The three of us then make our way to the karaoke establishment. On the outside, it's the size of a small grocery store. Not surprising. Considering how karaoke is the most popular pastime, larger establishments with large rooms is a good business decision. Sometimes, company boards rent out rooms to do their work here.
We get to our rented room and open the door...
"LET'S DO THIS THING!!!" Hiromu yells into the microphone.
Everyone begins to clap...after they finished plugging their ears. I look around and see that everyone is here, all sitting down aside from Hiromu. Well, technically Yuri is "sitting" upside down on the ceiling. Guess her arachne body would have taken up too much room.
And with that, "Shinkokyū" by Super Beaver begins to play, with Hiromu singing it perfectly.
The three of us sit down, with Sueka and I on the far end between Crystal and Yamiso, while Vorn goes over to sit next to the rest of the dwarves.
When the song ends, Hiromu picks another one. This time, "Shura" by DOES. As Hiromu sings, I unwrap the chuí I purchased and give them to Sueka. Though she doesn't say anything out of courtesy for Hiromu, I can tell she's pleased.
Then I get out the other thing I purchased; a locket necklace in the shape of a turtle decorated with a single circular blue opal on the top. This time, Sueka is even more overjoyed and nearly lets out a squeal of delight. Luckily, I stop her just in time by putting my index finger over her lips. She's got a thing for animal decorated items.
After Hiromu finishes up with Granrodeo's "Can Do", he politely bows and takes his seat next to Sigka. Everyone begins to clap, with Ripperu and Claire being the most enthusiastic.
"I hope all of you enjoyed it."
"My turn!" Roc-sama says. According to Crystal, Ripperu, Yamiso, and Sigka already had their turns.
And...Roc sang what you'd expect from an Elvis impersonator. "Can't help falling in love". "Hound dog". You get it.
"I thought this level of Elvis craze died with him in the First Age." Yamiso remarks.
"Oh, Elvis isn't dead, he just went home with Dandy."
"Shut up, Hiro." Sigka retorts.
I can tell that Sueka is eager to sing, but I ask for her to wait patiently, as we were the last to arrive.
Next up is Claire. Given that she is a plant tone, she chooses a few traditional Japanese pieces by Rin'. The first was "Sakura Sakura", which she does a simple Chinese dance to. The second one is "Murasaki No Yukari", where she sings the shakuhachi part. Honestly, this is a very common practice. Since many traditional Japanese songs don't have lyrics, one way to "sing" these songs is to simply sing the parts of another instrument.
Once Claire has finished, Crystal and Seppe get up and take the microphone. Or rather, Crystal gets the microphone for Seppe.
"Seppe hopes you enjoy Seppe's song!"
And with that, she sings "Once upon a December", originally sung by Liz Callaway.
When she finishes, Crystal then sings "May it be" by Enya. Seems Crystal can sing Celtic music.
Over the course of all these songs, the majority of us have been conversing with those nearby about various topics. Sure, we're listening, but this is also a good time to socialize and eat the snacks we have. The only things out of place are the occasional "shut up, Hiro" said by different people and the random snack that Yuri accidentally drops falling from the ceiling.
I do pick up a few things, such as how Vaar-sama's "sift" subtone allows him to automatically avoid select targets, just like how sifting can wash out some materials and leave others. I hear some of the economic issues the dwarves have, Tarran's medical research and education, some comments on Diva-de-sama's concert, a few of Ripperu's BL story ideas, and Yuri giving Yamiso ideas for pickup lines for Mydrea.
While I can say that Crystal's music is indeed peaceful...
Sueka's patience is beginning to wear thin.
"When is it my turn?" she keeps asking.
My guess is that she wants to sing something to thank me, so this is probably my fault.
I can tell that Sueka's fidgeting is making some people uneasy.
"May I request that Sueka have her turn?" I ask.
"Konechno." Crystal politely says.
Sueka's mood immediately improves as she gets up and picks up the microphone. She looks through songs to sing, all samba, of course, but before singing, she stops and looks to me.
"Hey, Oren! Care to do a duet?"
"Que?"
"A duet!"
(Oh boy...)
"Come to think of it," Ripperu begins to say. "I haven't heard you sing before, Oren."
"Seppe hasn't either!" Seppe says.
"Yeah, well... Um... About that..."
"Is there a problem?" Vorn asks.
"Well, kind of."
"And that is?" Sigka asks.
"I...don't know what to sing. I...really don't sing much."
Seems my last statement raises some concern.
"Well, what's the problem?" Sigka continues. "What's your tone?"
(THAT is the probl...)
"My brother is an animal tone." Sueka says.
Everyone looks at me, a few with puzzled expressions.
"A little fast for an animal tone, don't you think?" remarks Claire.
"But he is strong." Yamiso retorts. "Anybody could be fast with that 'Soul Conversion' technique of his."
"Not exactly." Sigka says. "It just gives you more stamina. That doesn't mean it automatically makes you faster. It simply allows you to push yourself harder."
Sigka then turns to me.
"But you can sing samba, yes?"
I nod.
"Well then, might I make a request?"
I pause, then nod.
(Might as well show them the truth.)
I walk over to Sueka. Sigka then selects his song from the karaoke machine. Sergio Mendes's "Magalenha".
And the two of us sing it perfectly, with me singing Sergio's part and Sueka singing the background singers' parts. This makes the first duet of the day, and we nailed it! Unlike the first couple songs, everyone paid close attention, most likely to see why I was so hesitant. When we finish, everyone applauds. Sueka, satisfied, goes to sit down, while I stay up with the microphone.
"I don't see what the problem is." Vega-sama says.
"It's not how I sing that's the problem."
"Then what is?" Vorn asks.
I look at the microphone, then the machine, then at everyone else. I let out a sigh.
"Hope I don't regret this."
I go over to the machine...
At select a random song.
"Oren, what're you!?" Crystal yells, alarmed.
"What if it's a song you can't sing!?" adds Vega-sama.
Hiromu gets up to dash towards me. But before he can reach me, I unsheathe my sword slightly, causing him to stop. Vorn gets a closer look at my sword, and is even more astounded.
(Is that really...!?) he thinks.
"Vorn, stop him!" Vega-sama tells him.
The song finishes loading up. It's EXO's "Electric Kiss."
The first notes begin to play, along with the lower voiced vocals that I don't intend to attempt.
"Trust me." I say calmly.
And I begin to sing. Every part the EXO members would sing in the song, I sing.
And I sing it perfectly.
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By the song's end, everyone is surprised, if only slightly.
"Samba and electronica," Hiromu says. "Interesting."
Sigka chuckles.
"Though I cannot approve of such a dangerous stunt, I'm still impressed."
Vorn gets up.
"Can I...see your...?"
"What other surprises have you got?" Yuri asks with food in her mouth.
I pause again, then walk over to the machine.
"I'll show you."
Everyone attempts to get up again, but many stop to see what I'll do.
The next random song is the Yoshida Brother's instrumental song, "Storm". Like Claire, I choose to vocalize the notes of an instrument, this time being the lead shamisen.
And again, I do it flawlessly.
When everyone applauds at the end, everyone seems slightly more surprised.
"It seems...we have a tuneless." Hiromu states, smiling.
"Since when could you do that?" Sueka asks.
"As far back as I can remember."
"And you never wanted to show off?" Yamiso asks.
"I wasn't sure how people would react."
"What else can you sing?" Seppe asks, with her ahoge in the shape of a question mark.
"Everything." I bluntly say. "If I know the lyrics, I can sing it."
Everyone pauses, dumbfounded.
Yamiso then bursts into laughter.
"Okay," Claire says. "You can sing a lot of things, but nobody can sing every type of genre."
"Don't believe me?"
"You expect us to believe that shhiiiiiii.... foolishness!?" Yamiso says, stopping himself feeling Crystal's cold.
"Don't think I can do it?"
"Prove it!" Yamiso says boldly.
"Very well then. Yamiso, pick a song!"
This stops Yamiso's laughter, replacing it with surprise. Everyone looks at him. He slowly goes up to the machine and scrolls through some alternative metal music.
"Recognize this?" he asks.
I look at the title. Coldrain's "We're not alone."
I nod, much to Yamiso's surprise.
He selects the song...
And I begin to sing.
And I finish the song without any problems.
Everyone looks at Yamiso. He chooses not to say anything.
"Impressive," Ripperu says. "But can you sing psychedelic soul, like us water tones?"
"Mhm."
Ripperu gets up and goes to the machine.
"Crystal," Ripperu asks. "Mind if I play a song with some suggestive lyrics?"
"What's suggestive mean?" Seppe asks.
Crystal plugs Seppe's ears, then nods. Normally, she wouldn't allow it, but she wants to see if I can live up to my claim.
Ripperu then picks "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations.
"Mind if I join in?"
I shake my head.
When the first set of lyrics comes up, I begin to sing with Ripperu singing the parts of the background singers. Upon reaching the refrain, Ripperu and I sing together. The next verse then goes to Ripperu, and the pattern continues. With me starting off, Ripperu and I alternate between the lyrics whenever the singer changes. In the end, we finish without a hitch. We get more of an applause than usual, given that it's a duet, but I still seem to surprise everyone.
From this point, everybody asks me to try different genres to see if I can really sing everything.
For acid jazz, I sing "Break out of...", singing the parts of both Hirata Shihoko and Lotus Juice.
I sing the classical version of BoA's "Everlasting", making this the first song I sing originally sung by a female singer.
For hard rock, I sing "The Answer", by Showtaro Morikubo.
And all flawlessly.
With every song, my audience grows more and more awestruck. The only exception is Vorn, who continues to look at my blade.
"Eight tones..." Ripperu says in astonishment. "You can sing eight tones!"
"Astounding!" Sigka proclaims.
I look at everyone, then Vorn.
"Is there something wrong, Vorn?" I ask.
"Huh? Oh, well... Nothing's 'wrong', but... Can I see your sword?"
"Um...sure?"
I remove the sword from my waist and hand it over to him. As he begins to examine the hilt, Tarran jumps in.
"Can you sing anything else?"
"Sure. Any requests?"
With that, Tarran makes me sing a couple anime songs. "Hero's come back!!" by nobodyknows+ and "Uso" by SID. Though everyone seems to be enjoying my singing, I occasionally look over to Vorn and Vega-sama, who is now also examining the blade.
Between songs, Vega-sama says "Electric Drive:
When I finish "Uso", I look over at Vorn and Vega-sama and see that they look shocked.
"Is there a problem?" I ask.
"Where did you get this!?" Vega asks.
"Pardon?" Tarran and I say simultaneously.
"Do you know what this is!?"
"A very fancy looking blade?" Ripperu asks bluntly.
"If it's what I think it is, it's more than that!" Vega-sama states.
He continues to look at it, then takes a deep breath.
"Vorn, do you have the bandages?"
"You sure about this?"
He nods.
And with that, Vega-sama firmly grasps the blade's hilt and makes his electric rhime flow into his hands.
In mere seconds, Vega-sama's hands turn red, with steam coming from the hilt.
"YOW!!!" Vega-sama yells in agony, dropping the blade.
"Crystal, ice!" Vorn demands.
Crystal quickly creates ice from her rhime and gives it to Vorn. He then puts the ice into two bags, puts them over the palms of Vega-sama's hands, then wraps them with the bandages.
"You okay!?" I ask.
With a un-convincing smile, Vega-sama says, "If this is what I think it is, then I'm better than okay!"
Vorn picks up the sword, then walks over to Yamiso.
"Do you mind?"
Yamiso looks at the sword, then takes it in one hand. Like Vega-sama before him, Yamiso envelops his sword hand with his darkness rhime...
The same reaction causes Yamiso to retract in pain.
"Just as I thought." Vorn says.
"Then why make me do it!?!?" Yamiso yells as his hand gets wrapped in bandages.
"One more test. Crystal?"
Crystal looks at Vorn with alarm.
"Don't worry, I want to try something different. Can you make a wall of ice?"
Crystal gives a confused look, then freezes the wall on the opposite end of the door.
Vorn tosses my sword back to me.
"Hit that ice." he bluntly says.
"Huh?"
"Please."
"You do realize this is Crystal's ice we're talking about. I don't wish to break the blade."
"If it's what I think it is, it won't."
"What do you mean 'it won't'?" Sigka asks.
"Oren," Vorn proclaims. "Trust me."
I look at him, then at my blade.
(Hisashi, forgive me.)
I walk over to the frozen wall. It has been a couple hours, so I've replenished some of my rhime. Think I have 40 percent left now.
(Soul Conversion 10...BEAT!!)
GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA!
With my enhanced speed, I recklessly bash my blade against the ice. Until I run out of energy, which takes me about five minutes, I continue my barrage. When I'm finally out of breath, I look at Crystal's ice. No surprise. I didn't make a dent in it.
But what does surprise me is my blade. It's still in perfect condition.
"As I thought." Vorn says.
"Okay... Care to explain?"
"That blade...is one of the legendary weapons of the Third Age, Clarent!"
"Never heard of it." almost everybody says simultaneously. All the dwarves look dumfounded.
Vorn lets out a sigh.
"Okay, let me explain. First, Clarent, like many of the weapons of the Third Age, was made with techniques lost to us today. Secondly...well, let me answer this with a question. Yamiso, what are darkness tone weapons usually made into?"
"Well, swords. Why?"
"Exactly! Swords! One common practice throughout all ages is the creation of weapons using special materials that cater to the tones that would benefit the most from such a weapon. For example, electric tones specialize in guns, so the natural resource chargzite, which acts as the ideal electric rhime conductor, is used. For darkness tones, stygianite is used to allow for better darkness, or matter, flow. This is ideal for blades because of its sharpness, with the legendary darkness blade, muramasa, being able to recreate its shape while also having the sharpest edge around. Most weapons are made with the thought of tone convenience in mind. Wind tones have fans. Animal tones have special silk for their clothing to transform with them. Fire tones have heat conduction gauntlets, and so on."
He then pauses to check if everyone is still listening.
"But this blade is different. It's made from seraphinite, the only metal harder than diamond that only the dwarves of the Third Age could work with. Because of its hardness, it was practically only used for illusion tone shields."
(Illusion tone!?) many of us think simultaneously.
"However, this blade, Clarent, was made to use seraphinite for offense rather than defense. Given how illusion tones normally fight with magic instead of hand-to-hand combat, this was a rather peculiar choice, the only one of its kind. What was normally used for shields was made into an indestructible blade. Clarent may not be much sharper than your average blade, but the fact that it can neither break, dull, nor rust makes it a priceless artifact that can survive the test of time."
(Really?) I think. (To think Hisashi had such a precious blade in his possession!)
"Where did you get this?" Vorn asks me.
"It's...a memento of a late friend. That's all I will say."
Vorn looks as though to ask more on the topic, but Crystal stops him. He lets out a sigh.
"How exactly do you choose to wield it?"
"Hm?"
"Weapons made with materials specific to one tone normally have the side effect that happened to Vega and Yamiso when rhime of a different tone flows into it. So, to wield any of these weapons, you must either have rhime of the same type flow into it, or not have any rhime be used at all."
Vorn stops, then asks, "So, basically, are you an illusion tone?"
Everyone waits for my answer.
"Honestly, all I can say is that I don't have rhime flow into this blade. I use it for soul conversion. That's all."
Technically, I'm not lying. But it seems everybody who still wants to know what rhime tone I am seems disappointed by my answer. Can't say I blame them, now that they know I can sing every type of song.
"Hey, Vega," Vorn begins, "how much is such a blade worth?"
"Truth be told, price never crossed my mind. It's not for s..."
"Actually, I didn't check." Vega-sama says. "Electric Drive:
"Come on, I just said..."
I look around the room. Seems everybody but me is curious.
(Figures.)
I look back at Vega-sama. With each passing second looking at the sword, he seems more and more astonished, his jaw dropping lower and lower. By the time he finishes, his jaw nearly touches his legs. I swear, that face he's made looks like something you'd only see in One Piece.
"E...e...e-e...ei...ei...ght..."
"Eight?" Tarran asks. "Eight what?"
"Eight hours without anime is torture. Forget sleep."
"Shut up, Hiro." Sigka says.
"Ei-ei-ei...!"
"Snap out of it, man!" Vorn yells...as he slaps Vega-sama across the face.
BA!
"Eight million mesures!"
...
...
...
"WWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTT!?!?!?!?!?" everybody, including me, yells.
"Eight million is a really big number!" Seppe says. "Seppe can't count that high."
"I know 8 million is a lot," remarks Sueka, "but I don't do well with numbers. What can you get for that?"
A few people try to respond, likely to insult her intelligence, but I stop them.
(Considering I did the majority of the math when I lived with Doryoko and Sueka, I guess I can't blame her.)
"Hey, Sueka," I say. "Do you remember the most common amount of money that the restaurant you worked for in Terraz charged tourists for lunch?"
"Beast's Bounty? Mmmm... 10 mesures."
"Okay, if you had that lunch three times a day, every day, that would bbbeeee.... about 730 years of food."
And now Sueka's jaw drops to her legs. If you want to count with the average animal tone, count with food. Seems even Seppe is surprised by this.
"Is there any chance you would...?" asks Vorn.
"Declined."
Vorn stops.
"Sorry for the harsh tone." I say. "But this means more to me than whatever price you put on it. Money can be gained, but friends who sacrificed everything for you can never come back."
"Well then, may I make another request?"
"Sure, if it doesn't involve the sword."
"Don't worry, it doesn't. Could you sing a few more songs? I'd like to see more of what you can do."
At that, I smile. I look at everyone else and see that they don't mind.
"In celebration of a successful day!" I proclaim. "To us, to Diva-de, and to all our future accomplishments!"
"Oh yeah!" Sigka says in English, while everyone else claps.
For the remainder of our time at karaoke, I sing as many songs as I can. Some recommended by my friends and allies, some were chosen based on my personal preferences, and others were simply chosen at random. A few in English, but most of them in Japanese, alternating between languages.
For the Japanese songs, I sing Nightmare's "the WORLD", Hello Sleepwalkers's "Goya no Machiawase", and Myuji's "eX Dream", "BLUE" by ViViD, "Tactics" by The Yellow Monkey, "Complication" by ROOKeEZ is PUNK'D, "Sakurane" by Piko, "Spirit Inspiration" by the band Nothing's Carved in Stone, and lastly, "Samurai Heart" by (Some Like It Hot!) SPYAIR.
As for the English songs, I sing Billy Joel's part of Disney's "Why should I worry?", "I'm already There" by Lonestar, Crush 40's "Sonic Youth", and "Change" by Monkey Majik and the Yoshida Brothers.
Truth be told, I'm quite thankful that I can sing anything I want without consequence. I've seen what happens to those who try singing different genres they aren't able to. After a single note, the unfortunate individuals grab their throats, making gagging sounds, then, for at least a half hour, their voices stay hoarse. From what I've been told, simply breathing when one's throat is like this is very painful.
I finish singing, and it seems we still have half an hour left.
"Have anything else you wish to sing, Oren?" Vorn asks.
"Actually, I think I'm done. I took up most of our time anyway."
"Perhaps, but I have to admit I'm impressed." Claire says. I have to give her credit for not sneezing this whole time.
"Me too." Roc-sama says in his...Elvis voice.
As I put down the microphone, something comes to mind.
"Honestly, aside from Roc-sama, I haven't heard the rest of you sing." I say, focusing on the dwarves.
The four of them look at one another, then talk amongst themselves. In the end, they agree on singing.
When they get up, they all sing the celtic version of "Far over the Misty Mountains Cold", a song of the dwarves from the first "Hobbit" movie in the First Age.
But what surprises me most, is their second song.
From the Hands of the one Soul,
Strength is bestowed to All,
But even the One has weakened.
.
Though this version is once again sung in the Celtic style, I know these lyrics. This is the song Mai sang to the children in New Vegas.
Its power bestowed on Nine,
Who protect each of their Kind,
And lead Us to a New Age once More.
For the Nine will rise for all they Love,
And bring the One down from Above,
Awaken the Soul of the God.
(Quite an interesting song. I hope Mai and the children are...)
The Faces shall rise and join the fight
Under each of the Nine's great might
Till the Successor stands alone.
(There's more!?)
The Successor comes to meet the One
When an Age is deemed done.
And shares their feelings with the world.
From One come Nine, born to fight alone
They slay others to protect their own
To create a world for one to share.
And with that, the dwarves stop singing.
...
"May I ask what that song is about?" I say.
"Can't say." Vorn replies. "All we can guess are 'the One' and 'the Nine'."
"And they are?"
"You never heard of the Nine?"
Everyone, including Sueka, looks at me as though I know nothing. I shake my head sheepishly.
Yamiso sighs.
"Yippee... More info dumping." Yamiso says sarcastically. "Everybody is taught about the Nine at a young age. Basically, the Rhoken separated itself into nine parts, one for each rhime tone, and these nine stones, called faces, are said to grant those who obtain them godlike power in comparison to everybody else of the same tone type. What can we say? They're parts of the Rhoken, the stone said to allow people to raise the dead, become immortal, cure all illnesses, and even rule the world. Even a fraction of its power is enough to make the average individual strong."
"Okay..."
Though this makes the atmosphere seem awkard for a bit, we get back to singing a few other songs. I think I've listed enough songs already, so I'll leave the rest to one's imagination.
When our time at karaoke reaches its end, Tarran chooses to take an early leave to catch up with his sister.
"Hope you enjoyed yourself." I say to him.
"Oh, I really enjoyed myself! I'd definitely say we're even! And you know, you've got a gift, Oren. Maybe you might consider becoming an idol yourself!"
"Thanks, but it's just not my style. Can't see myself in front of a large crowd."
"Well, think about it. See ya!"
"Adios!"
"Guess we're out too." Vega-sama says behind me, walking out the door.
"Oh, hey, wait a minute!" I yell out to him, running in front of him.
"Something wrong?"
"That thing you did with Roc-sama during our job today, what exactly did you do?"
"What thing?"
"That rhime-sharing procedure."
"Oh, you mean syncing."
"Is that what it's called?"
"I take it your partners haven't told you yet. They're the ones who taught us."
"Really?"
Vorn walks up to me.
"As you know, absorbing large quantities of rhime that isn't your natural tone type can lead to some nasty side effects. Or so I've heard."
(And so I've seen.)
"But it's possible for a person's body to handle some different types of rhime, so long as it isn't in excess amounts AND doesn't go inside one's body."
"Wouldn't you breathe in someone else's rhime?"
"Inside our bodies, rhime is like oxygen. But outside, it doesn't work like that. It's more like an aura that oxygen."
"Oh."
"As for syncing itself, it allows people to temporarily utilize the properties of different rhime types. For example, animal tone rhime will make those who aren't animal tones gain slightly increased physical prowess, while electric rhime improves thought processing speed."
"Thought processing speed? Not physical speed?"
Vega-sama shakes his head.
"We've found ways to mentally push our bodies to the limit, and it's easier when we're using our rhime. An electric tone's brain is our greatest weapon, after all. That's one reason why we prefer guns. Distance between ourselves and our targets gives us time to think about the time to fire, trajectory, and so on."
"Well, alright."
"If you want to learn more about syncing, ask your partners." Vega-sama says. "But for the sake of demonstration..."
Vega-sama gestures something to Vaar-sama. Vaar-sama nods, walks over to me, puts his right arm on my shoulder, then syncs his water rhime with my body.
As the water rhime wells up around me, I begin to feel...odd.
"I feel...weird."
I look back to Vaar-sama...
Who jumps up, flicks me in the head, knocking me back and...
BATAN!
My head hits the ground.
"OW! What's the....!? Wait..."
I'm...still standing. Wait, if I'm still standing, then...!!!
"GGGAAAAAA!!!!!!"
I must have leaned back far beyond what a normal person should be able to do! My back shouldn't be able to do this!
"And water rhime improves flexibility." Vega-sama says calmly, no doubt enjoying the scene.
"Okay, I get it! Now help me up!"
After this spectacle, the dwarves wave goodbye, leaving only us Keisetsu members.
"Well, what a day!" Sigka says.
"Mhm." I agree.
"Well, I don't know about all of you, but I'm ready to crash at the hotel." Crystal says.
(You're always ready to "crash". Still...I can't disagree.)
And with that, the day I finished my first mission comes to a close.