Paige wasn't the only one with a plan for the party.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure Paige will team up with us, if I ask her, and her crows would be perfect for scouting. Plus she mentioned she has Advanced Sneaking," Levi was explaining. "And she can definitely handle herself in a fight."

Joe was nodding along. "I have an angle to use to get David on board. He's always concerned about doing his part bringing in enough food, but what if there are game animals of some sort in the portal? Plus, we can carry more back as a group. That should convince him to go into the portal at least once, and possibly more if we bring back meat."

"Smart. But we still need someone for heals and, ideally, some other spell casting. I've been working on cracking Identify, but even that basic spell has been giving me hell. Figuring out spells at all has been a damned nightmare."

"I thought your mana barriers were spells?" Joe asked in confusion.

Levi shook his head. "Nope. Everything I've got is considered a skill. I don't have any spells or abilities. But the mana barriers are actually just raw mana projection. Even the Identify Spell involves weaving intent in ways I can't quite grasp."

"So you learning a healing spell in the near future is probably a bust," Joe grumbled. "Not going to lie, I kind of hoped you would. It would solve our biggest problem."

"Yeah. And you don't know any healers that aren't already in a group?"

"Nope. Except Agnis, but..." Joe trailed off.

"Yeah, fuck that." Levi would rather go without a healer. "Nothing is limiting the size of groups. We could always just join up with an already established group."

"Eh, personality issues aside, bigger groups mean bigger problems. But the real issue is that a single healer can only handle smaller numbers if shit hits the fan. I don't want to be the reason someone else dies."

"Shit, I didn't even think about that." Levi sighed. "Well then, we might be shit out of luck. We can always just use potions and play it safe."

"I'm good with risking myself and you, if you're up for that, but I wouldn't feel right putting David or Paige in that situation. Still, there's always the possibility that there's someone with healing that just hasn't been to the pits. There's plenty of people I don't know simply because they've never come to spar."

"Maybe. Even then, they probably don't have much experience or levels." Levi wasn't feeling too optimistic about the situation.

Joe slapped him on the back. "Hey, cheer up! Just enjoy the party and ask around. Plus the next three days are going to be fun. Trust me, I helped make the rules for the wargames."

Levi perked up. "Yeah, what's the news?"

"Not telling. You'll have to wait for the announcement. But it should be interesting." Joe gave Levi a smirk. "Hope we end up on the same side though."

"Wait...it isn't going to be with premade groups?" Levi asked, but Joe had already lengthened his stride and was leaving Levi behind.

"Sorry man, I have to go clean up before the party. I don't want to disappoint Iara. No time to talk." Joe said, amusement clear in his voice.

Levi was suddenly glad he hadn't told Joe he'd be suffering from Parched Soul when the wargames started. Depending on how long they lasted, if he didn't level up or gain a skill, he'd have no mana at all by the end. And he was going to be handicapped, either way.

He wouldn't be quite defenseless, and he still had plenty of stamina potions, but if his mana regen bottomed out he was pretty screwed.

If Levi and Joe ended up on different teams, there was no way Joe wouldn't exploit that weakness.

-----

Levi was one of the first to the party. After thoroughly washing up, he'd tried to meditate, hoping for a last minute breakthrough. He knew he was close to something happening with his core. In fact, his essence was almost completely cycled, with the ring being more substantial then the actual center at this point.

Unfortunately, between thoughts of the wargames, trying to form a group, and the apology he still hadn't given Paige, Levi couldn't think about anything other than the party.

Walking into the center of the safezone, he realized he was way early. Cooks were still setting up spits over the center fire for the pigs. The council members, along with Tony and Iara, were sitting at a table discussing things. Grace gave him a nod as he passed, but didn't break away from the conversation.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Levi noticed Hank, mixing some of his moonshine with whatever was in two large barrels. Deciding Hank was probably the best bet for conversation, and curious about the barrels, Levi headed to talk to the stocky old man.

"Hey, Hank. Thanks for providing the alcohol for tonight."

"Well, not much to trade for at the moment. No sense sitting on a stockpile." Hank didn't even bother looking up, but just tasted the mixture and poured in more moonshine.

"What's in the barrels?" Levi asked.

"Apple juice." Hank grumbled. "And some cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg. Isn't really cider, but I don't imagine people are going to care." Hank still hadn't bothered looking up.

"We had apple juice?" Levi asked.

"Do now. Council was trying to perserve what they could from the orchard before winter, but these last were going to spoil anyway. They gave them to me. This is two of the four barrels I made to ferment into hard cider."

"That's generous, Hank," Levi said.

Hank finally did look up at that, raising his voice. "Then go thank the council! I didn't get much say in it."

Realizing Hank was definitely not his best chance for conversation, Levi quitely excused himself and wandered off.

People were showing up, but no one Levi knew. He thought most of them were just the people who stuck to the safezone, practicing professions. Levi just drifted until his ears picked up the sound of a drumbeat, accompanied by a rumbling baritone. It was too faint to hear clearly, but Levi followed the sound.

At the outskirts of the party sat a massive man on the steps of a cabin. Levi couldn't tell exactly how tall he was, but he had to dwarf Joe. And he was twice as broad. As he got closer, he noticed the man was far younger than he'd expected, his rich brown skin was smooth, without scars or wrinkles. He looked young and innocent, despite his size.

He'd already stopped singing, and the drum beat on his snare was slowing.

Levi watched him as he finished. The boy's face held the ghost of a smile, eyes closed as if enjoying every last drum beat. When the boy opened his eyes, they looked far older and sadder than they should have.

He jumped a little, but didn't leave his seat.

"I'm sorry," Levi said. "I just followed the sound of you playing. I didn't hear much of it. My name's Levi, by the way."

"That's okay," the boy said. "I'm Kenny. Mr. Hank wanted me to play tonight, so I was just warming up. I don't think anyone else plays music around here."

Levi smiled and sat down. "Let me guess, Hank told you to call him Hank, but it doesn't feel right unless you call him 'mister.'"

Kenny grinned. "He reminds me of my Papaw. And my Papaw would have knocked my head off if he heard me forget my manners."

"I know how that is. Not a bad thing." Levi leaned away from Kenny and looked him over. "You're a big boy. Why haven't I ever seen you at the sparring pits?" Levi asked.

"Oh, I don't like fighting much," Kenny said looking down at the snare drum in his lap.

"Worried about getting hurt?" Levi asked, doubtfully. Kenny was a monster of a young man.

"Nah, I just don't much like hurting people."

"Yeah, I understand that..." Levi didn't push farther.

But Kenny kept talking, without Levi even asking. "I've always been big. I used to stand up to bullies for my friends. Then, they started asking me to fight for them. I felt like a hero. I didn't even know it, but I guess we became the bullies. Th-then a boy hurt himself after I beat him up." Kenny looked up at Levi. "So I don't like fighting."

Levi nodded, throat tightening. He glanced down at the scars on his own arm, but didn't say anything.

"Hey Levi," Kenny said, scratching at his tight black curls. "You want to hear something I'm not supposed to play tonight?"

"Yeah, that would be great. I was actually going to ask you to play something if you didn't mind."

Kenny grinned. "Not at all. I love music."

Kenny tapped a slow, almost military beat on his snare. It didn't speed up very much, but there was a build up. The beat slowly became more and more complex.

And the Kenny sang.

In his beautiful baritone, Kenny sang about someone lost and broken down, who couldn't take another step. A man ready to die. But then he thought of his loved ones back home and found the strength to stand and march on.

Levi followed the lyrics, but he couldn't commit them to memory. He didn't think much of it, other than it being a beautiful song, until Kenny finished and Levi recieved a notification.

You have been affected by the buff: Marching Tune of Invigoration - Stamina regeneration is doubled for 15 minutes.

Levi grinned up at the much younger man. "That's awesome."

Kenny pointed a thumb at himself. "Bard," he explained simply.

"Hey, uh...you happen to know any songs that heal people?"

Kenny smiled for a moment, and then his drumsticks got to work.

-----

"I'm telling you Joe, the kid has enough healing to carry a team," Levi insisted. "Plus he has other buffs."

"But he avoids fighting. That can screw us in a heartbeat," Joe argued back.

"Not really. If the healer has to do any fighting we're already in trouble. I convinced him to at least sign up for the war games. I told him if things got hairy he could surrender and leave. Let's just see how he does. It isn't like I've invited him to group up yet, or anything."

"Fair enough..." Joe grumbled.

They were standing at the edge of a small group listening to Kenny play. People were starting to show up by that point, but most of the sparring group hadn't arrived. Levi assumed most of them got in some extra practice and probably had a lot more washing up to do.

He was starting to wonder where Paige was, though. She'd left to get ready long before they'd ended sparring, even if they had called it an early day.

But before he asked about her, Joe pointed to the edge of the crowd. "That's Paige. Why don't you go grab a couple of drinks and get that apology over with, so you can ask her about grouping up and exploring the portal."

It took Levi a second to peel his eyes away from Paige. She looked incredible. "Oh...yeah... good idea." Levi went to do just that.

After grabbing a couple drinks, though, Levi hesitated to approach Paige. She just looked... too gorgeous. After a moment, she noticed him and smiled brightly, waving.

His stomach fluttered in a way he hadn't felt in years. 'Relax, it's just an apology and talking about teaming up. You already promised Grace nothing would happen between you and Paige,' Levi lied to himself.