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Vol3 Ch1
The False Bard
Don got home at about 6pm. He was working full time over winter break due to holiday shopping. A part of him wanted to switch to part time so he could play Royal Road more often, but money was not something he was in a position to turn away. For now he would have to be satisfied with what he had.
Shortly after 7pm he got into his capsule and logged in. He appeared at the campsite his sister and Bob helped him set up at Ranbull Heights. Waiting there was a short old man, his little sister, and another young girl, this one smaller and younger. Her apparent age looked to be about 11 or 12, her hair was white, with small red highlights at the tips of her bangs, and she had green eyes with gold flecks in them. She was adorable looking.
A few days prior, shortly after hatching, the wind Dragon Stribog was teaching Thessalanos the dragon skill polymorph, that would allow her to switch to whatever form she wanted. The little girl she turned into, had aspects of Don, his sister, and all three of his sister’s friends. It wasn’t that surprising considering that those five spent the most time with her, but the outer appearance looked like a slender human with pointed ears, basically someone who could easily pass for a half-elf child.
Sierra looked up to see Don had logged back in and said, “Thessa, big brother logged back in.”
‘Thessa,’ short for Thessalanos, saw Don and ran over to hug him saying, “Big brother!”
Don, who was now wearing Thessa like a boot looked up to Sierra and said, “Big brother? What have you been teaching her?”
Stribog, the old man shaped dragon who was laying down heard Don’s question and let out a tired sigh.
Sierra ignored it and said, “I told little sis the proper way to address you.”
Don was about to complain when he saw the look in his sister eyes that she was not going to compromise in this.
He looked back over to Stribog who did in fact look tired. Not physically though, but mentally. Like someone who just spent six hours babysitting a hyperactive eight year old who had just gotten back from a birthday party.
Don asked Thessa, “Have you been getting along with Stribog?”
Thessa pouted and said, “Uncle keeps telling me the stuff I can’t do.”
Don looked back to Sierra and said, “Uncle?”
His little sister smiled mischievously, she knew exactly what she was doing.
Thessa’s hair started turning into feathers and a moment later she had reverted to her dragon form. She had been larger each time Don saw her, and now her dragon form was larger than wolf. But she hadn’t shifted on purpose. It took her a moment before she seemed to realize she wasn’t disguised anymore.
Stribog sat up and said, “Lord Thessalanos, you must keep your concentration at all time or you won’t be able to hold polymorph.”
Thessa turned back into her ‘half-elf’ form and said, “Sorry uncle,” with a slight look of regret.
She knew that above all, she needed to have better control over polymorph before she was allowed to leave Ranbull Heights with Don.
Don walked over to Stribog asked, “So how is she doing?”
Stribog seemed to recover some energy and said, “Thessalanos does fine when she puts her mind to it. The beasts that live here already fear her, which is only natural considering how many she has hunted.”
Stribog looked up at Don and said, “You know I’m still uncomfortable with this.”
Don said, “I know, your dragon pride won’t let you allow a mortal to raise a dragon. I’ve been keeping away to let you raise her the best I could.”
Stribog shook his head, “If only it were that easy. I’m starting to think that perhaps a larger reason for her strong familiarity with you was due your proximity to the egg as it grew.
Don said, “You mean because it absorbed so much mana from me as it grew that it was only natural to think of me as a parent?”
Stribog perked up when Don mentioned mana, and Don cringed inwardly that he may have revealed that he knew too much. Don was only able to know about the mana thing because he could see it, and normal people can’t see mana.
“Yes, to put it bluntly.” He replied.
Don asked, "How is her dragon magic coming along?"
"She has not used any yet, but she will. Soon I suspect. Dragon magic is something every dragon is born knowing, it is one of the oldest magics. Depending on whose version of history you believe, it could even be older than the gods who brought magic to the mortals of the world."
"I see." Don replied.
"Do you now?" Stribog gave Don a very serious look that sent a small chill down his spine. He continued. "Let me make something clear to you. You must never allow Thessalanos to use dragon magic of any kind in the presence of others. Dragon magic is very powerful, if anyone recognizes it, she will be in danger. This is a unique problem she faces because her guardian is a weak mortal."
Don protested, "So she can't be passed off as a mortal who knows dragon magic?"
"Dragon magic is not something mortals are meant to learn."
"But it can be learned, right?"
Stribog looked uneasy. “Yes, there have been dragons who have taught it to mortals.”
“And how did that go?” Don asked,
The old man frowned and answered, “Bad. Even most dragons can get corrupted by their own power. A mortal with the power of a dragon is a thing to be feared.”
Don figured from the way he said it that he had some personal experience with that. But his familiarity with Stribog was no where near high enough to ask about something like that. Still, he kept it in mind, it might make an interesting quest later.
Don took out his lute and started practicing. Thanks to some help from the Lute playing skill’s auto-assist, he believed he had gotten proficient in a few songs. The song he was practicing now was an upbeat and calming song. In the first few days after hatching, Thessa would often cry or go on a dragon rampage for no reason at all. The only thing that seemed to work was music, so Don had to pick up the lute again and write a few songs that would calm her down.
The next day, Stribog came to Don and said, “The time has come for me to leave.”
“What? Why?” Don asked.
“There is pressing business that requires my attention in the west. Being a wind dragon means I am not bound to any one spot, but that does not mean I have no responsibilities."
"Alright, are we free to go?"
"Yes, yes. I'll find you every once in a while to check on Thessalanos, until then."
Stribog said goodbye to Thessa and teleported away.
Sierra said, "Ahh, I hoped we'd at least get to see him fly away in dragon form."
With the exception of the gold and white sun dragon and Thessa of course, none of the others showed their dragon forms to Don and the rest.
Don asked his little sister, "So where you off to now?"
"Well, my party found a good hunting grounds so I should get back to them." Sierra's friends played with Thessa for a few days before they decided to leave. Sierra stayed to help babysit Thessa while Don was at work, but now Thessa could take care of herself when Don wasn't around so she wanted to get back to her own friends.
She asked Don, "Where you and Thessa going?"
"Bob said there was a city I could get an Artificer's license in the mountain range north of Aidern Kingdom. So I'll head there."
"Alright, be careful." Sierra hugged her brother then went over to hug Thessa. "See you later little sis, look out for big brother, ok?"
Thessa nodded and said, "Bye big sis."
With that they parted ways. Thessa was a bit sad at first, but as they got further and further from Ranbull Heights she got more and more excited by the new world that awaited her.
Don thought about his dreams of riding a majestic dragon through the skies and decided it was best to let the dream die. Thessa would probably let Don on her back to fly around when she was big enough, but even if she was ok with it, no one else would be. Riding a red and white fluff ball through the sky did not appeal to Don's manly nature. Plus he got a shiver of fear when he thought about what some of the other dragons would think if he rode Thessa. In retrospect he decided that his dreams may have been impractical.
But that brought up another point. Why didn't he give Thessa up? He couldn't fly with her, she wasn't allowed to use dragon magic, was there any point in keeping her around? Don didn't really have an answer, but if someone asked him why he had yet to switch from his dancer class to a manlier one, he didn't think he'd have an answer to that either.
"Hey Thessa." There was something Don wanted to ask her now that Stribog wasn't around.
The little looked up and said, "Yes big brother?"
"You are a dragon, uncle Stribog is a dragon. Why stay with me over him?"
Thessa look at Don for a moment before saying, "The air around big brother feels better."
"The air?"
"Yup."
The answer was not as insightful as he hoped, but it did clarify something. She had not chosen him because she thought he was her father, or big brother due to his high divine affinity. Though he wasn’t sure if it was his affinity for the divine that made the air around him feel better to the holy dragon.
At the border of Aidern Kingdom was a small town that operated as a trading post. It was the first settlement Thessa had ever seen, and she was as excited as a kid in an amusement park. At first Don was a little worried that as a monster, she would not be allowed through the gates, but the guards made no attempt to stop her. Stribog had told Don that polymorph could not be detected so easily, but Don was still relieved.
However once Don entered the town, he realized he had made a grievous error. A group of three women saw Thessa and Don, who had been away from civilization for so long, he forgot to wear a hooded cloak to hide his face.
"Awwww.." The women spotted Thessa first, and her half-elf form was as cute as her dragon form was adorable. Then they saw Don, his charm and charisma were so high that his elven features almost glowed with elegance and beauty.
One of the women, the most elegant and beautiful of them said, "Why hello there. Is this child yours?"
Don's ability to talk to beautiful women had improved, slightly, since becoming a dancer. But to keep his composure he had to speak as little as possible.
"Not quite, half sister." He then rubbed her fluffy white hair and she giggled and moved his arm away. Don hoped her cuteness would distract them, and it worked, for the other two. But the elegant one didn't take her eyes off Don.
She said, "That so. Well my name is Astra, a merchant, what exactly is your class?"
Was she trying to invite him to a party? Don decided to lie once more and claim to be a worthless class. "I am just a simple bard. And my little sister has no class."
"A bard? Excellent. I'm traveling with a caravan heading east tomorrow. We have plenty of knights, archers, and mages, but no bards. If you accompany us, I'll make sure you're paid well."
Now Don just felt stupid. And the worst part was that not only did he need the money, but it was not manly to refuse a lady's request.
Don gave Astra a smile and said, "I see. Will there be any danger? I must keep my sister safe." Hopefully he would come off as weak and be rejected.
The women smiled and said, “You and your sister will be welcome to stay in the wagon with my friends and I. It will be well protected no matter what comes our way.”
Again, Don had to refrain from biting his lip. He was pretty sure this person was a user, so he decided to play the part of a weak NPC. He thought to himself what would an NPC Bard with this appearance be like, and on the spot he made up a character.
“And your destination?” he asked.
“The caravan heads for fort Odin, but I will be heading for Boronis.”
Don had to take another deep breath. He really wasn’t used to women being interested in him.
“A shame. My destination is north. But I can accompany you to the capital crossroads.” Don barely managed to say without stuttering.
Right now he was in the west edge of Aidern Kingdom. His destination was a city in the northern edge. The capital and the crossroads around it was about in the center of the kingdom. It was in fact faster to simply go northeast from here, but ever since the women said Thessa could ride on a wagon in the caravan, Don saw the glimmer of interest in her eyes, like when a child hears you are taking them to go get ice-cream. The worst of it was that either through form or practice, it looked almost identical to the look his sister uses on him, and he has trouble saying no to her.
The beautiful merchant said, “The caravan leaves at first light. If you like, you can share a room with me at the Inn.”
The other women giggled a bit.
Don thought to himself with all his might, ‘You’re an NPC, you’re an NPC, you’re an NPC.’ After barely composing himself, he said, “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll be sharing a room with my sister.” He was able to hide his shame behind a courteous smile.
The woman seemed to buy it, because she said, “I understand, see you in the morning.”
She left with the other two mumbling to themselves.
Don walked behind a building where he started gasping for air like he had been holding his breath the whole time.
“Brother, are you ok?” Thessa asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. You looking forward to the caravan?”
“Yeah!” She exclaimed.
“Well, first things first. Time to rent a room to sleep.”
The town had two Inn, Don picked the cheaper one. Not just to save money, but to avoid those women for the night since Don figured they would pick the nicer one.
After renting a room, Thessa reverted back to her dragon form and curled up on the bed. Don never wasted time sleeping in Royal Road no matter how tired he got so he only got a one bed room with a large table to practice his artificing on.
Thessa watched for a while and asked, “Is brother doing magic?”
“Not exactly.” Don turned around to see that Thessa was still watching him on the bed, but then he realized something odd.
“Why do you think I’m doing magic?”
From her position, she wouldn’t be able to see the items on the table through his back, and most people who saw a heap of metal wouldn’t assume magic.
“The mana over the table looks different.”
She was right. The sygs that powered artificing changed the properties of the mana around them. Don asked, “You can see mana?”
She turned her head and said, “Yes. Brother can see it too, yes?”
“Well, yes. But most mortals can’t.”
“Oh. Ok.” She settled down and kept watching, her eyes blinking shut every once in a while.
Don went back to tinkering, he wondered in the back of his head if all dragons could see mana or if it was just a holy dragon.
The next morning, Thessa’s sleep was awoken by a knock on the door.
“Hello?” The voice was male, but Don heard the sound of him grasping the door handle.
“Thessa! Quick, change!” Don said both urgently and quietly. When it looked like she was too out of it to change, Don rushed to the door and said, “Yes?”
The door opened with Don just in time to block it from opening all the way.
The man said, “Oh good, the right room. You weren’t at the Silver Inn so I had to look for you. My apologies, but the boss of the caravan wanted to have a word with you before we depart.”
Don did his best to get back into character and said, “I see, then I’ll meet with the boss shortly. Where shall I find him?”
The man said, “Well in the caravan. The boss has been making sure everything is ready for the past hour.”
Don said, “Alright, I’ll need a moment to pack my things,” before closing the door.
Thessa was peering around drowsily, she had yet to fully awaken.
Don packed up the trinkets he had been playing with over the night and got Thessa to finally change to her half-elf form.
The pair left the Inn to see the overcast was cloudy. Don had strapped his lute to his back to get better into character rather than holding it his inventory.
The caravan itself was a long line of at least fifty wagons each packed with various goods. It was by far the largest Don had ever seen. Even Thessa who was still half asleep a moment ago perked up at the impressive site.
Don found a man loading crates onto a wagon and asked, “Excuse me sir, where can I find the boss?”
The man pointed to a hefty man who was talking to a petite woman. Don approached and was noticed by the woman who said, “One moment bard,” before turning back to the man and saying, “You and your men are on thin ice. I’ll have your word that this won’t happen again or all or our contract ends here.”
The man raised his hands in surrender and said, “Yea, yea, I’m sorry. I swear it won’t happen again.”
She rolled her eyes at his lackluster promise and sent him away. She then turned to Don and said, “Sorry about that. Some of the men under his charge got into a fight with another group. Having a hundred as guard is not as great as it sounds.”
The woman looked Don over. Standing next to her, he was a full head taller. Then she noticed Thessa and said, “Hello there little girl.”
Thessa frowned at the greeting. She didn’t know it yet but her dragon’s pride did not like to be addressed so casually. It was different for Sierra because she was Don’s sister and Sierra’s friends were ok because although they showed great affection towards Thessa, they were never disrespectful, but this woman was a stranger who had no right to do so.
Don noticed this and said, “She doesn’t warm up to strangers well,” before asking, “Are you the boss?”
The woman looked back up to Don and said, “Yeah, name's Ritz. My sister told me about you last night but I wanted to get a look at you before we set off. What songs do you play?”
Don froze for a moment when he realized what she was asking. There are dozens of famous songs that every bard knows in Royal Road. When a bard writes an amazing song, other bards often learn it and it spreads like wildfire through the continent. The songs themselves vary but are often written about well known stories or about people who have made a name for themselves. It is the songs themselves combined with the talent to play and sing them that make traveling bards and minstrels welcome company, but Don didn’t know a single one.
Don got into character and said, “My apologies but the only songs I have are ones I've written. And I have yet to put any lyrics to them."
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Ritz said, "Well then play one."
Don took the lute off his back and played one of Thessa's favorite melodies, a song he made up that generated the title, Soothing melody. It was made to calm her down whenever she threw a tantrum.
You’ve heard Soothing Melody
Health and mana regeneration increased by 15%
Stamina regeneration increased 10%
for 2 hours
Does not stack with other songs
Although the song lacked lyrics, Don didn't think it needed them. The song itself had several layers of rhythms and tunes that made good use of each of the fifteen strings on his lute. Don didn't think it was inferior to anything he heard on the internet, but the woman had a different opinion about it.
"Wow. I mean, wow. You're good. Most beautiful playing I've ever heard, and those effects. Wow." She shook her head and let out a laugh before asking, "Where did you learn to play like that?"
At first Don thought she was just being nice, but the laugh appeared genuine. Then Don realized that since learning to play, the only other person he had ever heard play any music in Royal Road was his instructor, a high grade reclusive master lutist. He had no idea how his playing measured up against an actual bard.
Don realized he still needed to answer the question so he said, "Learned it from an old woman deep in the south."
She nodded and said, "Well, the journey will be all the more pleasant with your music. My sisters and I are merchants if you didn't already know. Now you told my sister you can stay until the crossroads. We'll be there in seven days. Three gold a day fine?"
Don remembered when hunting barely earned him three silver a day. But with his current level and skills he could probably earn three gold a day if he found a good dungeon. But now that his god hunting days was over, finding a good dungeon was not an easy task. Three gold a day for playing a lute was an excellent wage.
"Most generous. I'll be happy to liven you caravan with my lute. My name is Don, and my little sister here is Thessa. Of course my acceptance is contingent on her accompaniment. There is room for both of us, yes?"
She smirked at Thessa and said, "Of course there will be room for the young lady."
Thessa blushed a bit at how transparent she had been, and quietly said, "Thankyou."
The boss showed the pair to a large wagon with cushioned seats enough to comfortably fit up to eight people that was in the middle of the few other passenger wagons and said, "These seats will be yours throughout the whole of the trip. If you leave them and take a walk they will still be yours." She then left to see to the other wagons.
Don decided that this felt very similar to waiting for an airplane to take off. He had already boarded and was waiting for everyone else to board before takeoff.
Thessa asked with a little excitement, "Big brother, are you gonna play for a week?"
Don answered, "Yes, it seems so."
"Yay," she exclaimed. She knew well enough by now that Don did not like playing the lute, but she loved it.
At first Don thought she just liked music, but now he was considering the merchant's reaction to his playing. Was he really that good? His sister liked it of course and even Stribog seemed to enjoy it, but Don never considered that he was better than an actual Bard.
Don listed the facts in his mind: The first was, that lutes, and thus lutists, are rare. Most bards use a harp, or at least something far simpler than a thirteen string lute. The lute's ability to create intricate, complex melodies would be unknown to most. Second was, that a normal bard, does not use music as the primary ingredient to a song. The music is the background for the lyrics of the song the bard sings, it is a tool to add emotion to them and make them more memorable. Without the lyrics, a bard's song would be simple, catchy, but not that impressive. Third was that Don actually learned to play his instrument before getting the skill to play it. If an actual bard got his skill upon getting the class and relied on the auto-assist to play, his music would be severely limited.
Don's songs which used his self taught skills to bring the sound of a lute to its full potential and was not held back by lyrics or even generalized form, fell into a category all their own. At least for a bard in Royal Road.
Don decided that it was possible, just possible, that his music playing skill might not be inferior to any bard in Royal Road. Although his music would probably lose out to a skilled bard who possessed a great singing voice, it wasn't bad. And as long as he knew he wasn't the worst musician in Royal Road, it wasn't as unmanly to play.
To demonstrate his newfound appreciation for his own hard earned skills, he took the lute out himself and started playing a happy song that could put anyone in high spirits.
As dawn approached, Don's confidence in his playing increased, a little bit, with each compliment he received from the people walking by. By the time the sun could be seen over the road towards their destination, Don saw a familiar trio walk towards his coach. Astra from the previous night and her two friends sat opposite Don's seat, and Don had a serious moment of hesitation about the whole ordeal.
"Hello again," said the merchant. Don decided that, if nothing else, he would use this week to master the art of pretending to be an NPC, that was impervious to both flirtation and seduction. But even as he thought that he shuddered inwardly, and hoped the women hadn't noticed.
Astra asked, "Is our wagon to your liking? I'm sorry if it is a bit crowded, but I assure you, it was the only unassigned seats in the caravan. Besides, I promise you're in the best of company."
Don said, "Thankyou," while pretending to be charmed to mask how uncomfortable he was.
If he had a choice he would rather sit with the boss. She too had fine looks, but her clothing was was not tailored to show it off. When it came to beautiful women who dressed to impress, Don had a history of making a fool of himself. A bad experience getting publicly humiliated by a beautiful girl in high school left him with something of a psychological tick that made him freeze up when trying to flirt or even talk to someone who was trying flirt with him. He was amazed he had already gone this long without making a fool of himself, and elected to remain in his NPC mindset for the rest of the trip.
The clouds were looming overhead. It hadn't started raining yet, but Ritz had already put tarps and roofs over all the wagons that needed it so Don didn't need to worry about getting wet. The hundred some hired guards walking along the caravan were not so lucky.
Don had been playing a variant of his melody of the wind, it had attained a wind property that allowed the wind to carry it well even if it was harshly blowing. He had also been thinking, mostly about new artificing ideas. He always forgot to ask Bob how he made the sound of his double flute carry over great distances. Don assumed it was through artificing, but he didn't know what sygs or combination of sygs that had that effect.
While thinking of artificing, Don tended to naturally concentrate his eyes to see mana, even when he wasn't actually artificing. It helped him think and come up with new ideas. He also enjoyed seeing the world in a way others did not. He saw the mana that naturally flowed out of people. More flowed out of mages and high level characters than did average folk. Don looked around the guard company and saw about two dozen people with above average mana flow, meaning they were either high levels or mages. Possibly a high level mage.
Don looked up to the sky and stopped playing his lute. The women to Astra's left asked, "What's wrong?" before looking up at the clouds. Don ignored her question. Of course she couldn't see it, but it was not something he had ever seen either. Hanging in the clouds above the caravan was a spider web of flowing mana, going in and out of the clouds like a stitching needle.
Don turned to Thessa and asked, "Do you see that?"
She looked up to what Don was pointing at and said, "Uh huh. Pretty." Then her eyes lost focus for a moment before regaining it. She continued, "Three circle weather manipulation magic, Thunder Cloud."
Don asked, "What?"
She answered, "That's what it is. I just know."
Don could guess how she knew it, but what he couldn't guess, was why someone was using magic to cast a thunder cloud over the caravan. Don saw no mana connecting anyone from the caravan to the cloud so he didn't think it was being cast by someone there.
Astra, who was barely following Don's conversation with Thessa spoke up after her friend was ignored the first time.
"Excuse me, but what is going on?" The question was asked both politely and insistently.
Don looked at her and said, "Someone, someone not in this caravan is using magic to make a thunder cloud overhead."
She looked shock, but it did seem that she believed him.
Don asked, "What's wrong?"
She looked nervous for a moment before masking it. "Well, these roads are quite dangerous these days. There are rumors of a large bandit gang. But that is why guards were hired.”
Don replied, “Guard parties of this size are usually for deterrents, but if someone wanting trouble is causing this storm, then they have not been deterred.”
The woman nodded in understanding and moved her hands a bit in something Don knew to be the opening of a whisper menu. She began speaking but Don couldn’t hear her. A moment later she asked Don, “My sister wants to know how you know the cloud is being cast.”
Don had no intention of revealing his own secrets or those of Thessa, so he told her, “The sound of the thunder is wrong. My sister and I are good with sound.”
Since he was posing as a bard, it made sense that he would have a sound related sensing skill. She seemed to buy it.
After some more whispering she said, “Alright, until something happens we’ll keep going, but the captains of all the guards will be put on high alert.”
Don started playing the lute again, but mostly for appearance sake and for Thessa. She didn’t get worried easily but she noticed when Don was.
Don kept his mana sight on the whole time, and an hour later, he saw threads of mana extending up from a hill over the horizon. He stopped playing again and said aloud, “It’s time.”
Astra nodded and started whispering. A few moments later Don saw sparks of mana shooting off from various groups, people who were using skills and buffs to gain strength before the coming conflict.
Don turned to Thessa and said, “There is gonna be a big fight soon, can you stay in the carriage for me?”
Thessa said, “I can’t fight?”
Don said, “You remember what uncle Stribog said.”
Thessa said, “Ok, but can I watch?” She had some excitement in her voice. She had hunted before but never had she witnessed a large battle.
Don said, “Of course.”
As he answered, a dozen lightning bolts came down from the clouds, and proceeded to turn completely away from the caravan towards a cloaked mage. Don saw the ground beneath the mage glow, though he didn’t know if it was from the lightning’s energy or mana. Either way, it was obvious the mage was acting as a lightning rod, protecting the convoy from the cloud above.
With the lightning acting as the signal, dozens of arrows shot from around the grounds. Heads were ducked and shields were raised, The sound of thuds and spells resounded. Shouts were heard and men were seen running over the hill, pouring down like a colony of ants.
It was moments before the two forces clashed, and Don started hearing music. It was something that happened every once in a while ever since Don started composing his own songs. The music always fit the emotion of the environment, and at the moment it was an exciting, heart pounding music that would fill the soul with an urge to battle. Usually Don ignored it when he heard the sound of nature as he called it, but at the moment he was posing as a weak bard so he couldn't fight or even use any battle dances to strengthen the guards.
Don relaxed his hands and strummed experimentally as mages from both sides started casting their spells. He found the right chords and without delay he started playing.
Swords rang against shields and fire balls burst, shouting and crying filled the battlefield, but through all of it could be heard a single melody. The combatants started to unconsciously match their strikes and blocks to the rhythm of the music, and thus to each other. This was inconvenient for the ambushers as they relied on surprise to disrupt the caravan guard's movement, thus giving the guards the advantage in the long run.
Ding*
You have composed a song.
The Sound of Battle
This song illustrates the fury and bravery of those who fight with their lives on the line.
Special Effects:
Allies who hear this song will have increased morale and courage for the next two hours.
Does not stack with other songs.
Number of songs composed: 7
Lute Playing has reached level 8
This allows you to play more difficult music.
- Fame + 50
- Charisma + 3
- Leadership + 5
It took about five minutes for the ambushing party to realize that Don's music prolonged the battle and mounted disadvantages against them. Orders were shouted and arrows were fired straight at Don.
Don quickly moved his lute so it wouldn't get struck, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the arrows himself.
"Big Brother!" he heard Thessa shout behind him.
Don felt a small shiver of fear. Not from the archers. He took half a dozen arrows to his body and still had most of his life, he hadn't even needed to stop playing. The source of this fear came from behind him.
Thessalanos started muttering. No one could hear it under the sound of Don's lute and the battle, but Don was listening for it, and heard it was not human sound.
The thunderhead above the battle flashed repeatedly in a blinding glow. Don stopped playing and saw threads of mana shooting from Thessa into the cloud. Moments later lightning struck, over and over and over again. Some bent towards the mage who acted as a lightning rod, but most scoured the field. There were simply too many to redirect.
When the lightning stopped, most everyone, Don included, was relatively blind. Moans from the injured could be heard over the field, and as everyone regained their sight, a scene of carnage was revealed. Dozens of black marks covered the ground, within each was a few dead bodies of friends and foes alike. The area around the lines of wagons was untouched, but outside it, at least a third of all combatants were dead.
Don had no doubt about the cause of the devastation. He plucked the arrows out of his chest and legs before turning around and embracing Thessa. He softly said, "Thessa, what have you done?"
She sobbed a bit, and Don saw her hair slowly turn into feathers, he then said, "No, it's alright, I'm alright, you're alright. Calm down." Her hair returned. Don looked to his side to see that the women were still blinking, they were still a little blind so they saw nothing.
Astra said aloud, "Don, you alive?"
"And well," he answered. "Your sister?"
"She's fine too, she saw you get hit."
"No problems here."
The people of the battlefield slowly started to rise. A few of them started running away. Don assumed they were surviving bandits. A few arrows flew after them but the blinded archers missed their marks.
Priests who had stayed in the wagons got out and started healing the wounded. A passing priest cast healing hand on Don as well. Don made sure his lute was alright and started playing the music he used to make Thessa calm down, not only for her, but for the camp since it helped others heal.
You’ve heard Soothing Melody
Health and mana regeneration increased by 15%
Stamina regeneration increased 10%
for 2 hours
Does not stack with other songs
After a quarter of an hour, Ritz showed up. "Hey Don, you and Thessa alright?"
Don answered while continuing to play, "No problems here. How's the caravan?"
She sighed. "Decent. Since we were prepared the battle wasn't too bad, but that last lightning shower was too much. No one here is claiming credit for that and since I see no murderer marks on anyone I'm pretty sure it was some crazed guy in the bandit group."
Thessalanos was a named monster, and since she had killed friend and foe alike, she should have her name glow red above her head like a field boss would. But a dragon's polymorph skill can hide even that so she was in no danger of being discovered.
Ritz continued, "And you. You, my friend were impressive. All the mercs are talking about you. Some of them were saying that was the most fun they ever had during a battle."
Don said, "I just provided some background music."
"You did a bit more than that. The captains of the guards knew it was you who alerted everyone, so the sound of you playing even in the midst of battle gave them confidence, which spread from them to their subordinates." She smiled at him and went back to checking the others. The caravan was back on the road within an hour of the first lightning bolt that started the battle.
Don asked the women he sat across, "Think we'll run into more trouble?"
She shook her head. "No. Those guy work on surprise and ambush, neither worked on us and they've lost three times the number we have. It should be smooth sailings from here on out."
Don didn't get his hopes up.
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