Jeb’s grandfather began the conversation, seemingly oblivious to the burning oven behind him, “So Jeb, now that you have Distilling, what are you planning for next?”
Jeb thought about that for a moment. “Well, I know that I need to increase my Mental Statistics, so I will probably work on learning new Spell Glyphs, since that lets me gain Mana Density and Magic Affinity. Also, if I choose the Spell Glyphs well, I can gain Intelligence from Improved Glyph Groking. Then again, that will make my Mana Density and Magic Affinity grow far faster than my Intelligence, so I should probably also look for other Quests to improve that. I still don’t know if I have any Quests to improve my Willpower, which could also be a problem. That just leaves Charisma, which I can increase with Songs and songs.” As Jeb finished his ramble, he realized that his grandfather might not have heard a difference between Song and song.
Thankfully his grandfather didn’t comment on that. “Increasing your Statistics is never a poor choice,” he nodded, “do you still want to work for the Glassblowing, Smithing, and Woodworking Skills?”
Jeb had to think about that. “I don’t know,” he finally replied, “They do all sound useful, but I really don’t know if I can do all of those at once, especially since I need to work on getting new Spell Glyphs learned. I also do really want to learn the Song I’ve been working on, and I think I’m close to a breakthrough.”
His grandfather nodded. “Well, given the Skills that you already have, how do you think the three rank in terms of synergy?” The question surprised him. Up to this point Jeb had mostly been doing what his family thought he should do because they did.
“Hmm,” Jeb said, looking at his Status, “I don’t really see how Woodworking necessarily works with any Skill I currently have, though I guess if I need to establish another hive it could come in handy for building the structure. Glassblowing seems mostly useful for making containers for Brewing and Distilling. Oh!” Jeb realized there was another use for Woodworking, “Uncle Albert pointed out that Woodworking would be useful for making barrels. Metalworking feels like it might help me with Identify, from what little I know, along with making containers for Brewing and Distilling.”
“Good analysis,” his grandfather nodded, confirming that it had been a test. “You missed a few things, but nothing that I’d have expected you to see. I agree with you, by the way, I think Blacksmithing would be a good Skill to work for first, especially since I don’t feel like working more than a few hours a day teaching someone to make and shape metal. We can start with Ore Analysis, especially since you seem to want another Identify Subskill. Come back tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Grandfather,” Jeb said, hearing the dismissal. He closed the door and walked back to the main house.
When he opened the door, he realized that it was already nearly dinner time. All his work getting Distilling had taken longer than he thought.
He helped his mother finish setting up. At the meal, his uncle announced that he’d unlocked Distilling. There was a shocking amount of cheering for that.
“Does that mean we’ve got another source for firewater and brandy?” one of his cousins called out.
Jeb didn’t think the question was directed at him, but no one else seemed to be answering it.
“No? I mean I don’t have a still of my own or any mash to distill. I would still need to use Uncle Albert’s equipment to make anything, and I have other Skills to work on.”
That answer seemed to mollify his family, and the conversation grew less excited. After dinner, he collapsed asleep. He’d thought that his spirit was totally healed from the Mana backlash, but apparently not.
Jeb woke up at what he’d begun to think of as his standard time: a few hours before dawn. He felt totally healed from his Mana backlash and really hoped that feeling was real. After a quick stretch to wake up, he pulled his lute out of its case.
Then, thinking about what he was about to do, he put the lute back away and went to play by his hive. After all, he didn’t want to wake anyone up again. The fact that some members of his family might prefer that he wait longer before learning the Song didn’t weigh in at all.
Not even a little.
“Good morning, hive,” he said to the sleepy hive. “I realized I haven’t thanked you yet for getting my aunt after I collapsed. Thank you.” A couple of bees started to dance, and Jeb had the impression that they were saying it was their pleasure.
Jeb could feel Gift of Gab activating, which made him think that the bees might actually be saying that. Then again, Gift of Gab was only supposed to help with humans, so maybe he was just imagining things.
“Anyways, I’m going to try learning the Song again.” At that, the hive grew active. It seemed like they also wanted to learn the Song. More bees than Jeb had realized were in the hive started streaming out.
Jeb started plucking out the notes on the lute. It had drifted tuning ever so slightly in the days, so he retuned each string. The bees started dancing around the hive, and it reminded him somewhat of the melody he was playing.
He had played the melody enough that it quickly synced with the note in his mind. Once it was fully in cycle, he started singing.
Something had changed. The words were flowing out far more easily than they had the time before. If Jeb hadn’t been sure that he was close to the Song already, that would have made him think it. As he sang, he watched some of the bees break off from the first dance to dance a counterpoint. At least, it felt like they were.
When the cycles felt totally in time with each other, he slowly fed Mana into the notes he was playing on the lute. The world faded away as he started using his Mana. As before, cycles appeared with a thread. He added the second stream of Mana in, and the thread stabilized.
As before, the thread seemed to aimlessly search the air. Jeb worried about the thread finding the lute before he ran out of Mana, so he tried guiding the thread into the lute.
To his surprise, the thread moved fairly responsively. It responded to his direction like his Mana did when trying to cast a Fire Glyph: grudgingly, as though he was asking it to go against its very nature. Jeb had plenty of experience with that, though, and did not let up. The cord finally touched the lute, and Jeb felt a connection flow through every piece of him at once. Time seemed to stop as he finally understood the Song totally.
Jeb suddenly saw every imperfection in the practice lute he had borrowed. The neck had a slight bow to it, so subtle he’d never seen it before. The thickness of the bowl wasn’t totally the same throughout, in a way which prevented the notes from ringing as truly as they could.
As the thread passed by them, these small blemishes started to repair. The neck grew less bowed as the bowl slowly evened out its thickness.
As Jeb watched, the Mana seemed to infuse the instrument itself, making it slightly more resilient. There was a small part of him that was not completely awestruck at the beauty of the Music he was making. It started thinking about how nice it could be if he could reinforce himself with the Mana.
The rest of his mind quickly ended that line of thought. Now was not the time to think about Mana Enforcement. Now was a time to enjoy the harmony of the spheres.
Too quickly, Jeb saw that he was nearly out of Mana. Since he didn’t want a repeat of his last time, he slowly pulled back on his Mana, and the Song started to fade away from him. He wasn’t surprised to see the notification when he stopped to look.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Congratulations! You have learned the Bard Song: Lute Enforcement.
Congratulations! By learning one of the Songs of the Bards, you have unlocked the Magical Skill: Bardic Magic.
Jeb opened his list of Quests, hoping to see what the reward would be from the Musician Quest to learn a Song.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Musician Second Tier “Learn a Song”. You have woven Music and Mana into a cohesive whole, creating something from Mana and Will where there was not before. Rewards: 39 Experience, 2 Charisma
What did surprise Jeb, as he saw the bees moving, was that he could see them doing a similar Song on their own hive. He couldn’t tell if they had put any Mana into the Song, or if they were just dancing in rhythm with him. Either way, though, it was interesting that they seemed able to learn it so much more easily than him.
As Jeb kept watching them, something finally clicked. Even though they were performing the Song, they weren’t producing any real sound. Sure, there was a buzzing in the hive, but that sound wasn’t a part of it at all.
That resonated somewhere deeper inside of Jeb than his Skills, but he really couldn’t figure out where. Shrugging, Jeb opened up his Bardic Magic Skill, curious what it would have him do.
Bardic Magic: Magic Skill (Held in Abeyance due to conflict with Class-Granted Skill: Least Mud Magic). You will not receive any benefits from the Skill until you resolve this conflict.
That was incredibly frustrating. Jeb hoped that he would be able to find a way to resolve the two Skills in the future.
Honestly, he was tempted to increase his Class right there just to fix the issue. He wanted to keep learning Songs, and if he didn’t have a Skill benefiting him, Jeb was worried each one would be just as difficult to learn.
As Jeb started observing the wider world again, he realized that dawn still hadn’t broken. He hoped that his Mana would refill before breakfast, but it didn’t seem like it would, so he went back inside to see if his grandfather was already in the shop.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 3744/100
----------------------------------------
Total Statistic Load: 252 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
----------------------------------------
Mental Load: 128 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 20 Magic Affinity: 43 Mana Depth: 21 Charisma: 19
----------------------------------------
Mana: 570
----------------------------------------
Glyph Attunement: 18 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell
----------------------------------------
Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
----------------------------------------
Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Improved Glyph Groking Gift of Gab Running Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lifting Athletics Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Bardic Magic
----------------------------------------
Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
----------------------------------------
Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)