"fffh...caw...fffh...caw...fffh...caw..."

Rose was both worried and intrigued, he really could caw like a crow. This probably is the only time she will have met someone with literally crow like voice.

Should she help him, probably. But he did ask for it, literally. Why did he want such a hard test? Aren't there easier and more gentle ways of testing it? Probably. But he was unwise of choosing that option and she was unwise for agreeing.

oh, he passed out.

...

I woke up with a burning pain stabbing into my chest, probably broken ribs. Breathing felt funny, not the good kind of funny, I should slow my breathing and not take in any deep breaths which is easier said than done. Ugh, I haven't opened my eyes yet but my head is probably resting on a rock, it would be more comfortable if I laid on dirt, gravel and sand make for suprisingly good sleeping mattresses.

Didn't I have the song of recovery? How did it go again? Uhhh da da da daadadaaa no, shit, how did skills work again? I know mine scale with my spirit stat uhhh. Song of recovery...hmhhmhhmhmhhhmmhhhhmhhmhhhmhhhhhmmh, a low hum echoed from my gullet. It feels natural, it feels welcoming, it feels like home.

With each note of my humming the pain gradually faded away until breathing was not a challenge anymore, I felt my lungs become lighter too. Blood probably sickered into my lungsacks as my broken ribs pierced my lungs, weighing them down and making it harder to breathe.

I savoured the feeling of a healthy body but the rock my head is resting on is too uncomfortable. I sat up and looked around a bit, where's Rose...

I looked behind me to see Rose on her knees. "So the rock was..."

"Rock?"

Great job you fucking idiot, a woman that almost killed you becaused you asked her to let you lay on her lap until you became better and the first thing you do is indirectly make fun of her. God I'm stupid, I kind of deserve whatever comes next.

"Do you really think I'm as hard as stone? I did get a few defensive skills but I didn't think they would have that much of an effect."

Stolen story; please report.

She took it as a compliment? I mean that's good of course, but this toungue is gonna be the end of me if I continue like this.

"What kind of skills did you get? What's your class anyway?"

"Oh, I am a iron wall defender."

Excuse me? Iron wall defender? The same class Siegfried is said to have? Of course she gets a legacy class whilst I'm sitting here with being a regular bard. What am I even supposed to do as a teammate? Make it even easier for her to beat the shit out of a poor goblin we encounter? Are there even goblins around here?

"I usually wouldn't just share my classes information but we are supposed to be a team and trust is a pretty important part of that."

She stood up from her kneeling position, understandably, that is a pretty uncomfortable position.

"My skills are as follows, I won't repeat myself. Iron march, Iron heart, Iron skin, Iron flesh, Iron bones, Iron hold and Iron spirit."

So basically she's a woman of iron, a title she maybe already earned. Don't you have to die once to become of iron?

"Now your turn."

Yes you bufoon, if you ask for an intrudunction you need to intruduce yourself aswell.

"Ah well, I am a backline bard."

She tilted her head to the side a bit, waiting for me to elaborate. I stood up from the ground since having her tower over me is more intimidating than you'd think. She still does but not as much anymore.

"Compared to you my class looks kind of meek, I can use song of strength and song of endurance which you've already seen. Song of swiftness I haven't tried that one out yet. The last two are song of malice and song of purification, I can't make use of them in the moment since I don't have a guitar or piano with me. I also have the trash eater attribute."

She nodded her head as she listened to me talk, it's more unseteling when she just doesn't say anything. Why so quiet woman? Was it the trash eater part? I didn't tell her about charmer and too precious since that would make things more complicated than they need to be.

"Then we should test song of swiftness, but let me do the testing this time."

Yeah I'm not that hot about getting parts of me broken again.

"Where's my bag?"

"Here."

I took it from her and was glad to find my violin in one piece. After a bit of tuning I started playing without delay, no, this isn't it. I started playing faster than my usual speed, still too slow, not fast enough. Faster, still, need to be faster. Speed is the goal, there should be no delay between my hands and my head whatsoever!

I felt something tap my shoulder and before I could turn around something slid over my throat.

"Dead, you won't just be allowed to play without paying attention to anything."

I got caught up playing again, I always lose focus of my surroundings whenever I really start to play.

"How was the buff atleast?

"It's strong, the faster you played the faster I became. Though it would be better if you could do evasive maneuvers whilst playing since you'd be pretty hard to catch with that buff."

Yeah that's kinda obvious, but bad habits don't just go away.

Especially a habit that made my fingers bleed so many times.