'What do you mean?' Xu Yue questioned in his mind but even Liu Ye didn't even know how to describe it.
"I will talk to you later," Liu Ye replied and canceled the call to focus on his situation. He only needed one glance to know he was potentially in deep trouble.
"Follow me. We need to register ourselves," Marco said excitedly as he patted Liu Ye on the shoulder. "This is also my first time here so we need to get a permit to enter the city."
The whole place looked like a giant airport but instead of planes, people were using the Teleportation platforms to go in and out of the city. There were tens of them scattered around the building with hundreds of NPC rotating around the Mainland each minute.
Liu Ye didn't expect the game would be so developed from the start.
[Fire Land - Black Scorpion City]
[Earth Land - Capital]
[Air Land - Sky City]
[Water Land - Waterfall City]
[Special Destinations]
Each Major City seemed to have its own Teleportation Platform while their own wasn't specified at all.
"Next!"
Just as they stepped down, they were hurried up by the uniformed personnel who just finished with the last person in the queue. Since the platforms were surrounded by some kind of barrier, their only way out was to go through the guarded check-in.
"Morning Sir, this is our first visit so we would like to register ourselves," Marco greeted the man by the counter with a smile, but the guy only stared at them suspiciously.
[Station Official - Lvl. 55]
[HP: 25000/25000]
[MP: 5000/5000]
It was good he didn't question them yet because Liu Ye was in shock after seeing the official's HP. If he wanted to kill him using normal methods, Liu Ye would have to bash him for hours or even days. How was he supposed to farm if all the monsters and NPC in the area were so high-leveled?
Liu Ye would only have 550 HP after reaching levels 55 and 1100 if he used his Victorious Set. The only explanation could be the difference in items. All the bracelets, rings, necklaces, and even Essence Crystals implanted in the Official's white leather uniform could influence the health, mana and the damage dealt. One could even invest in vitality which Liu Ye had to investigate.
"Is there a problem, Sir?" Marco questioned awkwardly to break the silence.
"Oh, no, I was just wondering if you are qualified to enter the Emerald City," the Official replied casually and pulled out a transparent crystal ball. "I have to test your Elemental Score before we can even move on to the permit. Since we are a city for the elites, the minimum score that we allow is 20 and anyone under will have to go back."
Both Liu Ye and Marco glanced at him confused.
"Let me guess, you live in a distant village and you don't even know what an Elemental Score is, right?" the Official asked speechlessly, and seeing their nod, he facepalmed himself while muttering to himself, "Gosh… Why do I keep getting those newbies… It's already the second one today."
"Oh, did anyone else come from a special destination like us?" Liu Ye asked curiously, thinking he would be the only one. Unless someone was unlucky to be sent here randomly, they had to find the right Quest.
"Yeah, not too long ago a guy came over but his score has barely reached 15," the Official replied lazily as he placed the crystal ball at the counter. "Rules are rules so I had to send him back. Now it's your turn so go ahead and place your palm on the crystal ball."
"How does it work?" Marco asked cautiously as he reached out to the ball first.
"All you have to do is touch it and the ball will change color depending on your score," the Official explained as he passed them a card. "The max score you can get is 100. You can look at this scoring table to see what—"
He couldn't even finish speaking when the crystal ball already started changing colors. From a white mist to full white and then it began filling with a tint of yellow. It wasn't long before it slowly upgraded into bright orange and stopped changing.
"Whoa, not bad," the Official praised surprised as he neared his face to check the color. "It's a solid 30 points. How many Elements have you mastered so far?"
"Only one, Sir. I'm an Earthbender," Marco replied excitedly. "I haven't mastered my Element fully yet though."
"That means you have the potential to master 2 more Elements. Congratulations," the Official informed with a smile. "Experts like you are always welcome in the Emerald City. I will go ahead and fill your Orange Permit."
"Thank you, Sir!" Marco acknowledged and turned to Liu Ye. "Now it's your turn. I will be cheering for you to get an orange as well."
The Official nodded, "That's right. An Orange Permit is the second tier one and will allow you to enter most zones in the Emerald City. It will not grant you any additional benefits though. They are reserved for higher tiers."
Knowing it was his turn, Liu Ye couldn't help but read the card to learn how the scoring worked.
[Elemental Score Test]
[Description: The test measures the Player's affinity to the Elements. After touching the crystal ball, it will change into the color representing your points. For each of the Five Elements: Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Spirit, a player can receive 20 points. Mastering each element fully grants 15 points while having a great potential for particular Element grants 5 points. One could score 25 points even without mastering any Elements.]
[White: 0-10 points]
[Yellow: 11-20 points]
[Orange: 21-30 points]
[Red: 31-40 points]
[Light Green: 41-50 points]
[Dark Green: 51-60 points]
[Light Blue: 61-70 points]
[Dark Blue: 71-80 points]
[Purple: 81-90 points]
[Black: 91-100 points]
[Note: The Grading will be judged by the Official.]
"Okay, now it's your turn," the Official hurried while he began filling out a card for Marco. "When the crystal turns transparent it means it has already reset."
Liu Ye was quite confident about this test but knowing another player failed it, does that mean not every player had an equal potential? Now that he thought about it, Elemental Stones were also working based on the player's potential. It could be set to random but that would be totally unfair. There had to be another factor that determined the potential.
When he touched the glass surface of the ball, Liu Ye felt something suck the energy out of him. It made his mind cloudy for a second but it faded soon after.
"White… Yellow… Come on, turn orange," Marco muttered as he watched the color closely and he gripped Liu Ye's shoulder when they saw a tint of Orange. "Nice! We are in!"
"That's impressive," the Official approved again while already pulling out another Orange Permit from the pile. "Two Orange Permits from the Special Destination is definitely something to talk about. I need to tell my friends after wor—"
He was lifting his stamp to approve another Orange Permit when the color didn't stop improving, forcing him to hold. When the ball turned into bright orange and then stabilized at half red, the Official couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"That's at least 35 points! Tsk, why didn't you tell me you already Mastered two Elements? I thought you two are newbies but it seems you two are not that bad," the Official snickered as he reached out for the Red Permit instead. "This Permit will give you a 10% discount in many stores and give you access to a special training zone of the Academy. Even I only have Red Permit so consider yourself as an exper—"
"Actually," Liu Ye cut him off. "I have only started mastering my Waterbending yesterday and I only know a few abilities. I haven't learned any other Elements."
"W-what?" The Official looked at him dumbfounded. "You want to tell me you only know one element and actually have the potential to Master all 5 Elements?"
Liu Ye scratched his head as he remained humble. "I mean if that is what the crystal ball says. It's just potential, right? It's not like I will master them for sure."
"This…" the Official stared at him speechlessly and suddenly looked around as if he was searching for someone. Noticing a mature woman in black uniform, he excused himself from the table and rushed to his side.
The Official whispered something to her ear, causing the woman to glance at Liu Ye surprised. She observed him for a moment before nodding at the Official. When he came back, he actually put the Red Permit card away and grabbed a Light Green one from under the table.
"I talked to my supervisor and she agreed to give Sir a Light Green Permit," the Official explained as his whole attitude changed. "We have this unspoken rule to upgrade the permits if we meet someone who has the potential to Master all 5 Elements."
He smiled after stamping them and announced while reaching out his hand. "Okay, that will be 200 gold each for the Permits."
