Baby Steps

Eighty hours later, three farming sessions with William and Sun-young, and Kazi reached level 14.

[ Status: Kazi Hossain

Class: Amateur Player

Level: 14

HP: 100

HP/Minute: 9.09

MP: 152

MP/Minute: 18.75

Attack: 58

Defence: 21

Attributes

Strength: 23

Resilience: 20

Agility: 23

Deftness: 72

Vitality: 18

Magical Might: 19

Magical Mending: 19

Distributive Points: 27 ]

Levels 11 through 14 slightly upped the amount of stat increase gain. Rather than a one point increase to all stats, it was two points. The gain in distributive points was still the same though: three.

William and Sun-young, while both strong in their own right, struggled with their endurance. Mentally and physically, they were wiped after a session. Breaks were required. No amount of regeneration could soothe the ache in their bones and muscles.

Kazi often went alone, an opportunity for him to hunt down Anjaneya. So far, nothing. He hadn't heard a snippet of laughter or obnoxious monkey noises.

Still, he was confident he could capture him.

The trees of the slime-occupied forest glistened and Kazi laid himself down upon the damp ground. "How many times have I done this now…" he muttered.

His eyes flickered closed, his breaths deepened, and he willed himself into a state of tranquil stillness. The soft rustling of leaves and distant gurgling of slimes formed a unique symphony that he embraced.

'Controlled breaths…controlled breaths…'

Kazi laid there without conjuring another thought. His consciousness danced between the outer world and his inner thoughts. Doubts and impatience clamour for attention, but he shushed them away.

Beside him, nestled within his reach, rested a small pile of mangos, apples, and pomegranates in a basket. Ripe fruits for the taking, coloured like the morning sun.

Minutes stretched into nothing as Kazi surrendered to the passage of time. His thoughts cleared, the forest sounds merging into a calming melody.

The trap was set. He waited, he waited, and he waited.

Then, a delicate rustle. Kazi's senses stirred, his heart rising. His eyes remained shut, but his ears honed in on the sound. The gentle pitter-patter of tiny feet approached.

He allowed himself a small smile, the corners of his lips curving upward almost imperceptibly. The temptation he had set was taking its effect-—the fruits of the morning sun.

Moments later, the world seemed to hold its breath. A powerful presence had arrived. He knew it was Anjaneya. He could sense its mischievous eyes drawn to the tantalizing offer of apples and pomegranates.

Kazi's hand twitched subtly, his fingers ready to snap shut around the unsuspecting creature. His heart raced with anticipation, yet his outward appearance remained still as a statue.

And then, as predicted, the soft rustling of the underbrush drew nearer. He sensed the quick, hesitant breaths of the curious intruder. This was the moment he had waited for, the culmination of hours upon hours of patience. His fingers closed, swift as a predator striking, and captured the baby monkey in his grasp.

"Noooo! Not fair, not fair, not faaaaaiiiirrr~!"

Kazi opened his eyes and beheld the arrogant baby monkey trying to escape. It failed. While its speed was out of its world, its strength was meager and fitting for its size.

More importantly…

[ Congratulations! Gate 1 : A Forest in Kishkindha

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: Capture Anjaneya — Complete!

Receive:

8,720 XP

40,000 PP

Skill: Varuna's Boon ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Attention all players! Anjaneya will no longer respawn! ]

'No long respawn—?'

Anjaneya disappeared in his arms, the particles going into the sky. Kazi couldn't believe it. The monkey was gone, just like that. His heart swelled with sadness. He wished he got to talk to it more.

'More importantly, eight thousand XP and two levels! Not bad, not bad! And a new skill too!'

[ Varuna's Boon

Type: Passive

Subtype: Support

Rank: SS

"For a million years, my noose will not kill him. I shall also endow him with protection from my and any others' water." ]

SS-ranked. Wow. The two letters popped out with distinction.

'Lucky me.'

How did he know his plan would work? Because Anjaneya was a name reserved for a much larger figure. A name generally forgotten in favour of the name gifted to him by a supreme god.

Anjaneya was the name given to Hanuman, the Monkey King, when he was a baby. According to one version of the Ramayana, Anjaneya was hungry, saw the red sun, mistook it for a fruit, and attempted to take a bite of it. The world, no, the universe, would have been swallowed in darkness if not for King Indra's thunderbolt. The King of the Gods struck Anjaneya in the jaw and killed him. The baby monkey's father, Vayu the God of the Winds and a divine messenger, grew furious at his son's excessive punishment and took away all air on Earth.

Vayu's great punishment stirred the attention and concern of the Lord Shiva, so he resurrected Anjaneya. The other legendary gods of India soon gathered and blessed the resurrected boy with boons. Gifts of untold power.

The great Indra bestowed upon Hanuman a boon for his body to mirror the robustness of Indra's mighty Vajra, while ensuring that his own Vajra would not bring him harm. Agni, the God of Fire, granted him immunity against its scorching touch; Varuna, the God of Water, ensured that water would not pose a threat to him; Vayu, the Wind God, gifted Hanuman with swiftness akin to the wind itself. And Brahma, in his wisdom, granted Hanuman the power to traverse any realm unimpeded.

The name Hanuman was given to him after this divine intervention, as "one having a disfigured jaw". Anjaneya, his name as a boy, meant "the son of Anjana", his mother.

'At least that's one account of the story. To be honest, I was getting worried I was wrong.'

The forest was in Kishkindha where Hanuman was supposedly raised. On top of that, his reflexes and attitudes matched what was described in certain iterations of his stories. A playful, mischievous monkey couldn't tell right from wrong and allowed his pleasures to take precedence. At some point, he grew up but at the early stages of his life he personified the mischievous monkey persona.

Kazi theorized that, like how he tried to eat the sun, Anjaneya would drop his guard and eat the red fruits. In the end, after five separate attempts, he was correct.

He had wanted to tell Sun-young and William but they were focused on levelling up to defeat the Slime Queen. They had no real interest in catching Anjaneya.

"I wonder…" He looked into the sky. The particles left behind from Anjaneya lingered. "Lucky Break."

[ Receive:

3x Divine Essence ]

'So Anjaneya does count as a monster. Interesting…that also means that this is a clone, not the real deal. I mean, the real Hanuman is said to be alive on Earth and if angels exist, then it definitely can't be the real version of him. And he was threatening to eat the sun too. Crazy.'

Kazi checked his inventory to see what Divine Essence was. It was a golden ball and the Game System described it briefly: the power of the divine crystalized into a raw material.

'Divine Essence, eh?' He clicked on it and picked out the [ Open ] option. The tennis-ball sized sphere fell into his lap. The tips of his fingers felt an electric shock from a mere touch. And yet…his fingers didn't want to tear away from it. His hazel eyes glowed majestically as it reflected the great power within.

'I should keep this to myself,' he thought to himself, controlling his heart. He could feel it, he could feel it, he could feel the endless potential in the Divine Essence. It was like someone was whispering in his ear, tempting him to run away with his divine orb.

He ignored the temptations and put it back in his inventory.

He looked to the future and contemplated. 'I've read dozens of stories about things like this. Temptation from things humans should never touch. I think this is that. I think I wasn't supposed to get this.'

He smiled.

Kazi felt as though he took his first baby step in the Heavenly Games.