After a grand battle, the mystery realm unique to the Elementalist was severely damaged. To ensure the Elementalist legacy unto eternity, this mystery realm must be restored.

Materials required: Demon-Sealing Stele, five elemental materials, user rank Legendary.

Time limit: none.

"Legendary?" Fatty's brows jumped. According to the official Eternal website, the highest level a player could reach is only 90 for now. Where did this "Legendary" come from?

"May I ask, where's the Demon-Sealing Stele now?" The elemental materials are easy to get a hold of; so, the main problem is this Demon-Sealing Stele and the rank thingy, Fatty figured.

"The stele was taken by several rulers of the Demon Realm. There is no trace of it at this time," replied the predecessor.

"No trace?" Fatty's brows crinkled. They're rulers of the Demon Realm capable of killing the previous Elementalist, so their powers must be extremely formidable. Making this Lord Fatty retrieve the Demon-Sealing Stele from them? Is this some kind of joke?

"Young man, everything depends on you," the predecessor irresponsibly stated.

"Don't I at least get some hints? Don't tell me I have to go to the Demon Realm." Fatty's mouth twitched.

"Even though they've stolen the Demon-Sealing Stele, it is still the item that sealed the entrance of the Demon Realm; therefore, it cannot enter the Demon Realm. The rulers must have hidden it someplace no one knows. You will have to go through much trouble to find it." The predecessor seemed a bit helpless about this as well.

"Fine. I'll look for it myself. But, the stele was taken away by the rulers of the Demon Realm, so, even if I really find it, I'll still be unable to bring it back with just my current abilities. You see… could you… erm…" Fatty rubbed his palms expectantly.

"Young man, you are currently truly weak. You must understand every generation of Elementalist has been a heaven-shattering, earth-shaking hero. So, you must achieve your own meritorious deeds. Do not bring shame upon the Elementalist class. Now, you can leave. Remember, train hard."

"F*ck!" Fatty could only let out a curse as a five-colored light portal appeared before him. With no time to react, he was sucked in by a magnetic force.

Thud! Fatty directly landed on a main road in Black Tortoise City.

"Finally, an heir after so many millennia. Oh! Well, I've actually used up too much energy to produce such simple trials. Have to nap again." Fatty faintly heard the voice as the colorful portal closed. When the newly minted Elementalist turned around to ask a question, the portal quickly shrank and vanished.

"Legendary item!" A bunch of people flocked over and exclaimed at the five-color portal that had disappeared behind Fatty.

Standing in a main road, blankly gazing at the people going to and fro, Fatty was at a total loss. During the past two days, he had poured his all into training the Movement Arts. His entire being had been so immersed that he had almost lost himself in it.

Whoosh! The Elemental skill book had lost all of it brilliance outside the mystery realm, and it fell into Fatty's hands.

Basic Elemental Skill Book

Elementalist's Unique Item. Undroppable.

User can execute elemental magics as written in this book.

Fatty opened the book. There were only the five Movement Arts written in it. Fatty would have to look for the rest himself in places who-knows-where.

At least the book is undroppable. Fatty heaved a sigh of relief. Otherwise, Lord Fatty would be worried all day toting this thing around. Who'd have the mood to play the game then?

Ignoring the players around him, Fatty opened his mail box and saw dozens of messages. As he flipped through the messages, he found that most of them asked after his whereabouts and why he had fallen out of contact.

"Great beauty, why've you been looking for me?" Fatty replied to a message from Liu Lan first.

"Where have you been the last two days? When I messaged you, the system said you were in a special area and couldn't be connected," Liu Lan instantly replied with a frantic tone.

"What? You could just call me in real life if you couldn't find me in-game," Fatty answered petulantly.

"It's nothing important. I didn't want to disturb you, so I didn't call. But, if you have time, you can come and help," Liu Lan said.

"OK, I've got some free time to spend right now."

Fatty arrived at the location Liu Lan gave him. He saw around a thousand players there, circling a boss as they put up a brave fight.

"Fatty, you came! Hurry and join the party!" Liu Lan had been leading a small group fighting at the front. Seeing Fatty, she quickly kicked out a person and added him to her party.

"Huh? How did you lose levels?" Liu Lan was confused when she saw Fatty's level; but then, she noticed his equipment. "Wow! Your outfit is so pretty! But… it's strange too. It doesn't look like heavy armor or leather armor. What is it?"

Fatty shared the equipment info with Liu Lan. With just a glance, Liu Lan covered her mouth from shock.

"Elemental Armor? The unique equipment of the Elementalist? It's actually a growable treasure?! Wuwu, poor little me! When will I ever get such great equipment? Tell me Fatty, why am I so pitiful?"

"Stop with the crocodile tears." Fatty rolled his eyes at Liu Lan. "What are you guys doing? You don't actually need this many people to fight a boss."

Only three or four hundred people were fighting the boss. The additional six to seven hundred were facing outward, as if guarding against possible attack from outsiders.

"Fighting for the Guild Establishment Token, of course." Liu Lan tossed her long hair. "I'm sure that this boss will drop the token; so, I have them watching out to prevent others from taking advantage."