"Get the healing potions!" One of the girls was yelling. I think it was Kata. "Hurry! He's got blisters all over his stomach!"
"Mongoose, hold on tight!"
"Does it hurt?"
Separate exclamations were drowned in the general joyful excited hubbub. Completely ignoring my burns, someone patted me on the shoulders and back, congratulating and shouting the words of encouragement. I just stared at the fiery obstacle course and tried to fend off my annoying assistants. The fire was put out, but I had serious, though not deadly, burns.
Why make such a big fuss? Now is not the time!
Hanuman appeared soon, two minutes later, when the fire has considerably weakened. He didn't jump over the last wall—he went around it. He walked slowly, hunched over and limping a little. His thick red fur and gilded clothes were covered with ugly bald spots and smeared with soot, but the fur grew back before my eyes—fresh, shiny, and silky. The clothing, too, miraculously recovered. When he caught up with me, it was the old Hanuman, in all his glory. However, it visibly took him some effort to put his chin up and chest out again.
"You hit a sore spot, hairless," he said in a muffled voice.
"Your ego?" I wanted to retort but restrained myself.
I didn't recognize myself. Trolling the defeated enemy, finally having established my own superiority used to be like a cherry on top of the cake for me. But I had no desire to mock him. Even, perhaps, I was a bit ashamed. I cheated. Without the fire, I probably would have lost, despite all my skills from the real world.
However, the pain from numerous burns persistently reminded me that Hanuman and I were on equal terms. It only mattered which one of us was unable to fully conquer his fear.
"But it was a glorious contest," continued the monkey king, as if reading my thoughts. "And it's a fair victory. It's yours."
He handed me the staff, holding it with one hand in the middle parallel to the ground. As I reached for it, he removed his hand, and the weapon hung in the air, swaying slightly, as if suspended by invisible strings. I carefully, almost reverently, put my fingers on the thick shaft, and the staff immediately gained weight. In fact, it was quite heavy now—twice as heavy as my former staff. Thankfully, I already had enough strength to handle it. I hoped that the staff’s weight was equivalent to its tenacity.
The staff of the monkey king.
Rarity: legendary.
Material: the enchanted wood is the Eternal Banyan tree.
Requirements: class—monk, the Master of the Wood Element.
Properties: +3 to all attacking skills. All attacks and attacking skills take additional damage from the Wood Element at a rate of 10% of the owner's strength and a chance to stun the enemy for 2 seconds (a chance of 10% + 1% for every 100 units of Strength). Additional damage ignores the target's magic defense. Modifies the "Whipping branch" skill: the affected area is increased by 200%, the preparation of the blow is reduced to 1 second, the maximum Strength bonus at the time of impact is increased to 250%, the increase of physical armor in preparation for the kick is removed, a cooldown of 60 seconds is added. The modified and normal skill can be used independently.
"Own it with honor," Hanuman nodded slowly.
Congratulations! You got the title of the Master of Wood. The mechanics of the application of the Wood Element skills have changed.
New skills of the Wood Element are available.
Permanent bonuses for the Master of Wood have been activated.
You were among the first ten Masters of Wood in Artar. A unique reward is available. Ask your mentor.
Almost at the same moment, my left arm began to darken rapidly along its entire length. I didn't feel any pain. Rather, the pain from burns dominated. A thought that Hanuman played a final trick on me flashed in my mind.
What if my hand is going to dry up and fall off?
Anyway, the dark spot quickly changed its shape and texture and filled with color, which was mostly shades of green. The Hounds beside me came to a standstill, also watching this spectacle. A few moments later, my arm was covered by a picture of a dragon with a long serpentine body with large scales. For a while, it kept moving as if searching for the most comfortable position, and then froze, turning into an ingenious tattoo.
"The Azure Dragon marked you," Hanuman chuckled. "Well, that means he thinks your victory is fair. And I... lost. I can only accept my fate."
He was looking somewhere past me. Turning around, I saw the shamans approaching from the side of the Eternal Banyan. Judging by the way Ngala strode, and the powerful glow coming from his staff, they also wasted no time while I distracted Hanuman.
"Oh, please excuse me, I have visitors," making a complaisant face, Hanuman bowed and, having pushed us aside, walked towards the shamans.
On his way, he paused, looking at something in the reeds. He strayed a little off course and broke one of them. Then he peeled it from the stems, gnawed at both ends, and suddenly it began to swell, rapidly increasing in size. In less than ten seconds, Hanuman was holding a staff exactly like the one he had just given me.
"Hey!" I called him. "Didn't you say that your staff was the only one of its kind, and that you would never find it again in the all of Artar?"
Instead of answering, the vanara just showed his tongue out at me and laughed. Casually throwing his staff on his shoulder like a fishing rod, he waddled toward the enemy. Now he was finally back in his skin, the way we remembered him from when we first met.
"Whoa, look who's here! Ngala!" He exclaimed mockingly. "You came to my domain with a weapon in your hand? Is that how you greet your king?"
"You have lost the right to be called our king since time immemorial, Hanuman," Ngala said sullenly, stopping. "And now your recklessness threatens Uobo with great misfortune again. I must stop you!"
"Well, try!" The red vanara shrugged. "But someday your stupid head will realize that selling yourself to the hairless was your greatest mistake. And that everything I have done, was done for Uobo. The messengers are coming. Be sure of that! You only delayed the inevitable."
Abruptly, without warning, he rushed forward, spinning his staff on the run so that it flashed like the blades of a fan. He took off from the ground thirty feet from the shamans, tossing up a fountain of sand. He then soared in the air, bringing the staff over his head. I couldn't even imagine what kind of blow was going to come down on the adepts of the Whispering Oak.
But Ngala was ahead of him. Grabbing his staff with both arms, he pointed it at Hanuman and shouted something briefly. The burst of energy was so blinding that we all cried out in unison, covering our eyes, and then fell to the ground, because the roar was similar to a nuclear blast. A wave of heat swept over our backs, and something hissed, bubbled, and buzzed around us. I didn't even have the strength to raise my head, so I missed the whole show, as did the rest of the Hounds. Ngala's spell effect was perhaps even more powerful than Jubacca's. Fortunately, it also lasted only a few seconds. Otherwise, some of us would have definitely gone to the menhir.
The silence hit us as suddenly as the shock wave. We lay there for a while as if not believing that it was all over. Finally, one by one, we began to raise our heads and look around.
The shaman trio must have suffered a great deal as well. Ngala was the only one standing, though staggering, and two other ones were just trying to rise. The staff in the hands of the head shaman resembled a burnt match—charred and crumbling right in his hands. However, judging by his facial expression, the vanara was satisfied with the produced effect. Our eyes met, and he slowly nodded.
It worked.
I dropped my forehead to the ground, exhausted. My whole body ached from burns and abrasions, and the only thing I wanted now was to plunge into a cool bath.
Grunting, groaning, and cursing, the Hounds, rose from the ground. I was helped up too. Terekhov patted me on the shoulder reassuringly and it was probably the first time when I saw him smiling happily. Straight from ear to ear.
"You did it,
Stan!"
The rest, too, began to talk happily and noisily, congratulating me.
"Yes, Mongoose, nice job!"
"Ugh, what a day!"
"We should celebrate! Doc, get your booze out!"
"Mongoose, why so gloomy?"
Bers approached me with two iron mugs, but I shook my head and pulled away. I didn't really know why, but the victory didn't bring me joy. It felt empty and kind of vile. I was dead tired in addition to that. Not in the literal sense—an avatar in Artar doesn't feel fatigued. But all of the fights, racing, and other hassle these past days made me pretty exhausted.
The Hounds were about to paint it red right there by the lake. The instigators, of course, were Sting and Bers, but the rest also picked up the idea, even Genghis. Kata tried to get me to join the others, but I said that I’d come by later. I sat down on a large flat stone near the water and stared at the surface of the Lake of Life.
"What's up?" Kata patted me on the shoulder when she came up to me later. "What's wrong?"
"Everything's fine," I smiled wearily. "Go ahead and celebrate without me. I need to go back to the Gray Peak."
"What for? Did something happen?"
"No. I just need to talk to someone. I have unfinished business."
Chapter 25. The Path Thread
This time I met Weyun Bao not at his favorite place off the coast, but just above the slope of the Gray Peak, in a small clearing among the thickets of some tall bushes dotted with flowers, emanating fragrant spicy smell. The smell tickled my nostrils pleasantly and was elusively reminiscent of something familiar from the real world, but I never figured out what it was. I smelled citrus, something like a pear, with some notes of coffee.
It was almost dark, and the moons above our heads were shining brightly. In the air around us curled large fireflies, green like Bao's eyes. We didn't light the fire, so as not to destroy this atmosphere of unity with the forest.
"Are you sad, my friend? I know your victory was an important one," said Xilay, lighting his pipe. He did not use anything for this—it seemed that he simply scratched his claw on the bone bowl, and the tobacco in it began to smolder, inflaming stronger with each puff and exuding florid streams of smoke.I sighed. I even felt a sudden desire to have a smoke too, although, I never cared for it in real life. I didn't know what was going on. It seemed that all the troubles of the last days were over, and I managed to overcome them without any losses. In fact, quite the opposite. We managed to keep Terekhov's team together and even provide it with a special status. As far as myself, I also earned a few favors from Clam. We acquired a hefty piece of adamantite for the guild and entered into a temporary but strategically important alliance with the Whispering Oak vanaras. After all, I was one of the first among the monks of Artar to complete the quest for the title of the Master of the Wood Element and certainly became the first of the players who took the master title in two schools.
Perhaps, it was the latter fact that I had mixed feelings about. Hanuman's words have taken root deep inside of me. True, I got the necessary artifacts not by myself, but with the help of the Hounds and vanaras. If I were to act alone, as I was supposed to do according to the quest, it would take me weeks, if not months, to find a way to get to each of the great trees. It would have taken hours to wait for Mokele-Mbebe to show up.
Hanuman's right. I haven't even tried all the basic skills of the Wood Element. What a great Master I am!
Here, in Artar, just as in conventional video games, cheating spoils the joy of victory. I didn't even feel like reading the descriptions of the new obtained abilities and bonuses for the Master of the Wood Element. I just happened to look at the appropriate tabs and realized that it followed the same pattern as the Water Element skills—that is, the master can upgrade all specialized skills faster, and receive an additional powerful spell in the offensive and defensive branches. In addition, I could use the Wood Element skills without the cost of Qi charges and include these techniques in my combo attacks.
I remember myself after my victory over the Black Generals—I read every line of the description of new skills, burning from excitement to find out what has changed, by how many points my skills have increased, and what new opportunities I had. But it was different then. My skills of the Water Element were already quite advanced by the time, I knew their potential and used them confidently in battle. Now, I got all the skills of the Wood Element at once, and I didn't really know what to do with them.
I shared my thoughts with Bao, who nodded in understanding.
"I have tried many times to warn you of this, my friend. You're too hasty on your way. And therefore, you risk missing out on much more than you get."
"I just want to be able to do more in less time."
"Less time? You never got the gist of the Path. The Path is life, and its meaning is in the process, not in the achievements."
"Process for the sake of process?" I chuckled. "I still think that there should be some goal."
"Yes, the goals you strive for give meaning to your life. However, this does not mean that the goal is the meaning."
"What do you mean? You're contradicting yourself."
"No contradiction, my young friend. The essence is in the aspiration. It's what makes you better. The achieved goals will be replaced by new ones. Some of them you'll be disappointed in before you get close to them. But as long as you strive for something, you are on the right track."
"What's wrong with me trying to achieve my goals faster?"
"I don't know. You yourself just complained that the new victory is not pleasing to you. It turns out that it is important not only to achieve the goal, but also how it was achieved."
I frowned even more. Yeah, my mentor wasn't trying to comfort me. Perhaps, on the contrary, he added fuel to the fire.
"Besides, Mongoose, you don't seem to understand what it means to be a Master of the elements. Achieving this title is only a small step on the ladder of self-improvement."
"A small, but the main one?"
"Not at all. A Master is the one who has seriously advanced on the way of mastering the element. However, there is simply no upper limit."
"So that's why you say it's better to delve into the study of one element than to take a little from each?"
"The study of one element over time gives more advantages. You already know that training will strengthen each of your skills. And over time, you can open new ones. Or even create your own."
These statements sounded like hints for future patches. It was possible that he was talking about bonuses, that the system hadn't given me yet because I didn't get that far.
"What about studying several of them?"
"You know better. You have two now."
He got me. I deliberated. Some of the "scarlet flower" in my inventory would have come in handy at the moment. Not that I was addicted to Doc's infernal swill. But there are some issues that are easier to deal with when you have some booze in you.
"What should I do next?" I finally asked.
This question seemed to surprise Bao.
"How would I know, my friend? It's your Path. I'm just a humble mentor who shows you the doors. It's always up to you which ones you want to open."
"But you can tell me, right?"
"Certainly. I always try to do that. But the clues I'm giving you must reach your mind. You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You have to figure it out for yourself."
I closed my eyes and rubbed my closed eyelids with my fingertips. This was another long game session and I had to go back to the real world. I've been playing too long again.
From whom am I trying to get advice about the meaning of life? From an NPC?
But I was being unfair to Bao. He'd already given me more useful advice than anyone in real life. As far as my goals... I was going to stick with my plan for now. I'd already become a Master of two elements, so why not get the other three? At least for the sake of cool bonuses that the masters are entitled
to? After that, I could choose whichever specialization I liked the most, or even invent my own.
"I will try, Sensei," I said at last. "But can I ask you a few more questions?"
"Certainly. I'm in no hurry, you see."
"What will happen to Hanuman? Do you think Ngala and his shamans were able to solve this problem? Or will they still have to hold him back by means of their altars?"
"As far as I know, their altars collapsed when they turned the power of the four trees against Hanuman. And I'm not sure they can do something like that again. The monkey king doesn't fall for the same trick twice."
"Hanuman told Ngala that he was only delaying the inevitable."
"I'm afraid so," Bao said quietly.
"But what exactly will happen when Hanuman returns? What the hell are those messengers he was talking about? I remember you asked me to find out more about them, but I don't think I did a damn thing. I just got more confused…"
"Oh, you've done a lot more than you think," Bao said. "And Xy are very grateful to you for your help.”
As proof to his words, I immediately saw a system message about improving the reputation with Xy flashing before my eyes. I brushed it away without reading.
"How did it happen that Hanuman stopped being the real king of the vanaras, and now he is at war with his own people?"
"Oh, it's a long and very tragic story. Alas, I do not know all the details. Its fragments can be found in ancient Xilay manuscripts, but there is no full version.”
"But what did he do to lose all his regalia?"
Bao laughed a mirthless laugh.
"Hanuman was given great talents. But he was pretty much like you. He also constantly tested fate, challenging himself in the ways that few living beings could cope with. It wasn't enough for him to know that he was strong. He tried to find the limits of his power."
This sent shivers up my spine. Hell, that did make us alike. Personally, I wouldn't be able to tell why I've been taking the risk by shooting head-spinning video clips all these past years. It wasn't for fun. And certainly not for the money, or to compete with anyone. That's it! I've been missing the feeling of achievement. That's why I kept testing my limits. After all, no one could know that except me.
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