A no elemental affinity player is the weakest type of player in Elementarem Vim.
A simple ‘F’ or an ‘E’ level quest for them would appear like a mountain; an ardourous task. It would require the determination, brains and the luck to be able to successful complete quests. Just possessing these three qualities would enable a non elemental affinity player to scrape by. Their gaming adventure would be filled with nothing but difficulties.
Lee Jun wasn’t the only player to have taken a non elemental affinity player. There were some who had intentionally taken a non elemental affinity player in the hopes to unlock or find something unique. Initially there was a great number of them who tried hands at non elemental affinity players gambling their luck but gradually with time as the game progressed it became clearer and clearer that it was an unending path of difficulties (worse than a dead end). The number of players choosing a non elemental affinity was already very low within a few months the numbers dropped to only a few. As more time passed, those who created such a character deleted it or created a new one with elemental affinity or selected an elemental affinity with a lowered elemental powers (20% penalty). Finally there were only a handful of players in all of Versailles left who had no elemental ability; Lee Jun was one of those few.
How bad could having no elemental power be? Imagine living in a world where magic was considered to be the most normal thing ever (Author Note: like Harry Potter) Imagine what societies would be like or how technology would evolve. Now imagine not being able to use magic. In effect it is the same as not being able to use technology or being part of the society. Being shunned or looked down upon or even pitied would be the least of your worries, those without magic would have to break their heads over more simple tasks like getting by in their daily lives.
It was no different for these no elemental power players. Nearly all quests required some degree of elemental power or could be done easily with elemental power. Not having anything was crippling. Any battle would require patience and planning for non elemental affinity players. They would have to foresee everything and then be able to formulate a plan that would be advantageous to them. Otherwise they would be reduced to mere sideline audiences; only being able to spectate battles and not being able to participate in them….Weed’s position during the current turmoil was no different.
“Preparation is key.” Weed said as he went through the corpses of people lying around. There were plenty of items ripe for picking. Weed mostly picked up money or jewelry and avoided anything heavy. He was in no hurry to see the battle between Arthur and Richard, if anything he was procrastinating. He knew what was unfolding but didn’t know how he could change the flow and finally the outcome…
Weed removed a necklace from the last body and placed it in his inventory. By his estimates he had looted close to twenty thousand gold coins worth of loot. The nobles were rich and they didn’t hold back in showing it. Weed started feeling a bit better as he quickly glanced through all the jewelry he had stolen which was especially valuable. Seeing these jewels reminded him of his tryst in the dwarven Northern City; the treasure of Count Du Kristo. What he looted now was a pitiful and severely lacking compared to the dwarvf’s treasure and Weed wondered whether he should be regretting letting it go.
Lee Jun was certain it wasn’t just another piece of expensive stone. He was certain since he had seen from the reporters video after logging out from VR; the granny’s punch was the only thing that scratched Shadow. It was just a scratch nothing more. Only a few people guessed that the ring could have had anything to do with it; Lee Jun was one of them since he made the ring and acquired the stone for it. Money … Great riches or Power? That was the question to be answered. Which truly held the key to beating the game? Power would merely mean being able to keep Shadow at bay…but great riches would mean Weed could hire armies of players to heed his commands….
“Either ways its worth will be revealed today….” Weed muttered. Weed stopped as he noticed a shiny object in the distance. ‘Looks like I missed one.’
Weed made his way to the last piece of jewelry. It was a small earring, maybe diamond studded. Weed looked at the object with complete dread; he recognized it immediately, it belonged to Lady Catalan. Weed stood frozen in his position and his hands trembled slightly as he held up the earring.
‘Why? Why? Why do I care about a damned NPC?’ Weed shouted out in his mind, clearing all other thoughts that he was thinking. “Why do I care about someone I just met?” Weed said as he looked at the earring.
Lady Catalan was an insignificant noble lady of Versailles continent who possessed merely average charm and political power as any lady in her stature was expected to hold. For a player she was nothing more than any other NPC; a stepping stone in the game. Yet, Weed was torn from within. He could not view her as an NPC, there was desperation in her voice, fear in her eyes and most of all she trusted Weed when he promised her her safety. Though Weed was not responsible for death directly, it could easily be seen how he did lead the lady to her death. Weed could kill a dozen monsters or hundreds of soldiers but his heart waivered every time he thought of Catalan’s fearful expression and his promise. Weed held his promise sacred above everything else for he knew what it means to be betrayed…
Weed squarely blamed the wind god’s interference for Catalan’s death; an alternative version of the truth which he preferred. ‘Had the god not interfered Emily would have been stronger and Catalan would have been alive.’
“Stupid wind god…” Weed mumbled as he tucked away Catalan’s earring separately from the rest of the stash.
TRRINGG!
You have been overheard!
The Guardian of the land has deemed you unworthy of the gifts of Wind!
Wind element resistance has been decreased by 90% while in Lavias and bordering regions!!
Weed paused as he read the message. This was not the first time he had been penalized for cursing the Wind God, so Weed was hardly surprised. Weed had been punished much more severely when he was just a beginner in Lavias. Previously, he had to deal with multiple deaths arising from cursing the god. This hardly counted as a punishment in his eyes but it was still enough to push Weed to breaking point. He was already an overwhelmingly weak player, a penalty effect like this during such a critical time did not help. How was he now supposed to intervene between Arthur and Richard if he could not withstand any misdirected oncoming wind attacks?
Weed pretty much blew his top as he finished reading the message. “WOAH, Guardians must be proof evolution works in reverse!” Weed shouted out as if he were challenging the Guardian to do his worst.
TRRINGG!
You have been overheard!
The Guardian of the land has deemed you unworthy of the gifts of Wind!
Wind element resistance has been decreased by 100% while in Lavias and bordering regions!!
You have no resistance of wind attacks! You will take critical damage on strike!
Wind element affinity has been decreased by 100% while in Lavias and bordering regions!!
You may no longer use wind affinity for blacksmithing while in Lavias!! This effect is permanent and can only be removed if all the conditions listed below are satisfied:
> Blessings of a high priest from the wind temple
> Repentance for your actions
> Forgiveness from Lavias’ guardian
If the message was meant to silence Weed, it had quite the opposite spectacular effect. Weed turned bright red as he red the message, his anger boiling and temper rising higher and higer. ‘Take my blacksmithing away from me, eh? Will you?’
“You must have been born on a battlefield because that's where most tragedies happen.” Weed shouted out one more creative taunt. If a player had a death wish Weed would make an exemplary example.
TRRINGG!
You have been overheard!
The Guardian of the land has warned you many times and yet you have not heeded their warning, continuing to insult the guardian of the land will unleash their wrath upon you!
You…
Weed didn’t even bother reading the complete message, he simply closed the window and continued on. “Roses are RED! Violets ARE BLUE! GUARDIANS SUCK ALL THE WAY THROUGH!”
TRRINGG!
The Guardian is growing angry!
Strong winds will blow at you while in the open!
Weed didn’t care about the message. He was like a man in the middle of the storm, he knew exactly how helpless he was. There was nothing he could do, even if were to intervene between Arthur and Richard he would be reduced to a mere spectator. This was more fun, at least he was able to vent out some of his pent up anger and frustration.
The winds picked speed and changed directions, if this happened in the real world it would completely baffle scientists. Strong winds blew from each street in Lavias, like running soldiers and jumped over high walls and buildings like nothing more than small stones in their path. The winds blew from all corners to one direction…the Lord’s mansion. Gale force winds began hitting Weed as he was barely able to to keep himself standing. Weed grabbed on to some heavy armor just to hold himself down and prevent himself from flying away.
“IS THAT THE WORST YOU CAN DO, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!” Weed shouted out as he closed his eyes to prevent dirt from entering.
TRRINGG!
You have unleashed the Guardian’s wrath upon you!
If gale force winds weren’t enough to stop Weed then a localized tornado surely ought to have been. The winds began converging upon Weed in a circular fashion, spinning faster and faster till it began lifting dust, small stones, pebbles, uprooting small shurbs. Weed grabbed on to whatever he could find. He wasn’t going to give in. The battle between Arthur and Richard also came to a temporary halt however Weed had no idea, he was simply scrambling to hold on to whatever he could find. Tiles from the roof of the mansion were sucked into the localized tornado and corpses began to move slowly as the wind began lifting them. Weed held on tightly to a tree as his legs were lifted into the air.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“HEY YOU STUPID WIND GOD! SO MANY OF YOUR PEOPLE JUST DIED ARE YOU GOING TO JUST TAKE OUT YOUR ANGER ON ME?” Weed shouted out angrily. He was as loud as he could be but his voice was lost in the howling of the wind.
NPCs from a distance could see a tall column of dust sprouting from the ground and extending into the sky. They all wondered what could it possibly be. Players who were in the vicinity too saw the pillar of dusty wind shooting into the sky many concluded it was the work of either a player or a very powerful NPC. All those who witnessed the phenomena began making their way to the pillar of wind. There was bound to be something exciting happening and everyone wanted to be a part of it. Since Lavias was a city filled with beginners, many weak individuals raced to the scene, creating chaos and panic along the way. NPC’s shut down late night stores and NPC residents bolted their windows and doors; they believed it was an evil omen. Players were yet to aquaint themselves with the religions of the Versailles land however NPCs knew better. NPCs may not have understood what caused the wind to rise as such or who was capable of such strength, what they did know was from superstitions as players labelled it; gods wrath.
“HEY ARE YOU LISTENING YOU BIG FAT LAZY GOD?”
TRRINGG!
You learnt the skill taunt!
‘Finally…’ Weed looked at the message with a smile. He had shouting insults out at the top of his voice for the last hour. His voice had nearly gone and his throat was dry. One would have have thought Weed had gone crazy and was talking to thin air….but Weed knew better. He knew with each passing warning message he was holding a conversation with the guardian of the land. On the surface he appeared to be a frustrated and angry young elf but deep within it was a calculated move by Weed. That did not discount the fact that Weed wasn’t angry or frustrated when he showered the wind god with insults. Although an act his emotions were completely real.
Weed had known all along that there existed a higher form of being in this game known as a God. Overtime he was able to uncover clues that there existed four major Gods; one for each major element. Weed’s hypothesis was that the God’s were active NPCs that were monitoring a limited area of the game at any given point of time and could meddle in the affairs of players. More specifically Weed believed that Gods were using players as nothing more than chess pieces in a much larger game. How did Weed fall upon such a ridiculous and preposterous presumption? It was a radical theory Weed admitted to himself however no matter how he looked at it, he could see that upsetting a God would imply punishment then conversely doing something that appeased a God would mean being favoured?
If one pondered about it further, what would appease a God? And why do Gods’ need to be appeased in the first place? If Gods’ themselves had some kind of objective then it all made sense. Players who go against Gods would incur the wrath since they are of no help and maybe even counter productive to the society which worships these great beings….
For now Weed could only think of this as nothing more than a conjecture. There was no solid evidence for this and he could have certainly got it completely wrong. The other plausible and more probable truth was that Gods have petty ,moody and simple personalities; making them angry attracted penalties (much like how Weed gathered many of) and appeasing them brought upon benefits. Maybe it was as simple as that. Although the latter was more probable and a likely explanation, there was one factor it didn’t account for; Lee Hyun.
Weed wondered if anything in this game was really as simple as it appeared. In fact after his moment of clarity he wondered about everything he experienced in this game. Was the white room when they logged in a new way of loading to break away from the stereotypical or something else? Why were cities names still the same and parts of some cities similar to those in Royal Road? Was this intentional or just over lapping imagination? The choices of elements and unity of races was also very different from the Royal Road, Weed knew. When Weed viewed everything from this perspective, he wondered if players were simply dancing in the palm of Lee Hyun from the very start?
It had been nearly two years and the progress in the game by players had stagnated. It had stagnated on two levels, players were finding it difficult to access newer cities and players lost focus of their original goal; the billion dollar prize. Every time someone rushed towards it, they would meet obstacles, both good ones and bad ones which would deviate them from their course. Weed had experienced this first hand. In fact this is what convinced Weed that the game was rigged somehow to always digress them from their journey. It was done so subtly, that no one but the top few players / pro-gamers might have noticed it. Weed was an exception to the rule since he was neither a top player or a pro-gamer. To simply conclude, being Lee Hyun’s game there was no way things happened just by coincidence.
Any battle for a no element affinity player would require patience and planning. They would have to foresee everything and then be able to formulate a plan that would be advantageous to them. Otherwise they would be reduced to mere sideline audiences; only being able to spectate battles and not being able to participate in them…
A no element affinity player is the weakest player in the Versailles continent, however what if a no element affinity player could manipulate divine powers for his or her personal benefit? Weed had two courses of action either personally intervene in Arthur’s and Richard’s battle or get someone else more powerful than both to intervene. Weed went ahead with the latter option. He refused to be a mere spectator and tried his luck with divine intervention; it was his only chance of getting Richard and Arthur from killing each other; for neither was the real enemy.
“OH LOOK AT ME! I AM THE WIND GOD!! DEITY OF THE LAND AND I PASS GAS AND PEOPLE CALL IT A BREEZE!!” Weed shouted out using Lion’s Roar. It was the only way to get his voice to be louder than the wind. Furthermore, with the added effect of taunt it further attracted the attention of those the message was intended.
“…” Weed paused as he used all of his strength to grab on to the tree. The tornado was becoming faster and more powerful. Even the tree which Weed held onto was having difficulty clinging on to the soil.
“I AM SO STUPID TO LET ALL MY PEOPLE DIE!!” Weed shouted from the corner of his lips as he clenched his teeth.
“…” Weed wondered if his voice was piercing through the winds or not as he no longer received any more messages.
“I REVOKED THE POWERS OF THOSE SENT BY GRACE WITHOUT KNOWING ANY BETTER!” Weed was gripping on to the tree with his bare finger nails. He was slowly but surely being pulled away.
“…” Weed held on tight. ‘Common…’
“I AM THE DUMBEST GUARDIAN OF THE LAND IN ALL OF VERSAILLEs” Weed was barely able to hold on to the tree. He knew he had a few more insults left before it was over for him. If he was sucked into the tornado it would only end with his death (nausea and then death).
‘What will get me to evoke a reaction….seriously…’ Weed wondered as his grip loosened and Weed was now at the mercy of the winds. Just before letting go, Weed without knowing any better and whispered a local slang. “HEY PANDA PISS….”
Everything came to a grinding halt. The wind stopped blowing, all sorts of objects began falling from the sky. Weed who had just become air borne was fortunate enough that he fell only from a height of ten feet; thus not injuring himself. After a few minutes of various objects falling from the sky, everything quietened down. In fact it felt more like a suffocating silence. Weed looked around, there were bodies scattered everywhere and the Lord’s mansion was completely ruined.
‘Should I continue?’ Weed wondered why it all came to a grinding halt. But before Weed could say any more insults, he stopped himself right there. A huge shadow eclipsed over him.
Weed slowly turned around…the colors of the world around him faded away and everything was colored in hues of black, white and grays…Weed had no way of confirming it immediately but he knew that time had paused…as Weed looked at what created the massive shadow eclipsing him…behind Weed sat a Panda.
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Authors Note:
1. Sorry for the long delay. Its been pretty crazy at work and I havent had a single weekend off.
2. This chapter doesn't add much in terms of action and material progress. The next one will. This one however does outline some weird clues and ties up somethings that I began in Vol 1 but left open ended. This and Vol 1 will soon become part of something bigger. So don't dismiss it as another boring chapter.
3. Good news is, I have the next few chapters are in draft state too and a break from work is lined up this weekend. So I should be able to pace chapters nicely.
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