MMORPG: The Elementalist

Raid!

From Cayman’s perspective, this skill was not as simple as slaughtering and plundering through brute force. This was actually a professional skill, which was unique enough to allow him to stand out from a few hundred million competitors across the Mythical Continent.

As a member of a Bandit clan known as Shadow Clan, the Level 43 Phantom, Cayman, had absolute confidence in his concealment and assassination ability. But compared to his other skills, Raid was still the technique he prided himself the most on.

This technique was often deadlier than the Tier 4 Bandit skill—Heartpiercer and it was even more poisonous than the tempered weapon in his hand—the Black Widow’s Kiss.

If a war near its final phase was a convoluted mess like a pagoda constructed by pieces of wooden blocks, what he needed to do next was to find out the crux of the matter, that single point within the pagoda and target its weak spot to destroy it. This would accomplish the goal of destroying the entire pagoda.

All this while, he had been doing it perfectly!

Naturally, Cayman would not make any moves if the battle itself did not reveal any deadly weak spots. Otherwise, he would only be inviting death.

Back then, in the team of three comprised of the Berserker, the Radiant Priest, and the Electromancer, the core part of the group was actually the Radiant Priest. At the moment the Berserker died, their vigilance plummeted. In other words, it was their most vulnerable moment. All Cayman did was merely tap on that seemingly insignificant weak point—the Radiant Priest.

Cayman had timed his actions perfectly. Although the Radiant Priest only lost consciousness for a few seconds, this ‘tap’ had perfectly devastated the trio! He successfully achieved his aim without incurring any Infamy Points.

Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the Level 35 Aquamancer, Qin Ruo, disrupted his subsequent harvesting plan. This was also the first time he felt slightly uneasy.

Because all this while, he was able to carry out his operations quickly without being bothered or revealed. However, in this case, the timing of Qin Ruo’s appearance and the fresh memory from a few days ago caused him to increase his wariness. This was due to the fact that Qin Ruo was none other than the victim previously tricked by him.

Nevertheless, the subsequent actions taken by Qin Ruo reassured Cayman that his presence seemed to be undetected by the Elementalist. Qin Ruo just greedily moved towards the corpses and equipment. In addition, Qin Ruo’s Level and current predicament had caused Cayman to let his guard down.

After all, he was only a Level 35 Aquamancer. A Tier 4 Phantom had a definite advantage against a solo Elementalist!

Without much worry, he witnessed the launching of the Frostpike, which allowed Qin Ruo to trap the Galewind Wolf King twice. As Qin Ruo dived towards the Magic Scroll, Cayman could no longer contain himself and he dashed out from his hiding spot…

In terms of moving speed, an Elementalist would have never been able to match a Phantom! As soon as Qin Ruo got to the side of the Electromancer’s body, the Black Widow’s Kiss sprang out like a venomous snake. The target—Qin Ruo’s nape!

With a sizzling sound, the Water enchantment which protected Qin Ruo was easily sliced open by a dagger, which also corrupted the enchantment with a thick fog of dark aura. It was to be expected of a Tier 4 skill, Shieldbreaker, to easily overwhelm a Tier 2 defensive enchantment.

Yet, there was something Cayman did not expect. The second his attack was recognized as malicious by the system, he was suddenly trapped in an icy vault after a firm and loud sound. He had no time to launch a surprise attack.

“Freeze!”

As if literally reflecting the word, Cayman was attacked by a sudden chilly frost he had never encountered before. He was completely frozen from head to toe and he was unable to move an inch.

“I’ve been expecting you for quite some time.”

Qin Ruo slowly stood up and mindlessly placed the Thunder Element Magic Scroll into his backpack. Then, with a grin, he turned his head to greet his old friend, who had taught him a lesson once. He ignored the Galewind Wolf King, which would soon break out from its frozen state.

The horrified Cayman could barely pay attention to other details for now. He rolled his eyeballs, and watched in terror as his “friendly old buddy” greeted him with three jade white Frost Needles that abruptly solidified between them—they were ice cold, glaring needles…

Even a Tier 4 Bandit who went head-on with an Elementalist would not be able to escape death once spellbound.

It was an instant kill!

Qin Ruo did not continue recalling his anger of being killed off by Cayman previously. Killing the Bandit was rather swift and easy. He was then forced to redirect his attention immediately, because there was a more important task awaiting him. This forbade him from wasting time on unnecessary emotions.

His attention was quickly switched back to the Galewind Wolf King. The four seconds of frozen time was about to end soon…

“Ice! Net!”

With a whoosh, something appeared to ascend from the bottom of the Wolf King’s feet. A giant Frostweb resembling a spider’s net materialized quickly with an enormous frosty aura. This turned the whole battle zone into an extremely cold domain.

Frostweb!

This was the exact same skill Qin Ruo invented and used to detect the Tier 4 Bandit, Cayman, successfully burying him with it. The skill required the most common element manipulation, and it was formed by timely separation as well as organization.

This skill may not have inflicted much damage, and it was also not practical in most circumstances, even wasting a little MP. But ever since Qin Ruo was tricked and killed by Cayman, he had perhaps invented the most counter-active skill against the Bandit class. (The time and MP cost of the Frostweb was two times the amount used to cast a normal Tier 3 spell).

While witnessing the battle, he had slowly turned the vapors in the air into tiny strings—strings formed by the water element. From his feet, these strings penetrated the thick layer of fallen leaves, flowed through tiny gaps in all directions, and interlinked into a net formation, which covered a radius of 50 meters.

In such gloomy surroundings, even with light emitting from the fire released by the Galewind Wolf King, the giant net could still remain undetected beneath the fallen leaves. It was even able to elude the eyes of the most observant Bowmaster.

When these tiny strings were spread out, once another player approached and entered its 50m radius, Qin Ruo would certainly detect his or her presence. Coincidentally, Cayman who was lurking in the shadows got caught by the strings when he moved. From that exact moment, his concealment ability lost its function in its entirety in the face of Qin Ruo.

To achieve this perfect revenge plan, Qin Ruo blinded Cayman with his greed. He successfully lured Cayman out and trapped him by releasing the Frostweb hidden deep under the dead leaves. It surrounded the approaching Cayman as a result. It was a pity for Cayman that even upon death, he was unable to unravel the mystery of how he, a Level 43 Phantom was discovered and executed by a mere Level 35 Aquamancer.

The trickster would eventually be tricked!

How pathetic!

***

Once the remaining Frostweb appeared, Qin Ruo quickly controlled and froze that particular part of the water element. Simultaneously, without any trigger, the water element ring circling the waist of the Galewind Wolf King erupted the moment the word “explode” was uttered.

*Boom!*

Along with the tremendous explosive sound, jagged ice blasted in all directions. The trapped Galewind Wolf King was the first to experience its impact. It groaned in pain endlessly after being blown up. The Wolf King then roared without end and glared angrily at its enemy. Unfortunately, Qin Ruo did not give it a chance to struggle or rest. The Frostweb condensed into five Frost Arrows and shot out in a raging manner immediately after the skill, “Frostburst” was elicited.

*Poof, poof…*

The Frost Arrows hit the Wolf King’s waist in succession and caused the Galewind Wolf King to feel pain and stiffen. The Wolf King was bombarded miserably and its HP dropped below 500… then 400… In response, its actions had considerably weakened compared to the beginning. Obviously, it had been beaten into a frail state.

However, as the Chinese saying goes, “a starving camel is still larger than a horse”. Even though its full potential was trimmed by 20%, a Tier 3 Elite Boss still possessed terrifying power.

With most of his skills on cooldown, Qin Ruo did not allow the Galewind Wolf King any chance to retaliate. He quickly rolled out the Magic Scroll in his hand. Naturally, this scroll was not a Tier 4 item dropped by the Tier 4 Electromancer. Instead, it was a Water Element Magic Scroll taken out from his backpack, named “Frost Needle”.

As the Magic Scroll was unveiled, a strong magical aura pulsed from it. Three frosty, jade white Frost Needles quickly pierced into the Wolf King’s body.

The pitifully weak Galewind Wolf King already had its defense reduced significantly. There was no way it could withstand these three hits. It trembled a little. Then, the four Fireballs beneath its leg flickered weakly like a dying candle in the wind, and soon after, they vanished. After that, the golden radiance surrounding its body also dimmed altogether. It seemed like every last drop of energy was completely drained out of the Wolf King. It could not even growl as its body plunged lifelessly to the ground, scattering a large pile of fallen leaves.