The description of [March of the Embers] made Jack’s heart race.
March of the Embers (Level 1 Melody)
Description: This impactful melody inspires bravery. Whenever you play this melody, all your allies deal more damage.
Melody Type: Epic
“The melody type!” he said, excited. It was an epic tune. Jack put the yellow ocarina away. This was the second one he was using—the first one had only one durability point left. He grabbed a red ocarina from his inventory instead.
Earthenware Ocarina (Rare)
Crafting grade: A+
Description: An iron red-glazed alto C clay ocarina handcrafted for a rich, mellow tone and smooth finish.
Durability: 36+20
Artistry: 15+5
Crafting grade bonus: +20 durability; +5 artistry.
Iron red glaze bonus: Epic songs are +15% more powerful.
Its description said that it boosted epic song effects by 15%. He had lucked out. This ocarina could boost [March of the Embers].
He glanced at his battling companions, and his eyes landed on Amari. The only team member who hadn’t voiced his desire for a specific type of melody would gain the most from Jack’s advancement in the bard profession.
The battle scene grayed out, and Jack gulped as he was introduced to the new tune. The rhythm was quick! The ocarinist hardly stopped between the succession of fast notes rising in intensity. As he listened to the epic music, Horace’s movements, Amari’s slashes, and even the centipede’s thrashing motions suddenly looked heroic. Now, this was a soundtrack worthy of a fierce battle.
Jack heard the melody a second time. Much of the daunting succession of notes that had scared him at first turned out to be segments of scales and arpeggios that he’d done many times at the same speed. All he had to do was to rearrange these building blocks and put them in the proper order. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine his fingers moving and playing each note.
That’s when he was hit in the face, his health bar decreasing by half.
-20
-20
-20
“Careful, Jack! Don’t space out!”
“Sorry! Sorry! It caught me by surprise.”
Annoyed by how the centipede had made a fool out of him, Jack hid behind a tree. He replayed the song, trying to memorize the sequence of notes and rehearsing the fingering positions mentally.
Jack was out of the battle for a couple of minutes, and when he returned, the centipede’s health bar was already in the yellow zone, close to the red. Everyone’s stamina bars were two-thirds spent. The first thing Jack did was to play [Sitting Wind] to replenish their strengths. As he played the melody, he couldn’t help but feel the stark contrast between its slow rhythm and the accelerated pace of [March of the Embers].
“Thanks, Jack!” Amari thanked as he dodged a blob and threw two throwing stars at the centipede, dead in its eyes, creating an opening for Horace to bash its head with his hammer.
They all looked relaxed, and the centipede would still die even if he didn’t do anything else. Jack risked playing the new song. His first attempt came out as a jumbled mess, drawing a curious glance from Marie. Jack sighed. Playing a song well on the first try wasn't easy, especially before an audience and in the heat of a battle.
Given how badly it went, Jack decided to dream smaller. He rehearsed the first section of the song. He tried each riff slowly, ensuring he got the notes right. There was a tricky bit where he had to play nine notes in quick succession. A few intervals in this segment weren’t familiar to him; they didn’t match any scale, arpeggio, or bits of Sitting Wind. These new motions still had to be drilled into his muscle memory.
Once satisfied with the first section, he tried the second one.
“Are you learning a new song?” Horace asked excitedly as he sidestepped an attack.
Amari answered for him. “He must have leveled up while filling our stamina, and since he’s just watching the battle, he’s trying to figure it out.”
Jack bit his lip. These veterans could chat leisurely, even when fighting an elite monster. “You got me,” Jack shouted back to them.
“Does it boost defense?” Horace tried. Jack ignored the question and went back to his rehearsal. He spent a few moments on the last section of the song.
Once he could play each building block roughly, he tried bringing the whole thing together. The first few bars sounded close to the original, albeit slightly slower. He slowed down even more once he reached the middle of the song. Given how the last part had many similarities with the first part of the song, he felt more confident and accelerated a bit. He butchered the ending.
Fortunately, the system still recognized his efforts.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
You’ve played [March of the Embers]
Success Rate: D-
+20 bard XP.
Audience bonus:
+50 bard XP.
All your allies deal 10(+2%) damage for 3 seconds.
The system gave him a barely passing grade. The boost to damage from his ocarina helped the damage go from 10% to 12%! The buff to his party lasted for a measly 3 seconds. Seeing their weapons glow red, Amari slashed the centipede.
-32!
-48!
“Cool! Thanks, Jack!”
“Let me try,” Horace said excitedly.
Hammer Blow!
-10!
Target deals 10% less damage for 10 seconds.
“Wow! You finally broke into the double digits,” Amari mocked.
“Shut up, Amari. I’m a tank! I’m supposed to soak damage, not deal it. I’m just picking your slack here.”
The buff wore off quickly, but it still worked. Jack tried again. On his second try, the middle of the song didn’t go as well as the first time, but conversely, the finale was much better.
You’ve played [March of the Embers]
Success Rate: D+
+30 bard XP.
Audience bonus:
+60 bard XP.
All your allies deal 10(+2%) damage for 10 seconds.
The moment he finished playing, he started again. The song took over 30 seconds, so he couldn’t keep his allies buffed even if he played non-stop. After a few Ds, he finally got a C, which brought the buff to 15 seconds, and just as he was starting to get comfortable with the new song, the elite fell to the ground, and everyone became enveloped in light.
You’ve defeated the Golden-Striped Nightmare Centipede.
20,000XP.
You’ve reached level 13.
You’ve reached level 14.
You’ve unlocked a new title: [Slayer of Monsters].
Slayer of Monsters (Common)
Description: You’ve seen things and been places. Monsters that frighten little children have perished by your blade.
Effects:
+1 Attack
Conditions to unlock [Slayer of Monsters]:
Slay 100 common monsters; {complete}
And slay one elite monster. {complete}.
“Yes!” Jack said, raising his fist in the air. He loved his new title!
The veterans didn’t show as much enthusiasm and instead rushed to where the elite had died, looking for loot. Sure enough, it had dropped several items.
Jack approached the party. “Anything good?”
“Oh, yeah. Check it out!”
Horace handed all the items over to Jack. There was a weapon, a recipe, and a skill book. Other than that, there were some coins and 12 [Nightmare Teeth], a drop that the average nightmare centipede occasionally dropped. The elite alone dropped as many teeth as 100 normal centipedes would.
Jack examined the more unique items. The weapon was a yellow whip, the same line that ran along the body of the elite monster. Jack could make out the small joints where the centipede segments used to connect, which gave the whip flexibility. At the same time, the whip had the hardness and sharpness of the centipede’s armor.
Golden Strip Whip (Rare)
Description: A flexible strip of chitin that marks all rulers of the nightmare centipedes. It can be used as a whip.
Effects:
Attack: 32;
Block: 2;
Durability: 78
10% chance of inflicting [Bleed].
The two books showed wear and tear, their titles faded, and the covers visibly spent. They were covered in the same slime that the elite centipede had used as projectiles as if these books had been fished from its stomach.
Slime Coating (Uncommon)
Description: A book containing a biologist’s notes on the nightmare centipedes’ saliva and how they use it to dissolve prey. It includes a recipe the biologist believed could be recreated using a combination of herbs. If these notes are correct, a blade could be coated into this slime thus improving damage.
Ingredients: [Nightmare Tooth]; [Shadow Herb]; [Moon Cammomile]; [Milk].
Effects: Ground the herbs into a powder, then add milk until it becomes a runny liquid. Finally, add the nightmare tooth. The chemicals in the mixture should dissolve and turn the whole mixture into an acid.
Requirements: Journeyman Poisoner, lvl. 2.
Prowler’s Skittering Steps (Uncommon)
Description: A book containing a biologist’s notes on the nightmare centipedes and how they use their many legs to sneak up on prey. The centipede has swallowed it, but the writing is still legible.
Effect: Active. +10 stealth for 1 minute.
“Alright, everyone. Does anyone want the whip?”
Jack shrugged. It’s not that he didn’t want it, but he hadn’t crafted it. He couldn’t equip it. Besides, he had dealt 0 damage to the monster. He didn’t deserve anything here. Everyone else passed on the gift as well. “Alright, we can sell it at the market and split it between us. Sounds fair?”
Horace and Marie nodded while Jack remained silent.
“Jack? Sounds fair?” Amari asked again.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I also get to vote?”
“Of course! You’re part of the team.”
“B-but I didn’t deal any damage!”
“Nonsense, we could never have dealt with this elite if you didn’t help us recover our stamina.”
Jack felt a catch in his throat and nodded. “Thanks. I’m OK with it being sold, then.”
“Good, good. The poison recipe should go to Marie. She’s a poisoner, after all. Do you want it, Marie?”
Marie didn’t say anything but accepted Amari's book. She leafed through it, and it disappeared.
“This leaves us with the last recipe. The skill is quite good. Even though assassins would give it the best use, any rogue could use it. Do you mind if I take it, Jack?”
Jack looked at the moss suit he was wearing. It’s true that it boosted stealth and that it would synergize nicely with this skill, but it made more sense for Amari to have it. Wasn’t he the one who scouted ahead of the team and brought monsters to the group in a more manageable number?
“You have it, Amari. I can have something else next time.”
“Is it my impression, or you’ve become more reasonable since we first met?”
Jack pouted. “Maybe.”
“Haha. So be it, then. Thanks, Jack.”
Horace was left to the side with a sad face. “You’ll get something else next time,” Amari said, trying to console the tank.
“Nah. That’s not what has gotten me down. I thought that Jack’s next skill would boost defense. Why did it have to help you deal even more damage?! You already have so much DPS!”
Amari grinned. “Haven’t you heard that the best defense is a good offense? If you look at things that way, in a way, the song does boost defense.”
“Argh. Whatever. Where to now?”
“I guess that we need to…”
“Hush!” Marie said, silencing Amari. Everyone went quiet, and Jack followed Marie’s gaze, trying to see what had gotten her so riled up. There was a dark shape in the trees, moving between the branches. Jack squinted. He thought it was a bird for a moment, but the wings moved too fast. Realizing what Marie was seeing, he widened his eyes, and his heart raced.
“Well done spotting it!” Amari said in hushed tones. He quickly leafed through the book dropped by the elite, learning the skill, and faded against the background. Jack could still see his half-transparent outline since they were in the same party. Amari climbed a tree and, jumping from branch to branch, pursued the queen bee.
“Come on, Jack!” Horace said, taking off through the ground, followed by Marie.
“What are we doing?”
“Amari will track the queen bee. We are going to try to get ahead of her so that we can set up a trap. Got it? This is going to be quite a sprint. Get ready to juice us up.”
Jack put the red ocarina away, grabbed a yellow one, and ran after his team. It was time to capture his queen bee!