Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

able to kill two raid bosses on his own, take on all the demons, and survive two deadly attacks.

Fire mages prayed to him, saying that they’d never seen or even heard of such a monster. Even the ground under his feet had been ablaze to the point that the demons couldn’t get close. When his mana had run out, he’d started killing demons with a sword, never once staying in place. Most people had only seen explosions. Only the archers with the eagle eye ability, the ones standing on the roofs of houses, had been able to record the whole battle.

People started looking for information about the nameless hero. Impossible theories were floated, some even saying it was the same Sagie who had disappeared five years before in the battle for Airis Castle. But not one single player remained with that name. The small pantheon had gone after them hard, not even giving them the chance to play, so it couldn’t have been him. The keeper himself didn’t talk with anyone—he just helped animals and sat in the tree all day long. The pushiest among them used perception spells, though the keeper had incredible resistance to mental attacks. He didn’t pay them the least bit of attention. The buzz around the player grew, and shamans started summoning perception spirits. It took two weeks to get an answer. The local spirits who knew his name declined to answer, the tracker spirits went around in circles, widening their search, and it was only when the shamans threw up their hands that they got an answer back. The keeper’s name was LJ.

Two weeks of work went down the tube—nobody had heard of a player that strong with that name. They didn’t even know what kind of name LJ was, anyway.

Most people decided that the tree keeper had a set of unique items and the max level. That wasn’t important to Kasami, however—he wanted to find a way to get the moping cat out of the tree. Three weeks after the attack on the city, the bastard was still up there. The first day after everyone figured out that the keeper was a player, lots of people tried to get him to join their clans. The city administration set up a guard around the tree to keep them away. For the first week, the guards patrolled the border of the formerly-vacant lot, letting nobody in but the animals and the owner of the tavern.

The previous two weeks, something incredible happened, and the number of guards around the tree doubled.

Project Chrysalis had a problem with pets and mounts. They didn’t respawn after dying, even though there were rare quests and events to resurrect them. For most people, going through them was just too expensive. Really, it was an effort on the part of Project Chrysalis to teach the players to be responsible for their pets. But with the field and its lone tree, it was easy to resurrect pets. All players had to do was get there, receive an offer to resurrect their pet, and bury an equivalent offering. They could even speak with the soul of their pet, burying just some trinket. Stray animals showed up for help and buried their gifts, too. Shamans came in droves to practice their ability to speak with the spirits, while druids gaped as the tree grew even stronger over the three-week period. It was growing taller, not wider. The guards stood there in two rings, day and night. Nobody had a chance to speak with the keeper.

Kasami found a simple way to talk with LJ. He bought a puppy at the zoo and crawled out onto the roof of the tavern, making sure LJ could see him.

Then, he held a knife to the puppy’s throat and looked over at LJ in the tree.

“Hey, cat, we need to talk! Come on down here or I’ll cut this little mongrel wide open!” Kasami was yelling at the top of his lungs, well-aware that he was getting himself in trouble. Still, the reward for the tournament was worth every minute of a week in jail.

Two minutes later, LJ flew onto the roof. He covered the distance faster than any pet, not to mention any ordinary player. Kasami let the puppy go as soon as LJ got there—he wasn’t sure how the cat would react.

“I know I shouldn’t have done that, but I didn’t have a choice. Two days ago, the three most outstanding players in the city were sent invitations to participate in the monthly tournament held in the capital of the empire. There’s one important condition. All three have to show up together, otherwise the invitations are annulled. Basically, I need you to come with me to the tournament, and then you can do whatever you want.”

LJ turned around and was about to leave when Kasami continued.

“I’m going to start killing animals until you agree.” LJ turned around and looked him in the eye. Kasami was an experienced fighter who always trusted his experience and intuition, and he knew he couldn’t take on the opponent in front of him. It was improvisation and blackmail, but what else was he supposed to do?

A voice called from behind Kasami’s back.

“Go ahead. If she shows up, I’ll make sure she waits for you.”

Kasami hadn’t noticed the tavern owner coming up behind him, sword drawn. A swordsman himself, the player knew the innkeeper had picked the ideal position from which to attack. He could have killed him at any moment.

LJ thought for a second before nodding, and Kasami relaxed. It hadn’t gone the way he’d planned, but he was going to be able to participate in the tournament.

***

LJ was worried about the tournament. He was leaving, and Milisandra could show up at any time. She could think that he gave up on her, and that would have left LJ completely alone in the world.