“Whey! I just found another [Nightmare Teeth]!” Jack said to Horace, with a puffed-up chest.

“Darn it! I’m now 15 to 16. Just wait! I’m sure there are still more left to find.”

RobbieRobber is calling you!

“Excuse me, Horace. I’m getting a call from my cousin.”

“No worries. Get the call. I’ll pick up the rest.”

“Hey! Pause on our competition. Whatever you pick up doesn’t count while I’m on this call.”

Horace waved Jack off, and he ran to the edge of the clearing to answer his cousin’s call. “Hey, Rob.”

“What’s up, Jackie?”

“Nothing much. Thank you for lunch. Your droid sure can cook.”

“Good. Good. Listen, I’m finally done! Sorry. This raid took much longer than I was expecting.”

“Was it worth it? Did you have fun?”

Rob’s laugh on the other side of the call told Jack it’d been more than a little worth it. “How are things on your side?”

Jack looked over to Amari, Marie, and Horace. They pointed in different directions, trying to decide where to go next. “It’s going well. I’m with some friends. They’re helping me out with a quest.”

“What quest?” Rob asked with an edgy curiosity.

Knowing what Rob was thinking, it was Jack’s time to laugh. “Don’t worry, Rob. It’s not a rare quest. Just a common one.”

His cousin sighed in relief. “What about your two new minors?”

“I’ve made my decision: bard and beekeeper.”

Rob burst out laughing. “Sorry to laugh, cousin. It’s just that you can’t just become a bard because you want to. Bards are super rare.”

Jack remained silent, wearing a wolfish grin. He would wait until he was face to face with his cousin to tell him he was a bard already.

“Should I come and meet you in Embersgate or not?”

Jack scratched his head. They had been looking for a queen bee for one hour without any luck. “This quest might still take a while. I’ll call you when I’m done. Is that alright?”

“Sure thing. Don’t forget to log out to have dinner. It’s 6 pm in the real world. Shall we eat at 7?”

“Of course. Will do, buddy.”

His cousin disconnected, and Jack ran over to meet the others. “Sorry, guys. Just talking to my cousin.”

“No worries. We think it’s time to return to the first clearing where we fought those nightmare centipedes. What do you think?”

Jack bit his lip. “To be honest, I have no idea. I trust your judgment, guys.”

“OK. Let’s go, then,” Amari declared.

Horace let Amari lead the formation so that he could walk alongside Jack. “Level 6 yet?”

“No, not yet. Just a little bit more, and I’ll get there.”

“Cool, cool. I can’t wait to see if you learn a new song at level 6. Something that boosts defense would be great.”

“Who needs defense? What mamma wants is something that boosts AoE damage!” Marie said from behind.

Amari pretended to ignore the conversation, but Jack was sure he would have liked something that helped him deal extra critical damage. “I’ll let you know once I unlock it, guys. Promise!”

Jack smiled, seeing the enthusiasm the rest of the group felt for him. He had enjoyed maintaining a campsite for the team, but being able to join them and being in the middle of the action was even better. He didn’t feel like a deadweight anymore. Thanks to [Sitting Wind], he could keep the team’s stamina topped up, allowing them to move boldly and finish fights faster.

Despite much of the jungle looking the same, Jack could tell they had been here earlier. The sky had lightened, changing the colors of the pond, but he could still identify the peculiar, lone dead tree emerging from the middle of the stale pond. They had been here shortly after hunting the first group of nightmare centipedes.

They kept marching until Amari raised his hand, signaling the party to stop. He called the group, including Jack, to peek into the clearing.

Thirty nightmare centipedes roamed the patch of grass in the middle of the trees. There was something slightly different, though. One of them stood out. It was longer than the other centipedes, and a bright yellow line ran across its back.

“Sweet!” Marie whispered.

“We’ve killed enough common mobs to make the big guy come out,” Horace exclaimed.

“What is that?” Jack hissed.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“An elite,” Amari said with a tone of respect.

“Oh! A boss?! This is my first time running into one,” Jack confessed.

“Its drops are much better than the common rabble’s.”

“Harder to kill, too,” Amari added.

“Should we give it a go?” Marie suggested.

Amari weighed the options, and his eyes landed on Jack. “With our mighty bard pumping us with stamina, we might just pull it off. What do you say, Jack?”

“I-I’ll do my best.”

“Good! I think those bushes a little earlier are a good spot.”

“Agreed,” Marie said.

“A good spot for what?” questioned Jack.

He got no answer, though. He was talking to the wind. Amari had disappeared into the treeline, and Horace and Marie ran in the opposite direction. Jack waited for a few moments, unsure of what to do.

This group had played together for a long time. Seeing how they could communicate with just one nod, a look, or a simple gesture was frustrating. These things were so ingrained in them that they didn’t even fathom that Jack couldn’t follow them sometimes. Horace finally whirled back and beckoned Jack to follow.

They arrived at a group of thorny bushes. Horace took his stand in front of them.

Marie turned to Jack. “You’re with me, Jack. Don’t play until we tell you to.”

The jungle was quiet. There were a few whistles, the shrieks of centipedes, and then the rustling of vegetation, which grew louder. Amari appeared through the bush with five nightmare centipedes in tow.

Shield Wall!

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Horace struck his shield on the ground, creating a shockwave that sent the centipedes a few steps back. Marie and Amari started dealing damage from the sides. The centipedes were caught in a crossfire of acid bombs, Amari’s throwing stars, and the blows of Horace’s hammer. In a few moments, they were all dead.

Jack’s jaw dropped throughout the whole ordeal. It wasn’t because of the speed with which they had disposed of these monsters or how Amari had managed to pull only five centipedes from a clearing with at least 30 of them. It was how quiet the whole battle had been. They had hardly made a sound. Were they trying to prevent the other centipedes from joining the fray?

Amari disappeared back into the bush toward the clearing without a word, and Marie and Horace reset their positions. Amari reappeared, this time pulling seven centipedes. The encounter went just as the first one, and Jack even gained a level off it, reaching level 13.

“I think we can deal with the rest now. Jack, as soon as we reach the clearing, you can play [Sitting Wind]. Let’s go.”

Gritting his teeth, Jack ran, trying to keep up. Horace had already charged into the clearing, and his skin shone a dull copper as he took hit after hit from the centipedes.

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Not even the elite could make a dent in his large health bar.

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Amari was finished using throwing stars and was back at using his claws. The bonus of the bug keeper set made the blades tear through the centipedes’ hard shells with a satisfying, crisp, clear, tearing sound. He only needed two hits at most to finish a centipede off.

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Marie circled the battlefield, throwing bombs to alleviate some pressure on Horace or to finish up stragglers left with a sliver of health.

Jack brought the ocarina to his lips and played Sitting Wind. The slow and mellow melody suited the atmosphere of a battle's aftermath, a calm and quiet setting. Seeing the rest of the team fighting so desperately to its slow tune was a little weird. The setting certainly deserved something more heroic.

After playing the song, Jack received a couple of pleasant notifications!

You’ve played [Sitting Wind].

Success rate: A-.

+200 bard XP.

Audience bonus:

+400 bard XP.

You’ve reached Bard, level 6.

You’ve learned [March of the Embers].

Not only did he get an A- rate, but Jack finally leveled up his bard profession and learned his second song right in the middle of the battle. His excitement was interrupted by a loud bang.

BOOM!

Horace was forced to take a headbutt from the centipede elite head-on and lost a large chunk of his stamina bar. His shield, too, looked a little banged up. Jack could only imagine how much the equipment’s durability must have dropped.

Amari was already slashing the elite centipede across its back, making it thrash violently and chase after the ninja. There was something wrong, though. The sound of Amari’s metal claws hitting the elite’s shell was different from before. It sounded like metal scraping against metal. The damage values were much lower, too.

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The elite’s defense couldn’t be compared to a regular mob’s. Horace used a skill that usually dealt significant damage, and it didn’t even break the double-digits.

Hammer Blow!

-9!

Target deals 10% less damage for 10 seconds.

It wasn’t just the elite’s defense that was higher. It moved differently from regular centipedes. While the normal monster always coiled backward before striking, the elite attacked without notice, sometimes changing its trajectory in the middle of the attack. It could dodge many of Amari’s attacks and was much more challenging to pin down.

The centipede dodged Amari’s slash, slithered past Horace, and spat a blob of mucus. It was brown and slimy and sizzled as it hit Horace’s chest plate.

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Several damage values appeared over his head, forcing him to drink a health potion.

Jack did the only thing he could to help with the fight. He played [Sitting Wind], ensuring his companions’ stamina bar was packed. With Horace out of the battle, waiting for the recovery effects to kick in, the centipede turned toward Jack, making him gulp and miss one of the notes. The centipede spat a blob of slime in his direction. Thankfully, it had done so from far away, and Jack had seen the attack before. He barely dodged it, but a little of it touched his bushy moss suit.

Tzzzz!

Jack played the tune to the end, got a measly D, and hurried to check the durability of his moss suit. It had dropped by 10! What a monstrous attack!

Finally, Horace’s health was restored, and he charged the elite. The elite centipede’s health bar was still in the green zone. This battle would still take a while.

As the battle progressed, Marie proved to be the star of the show. She never stopped throwing vials, crackling bombs, and concoctions non-stop, emptying her previously full utility belts. The different poisons and chemicals kept stacking, hindering the elite’s movements more and more.

Sharp Venom!

Target loses five health per second for 30 seconds.

Acidic Shower!

Target loses one health per second for two minutes.

Paralyzing Toxin!

Target moves 10% slower for 30 seconds.

The battle hit a comfortable pace thanks to Marie, and the party's stamina expenditure was under control.

The satisfaction of feeling useful that Jack had been experiencing quickly waned in this drawn-out fight. He wasn’t doing anything right now. He watched the battle, trying to think of ways to help. That’s when he had an idea.

Jack told himself that what he was about to do wasn’t stupid. However, what did he have to lose? He ensured the centipede elite’s eyes weren’t on him and selected his new song, [March of the Embers]. He wanted to help his friends, and maybe this song would help them finish up this powerful monster.