"You are honestly so stubborn it's unbelievable," Queen Luna announced as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking you to marry me. It's just an alliance between two parties."
"And I'm telling you that I prefer to stay neutral so I can kill anyone I want," Liu Ye replied unbothered. "How about this: I will accept your rewards but instead of joining you, I will simply kill fewer rogue benders from the Earth Empire. I will only kill if I'm attacked and focus on the rest. Is that fine for you?"
"Of course not," Queen Luna denied without hesitation. "Why would I even let you free if you plan to kill my subordinates? Don't you think it would be better for me to kill you before you can go against me or even join other Empires?"
Liu Ye paused, not expecting Queen Luna would go in that direction. She could always turn on him to avoid trouble and he didn't take that into account. No affinity was deducted and her name was still blue which meant he was still safe.
"Do you think that threatening to kill me will make me want to join you more?" Liu Ye countered with a question. "Look, I really don't know if we will even survive this mission, not to mention if I will fight in the incoming war. I am yet to meet with my girlfriend or sister to know their opinion so let's focus on the job for now, okay?"
Liu Ye wanted to stall until their mission was over and he could always dip if Queen Luna got too aggressive in her poaching. Thinking about his own words, he couldn't help but pull out his chat with Xu Yue to inform her of his plans.
[Grind God: There might be war between four Empires. If they try to recruit you, deny everyone. Let's stay neutral. Inform your Guild members.]
Liu Ye wanted to close the window right away but to his surprise, Xu Yue replied almost instantly.
[Queen of Chess: Don't worry. They already tried and we said no. We wanted to consult you first before we decide on anything.]
[Queen of Chess: We are hella bored since the Quest is delayed and we miss you. Call us when you are done.]
Liu Ye didn't think a quest could be delayed since every quest should be programmed separately for each player. He was about to ask for more details when Queen Luna walked up in front of him and blocked his chat screen.
"So you're telling me I should convince your girlfriend first and you will follow her?" Queen Luna asked curiously as a soft smile formed on her face. "Okay, okay, I understand now. You just don't want to face her in battle so you are cautious. Don't worry, I already considered this a package deal. Whatever I offer you, your sister and girlfriend would receive the same."
It was definitely a decent upgrade but working for someone else would always limit their actions. He would be forced to direct an army for Queen Luna and be her general which wasn't what he wanted to spend time on. The goal was to master all Elements in the game which would help him perform the same in real life.
"As I said, quit talking about recruiting me for now. Let's talk about it after we complete our mission," Liu Ye replied and pointed behind her to get away from her. "Oh, look, what is that?"
He closed the chat window and walked towards the Ice Sphere before pretending to reach out inside. He didn't forget about the Fire Soul he received after they killed the Fire Spirit and withdrew it seamlessly. He jerked slightly when a ball of fire appeared on his palm but it turned out to be harmless to him.
[Fire Soul]
[Description: The remains of Fire Spirit containing pure Fire Element. One can use it to greatly strengthen their Fire Element Mastery. The effects depend on the Player's affinity with Fire Element.]
[Minimum Effect: +50% Fire Mastery]
[Maximum Effect: +500% Fire Mastery]
[Requirements: Lvl. 25, Firebending]
"Whoa…" Liu Ye's mouth opened in surprise, not expecting such big numbers. He already thought it would be similar to the Elemental Stone but it definitely surpassed his expectations.
"Is that the Fire Soul?" Queen Luna questioned as she caught up to him and nodded in approval when he showed her the fireball. "We are lucky. Usually, the Fire Soul fails to form but if it does, it will bring the bender great benefits once consumed."
Even the +50% Elemental Mastery at the later stages of the game would be too overpowered, not to mention the maximum effect. Knowing how hard it was to raise his mastery bar already, Liu Ye wouldn't mind stocking on the Elemental Souls.
"Are there Spirits like this in other Lands? Maybe a Water Spirit perhaps?" Liu Ye asked curiously.
"Of course, there are," Queen Luna confirmed while showing everything around him. "Spirits are everywhere and there would be little Elements in nature without them. Many of them are hidden and live in peace while the one we just defeated is more of a wild Spirit. They do whatever they please and often selfishly expand their territory which is why we don't mind killing them."
Liu Ye paused for a moment as a sudden thought struck him. "Would it be possible to still bend elements even without the Spirits?"
Queen Luna raised her eyebrows as if he was asking a weird question. "Spirits will always be present unless someone attempted to close the Spirit World and limited the flow of Elements. This would force the Spirits to return to the Spirit World to survive. Humans would still be able to bend Elements but only those with high affinity to nature."
"I see…" Liu Ye acknowledged, realizing the real world was too similar to the game. The only difference seemed to be the Spirit World which happened to be closed in real life.
Would the wild Spirits take over the world after the Spirit World opens?
Liu Ye could feel Queen Luna's suspicious stare on him so he kept the Fire Soul in his inventory and changed the topic. "You should be fine to continue, right? Let's make sure we cross those fields before the effects of your Recovery Pill ends."
Queen Luna squinted her eyes but let it go as she began melting the leftover Ice and controlled all the water. "Sure, but now that I'm unleashed, we will do it my way."
"What's your way?" Liu Ye asked while having a bad feeling about it.
Queen Luna only reached out to hold his waist and smiled while the wind around them began to blow against their hair.. "Let's just say, it's more fun."
