Hearing her resolution stunned me briefly, allowing one of the bolts from the bicorn to catch my feet. For the first time in the fight, my bar of life appeared. However, that fact was overshadowed by what Kahli did next.

Bards were known as the most pure support class, with basically no fighting potential of their own. That was because they had to completely focus on their music, and were generally unable to even protect themselves should an enemy attack. Yet, Kahli kicked off the ground, her eyes still golden, and ran towards the bicorn as it charged towards me.

Her hands pulled a pair of copper daggers from behind her back, holding them in a reverse grip. All the while, I could still hear the faint hum of her song. The rhythm was in time with her steps, rising and falling with every breath. Before the bicorn was able to reach me, she had already appeared next to it.

As if her actions did not faze her in the slightest, she swung her daggers at the beast’s hide, causing two thin gashes. Blood flowed down the flank of the bicorn as it turned and ran a short distance to face Kahli. Only now did it seem to register her presence, and given that her one attack had done more damage than my little spells, it was purely focused on her now.

Meanwhile, I was still staring at the small figure of Kahli, finding it difficult to believe that a bard had been able to actively engage in battle without breaking their focus. However, soon a message appeared in front of me. It seemed to explain away my confusions, yet raised entirely new questions.

You are under the effects of Kahli’s Battle Melody. Mana, Ki, and stamina all recover slightly.

I knew that bards were able to name their music under certain conditions, and those with named pieces were generally able to access them far more easily than normal bards. Yet even still, there had never been a bard that could fight while performing, to my knowledge. However, the evidence before me was undeniable, as she once again charged towards the bicorn.

This time, it wasn’t just going to let her approach as she wished. The upper horn on its head began glowing, and a blue beam of freezing energy was shot out. Its target was not Kahli, but the ground in front of her. Should she carelessly run over it, there was no doubt that she should lose her footing.

At least, that would be the case with a normal opponent. Even if she was a bard, Kahli was first and foremost a hunter. Before her feet even touched the ground, the frozen dirt beneath her had thawed. Looking at her feet, I could see a faint flame wrapped around her shoes. The flame lasted for only a few moments, until she had crossed the frozen area, before it vanished.

By that point, she was directly in front of the bicorn, crouched down and prepared to deliver a killing blow. Maybe because it sensed the threat to its life, the creature reared back on its hind legs, kicking out at her with its front hooves. At the same time, the lower horn once again lit up, creating a field of lightning that covered its body.

Kahli let out a slight scream as the lightning struck her body, catching her by surprise and throwing her back to the ground. Finally, the golden light in her eyes faded, and she looked up in shock at the beast that was about to trample her.

“You pass.” I called out, aiming a hand towards Kahli. The ground beneath her shifted, slinging her away from the bicorn. Its hooves slammed against the empty ground, and it looked left and right to find where she was taken.

“Over here.” I said with a smile, standing between it and Kahli. Three glowing blue diagrams appeared beneath my feet. With every sentence I spoke, another one lit up. “I command you by the hunter’s decree, arise the flames of sorrow. Let fly your wrath, and aim true. Devour the beast before me, and erase it from the earth.”

With the third circle lit, flames began to rise up from the ground around me, condensing into a ball in front of me. The ball was no bigger than my fist, but only a fool would doubt its power. With a thought, it shot forward, becoming a line of fire that instantly arrived at the head of the bicorn.

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There was no great explosion, no shattering boom. The bar of life above the bicorn’s head silently emptied in an instant, and its entire body lit up in flames. Turning around, I let out a small sigh when I saw that Kahli was alright, though she seemed upset more than anything.

“I failed…” She said, under her breath. “I wasn’t able to fight…”

“What, did you really get kicked in the head or something?” I asked, reaching down and picking her up by the arm, pulling her to a standing position. “Didn’t you hear me say that you passed?”

She lifted her head up to look at me, confusion evident in her gaze. “But… I lost.”

“Yeah, you did. And, if I weren’t here, you’d be dead.” I agreed with her completely, nodding my head. “But, you’re a bard. Even a high level bard could be killed by a monster weaker than them, if caught alone. On the other hand, this should be the first time you used that song, right?”

She nodded her head faintly when I asked that, so I continued. “That was your first time, but you were allowed to name it. Not only that, but it is a song that helps your friends while allowing you to fight at the same time. I’m sure you know the value of a named song more than me.”

Her eyes opened a bit more widely as I said that. “I… I can really join you?” She still seemed to be in a daze as she asked again, a light of hope finally shining within her eyes.

“At least until the end of this hunt.” I said with a nod. “After that, it’ll be up to your performance.” In truth, the fact that she was able to move around while singing was itself enough reason to keep her with me. Even if the song did not have an amazing effect on its own, she was able to defend herself while singing. While that might have little value when fighting monsters, as they would mostly target the attackers anyways, it was of utmost importance when fighting people.

With her ability demonstrated, we began dismantling what remained of the bicorn. Unfortunately, my spell had destroyed its core and charred its meat, so the only thing of real value was its horns. Maybe I can get a decent deal selling this to an enchanter?

Once on the road again, we were quickly able to arrive at the next city. However, our stay was brief. Another tracking at the local hunter’s guild told us that the Mad Monk had once again left the city before we arrived, continuing his journey towards the coast. Thankfully, Kahli was in good enough shape to drive the wagon herself from that point, and had insisted on doing so in order to make herself useful.

The sun had already begun to rise the next day before we found the next city, and as before we had conducted a tracking as soon as we arrived. This time again, we found that he had already left to continue his journey to the west. The only bright side that could be found in all of this was that the answer from the spirits of the world was stronger, indicating that we were getting closer.

As for moving to the next town, we decided to wait for a druid that could send us there directly. Unlike before, our next destination was over a day’s ride away, so it would be faster to travel by gate. Instead, we chose to spend the night in the Hunter’s Guild.

Happy to finally be able to sleep in a bed again, it was fairly easy for me to doze off at first, until I heard a light knocking at the door. “Theol…? Are you in there?” Kahli’s voice called out, her tone a bit hesitant.

“Yes.” I answered simply, keeping my eyes closed. This isn’t going where I think it is, is it?

“Uhm… could I come in?”

“Yes.” Again, a simple answer for a simple question. I heard the door creak open, before shutting behind her. Her light steps led her over to my bed, where she slid her body up next to mine.

“Can I just… stay like this for a while?” She asked, though I had the feeling she wasn’t going to be willing to move even if I said no. While we were journeying together, she had done her best to keep close to me the entire time, so this wasn’t exactly unexpected.

“Do whatever you want.” I said with a sigh, shaking my head lightly. I felt her hands clasping onto the back of my jacket, and her breathing slowly began to calm down into a gentle rhythm. Forcing her out of the bed would not have been a problem at all. I doubted she weighed even a tenth of me, given her specialty as a bard.

However, I decided to just put up with it, as this wasn’t exactly an inconvenience. I simply closed my eyes, and allowed myself to drift back to sleep. When I awoke the next morning, I was somewhat surprised to find that Kahli was no longer behind me. Instead, I could hear her humming lightly to herself from downstairs.

Curious, I got up and went down to the source of the noise, finding her in the kitchen. She was smiling happily to herself, humming as she controlled a flame to burn under a stone cauldron. I could see her fingers dancing as she lost herself to the music while slowly preparing breakfast. From the look and the smell, she seemed to be making a large pot of stew.

“Good morning.” I called out, causing her to jump slightly. The flame beneath the cauldron soared for a moment until she was able to control it, after which she turned back to look at me.

“A-ah, good morning. Breakfast will be ready soon. I spoke to the receptionist, and he said that a druid will be here soon. Until then, I thought I’d make enough for everyone.” She said with an innocent smile, before turning back to her work.