Jeb quickly made his way to the Inn after grabbing his lute. The Bard was in the middle of a set, and Jeb noticed that the Inn was less empty than it had been.
Looking behind the bar, Jeb saw the logo of his aunt’s Brewery on the barrels behind the bar. He felt proud of the fact that he’d helped make that beer, even though he knew that he wasn’t a necessary part of the process. Still, he had helped make the beer that the patrons in the room were enjoying.
As Jeb sat and listened to the Bard, he realized just how far he had to go as a Musician. Seeing his grandfather pick up the red-hot iron had made Jeb aware of just how different a First Tier Mud Mage was from a high Tier specialist. Though maybe less obvious to a non-Musician, Jeb had no difficulty seeing how much better the Bard was than him.
There was the obvious Magic, since the Bard’s voice and lute were the same volume throughout the entire room, perfectly clear and yet quiet enough that people could easily have a conversation over it, if they were so inclined. Of course, Jeb saw as he looked around, no one was talking.
It wasn’t that, though. Every note the Bard plucked was absolutely perfectly in time. Jeb knew that even when he’d gotten the Song to play, there were still the slightest mistakes in his playing, at least if the way the sound sang was any indication.
It never became a single tone. At best, it sounded like the five parts were playing together. As the Bard played and sang, though, Jeb was finding himself unable to tell where sounds had come from. Even without Magic, the Bard’s voice and playing blended together perfectly.
It was more than that, though. The Bard knew how to work a room. As he wound down a slow piece, he looked up.
After winking at Jeb, the Bard cast his gaze around the room. He must have felt like the energy was getting too low, because he immediately started into a fast jig. It was a simple melody, to be sure.
Or at least, it started as a simple melody. The first time through the song, the Bard just plucked out the fast notes on his lute as he started stomping on the stage. The crowd joined in by the end of the first repetition. As the Bard started singing, the crowd let out a cheer.
At the end of the first verse, the Bard added a counter-melody to the lute playing. It was simple, just the root of each chord that the melody implied. Jeb was still impressed that he was able to add another line as he sang the tongue-twister lyrics over the melody.
Jeb felt like he could do that, if he practiced. By the end of the song, though, Jeb knew that he couldn’t hope to play what the Bard had without years of intensive practice. On each verse, the Bard somehow added another melodic line. Jeb counted at least eight distinct lines by the time the song ended.
He looked at the Bard’s hands. The Bard only had five fingers, the same as Jeb. Somehow, though, he managed to play more than a line per finger on his fingering or picking hands.
The Bard ended the song on a flourish, and the crowd all cheered. “And that’s a set, folks,” he said. Ignoring the cheers for an encore, the Bard came and sat by Jeb.
“Welcome back, Jeb,” the Bard said, “how can I help you?”
Jeb was confused for a moment. The Bard had told him to learn the Song, so he did. Playing the conversation back through his head, though, Jeb realized that the Bard also gave him the option of asking for help.
“I finished learning the Song,” he said, “or at least the System says that I have.”
“Oh! Congratulations,” the Bard said, clearly a little surprised, “why don’t you walk me through how it felt?”
“When I finished the Song, when I finally got the Song to resonate with itself, or while I was learning it?” Jeb asked. He started preparing an answer to any of the questions as the Bard considered.
“Let’s go through those in reverse order. What process did you take to learn the Song, and how did it feel while you worked to learn it?”
“I started by learning the lute part,” Jeb said, remembering the past few weeks, “and when I felt like I’d learned it, I tried tying my Mana into it.”
“How did that go?” the Bard asked.
Jeb tried to think back to the first time he’d tied Mana into the Song. “At first, I wasn’t sure how fast it needed to spin,” he said. Seeing the look of confusion on the Bard’s face, Jeb stopped. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, no, not at all!” the Bard replied quickly, “could you elaborate what you mean by spin, though?”
“When I fed Mana into the Song, it felt like the note’s ebb and flow turned into a spinning wheel. My lute playing felt like it was looping twice as often and so spun twice as fast. With Mana, the wheels started sending forward strands that looped around each other, like spinning yarn.” The Bard gestured for Jeb to get back to the question of tying Mana.
“So when I tried to tie the Mana in, I wasn’t sure how fast it was supposed to spin. I figured out that it needed to spin three times as fast as the note, though.” The Bard nodded, clearly considering something, so Jeb kept going.
“After that, I tried tying in my voice, but that was really difficult.” The Bard’s nodding changed, this time somehow conveying agreement.
“Once I’d gotten those three together, I started trying to add the other line of Mana.”
“Did you have an impression of what that was like?” the Bard asked.
The question was hard to parse, but Jeb felt like he knew what he was being asked. “It reminded me of the secondary connections in a Glyph,” Jeb said, hoping the Bard would know what he meant. Whether or not he did, the Bard gestured for Jeb to continue, “It seemed to stabilize the flow of Mana, like it was giving it another pathway to return through?” Jeb ended the sentence as a question, not quite sure how to describe it.
Thankfully the Bard seemed to know what he was trying to describe. “And then what?”
“Well, it took me a while to find its rotation speed,” Jeb admitted.
“How did you figure it out?”
“Honestly, I just kept speeding it up until it was rotating five times as fast as the note. At that point, the Song locked into place.”
“And that’s when you learned the Song?”
Jeb stiffened as he remembered the feeling. “No, not quite. The thread didn’t quite make it to the lute before I ran out of Mana. Instead, it lashed back at me.”
“How bad was the backlash?”
“I was apparently unconscious for a day,” Jeb replied, shuddering as a phantom ache coursed through his soul.
“And you pushed on still?” the Bard seemed impressed.
“Well, it was that or give up, and I did feel like I almost had it before I ran out of Mana. So, the next time that I played the Song, I actively tried guiding the thread into my lute. That worked, and the world felt like it stopped for a moment.”
The Bard gave a wistful smile at that description. “Hold on to that feeling, kid. It won’t last forever.”
Jeb didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t.
After a pause, the Bard spoke again. “Well, then, since you have the Song, I suppose that you don’t really need the note in your head anymore.”
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All of a sudden, the world felt quiet. It took Jeb a few moments to realize that it was the absence of the ebbing and flowing note that had been playing continuously since he’d last seen the Bard.
“Now then,” the Bard continued, “play the Song for me.”
Jeb pulled out his lute and started warming up. It was strange, but the lute felt more natural in his hands than it had before.
After quickly checking the tuning (and blushing a little at the few heads that turned towards his table), Jeb began to play. The Song came out slightly differently without the note to base it on, but he still quickly found the melody. Weaving in Mana came just as easily as it had before, and soon he was singing the Song.
He guided the thread into his lute, and just like before, the world stopped for a moment. Jeb still saw the bend in the neck and the other issues in the lute, but he could also see that they had all been slightly fixed. Of course, his Mana still ran out quickly, so he wrapped up the Song.
Jeb looked up to see the expression on the Bard’s face. It was carefully blank, which Jeb didn’t know how to interpret.
“Good job Jeb!” he said, “I’d recommend that you keep Enforcing your lute until it’s bound to you. Actually, here, I’ll make it an assignment.”
Jeb saw a new Quest Notification.
Personal Quest Bind Lute Enforce the lute until it’s bound to you.
That was strange.
The Bard saw Jeb’s confusion and was quick to ask a follow-up question. “Is this your first time receiving a Personal Quest?”
“I think so?” Jeb answered, still unsure what to do with the Quest Notification.
“Let me explain, then,” the Bard replied. “Most Classes that have implied leadership give the ability to assign Quests. They generally look a lot like the Quest I gave you, and they serve more as reminders than actual Quests. I, at least, cannot offer Experience or Statistics as Rewards, which makes finishing my Quests less valuable for the average youth.”
Jeb thought about that. If a person could give a Quest, did that imply something about the other Quests that the System or the Paragons were giving? Were they different too?
Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, he realized that he had forgotten about the Quest. “What do you mean by binding my lute? How do I do that?” he asked.
The Bard chuckled, “I was wondering when you were going to ask that. The short answer is keep Singing. The longer answer is that when you Sing Lute Enforcement you’re adding your own Mana into the lute. It is aspected by the Song, certainly, and it disperses from the lute when the Song ends. Nonetheless, traces of you remain in the lute. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that the lute feels more responsive now?” Though his inflection made it a question, Jeb knew that it was a statement.
Jeb nodded and the Bard continued, “If you put enough Mana into the lute, it will eventually become tied to you. Magically speaking, it will become a part of you, though that’s only relevant if you have someone who can see bindings.” Seeing Jeb’s expression, he continued, “as far as I know, there are fewer than a dozen people in the Republic who can see bindings. Any other questions?”
“Don’t I need to return this practice lute at some point?” Jeb asked.
“We can discuss that after you bind it. Anyways, I need to get back to my set. Best of luck binding the lute. Your completion of the Quest will let me know when that happens, but please come back when you do, or if you run into issues along the way.” The Bard stood back up and took the stage.
As tempted as Jeb was to stay and watch, he knew that there was work to do back at the farm. He repacked his lute and started the trek home.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 3744/100
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Total Statistic Load: 252 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 128 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 20 Magic Affinity: 43 Mana Depth: 21 Charisma: 19
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Mana: 570
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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
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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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
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)