The Azure Dragon

by Vladimir Vasilenko

  "Yeah, I suppose. Hey, Viper! Chilling again?"

  "Sorry, commander! I was going to help Bison and Kerim with the traps, but…"

  "No, go with the newbies. Show them where the old camp was. Help them with the navigation until the end of the session."

  "Yes, sir!"

  The expression on the guy's face made it obvious that he was happy about the job. No kidding. I would have much rather gone on reconnaissance in the jungle instead of doing boring chores.

  The conversation was over—Genghis just nodded and went about his business. Viper conspiratorially winked and shook his head, giving us a sign to move to the western border of the site. He seemed anxious to get out of there.

  "By the way, the weapons you have are not very suitable," he sighed, when we delved into the thickets.

  "Why is that?" Bers responded skeptically. "My axes have never let me down."

  "I like my mace quite a bit," Daniel loudly mumbled from under his mega-helmet. "One blow and there will be nothing left but a greasy spot."

  The big man ended up keeping the two-handed mace acquired in the Temple of the Black Snake. It looked too big even for him, but he had enough strength to carry it around. When he leveled up, it would be just right. It was definitely something he could grow into.

  "Yeah, I'm not talking about that," dismissed Viper, flashing his white teeth against his dark face. "Moving around the jungle will not be very convenient, especially when we get off the trails."

  His words were confirmed pretty quickly.

  I have seen a lot traveling around Artar. For instance, the forests could be very different, depending on the location. The Grove of Horse Thieves was very different from the forests on the slopes of the Gray Peak. And would recognize the swampy Dead Forest right away. The local jungle, on the other hand, came as a surprise to me. Of course, I saw the rainforest in the pictures or in the movies, but these pictures did not accurately reflect what was happening in such thickets. For example, the fact that oftentimes, we had to literally chop our way through it.

  The old trees here were huge, tens of meters high; the trunks were bigger than several men in girth and were located quite far from each other. All the space between them was filled with vegetation and smaller, young trees and shrubs with large fleshy leaves the size of a large plate. Sometimes the only way to get through them was to cut the branches. Viper's short broad saber, similar to a machete, was best suited for that. A little later, Terekhov joined him, and his sword came in handy for chopping the leaves and stems. The rest had to follow them in single file. Axes or any striking weapons couldn't deal with the local lush vegetation.

  The second main difference between Uobo jungle and the forests of the East coast were the sounds. I already got used to the fact that the forest is usually relatively quiet, except for the rustle of the leaves and the chirping of some birds. The local kingdom of greenery brought down on us a whole cacophony of sounds—chattering, hooting, croaking, wheezing, crackling, humming, and at times even screaming like that of a banshee. At first, I turned my head, trying to determine the source of the sounds, but then I realized that there was no point in it.

  Trying to navigate in this chaos was also pointless. Viper stopped from time to time and checked the map. But I think it only worked because the game maps showed your current location. Keeping track of any landmarks here was useless.

  It's not that there were no good markers. Right there, for example, a strange dead tree with a gray as a stone trunk and black burnt branches was standing. It must have been hit by the lightning once before. And there was a whole clearing of bushes with bright pink flowers the size of a plate. There was also a stream that blurred the roots of the tree so that it looked like it went up on its tiptoes, letting the water pass.

  But because of the dense vegetation, all these remarkable places could have been seen only when you came in close contact with them. Everything sunk in lush green foliage. There was a whole maze above our heads. The branches of the giant trees intertwined, forming a single crown. A bunch of vines and long mossy shreds were hanging down from above. The light could barely penetrate through this crown, thus creating a greenish shade under it.

  The fauna was just as abundant, though we haven't met any dangerous species yet. Lizards were scurrying under our feet, the shadows of birds and small big-eyed monkeys, that looked like lemurs, flashed over the heads. Fortunately, no blood-sucking creatures like mosquitoes were bothering us. Although, there were also a lot of insects around, and some of them were the size of at least a finger.

  As it turned out, Kata was horrified by all multiped critters. When a foot-long centipede crawled onto her shoulder, Kata's screeching scared a bunch of monkeys perched on the branches above our heads. Agitated, they threw stinky lumps of dirt at us. At least, I wanted to think they were just lumps of dirt.

  It was hot and humid. Once again I praised the developers of Artar for the fact that they did not go too far with realism when it came to sweating and other unpleasant physiological processes. For even in my relatively light leather armor moving around the jungle was not very comfortable. I wanted to drop this burdensome gear, but thought that diving into one of the streams or ponds we saw along the way would have been even better.

  But from time to time, I came across things that made me want to get into an enclosed steel capsule instead of diving into anything in this jungle. For example, when wading a small river, almost everyone caught small but fierce toothy fish the size of a palm on their boots. A few minutes later, Viper saw a long dark silhouette that looked like a sunken log in the water and rushed the others with the crossing. We even had to jog a little, away from the shore.

  "Was that a crocodile?" Bers asked as we finally slowed down.

  "Worse. Gbahali," Viper shook his head.

  "What kind of animal is that? We have nine people here! Couldn't we tackle it?"

  "We could," the guy replied not very confidently. "But it's better to stay away from them in the water. On the shore, they aren't as dangerous. By the way, it's a good idea overall not to meddle in the water. Just a tip for the future."

  "Okay, noted. How far is it to the old camp?"

  "Not really far if we could just go straight. But it's Wobo—you can't go too fast here... Oh, by the way, we better avoid these things too."

  He held Kata back, who almost plopped her boot on the edge of a large round puddle, masked by long grass and algae so thick that only the middle sparkled, dark and smooth, like a pupil.

  "It's a trap. It's deeper than it looks. There is a Bog Slosher on the bottom of it. Let me mark it on the map."

  "Are you mapping hazards?"

  "No. This is for our hunters. Bog Sloshers are valuable prey. They can be used as ingredients for crafting and alchemy. Plus, they give plenty of experience."

  "How do you get one out of there?"

  "By tricking it. Put a piece of meat on a hook and attach the hook to a rope. Then pull slowly. But you should know what you're doing. This beast is unpredictable. It all depends on how long he's been sitting there. Sometimes, they get as fat as a hippo. Then you definitely need a big team."

  "Yeah."

  "This jungle is dangerous because everything is kind of out of balance. You can stroll for half an hour and not see anything and then all of a sudden some monstrosity will jump out at you from behind a bush."

  "Well, how about your camp? Do you know who ruined it? Players or local mobs?" Terekhov asked.

  "Vanaras,” Viper whispered and started to look around.

  "Who are vanaras? And why are we whispering?"

  The guy sheepishly grimaced and scratched his forehead, sliding the helmet up. His hair was black, shiny, and curly, like some Prince Charming. Actually, his hair resembled Aladdin's in combination with dark skin and black eyes.

  "Nobody really knows... They're like ghosts that appear out of nowhere and disappear without a trace. They most often attack loners or small groups."

  He kept
walking, cutting the way through the bushes. We followed him, and Terekhov continued questioning him.

  "So you don't know anything about them?"

  "On the Artar website, it says that they are like monkey people, guardians of the jungle. It sounds like it could be true. Our warriors killed a few, but I never did. I've never even seen their bodies. The ones, who saw them, say, that they really look like monkeys, hairy and tailed. But able to reason. Ridiculously strong. I heard they can tear a man in half and they jump like locusts."

  "Oh, these guardians of the forest," muttered Doc. "I remember, we've dealt with some of those once. I did not like it."

  "Yep," Sting echoed. "But those were dryads, and they had boobs. It sounds like these are some hairy imps."

  "Their shamans are the worst," continued Viper, like a kid telling scary stories by the fire. "They can control trees, vines, and all living creatures. So you can't hide from them. The usual defense such as fire, ice, or spells isn't going to work."

  "Yeah, that's a thrill," sarcastically said Terekhov. "Have they attacked the camp before?"

  "That's the thing. We've been here almost a month without a single attack. We have a menhir in the camp. It's supposed to scare away all the mobs. Of course, it is mobile and weaker than the regular ones, but it still should have worked. So it’s crazy.”

  "Where do they live? Maybe they have respawn places somewhere nearby?"

  Viper only spread his arms.

  "No one knows. We've never even come across their tracks, though we've searched a fairly large part of the jungle. I'm telling you, they come out of nowhere."

  "That doesn't happen," Doc shook his head. "Even here."

  “Maybe some kind of magic? Are they invisible?" Assumed Edge.

  "Yes, easily," sighed Viper. "This stuff is pretty popular here. But what is strange is that, for some reason, they hadn't attacked us before. And all of a sudden, they decided they don't like our camp."

  "Maybe it's not in the camp but the people in it," assumed Doc. "Maybe you snooped where you shouldn't and angered vanaras?"

  "I don't think so. Maybe I don't know something, though. I am new in the squad—joined two weeks ago. But all this time we did nothing unusual. We tried to level up, collected valuable resources for sale…"

  He must be lying. Back on the White Shore, he mentioned something about skirmishes with the Corsairs. If he joined the squad recently, he wouldn't have had time to take part in them. Why would he be bragging?

  "What is this important mission for which we were deployed here as reinforcements?" Bers asked point blank.

  "I have no idea. I'm just a private. I go where they tell me to go. No one discusses any plans with me."

  Now, that might have been true. I didn't think Genghis would have sent a fighter who knows his plans. Besides, Viper seemed to be a simpleton, and it would be obvious if he tried to fool us. I also decided to try to get some information out of him.

  "So what kind of trade did you have with the Corsairs this morning? What did you get in exchange for the Eye of Dahamesh? Do you know?"

  "I do. But I'm not telling you," the dark-haired guy smiled slyly. "Sorry, guys. I have nothing against you. But I have clear orders: tell you nothing. If you want to know something, ask Genghis."

  "Oh, come on! What's the conspiracy for?" Bers snorted. "We joined your squad, so sooner or later, we'll find out."

  "Probably. Not from me though."

  He's so stubborn! We should have known.

  Viper suddenly froze, cautiously raising his hand clenched into a fist. We stopped, too, and listened. Among the constant cacophony in this green kingdom, it was difficult to isolate any specific sounds, but soon it became clear what alarmed our guide—heavy tramping. It was followed by the snapping of twigs, the rustling of leaves, and piercing shrieks. It was worse that the sources of the sounds were rapidly approaching.

  The Hounds immediately took fighting stances. Daniel and Terekhov moved forward and a shield appeared in the paladin’s hands.

  "No, no, no," Viper protested. "There is no place to fight, we gotta run!"

  "Or maybe hide?" Offered Edge. Or rather, I heard her voice from empty space—she had already become invisible.

  "We have to get out of the way!" Viper shouted on the run, breaking through the bushes in the direction of the nearest big tree. "The Asai are chasing a bulldozer! It sounds like a huge flock!"

  Because of the lush vegetation, we couldn't see the damn thing, but the fact that we were approached by something huge and powerful was clear by the snapping of crushed bushes, and small animals, running away in all directions. We didn't manage to reach the shelter when the beast flew to the open area and raced on with a booming howl.

  It was unlikely that the developers really named this miracle a bulldozer—most likely, Viper was using a nickname. But it very accurately conveyed the gist. The beast was perhaps a tad larger than an elephant, but more squat and elongated, with a thick gray skin and a long, thick tail. Its muzzle looked as if a rhino was crossed with a fish-hammer. A massive transverse growth on it was wider than a human standing tall and seemed to be so heavy that the animal could hardly lift his head. But this live bulldozer could easily demolish any obstacles with his mega-tusk. On his way, the monster ran into a rotten skeleton of a hefty fallen tree, which he simply swept to pieces, ramming at full speed. The giant left a clearing of seven feet wide after he passed. Viper was right, he was going at full speed, and it was a good idea to get out of his way or those who pursued him.

  By now, whole bunches of medium-sized, but fierce predators, resembling a cross between hyenas and lizards were hanging on the sides and back of the animal. They bit and scratched into his thick skin with their fanged mouths and claws of the front paws that were similar to human hands. A whole pack was running along and chasing the beast in the back, excitedly squealing and jumping at the prey. Because of the striped black-and-green coloring, it was hard to estimate the number of Asai. But it looked like there were at least fifty! It was a deadly live avalanche of teeth and claws, which was dangerous to come across, even for someone the size of a railway car. I even felt sorry for the poor bulldozer.

  But soon it became clear that we should have rather felt sorry for ourselves—the Asai that were lagging behind the main group, saw us as much easier prey.

  We took up defense near a trunk of a huge tree, so it was more difficult to surround us. We lined up in a half-ring, protecting Doc, Sting, and the girls.

  Having hit the creatures’ muzzles with the staff a couple of times, I quickly realized that this fight would drain all of my Qi charges. My staff was quite strong, with its metal-bound ends, but the blows didn't cause significant damage to the Asai, rather just angered them. I'd have to use the Element of Water as it ignores the target's armor. And, thank all the gods of Artar that I'd become a Master of Water, because I had the chance to use some skills without the expense of Qi. At the same time, this fight became an excellent occasion to try combo blows.

  I've only set up two combo bundles so far. Nothing complicated: the first combo consisted of Splash and five consecutive Wave Blows. The second was the same, but instead of Splash, I used Water Column. These combinations seemed the most effective, and most importantly, simple in execution. Activation of a combo attack requires as much as three charges of Qi, so it was necessary to successfully carry out at least the first three strokes and prevent aimlessly spending Qi charges. The remaining attacks were pure bonus, and if I successfully spent the entire series, I could even restore one of the spent charges.

  Too bad I didn't get a chance to practice with Bao. I'll have to learn everything in combat.

  The Asai turned out to be not only fierce and shrill but also very dangerous. They were much stronger than hellhounds that lived in the surroundings of Harbor, although they looked smaller at first. But that's probably because they had no fur. Plus, the snake striped coloring hid their contours.

  "Keep it tight!" Terekhov barked, se
eing that the creatures have pushed Daniel back from the main group.

  The big guy tried to keep a little aside to have room for maneuver. Each swing of his mace made a wide arc in the air, and the predators bounced off to the side. It's a pity that he lacked speed, and none of the blows hit the target.

  But the toothy lizards quickly lost interest in him. They didn't seem to like prey that was covered in hard and tasteless iron from head to toe. They were much less hesitant with those of us who looked softer. They attacked from a running start, trying to bring their opponent down to the ground. It's good that no more than a dozen broke away from the pack, so they didn't have a quantitative advantage.

  A dark silhouette of an Asai that jumped on Terekhov, who was standing next to me, flashed in the air like a living projectile fired from a catapult. The paladin shielded himself just on time, and the lizard crashed into his shield like it was a concrete wall. Although, it almost knocked down the shield-bearer too.

  I saw that the Asai flew back from the blow and got disoriented, but then immediately rushed back to attack again. A transparent symbol of an activated combo attack flashed in the air in front of me.

  Water Column!

  The water storm fell on the beast that hasn't yet recovered, pushing it to the ground. Taking advantage of its confusion, I put all my strength and speed in a series of staff strikes.

  The blows were trenchant and weighty—simply beautiful. Training with Bao, I learned to put the inertia of the whole body into them, rotating the staff not only using my hands, but turning my entire body. So far, I have learned only the most basic technique—the horizontal "eight," which was applying diagonal blows from above, from the left shoulder, then from the right, and holding the staff closer to one edge, like an elongated sword.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  The energy of Water reinforced each blow, penetrating under the monster's skin with a crushing effect, strengthened by the combo. The last one turned out especially powerful as I managed to break the beast’s backbone somewhere in the middle. Helpless, it lunged to the side, dragging its hind legs. That's when Daniel smashed his monstrous mace on its head. There wasn’t much left from that blow. It looked like a huge watermelon smashed on the floor. Only instead of juicy flesh and tiny seeds inside there was something much less appetizing.