MMORPG: The Elementalist

After Brother Da miraculously changed his mind and accepted the Mutated Mannequin Spider, everyone applauded Gold Digger Babe for her convincing skills.

At least the party did not have to abandon such an exceptional Pet Egg!

The Mutated Mannequin Spider’s prowess was above the Earth Enchanted Spider’s. Moreover, it could fly and its long-range attacks would keep one on their toes. Paired with its owner, they would have a more powerful advantage over other groups. If Brother Da had really given it up and the girls in the group refused to accept it, Slayer’s Heart would have considered unbinding “Ironpot”.

Thankfully, Brother Da changed his mind in the end after all. It was believed that soon, the party would have an additional Pet with good abilities…

Since the ownership of the Pet Egg was decided, everyone turned their attention toward the dark gold key in Slayer’s Heart’s hands.

“Lassie, you’re a Brigand. What is your opinion on this?”

Slayer’s Heart tossed the key toward Gold Digger Babe.

Amongst the rewards from a Boss fight, having a Boss dropping a key was not an unusual occasion. However, they lacked knowledge on a key that could not be identified or had any information. They could only rely on the help of a Brigand who was accustomed to dealing with keys.

…

Gold Digger Babe took the key and thoroughly analyzed it for a moment: aside from a special picture on the key, there was no other information on it. The key itself did not have an attribute. It was purely a crisp and clean…”Golden Key”.

“If I’m guessing it right, this key should be an item belonging to this dungeon where we can lock and unlock something within it,” Gold Digger Babe raised her head and announced.

Brother Da who was nearby immediately had his imagination stirred and started becoming excited. His brows wiggled as he asked, “You’re implying that there’s a treasure chest within this dungeon?”

“I did not say that,” Gold Digger Babe hastily denied.

Little Apple raised her hand and rapped her apprentice’s head. “Dummy! Of course it wouldn’t be a treasure chest key. If the treasure chest had a key, what’s the need of a Brigand?” Her explanation was solid.

After hearing this, Qin Ruo turned his gaze toward. Gold Digger Babe. “Is that so?”

Gold Digger Babe nodded. “That’s right.”

“The picture on this key isn’t simple⸺maybe it isn’t just a picture but something that triggers a magic circle. When inserted correctly, that magic circle will be activated… I’m not clear on its particulars, but treasure chests wouldn’t have such complex magic circles carved on it… Moreover, with a key that activates magic circles, even a top-tier Bandit would not be able to open it.”

“Little lass, what you meant was, this is a key to an activation point.” Slayer’s Heart trembled with excitement!

After roaming for so long in Aricus Underground Ruins, Slayer’s Heart finally could get familiar with the rumors about the “Aricus Underground Ruins’ secret treasures” and the legends of the “Riches of the Buried City which can dominate a country”…

If this were really a key that could activate magic circles, maybe it was an activation point to connect the Ruins with the Buried City. If that were really the case…

Everything would become far more spectacular!

“It is an important tool for an activation point for sure, but I can’t be sure whether it really is the key that leads to the Buried City…”

As a Brigand, Gold Digger Babe’s curiosity did not lose to a top-tier Bandit. She was also looking forward to experience the beauty of the Buried City which she so often heard about.

As soon as the little lass mentioned the two words, “Buried City”, everyone in the party, including the usually calm Violet Orchid was riled up!

“Is there really a Buried City?”

“Wasn’t it just a legend?”

Little Apple and iLittle Arrow did not expect the key to be related to those rumors initially. But after hearing this, their eyes suddenly gleamed and they behaved crazier than Brother Da while seeking confirmation from everyone around them.

But who could have given a definite answer on something like this?

“Let’s not overanalyze things like this. Why don’t we just go straight ahead and clear the entire dungeon to find it out ourselves?” Brother Da who loved giving extreme proposals for these sort of situations suggested.

Everyone agreed unanimously!

But as they mentioned resuming their journey, Qin Ruo suddenly remembered something important.

“Everyone check how many potions you are left with. I’m running low.” During battles, aside from having to maintain the Twelve Frostramparts Formation while handling the dual defense spells and Million Arrow Sleet, the party member with most magical consumption was himself. Another half an hour of continuous combat would empty the remaining few dozen sets of MP potions. He was only left with one and a half MP Potion (M). .

“I have seven sets left.”

“… six sets.”

Aside from their mana consumption for AoE Assault and defensive spells, Burning Rose and Xiaoxiao had it better.

Slayer’s Heart, Little Apple, and Brother Da did not usually use up many MP potions. But they did consume many HP Potions during the third wave of attack earlier, using up two sets within minutes.

Everyone rearranged and redistributed the potions within their backpacks then only started discussing hitting the road⸺at the moment, Ironpot’s level had reached Level 31, Poochie was Level 36, and the Ice Python Fang was Level 38…

***

Move out!

The third attack wave had the entire team in a mess and their spirits shaken. Moreover, it cost them quite an amount of HP Potions and other supplies. Naturally, nobody dared to take the subsequent battles lightly.

The fourth wave had not arrived. But when it does come, it would definitely be more ferocious than the third!

Although Slayer’s Heart intended to explore the entire dungeon for the day, he did not want to impose this goal upon the rest of his party members…

With that, the ten formed a circle and discussed whether to proceed down the dungeon and if they do, how they would handle the next battle!

Finally, everyone devised a good plan together.

Taking the advantage of the dungeon which was designed by the spiders⸺within the dungeon, every corridor’s crossroads would have four directions like a T-junction where the spider hordes would be waiting to ambush them.

The first to enter would be Scarlet Bauhinia’s team…

Since they were not aware of what happened, no one would prepare for the four-way ambush of the spiders and walk right into a gruesome and tragic death in the dungeon!

Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid thought of luring the spiders ahead of time, diverting them from the intersection while reducing the enemies from four directions down to two directions. This would reduce their impending difficulty and threats, ultimately reducing the pressure on the party members.

Since they could trigger the attack in advance…

Could they perhaps also delay the attacks? Could they further reduce the two-way attacks down to just one?

This thought was noticed by Xiaoxiao, but Qin Ruo and the rest had yet to realize it!

Since Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid were the ones who first thought of this method of simplifying their ordeal, and since the team could handle the attacks, that was why no one had ever thought about it.

Xiaoxiao had felt that the dungeon’s spiders’ pressing attacks and momentum from the beginning and that was why she started thinking from that angle…

In the dungeon, where the front three lanes intersected, the spiders would slowly gather and bury themselves there because of approaching players.

But what about the backend of it?

Until the players were from a certain close distance from the crossroads, the spiders would start their pursuit from behind…

“What do you mean?” Slayer’s Heart questioned hastily, as if he had caught a ray of hopeful light.

“We divide into two groups⸺one group stays in place to destroy the swarm of spiders coming from behind; another group will set off the trap,” Xiaoxiao explained.

Violet Orchid’s eyes lit up the moment that reached her ears and nodded approvingly to Xiaoxiao.

Violet Orchid completely understood Xiaoxiao’s plan. Xiaoxiao meant that the party member who was most agile and with the best vision aka iLittleArrow the Lunar Spellgunner to approach the fourth crossroad to trigger the ambush…

While leaving the front three lanes alone, they would let the spiders hidden within the lane behind them encounter the main members of their party.

The number of spiders behind them were the least and the possibilities of a Boas appearing would be low too. It was the group that was the easiest to wipe out, especially when it makes a move on the remaining nine of them, they could be easily conquered even if they were all Tier 5 monsters.

It was not a difficult task to exterminate the spider swarm behind them, in fact, they would even have the advantage of understanding the difficulty level of the fourth wave of the spider swarm and would be able to prepare in advance.

“Great!”

Slayer’s Heart clapped his hands in excitement and pointed toward iLittle Arrow. “It’s settled then! iLittle Arrow, go on ahead first, we will sit here and wait. If there’s anything from us, we’ll contact you through the party channel… Always stay connected to us.”

“Got it!”

iLittle Arrow tidied up and pulled out Illuminating Crystal, then sped right into the dark corridor.

“Everyone, get ready!”

After turning around, Slayer’s Heart sat up and said, “The spider swarm may appear anytime. Everyone, be alert.”

“Little Apple, take out two Illuminating Crystals, from about a distance of two hundred meters should be enough for Little Qin to activate the Frostramparts Formation at any crucial moment …”

After everything was in order, the hunky Qin Ruo shifted his weight from the ground to stand up while saying, “With a woman like Xiaoxiao who’s so smart and thoughtful, you’d better learn how to cherish her, you punk!”

Flop!

Someone seemed to have stumbled over…