The Azure Dragon

by Vladimir Vasilenko

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "Someone who constantly tests the patience of the gods will sooner or later incur their wrath," Bao sighed. "But let's not bring up the bad. You haven't received your reward yet, being the first hairless Master of the Wood Element."

  He spread out a long, narrow piece of linen cloth in front of him and carefully, but quickly, like an experienced waiter serving a table, laid out several small objects on it.

  "Once again, I have a few beads for your Path Thread," he explained. "Being the very first master, you may choose two of them this time, as well."

  The beads were arranged in several piles, two or three in each. They were very different in color and texture of the material. The ones on my left were dark, almost black, and shriveled like dried fruit. The next pile had perfectly smooth beads made of light wood with a milky hue. Next to it, there were reddish ones, with noticeable dark streaks. Finally, there were greenish-brown ones that looked like malachite. A little to the side, there were four equally-sized cubes made of different wood, a little larger than the standard beads.

  "Rough work," I said. "It doesn't look like Janji Hae's design."

  "You're right. These are vanara shamans' artifacts, which can also be used on a monk's Path Thread. These beads are carved from the enchanted wood of the great trees. The black ones were made of the Jubacca wood, the light ones are from the Celestial Tree, the green ones are from the Eternal Banyan tree, and the reddish ones are from the Whispering Oak."

  "Would it make sense to assume that all these beads are dormant? And I cannot see their detailed properties?"

  "Right. But you can get an idea about their properties based on the materials they are made out of. Choose with your heart or choose at random—whatever you think is best. Either way, you'll find something new."

  "Yeah, every ticket wins the lottery."

  I examined the beads and reached out to those that were carved from oak. Ngala and his people helped us a lot. I should keep a piece of their sacred tree. But my eyes stubbornly clung to the four colored wooden pieces.

  "What about these cubes? They don't look like beads at all?"

  "Right. These are just raw pieces of enchanted wood from each of the great trees. You can take all four instead of two ready-to-use beads and find a worthy master who can carve the beads based on your order. Know that this material is extremely valuable, and each workpiece costs much more than a gold nugget of the same size. You shouldn't entrust just anyone to work on them. An inexperienced carver will not be able to reveal a quarter of the magical potential of this wood.”

  Hm! Two rare beads that could be used right away or four with good potential in the future? Mathematically, it seemed to be simple, but of course, it was unknown when I would be able to find a good carver. Meanwhile, I could get bonuses from the new artifact immediately...

  "I'll take the raw pieces."

  Bao smiled silently.

  "What?" I muttered.

  "Wise choice. The Mongoose I knew a few moons ago would have preferred something that could be used right away."

  "Then your lessons are not in vain," I joked.

  "That inexpressibly pleases me," the Xilay replied quite seriously.

  The wood pieces were smooth and pleasant to the touch. And yet, they were much harder than I expected. Also, they made a gentle tapping sound when they came in contact with each other. I shook them on my palm, examining their description, and then put them in my inventory. Though the pieces were rare, they weren't attached to the player, so I had to deposit them in the bank to avoid losing them in the event I got killed by another player.

  "Could Janji Hae carve my bead out of this wood?"

  "I think that an expert like him can make anything. However, it's been a while since we saw his new works or heard of him. He just vanished from Xy radar."

  "Is that possible? You've said that every Xilay is the eyes and ears of Xy. You are united, though scattered throughout the world."

  "That's true. However, the Xy is not omnipotent or omnipresent. If someone wants to hide and goes into a deep sleep, we can't help it. Janji Hae was always unsociable and too obsessed with his work."

  "But is he still alive? Can he be found?"

  "Perhaps," Bao said evasively. "Why are you so interested in him?"

  "You said it yourself: the enchanted wood of the great Uobo trees is too valuable to be given to amateurs."

  "Now I recognize the Mongoose I used to know!" The Xilay laughed.

  "Yep. My tastes are simple. I just need the best of the best."

  Bao continued to laugh. I thought it lasted longer than it should have, so I suspected that he was just stalling.

  "All right," he finally nodded, suddenly becoming extremely serious. "Actually, the story of the disappearance of Janji Hae is quite mysterious. Yes, he was an introvert and, by the standards of ordinary people, strange. However, leaving everything behind and embarking on a journey around Artar... This doesn't sound like him. Many of those who knew him were confused."

  "Has anyone tried looking for him?"

  "To no avail. But I will try to find out where the craftsman was last seen, and I will get you some clues that will help you unravel strings further on this matter. If that's what you really want. Finding the great craftsman would be a great service to the Xy."

  "I really do want to do this. And I remember my old promises. Xy can count on me."

  Another system message about the increased reputation with Xy! This time I looked at it because it was much longer than usual.

  Your reputation with the Xy faction has been increased by 250 points.

  The current value is 1180 points (Friendliness).

  Points to the next rank reputation (Respect): 1320 points.

  Friendliness provides a permanent discount of 5% for all traders of the Xy faction and also allows you to stay in Xy camps free of charge. In addition, the achievement of this rank opens access to faction quests, inaccessible to players with a neutral reputation.

  Wow! I didn't remember exactly what my reputation with Xy was before these two promotions. But I had no time to work on it in the last few days. I obviously dropped two weighty bonus points: five hundred in total, if not more. I didn't have time to check my logs because Bao went on with his story.

  "The search for Janji Hae is not one of the usual tasks that can be obtained from the Xy. It's more like another request I wanted to make to you. And it is very fortunate that it coincides with your interests."

  "It's my pleasure to help."

  "But be careful! Traces of Janji Hae stop far beyond the lands that are inhabited by your kind. The Artar regions that are distant from Golden Harbor are very dangerous. In addition, there is a suspicion that the craftsman's disappearance is also somehow connected with…"

  He paused, choosing his words.

  "The messengers?" I suggested.

  "Maybe... maybe, all the recent oddities in Artar are weaved together by a thin web, which is invisible to Xy at the moment. And even more so for everyone else."

  "Well, maybe we should wait for these messengers. Based on their name, they should give us some clarity.”

  "You may be right, Mongoose. But it could be too late once they come."

  Bao looked up and released the last wisp of smoke vertically above him. In the wind, it whimsically wriggled like a ghostly whitish dragon rushing into the sky.

  "I must go," I said regretfully. "Thank you for everything, Sensei."

  "You don't have to thank me," the Xilay sounded surprised. "You deserve your reward, my friend. You defeated Hanuman in that fair competition, and this is the most important thing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have recognized your victory."

  "I'm not thanking you for that."

  "Then what for?"

  "For everything else," I smiled and put my hand to my chest, casting my Return.

  I meant it. I've been thinking about it a lot these days—about Artar, Terekhov and other guys, my life before meeting them,
school, childhood, my past hobbies, my relationships with parents, and many other things. It turns out that if you go out of town and take the NCI out, leaving yourself with no access to the Internet, you'll free up a whole lot of time that could be used to get to know yourself.

  I don't know if I was succeeding, but my life would definitely not be the same.

  Epilogue

  A storm raged over the Lake of Life. Flashes of lightning tore the night sky, illuminating pieces of gray clouds in the sky. Thunder was coming down at the same time as the flashes—it was so powerful that it seemed to be cracking the mountains. Gusts of furious wind unceremoniously ruffled the crown of the Eternal Banyan, breaking its thin branches and carrying away its torn leaves. The surface of the lake itself was boiling as if hot lava was about to break through the depths of a dormant volcano. There was no rain—it would start any moment, but as of now, only a few drops, each as big as a grape, reached the ground.

  At the very trunk of the sacred tree, next to the remains of a primitive altar made of bones and raw poles, a dark figure with disheveled red fur hunched over. It looked emaciated, covered with so many scabs and burns that few would have recognized the Great Hanuman in it.

  The monkey king sat there hunched over, shuddering now and then and shaking his head. His eyes were tightly closed, his hands dangled limply along his body. It might have seemed that he shuddered from thunder, but that was not so. His body shook because of something that was happening inside of him. His lips moved, answering a voice that sounded only in his head.

  "Oh, yes, they will pay..." He muttered hoarsely. "Miserable traitors... Together, we will make them... with their own blood... wash away with blood and fire…"

  Part of his words drowned in the rolling thunder, and another part was hard to hear because at times, the vanara broke into muffled gurgling. Sometimes he stopped talking and sat still as if listening to the answers only he could hear. That lasted until he heard something that made him transform. The trembling in his joints subsided, his back straightened, and his voice sounded stronger than ever. His face, framed by the red beard, slowly broke into a broad smile.

  "Oh, yes! Vanaras will again become one nation, and the Great Hanuman will be their commander! I'll be waiting... waiting for your messengers!"

  When the monkey king finally opened his eyes, they burned with a purple flame.

  From the Author

  Dear reader!

  Thank you for reading! I was happy to share this story with you and hope you liked it. If so, please, remember to leave a review, it will support me a lot.

  I read all of your reviews and comments, they help me and inspires me, I do really appreciate each and every of them.

  You can find a sample of the next book at the end of the ebook.

  Thank you all!

  - Best wishes, V. Vasilenko

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  About Vladimir Vasilenko

  Vladimir Vasilenko was born in a little town in Russia, where he still lives. An economist by trade, he has never pursued that occupation. Instead of financial reports and spreadsheets, his main calling became the written word, and on top of being a writer, he also worked several years as a journalist.

  He began writing stories at the tender age of 7. At 13, Vladimir started working on two novels, and a few years later, they were picked up by the largest publishing house in Russia. Those books, "did give me the opportunity to hold my own books in my hands and believe that one day, I could become a successful writer".

  However, after an almost ten-year gap, Vladimir learned about the LitRPG genre that was gaining momentum in Russia and gave it a go in 2016. An avid gamer himself, he started contemplating the possible significance of video games in a futuristic setting with the invention of technologies allowing total immersion.

  Ironically, as a reader, Vladimir isn't a big fan the LitRPG genre. His biggest pet peeves are Mary Sue protagonists, the excessive use of game slang, and the abundant overviews of character statistics. "I just cannot stand it when fights are described as someone using a fireball and dealing 180 damage to the enemy," says Vladimir.

  What distinguishes his works from other LitRPGs is their closeness to classic fantasy fiction.

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