《Master Bard》 Ch 1 Songs of Life I woke up and went down stairs on another average day. ¡°Happy Birthday!!¡± screamed everyone as I came down stairs. Today wasn¡¯t all that average if you think of it in terms of just me. After all today in my 30th birthday. The day that I would finally move out of my parent¡¯s house. My whole family was celebrating this day. It was a happy time for everyone. With cheers, laughter, and food to go around. I questioned why we were having celebratory food so early, but didn¡¯t complain. Some of you may think ¡®Wow, your family really want you out of their house. What are you a neet that mooches off his parents?¡¯ You would be correct; if I was a human, dwarf, or other race with a short lifespan. However I am a Treant. So me being 30 is about equal to a 16 year old human, or so I¡¯m told. Most people have never seen a Treant since we almost never leave our villages. Because of this we hear some weird rumors about what we look like when people do stumble on our village. The most common rumor is that we are just trees with faces, but that''s not true at all. Even our distant ancestors were able to walk around with limbs. People tend to link us very closely with trees, but we are very different. Treants have a lot more vines than people expect. Our vines make up most of our bodies with wood acting as bones and bark protecting our bodies. Most people think we''re just humans covered in wood and vines when they first see us, but humans can¡¯t move their entire body around to make a giant gaping hole in their bodies so that rumor never spread. However this mainly applies to the adults. I¡¯m still a sapling. So I look more like wooden puppet. I have vines connecting my body, but not enough to cover it. I also have to use a big leaf to act as my face since I still don¡¯t have enough tives to make one, but hey just give me 20 years and I¡¯ll be fully grown. (Pictures I will show are just the closest reference I could find.) (Sapling http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/File:WoodlandSprite-TF04-JP-VG.jpg minus the shoes and gloves) (adult http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/bloodbrothersgame/images/e/ed/Sagacious_Treant_Figure.png/revision/latest?cb=20131215131809 I swear he¡¯s smiling) Shortly after breakfast I go to the village chief for my coming of age ceremony. It''s not a complicated ceremony, but you have to be over 500 years old to activate it. So only the village chief can give it to me. He lives at the center of our village. Although most people would be hard pressed to call it a village. Most people would simply think that our village is just another patch of the forest, but it is our village of trees. Although we are evolved from trees we are not as big, because of this, and our love of nature, Treants live in the trees. Not like elves that carve out trees, and use tree houses though. We simply climb up and sleep on the branches. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ah Odis, it''s good to see you are on time. Step into that circle and we can begin,¡± said the village chief as I stepped into his home. I studied the magic circle before entering it. I knew that there were several kinds of magic, but circle magic is one of the hardest to learn. Magic was always interesting to me, but I was never any good at it. This ceremony would contact the Goddess of Nature and ask for a blessing. The blessing I receive will dictate my role in my village. Personally I¡¯m hoping to become a woodworker like my older brother. Soon after I stepped into the circle it started to glow a faint green. I heard the words of the Goddess of Nature giving me her blessing.
Gained Blessing: Songs of Life (Unique)
Learned Song: Song of Restraint
Learned Song: Song of Spite
I heard the voice of god and committed it to memory. I wasn¡¯t impossible, but it would be hard to hear this again. ¡°You seem to have gotten something quite special. The Goddess of Nature even gave me a message. Go to your family. Tell them you shall be leaving this village,¡± said the village chief. ¡°Have I been banished!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Oh heavens no. You are going on a journey to learn about your blessing. I was not told much, but I¡¯m sure it shall be revealed to you in time,¡± responded the village chief. ¡°A journey? Where to?¡± ¡°The world. Are village is small and very isolated. You¡¯ll need to go out and experience the rest of the world. Now go.¡± I returned to my family and told them the good news. That night we had an even bigger party with the entire village. There was dancing, drinks, and singing. I wanted to stay in what was supposed to be my new house that night, but my family denied that and had me spend one more night with everyone since I wouldn¡¯t be seeing them for a long time. The next day I left early in the morning. My whole family and the village chief saw me off. ¡°Here, the goddess said to give you as many instruments as we could. Your older brother was up all night making these two,¡± said the village chief as he handed me a flute and a lute. ¡°Thank you I shall treasure them, but where is my brother? I didn¡¯t even see him at the party,¡± I responded. ¡°As soon as he heard the news he got to work. He wanted to be here to see you off but he collapsed of exhaustion,¡± said the village elder. With that I left my village for the closest city. I turned around one last time, and looked to my family. If anyone else looked they would have only seen my crying family, but to me it was everything I ever knew. Ch 2 The First City I was almost out of the forest when I saw the city. The city was so huge. I knew where the city was nearly my whole life, but this was my first time seeing it. I saw a gate on the walls in the distance. It had spent nearly a week getting here. Along the way I had to eat. That may seem like a no brainer for most people, but that is a big deal for treants. We can normally live just like trees living on air, water, some sunlight, and mana. Normally Treants only eat at celebrations. However since I was doing so much walking to get to the capital I had to eat several fruits on the way. I was also playing my music on the way. I learned several things from playing. First, I can target myself, an enemy, or everything in the area with my songs. Second, my lute has better range, but my flute has better effect. Third, I know the songs by nature and I can continuously play them, but I can¡¯t play them back to back. Fourth, each song lasts for about 15 seconds. Fifth, I have no idea what these are supposed to do, but they are doing something. Spite doesn¡¯t seem to have any effect on me, or others, and Restraint just seems to calm me down. These songs are such a mystery. I arrived at the city gates before I knew it. There was a line when I was approaching, but it was down to one other person when I got there. ¡°Stop there, you need an I.D. and toll if you want to enter the city,¡± said a human guard. I looked at the guard confused before responding. ¡°What is an eye dee and toll?¡± I asked. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any money then just scram-¡± ¡±HEY!¡± An older looking human came up and started yelling at the guard. ¡°You can¡¯t treat everyone like a human. I know you''re new, but even children should know this! Sorry about him. Now then would I be correct in assuming your a Treant?¡± ¡°Yes I am. Specifically a Sapling,¡± I said happily. ¡°Oh? A Sapling? Is that a different race of Trent?¡± questioned the old man. ¡°No, it would be the same as saying I¡¯m a teenager,¡± I told him. ¡°I see so you''re still a kid. What are you doing so far from home?¡± ¡°I received a special blessing from the Goddess of Nature, and was sent off to see the world.¡± ¡°See the world huh. You should try the adventurer''s guild. Not everything they do is adventuring, but it''s a good way to get around. Plus it''s a good way to earn money, but as for right now I don¡¯t suppose you have any.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir. I don¡¯t even know what this money is.¡± The man looked up deep in thought. The man then gave me a quick lesson on money. He told me how to get it and use it as well as its denominations. It goes Black Copper, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Green Silver, Blue Gold, Purple Platinum. Each coin was worth 100 of the smaller coins. Black Copper was the smallest coin, and could buy almost nothing. After the explanation of currency the man offered me a deal. ¡°I would love to just pay your entrance fee, but my wife would kill me. So how about this.¡± The man walked over to a small weed and picked it. ¡°This is a lesser herb. It''s used in alchemy to make potions, and there is always a quest for obtaining them. If you gather twenty of these for me then I¡¯ll pay your toll, and then I¡¯ll turn in the quest later.¡± The man¡¯s deal was good, but there was one problem I had with it. ¡°Do you need the whole plant, or just part of it?¡± I asked. The man looked confused before answering ¡°You only need the leaves, but it would be a lot faster to pick the whole plant.¡± ¡°I got it I¡¯ll be back soon with the herbs.¡± I left the man and started walking around the outskirts of the city looking for lesser herbs. When I found one I would carefully pluck half of its leaves, cast a Nature spell on it, then move on to the next plant. What¡¯s that just take the whole plant? Use the Nature magic to regrow the plant and keep harvesting it? Well I can¡¯t. I¡¯m a Treant. I¡¯m basically a tree so of course I respect nature. I know that there are circumstances for everything, and I won¡¯t attack you for chopping down a tree, but I won¡¯t cut down the tree. As for the Nature magic; I just suck at it. I have never been good at magic so I can only use the most basic of Nature magic. In this case helping the plant grow to help regrow the leave I took was all I could do. After about an hour I finally had enough leaves and returned to the gate. I was glad to see the old man still there so I walked up to him and gave him the leaves. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Good job kid. You can enter the city now. Just make sure to have some money before you enter again. I won¡¯t be here every time,¡± said the old man while guiding me inside. ¡°Where is the adventurer''s guild?¡± I asked the old man before I left. ¡°Oh right! Its down this main street on the left. It''s the big building. You can¡¯t miss it,¡± gestured the man. I ran off to the adventurer''s guild eager to start my adventure. **** The old man was right when he said I couldn¡¯t miss it. The guild was giant compared to the buildings around it over twice as big, and had a big sign. I stepped inside and was surprised by how calm it was. I heard stories about how places like this were covered with drunks. I was glad to see that wasn¡¯t the case. After all alcohol kills plants. ¡°Child do you need some help?¡± a female receptionist called me over. I think humans would call her beautiful, but I didn''t see it not enough vines. ¡°Hello miss I need to register as an adventurer.¡± I said ¡°I see you¡¯ll have to excuse me, but are you considered an adult in your species?¡± ¡°Yep! I got my blessing not too long ago.¡± ¡°I see since you are an adult I won¡¯t need a parent''s signature. Well then you¡¯ll have to complete a request before I can register you.¡± I started reading the list of G-rank quests, the only ones available to me, when a group of adventures walked in. ¡°Like I said it''s not an issue of finding our way. The forest itself will be against us. No matter how good you are you can¡¯t find a way through that. We¡¯ll have to take the long way round,¡± said a goblin-kin. ¡°We can¡¯t go the long way round. We spent too much time collecting the medicine. So we won¡¯t make it back in time if we take the long way,¡± said a wolf beastman. ¡°Well what if we..Hey kid!¡± a hooded woman said before calling to me, ¡°You''re a Treant right? Can you help us get through an angry forest?¡± ¡°An angry forest? What did you do to anger it?¡± I questioned but before the hooded woman could answer the receptionist butted in. ¡°Hold on you three this child hasn¡¯t even completed his first quest yet. There¡¯s no way he could help you E-ranks.¡± ¡°Oh, but he can. All Treants have the passive Loving Forest right. All we need is for him to walk with our group, and we will be fine. We know the way and have a Ranger he just has to be there,¡± responded the hooded woman. ¡°Humm...I suppose I could let that pass as an F-rank quest. So child do you want to help them out?¡± questioned the receptionist. ¡°Like I said earlier what did you do?¡± I asked again. The hooded woman apologized and explained how they had taken so many plants from the forest recently that the forest has gotten angered. The tipping point was when the took a particularly rare flower for some medicine. This angered the forest it made them lost, tripping over brand new roots, and so much animal poop. Normally you wouldn¡¯t have this problem, but this group had been collecting a lot of plants. The wolf beastman¡¯s sword had recently broken, and he wanted a new one but was short on money. The group decided to do a lot of item quests which resulted in their current situation. I decided to help them out since I would get a lot of money for the quest. The receptionist wrote up an F-rank quest, and we headed out for the next city over: Nigin. Ch 3 To Nigin Our group had just left the city and entered the woods, because I¡¯m a Treant the woods were calm and not leading us astray. Just then I had to ask them a question. ¡°My name is Odis. What are your names?¡± ¡°Oh right well let''s just introduce ourselves. I¡¯m Gordon a wolf beastman warrior. Just stand behind me if things get dangerous.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Shven a Hobgoblin-kin ranger. My specialty is the bow, and I¡¯ll be leading this group through the forest.¡± It wasn¡¯t too uncommon to see goblin-kin, but they normally stay by themselves. The difference between a goblin and a goblin-kin is orders of magnitude difference in intelligence, but since it''s just that goblin-kin are often killed and reported as regular goblins. ¡°I¡¯m Jane a fox-kin mage specializing in fire magic. Now what about you, and if you don¡¯t mind why did you leave your village?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Odis a Treant no class yet. I left my village because I received a special blessing.¡± ¡°Oh? A special blessing. What was it?¡± questioned Shven. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. I can play songs that activate like skills, but they don¡¯t seem to do much,¡± I answered hesitantly. ¡°Hey why don¡¯t you try using them on me! I might be able to tell you more about your ability!¡± exclaimed Jane. I thought it was worth a try so I played Song of Spite. Jane looked around her while I was playing the song. After that was done I went straight into Song of Restraint. After it was over she looked very surprised. ¡°That ability is very interesting. The first song weakened me a little and dealt a small amount of soul damage. The second song increased my defence, but also made me slower,¡± commented Jane, ¡°Your ability is weird and not very powerful, but it may become strong someday.¡± ¡°What is soul damage?¡± I asked. ¡°Well that''s a bit hard to explain. Basicly it is damage that can¡¯t be blocked. It does more damage to anything with a strong consciousness. So basicly anything with sentience, and a few exceptions. So it won''t deal much damage to monsters, and it won¡¯t deal much damage anyway since soul damage is generally weak.¡± We continued walking for a few hours before stopping under a fruit tree next to a river. Gordon reaches up to pick some, but I quickly stop him. ¡°Stop! Normally it would be fine to eat from that fruit tree, but in our state we should avoid it at all costs,¡± I said while soaking up water from the river. I was hungry too, but had to ender with them. Gordon shrugged and pulled out some salted meat and started eating. Everyone else did similar actions pulling out meat and wine. They offered some to me but I couldn¡¯t have any of it. I would have to endure this hunger myself. We continued on our way until sundown. It was then that I found out just how behind schedule we were. They weren¡¯t even planning on taking a break to sleep. They knew I was exhausted from walking all day and not eating so Gordon picked me up and started carrying me on his back. We continued that way for several hours before Shven stopped us. ¡°We¡¯ve got company. I count 6 wolves.¡± said Shven. Everyone prepared to fight including Gordon. Many humans think that a wolf beastmen would have a hard time fighting a wolf, but that''s not the case. It''s like a human fighting an ape. The Six wolves were surrounding us. I jumped off of Gordon¡¯s back to not hinder him and took out my flute. I didn¡¯t have much of a plan. My body doesn''t have any meat so most monsters just ignore me so I¡¯m not used to fighting them. On the other hand everyone else had taken their positions around me. Ready to fight. You could tell they had good teamwork at a glance. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. We were at a standoff when a slightly bigger wolf came out with red streaks of fur on its body contrasting with the grey on the rest of its body. Everyone was weary of this wolf so I started playing the Song of Spite with that wolf as the sole target. I wasn¡¯t confident in using it on everyone since it would probably hurt everyone including my allies, but if it was concentrating on one enemy then I could do it. As soon as I started playing the alpha wolf glared at me. Then let out a loud howl signaling all the other wolves to attack. Shven and Jane were dealing with the wolves in their own way from a distance. Shven with a bow and Jane with magic. Gordon did have a short sword, but it was obviously of bad quality so we would be in danger if any wolves got too close. The alpha was watching us while his pack was slowly getting picked off. A few wolves would get close, but Gordon would jump to block them then either Shven or Jane would help to finish the wolf off. Another wolf got close like this, and Gordon blocked him but both Shven and Jane were distracted with their own wolves to help. ¡°Look out!¡± I yelled as the alpha jumped into the fight. Gordon was the closest to the alpha, but was still dealing with the first wolf. The Alpha jumped at Gordon the Song of Spite finished a l5tle bit ago so I started playing Song of Restraint on Gordon. I was worried that being slower would mess up his rhythm, but I was hoping the defence would make up for it. Gordon tried his best to block the wolves, but they kept getting through and biting and scratching him. They weren¡¯t hitting anywhere vital, but their attacks didn¡¯t even faze Gordon. An arrow came flying from the side of my vision. I turned around to see that Shven and Jane had almost finished their wolves. I was ecstatic while playing, and soon the only wolf left was the alpha. The alpha stares at us. Both sides are heavily injured and tired. The alpha slowly backs up into the woods leaving us surrounded by corpses. After two minutes Shven says were safe. That was exhausting. I¡¯m lying down trying to recover while everyone else starts carving up the wolves. Because we killed so many they are only taking the good parts: teeth, claws, and skin. We quickly left as soon as they were done carving. I would have to walk the rest of the way since Gordon was carrying most of the wolves. We kept walking and running not even stopping at streams to eat. I was so hungry I thought I would die, but we had to keep moving. We had to make it to the Nigin before noon tomorrow. I wondered why there were two cities so close to each other, but apparently it was because of the mountain range dividing them. I didn¡¯t care too much since it meant I would be able to stop this death march sooner. Hours later as the sunrose I was able to see the city, and it was so close! I ran faster than I had on the entire trip. As soon I turned in this quest we I could take a break. I could hear everyone else trying to catch up to me. I was glad it meant this would end sooner. I got to the city gate just as the gates were opening. ¡°Hold on there little man. I need your I.D. and toll,¡± said a guard while he blocked my way. ¡°Oops.¡± I muttered. Ch 4 New Class When everyone else in my group arrived at the gate they paid my toll and put in a good word for me to get me into the city. I pulled them along while heading to the adventurers guild. This guild was just like the last one. It seems to be the standard design. When we finally arrived we had to split up. They gave me the sheet with my quest and their signature of a completed quest. My quest was just to escort them here. Thiers was to deliver the plant. So we split ways. I wanted to stick with them, but they politely declined. They may not have wanted me to be a burden on them, but I wouldn¡¯t get much experience being in their group anyway so our paths split there hoping to reunite someday. To completed quest I walked up to a receptionist. ¡°Hello there young one. Can I help you with something?¡± said an old lady at the receptionist desk. ¡°Yes I¡¯m here to turn in my first quest,¡± I replied in excitement. ¡°Oh my, your first quest! Let''s see what it is... An F-rank quest!, and a pretty tough one at that. Wait here I¡¯ll get your reward.¡± The old lady left through a back door, and soon came back with a small burlap sack and a sheet of paper. ¡°This is your reward 1 silver 75 copper. Its extra since your benefactor wrote in a tip, and this is your adventurer form. Just write down your name, species, age, and class. You¡¯ll be able to pick up your card later today,¡± the lady said while handing me my rewards. I started filling out my form name: Odis species: Treant age: 30 class: none. ¡°I see you don¡¯t have a class. Well you won¡¯t be able to be E-rank until you get a class, but you won''t need one until then.¡± I thanked the lady and left the guild. With money in my hand I headed to the market. The market is in the center of town and was hectic. Merchants everywhere at stalls calling out the prices of their goods. Some were selling armor and weapons, other potions, household appliances, but most importantly food. I still hadn''t eaten anything since arriving at Hadron the city before Nigin. I found a fruit stall with some cheap fruit and spent 25 copper to buy a big bag of various fruit. I didn¡¯t want to wait to eat any longer, but there was nowhere to sit. So I ran over to a fountain in the middle of the market. I stuck my legs into the water and took a big bite of fruit. The moment I took a bite I received a message from the goddess of nature.
Learned Song: Song of Moderation
I was pleased when I got the message, and happily ate all of my food while listening to a nearby bard. I was down to three fruit left, but I was already full. I didn¡¯t think I would need the fruit anytime soon. So I ended up eating the extra fruit I bought. When I finished the fruit I got another message from the goddess.
Learned Song: Song of Hunger
Wow two new songs so quickly. I would have to figure out how I got them eventually, but first I had a question to ask. I walked up to the nearby bard, and dropped a copper coin in his hat. ¡°Thanks a billion kid,¡± said the old man bard without looking up, or even losing rhythm. ¡°Do you know anything about magic songs?¡± after I said that the bard stopped playing, and looked up to me. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of magic songs. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I got a special blessing from the Goddess of Nature. It''s based around songs so I thought you may know something.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry kid. I don¡¯t know about any magic songs, but I can help you out. If you want I can give you the Bard class, and point you to a nice instrument store.¡± ¡°What does the Bard class do?¡± ¡°It improves your music in various ways.¡± ¡°That would be a big help.¡± The bard placed his hand on my forehead and a small light covered my body.
New class: Novice Bard
New skill(passive): Fortissimo - Increased range of songs
New skill(passive): Espressione - Increases the effect your music has on people
Anyone can pass on a class if they have ranked it up enough. I started as a Novice so he must be an Adept Bard or Grand Bard. ¡°Thank you very much Master!¡± This man was far more help than I had bargained for already. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Oh calm down. There aren''t too many people nowadays interested in music so I¡¯m glad just knowing there are youngsters who are. Now if you want to get some decent instruments then follow me I¡¯ll show you my favorite shop in this city.¡± ******** The shop the Bard lead me to looked pretty run down from the outside, and when we stepped in that didn¡¯t change too much. It just looked shabby. Instruments laying around without much care, old worn out shelves, and dust that seemed to be integral to the foundation of the building. I started to get worried. Was this the best shop or just the only one in town? ¡°Smith, what kind of half ass joint are you running. Not even greeting or customers! For shame.¡± the Bard said jokingly. ¡°If you want a greeting so badly then here¡¯s one. Buy something or get out!¡± replied an old man, presumably Smith, sitting at the back of the shop. ¡°Well I just so happen to have someone looking for an instrument. Introduce yourself kid.¡± ¡°Hello, my name is Odis I¡¯m looking for an instrument for adventuring,¡± I said nervously. ¡°What the F*ck! Why the H*ll would you need an instrument for adventuring?!¡± shouted smith. ¡°Odis has a special ability he can use music as a weapon. So give him something good. It may save his life.¡± Smith grumbled a bit while staring at my instilments. ¡°Let me see what you¡¯ve got Odis.¡± I hand Smith my lute and flute, and he starts carefully appraising them. ¡°This flute is made of living wood. This is pretty rare stuff. This flue should last you the rest of your life if you treat it right. As for the lute it¡¯s sh*t. Now for the important question what instruments can you play?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t actually play any instruments. My ability lets me play the songs I learned on instinct. As for what I can use anything is fine so long as I can play the song with it.¡± Smith stared at me for a while before speaking. ¡°You¡¯re looking down on music. You don¡¯t know it, but you are. Herold, teach him how to play that flute while I make his instrument. How much money have you got Odis.¡± ¡°I can pay you 1 silver!¡± Smith just stared at me wide eyed. He looked up at Herold the Bard before calming down. ¡°Ok I¡¯ll have something ready for you tomorrow to pick up. Just wait until then.¡± ¡°Thank you very much Smith!¡± ************** I spent the rest of the day in the center of the market next to the fountain playing these things called scales. It was embarrassing at first since there were so many people around and I was so bad, but Herold wouldn¡¯t let me go somewhere more privet. He kept saying ¡®it¡¯s good to play for others even if it was cr*ppy¡¯. I kept on practicing until sundown when Herold asked me a question. ¡°Do you have anywhere to stray tonight?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Well you have two options in this town. First, you can spend the night at an inn. Second, if you have already registered as an adventurer then you can get a really cheap place to stay there,¡± Herold said while pointing to an inn and the adventurers guild. After Thanking him for all his help I left for the adventures guild. *********** When I arrived it was as I expected it. That is as I expected it originally. The whole place was filled with tables with people drinking and eating. It was as if the whole place transformed in the blink of an eye. While looking around I noticed that most of the desks were now severing alcohol, but one was still handling quests and the old lady from earlier today was still there. When I came up to her she looked so glad to see me. ¡°Good to see you Odis! I was worried something happened to you when you didn¡¯t show up at noon, but I¡¯m sure you had your own agenda. Here¡¯s your guild card note that its boarder is black you¡¯re still G-rank. Until you take the rank up test you can only take G-rank quests or F-rank if you¡¯re in a group,¡± the nice lady explained. ¡°Thanks a lot. Also I heard from a friend that I could get a cheap place to stay here tonight,¡± I asked naively hoping for a nice tree to sleep in. ¡°A cheap place to stay? We do have some rooms, but those are reserved for adventures on long journeys. Humm¡­.Oh I know what they were talking about. If you¡¯re an adventurer you can get pretty cheap food and drinks here. Some people stay the whole night so maybe they were talking about that.¡± ¡°I see... thanks for your help,¡± I said a little nervously. Looks like I¡¯ll be spending the night here. Ch 5 In The Guild Since I had decided to bum around the adventurers guild for the night I had to order something. I walked up to one of the desk/bars that didn¡¯t have many people at it. It didn¡¯t seem to have a menu so I just asked what they had to eat. ¡°What can I order?¡± ¡°Well we have a lot of alcohol and some side dishes to go with the alcohol,¡± said the young bartender. I cringed at the talk of alcohol. I had always heard horror stories of Treants dyeing at the hand of alcohol. ¡°What side dishes do you have?¡± ¡°Well we have assorted nuts, onion rings, and pretzels.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have the onion rings.¡± ¡°That will be 2 Copper just sit at any table and your food will be brought out.¡± I thank the man and try to find an empty table. I¡¯m not that fortunate thought, and settle for a table with one other person sitting down. Most of the people in the bar and merry, but the person on this table was very glum and looked drowned in their drink. ¡°Mind if I sit here?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure go ahead. Not like anyone else will sit there,¡± she said almost angry about it. I sat down at the table. Other tables were crowded with many people standing, but it didn¡¯t look like anyone would want to sit down at this table because of this girl¡¯s atmosphere. I wasn¡¯t confident enough to start a conversation with this depressive person and my food was taking a while so I decided to practice my flute some more. I still wasn¡¯t very good, but I didn¡¯t care who heard me. The last thing Herold taught me was a short little song. I hadn¡¯t had much time to practice it and I was tired of the scales so I started playing the short melody that Herold taught me. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?... I played the tune once through before I realized that it was the only sound in the guild. When I saw that everyone was staring at me I stopped playing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m still not very good.¡± I hung my head in shame. To think I was so bad that everyone was shocked silent. ¡°Hey kid start playing again we were about to hit the chorus,¡± said a big man with a bigger drink. ¡°Huh?¡± I muttered. What was this guy talking about? ¡°What? You were playing a drinking song. More so it''s my favorite drinking song. So go ahead start playing again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry I only know that much.¡± ¡°HAHAHAHA kid you know all of it. After all it just repeats after that. So come on play your heart out.¡± I was encouraged by the burly man and started playing again. This time people started singing right away. The burly man was right the chorus and verses changed, but the short melody I was playing just repeated the entire time. Everyone in the bar was singing together. After a while everyone stopped singing, but I continued playing not realizing that the song had ended. When I finally realized the song was over I embarrassedly looked away towards my newly arrived onion rings. Everyone briefly laughs at my mistaken continuation of the song before returning to their previous conversations. I was looking down at my onion rings starting to regret ordering them. I expected them to be mostly onions with a bit of fried oil covering them, but you couldn¡¯t even begin to see the onion under the fried oil. I wasn¡¯t hungry and only order them to stay the night, but they still looked awful. ¡°Do you think adventuring is some kind of joke?¡± I looked up to see that the other person at my table was looking up at me for the first time. She was very pretty by human standards, but she had long ears characteristic of an elf so I wasn¡¯t sure how pretty she was by their standards. ¡°Only adventures are allowed to eat here. The whole point is to meet other adventures and create ties that can help you on quests. You don¡¯t have any weapons on you, and you seem to like music better than adventuring so I¡¯ll ask you again. Do you think that adventuring is some kind of joke? Like anyone can do it?¡± the elf said. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯m an adventurer because of a quest from the Goddess of Nature, and I use music as a weapon so it''s good that I¡¯m this good at music.¡± I said a little peeved at her insult. ¡°Ok I must have had too much to drink. I could have sworn you said that you use music as a weapon,¡± the elf said before taking another sip. ¡°You heard right I use music as a weapon.¡± ¡°If that''s true then I have got to see it.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± the burly man from earlier walk up behind me and asked to see my ability along with the elf. ¡°I would like to show you my ability, but isn¡¯t it a bad idea to use magic in the guild hall?¡± I asked while I was worried about getting in trouble. ¡°No need to worry. I¡¯m actually the guild master. So go ahead and use your magic I¡¯d love to hear it.¡± Reluctantly I began to play a song. I chose to play Song of Hunger since it didn¡¯t sound too destructive and I wanted to find out its effects. I started playing the song with the three of us as the targets. The song sounded a bit like the drinking song from earlier. As I was playing both the guild master and the elf started drinking more, and ordered another drink. I myself got hungry, but wanted to finish the song before eating some of my onion rings. When I finished my song I realized that not just us three, but everyone in the hall had eaten and drunk all their food and were ordering more. ¡°Was that it? Nothing happened!¡± said the elf. ¡°Yes it did that was called Song of Hunger it made you hungry,¡± I retorted. ¡°Bullsh*t, I just got hungry normally it had nothing to do with your music.¡± I got mad at the elf for not believing me. ¡°Fine this next one will hurt!¡± ¡°That''s fine boy. I know that your music worked, but be careful with that song most people wouldn¡¯t like to know that you¡¯re forcing them to eat more. That said how many songs can you play?¡± asked the guild master. ¡°Four although I¡¯m not sure what one does,¡± I said. ¡°I see. Alex you and Odis will be going on a quest tomorrow.¡± ¡°WHAT!! Why do I have to go on a quest with this kid!¡± shouted the elf girl: Alex. ¡°Because I said so. He¡¯s still new so as the guild master I can make other adventures take him on quests to gain experience,¡± said the Guild Master. Alex kept complaining so her and the Guild Master were arguing while I was eating my onion rings while listening to them argue. The oil was too much for me so I ended up taking the onions out to eat them. It was so odd. There was so much fried oil that it made a little cocoon around the onion. It was decided that I would be going on a quest tomorrow morning with Alex, but I had to do everything she said. I stayed at the bar for the rest of the night. Shortly after midnight most of the bartenders left and were replaced by a few new people. I was glad to see things quieting down after that, and others sleeping on the ground or on tables. I ended up taking a nap on my chair. ********* ¡°Wake up!¡± shouted Alex into my ear. I fell off my chair from the scream. ¡°Good to see your up now then let''s hurry up and finish our quest.¡± ¡°What is our quest anyway?¡± I asked. ¡°The Guild Master gave you the choice of three here they are,¡± Alex handed me three pieces of paper. The first was for collecting some rare plants near the city and had a high reward. The second was a goblin subjection quest and had decent pay. The last was to help find a lost cat and had a low reward. (Your choice 1. Plant collecting 2. Goblin subjugating 3. Cat finding. Vote in the poll highest one wins. Comments on each quest may change what happens on it.) (Author''s note: This is actually a side project. I wrote because of writer''s block. The quick chapters is because I have only been editing them. So in short updates are going to be slow from here until my main project finishes.) Ch 6 Goblin Subjection After carefully weighing the risks I chose goblin subjection. ¡°The goblin quest huh. Well I can¡¯t say it''s a bad choice, but are you sure you¡¯ll be able to go up against goblins?¡± asked Alex. She looked the part ready to fight with her leather armor, bow, and belt of knives. If she was with me I was confident that I could handle goblins. ¡°What do you mean? Aren''t you going to help me?¡± I asked. I wasn¡¯t sure how well I would do by myself, but with Alex¡¯s help I should be fine. ¡°Why would I help you? My job is to teach you how to do the quest not do it for you. Are you sure you can handle this?¡± responded Alex. ¡°I¡¯ll find some way to complete the quest. So what should I do first?¡± I asked eager to start. I¡¯m a little scared, but this should turn out well. ¡°Well first we have to go to the goblin¡¯s cave. I¡¯ll explain every thing else on the way. Do you need anything from town or can we leave now?¡± said Alex. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to pick up an instrument at noon. Can we wait until then to leave?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you need this instrument to fight?¡± asked Alex a bit annoyed. ¡°Well no, but I don¡¯t want to keep Smith waiting for me.¡± I said. ¡°Well then let''s get a move on. All you have to do is finish the quest before noon. Should be easy for someone with a special ability, right,¡± said Alex as she started walking away. Alex didn¡¯t talk to me until we were outside the city gate and out of earshot of anyone else. ¡°Here is your day pass. So long as you have that and enter the city before sundown you can get in the city for free.¡± said Alex while handing me a scrap of paper. The paper didn¡¯t have much writing on it and didn¡¯t look very official, but I trusted that it was the real thing. ¡°Now then about the quest. Goblin subjection is one of the most common quests you will find. Goblins breed like crazy so it¡¯s important to keep their numbers under control. This quest is to kill 25. Make sure to kill exactly 25 even if you have to let some escape, or escape yourself. However if it''s a life threatening situation then you can kill extra goblins. On that note make sure to report any Goblins you kill outside a mission to nearby towns if there are any.¡± explained Alex. ¡°Why do we have to be so careful about the number that we kill?¡± I asked. ¡°Goblins are part of the ecosystem. If you kill too many of them then the rest of the ecosystem will crumble. A single goblin won''t change the ecosystem much, but the adventuring guild still wants their numbers to be kept in check.¡± said Alex. ¡°Ok I get it do what the adventuring guild says,¡± I responded. ¡°Now then let''s talk about how you¡¯ll be killing the Goblins. What spells... music... what can you do?¡± asked Alex not sure how to address my ability. ¡°I have four songs right now each of them last for about 15 seconds. Spite deals soul damage and weakens, Restraint increases defense and slows, Hunger makes people hungry, and I don¡¯t know what Moderation does,¡± I explained. ¡°Use the last one on me now. Let''s see what it does,¡± said Alex. I started paying the Song of Moderation on Alex to see what would happen. The entire time she was examining herself, and looking confused. After it was over I looked at her waiting for a verdict. ¡°I felt no change,¡± she said. I know my song must do something, but I shouldn¡¯t use it until I can figure it out what it does. ¡°As for a battle strategy. Your only real option will be to alternate between Spite and Moderation while running away from the Goblins. Does it matter how many people you use it on?¡± said Alex. ¡°It gets weaker the more targets I have,¡± I said. ¡°You''ll have to start with just one goblin then and see how many you take on at once. When we get closer to their nest I¡¯ll bring one over for you to kill,¡± said Alex. ¡°Ok, and thanks for all your help,¡± I said. Maybe Alex was a good person all along. ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea! I¡¯m only helping you so much so I can get back to my own work asap,¡± said Alex. Maybe I¡¯m not as good a judge of character as I thought. We came to a small clearing, and Alex told me to wait there as she left. A few minutes later I saw her running back followed by a goblin. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready,¡± she said while quickly jumping into a tree. The goblin that was chasing her looked confused for a second before turning his eyes on me. Goblins are slightly intelligent beings so I didn¡¯t know whether or not it would attack me to take my money. Regardless I wanted to fight it so I started playing Song of Spite on my flute, and start running away from the goblin. The goblin cringed at my song and covered its ears, but not for long before it clicked that I was causing its pain. Then it ran towards me with its wooden club. Such a cruel thing. It even appears that he ripped a branch off a still living tree. It''s such a horrible thing to do especially when there are sticks lying around from dead trees. I won''t mind ending this poor creature''s life at all. As the goblin starts to gain on me Spite ends, and I immediately start playing Song of Restraint. The goblin slows down a little. It''s not much, but it''s enough to get me out of the goblins grasp. I repeat the steps of Spite and Restraint until the goblin starts to run away from me. Then I start chasing it, but it''s headed towards its nest. I had been running away from the nest, but not in the exact opposite direction. It was getting close to the first clearing before it fell over. I was surprised by the sudden fall, but I remained cautious of the goblin while continuing to play the Song of Spite. I came up to the still goblin while still playing through my songs. I was planning to kick the goblin to see if it was still alive, but it was still breathing so I didn¡¯t have to. I went through two more rotations of Spite this time replacing Restraint with Hunger. When I was done with the second Song of Spite Alex jumped down from a tree. ¡°You might as well stop playing. It doesn¡¯t look like that song can finish off your foes,¡± said Alex, ¡°Here you can use this knife to finish him off.¡± The knife Alex handed me was pretty small, and looked like a spare knife. I held the knife to the goblin¡¯s throat, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to slit it. I just couldn¡¯t kill the goblin in cold blood. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill you if it were still conscious. I¡¯m going to get another goblin. If you haven¡¯t killed it by the time I¡¯m back you¡¯ll be in trouble,¡± said Alex as she walked away; a bit slower than last time. I knelt there alone with the goblin. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said while slitting the goblin¡¯s throat. If I was a human I would have cried, but it takes a lot more than that to make a Treant cry. Not because we have a good control of our emotions or anything. It''s just that it''s harder to make sap flow than it is tears. I took the dead body and put it in a nearby divot. Before adding several seeds I had collected to the body. Some people would only place one seed to grow a plant, but I knew that it''s best to plant multiple seeds in the same place. Since the chances are that most of them won''t sprout. I put some dirt over the body and cast a bit of nature magic to help decompose the body and grow the plant before Alex came running at me. This time with two goblins. ¡°I hope you can handle this,¡± she said while disappearing into a tree again. (Author¡¯s note: I changed the songs to 15 seconds long since, my god, 1 minute in battle is so long.) Check out the outlines for the other two quests Capture cat Spoiler : young noble¡¯s daughter asking pick up instrument plays song of hunger while walking down the street with fish Cats come and they eventually find their cat asked to join nobles for an event Flower quest Spoiler : They find the flower Odis is tempted by Alex to just take the whole thing New song Song of Want Picks up instrument on the same day Ch 7 Goblin Subjection Pt. 2 ¡°I hope you can handle this,¡± Alex said while disappearing into a tree again. She brought two goblins with her one that was pretty short and looked weak and one that was tall and looked strong. Before the two goblins even noticed me I hid behind a tree, and started to play the Song of Spite with the weaker looking goblin as the sole target. It started screaming and looking around for whatever was causing it¡¯s pain. While I was trying to hide like a tree in the forest. The two goblins started coming towards my general direction slowly; being careful of their surroundings. When the song finished I silently climbed up the tree before playing the Song of Spite again after the 15 seconds past. They started getting more impatient while looking for me. They got to the tree I was up, and they saw the goblin I had just killed. They looked very disturbed at it. I suppose it¡¯s not natural to see someone decomposing with plants in them that you had thought was alive moments ago. The Song of Spite ended and again I just waited for its cool down while climbing up the tree rather than revealing my location with another song. I stayed as close to the ground in the tree as I dared to, to keep the goblins in my range, before I started to play Song of Spite again. They seem to have figured out that I¡¯m in the tree since they are trying to climb it. The stronger one comes up first followed by the weaker one. They aren¡¯t very good at climbing so I finish the Song of Spite before they find me. At this point there''s no reason in hiding so I play the Song of Restraint on the stronger goblin only, and begin to climb higher into the tree. The goblins immediately spot me as I start moving, but they are barely giving chase. They stronger goblin was slowly climbing the tree before and now it¡¯s completely lost its balance from my song, and is just waiting for the song to stop. The weaker goblin is climbing like normal, but it looks worn out from all the damage it has been taking. They were having such a hard time in the tree that I almost felt bad for them. I switched to Song of Spite as soon as I could. The weaker goblin was only able to hold onto the tree for a few seconds longer before he fell unconscious and fell to the ground: dead. Now all that was left was the stronger goblin that didn¡¯t have any damage. When I started hitting him with Spite he winced for a second before continuing to climb up the tree. Three sets of Spite and Restraint latter the goblin was almost at my feet, but that didn¡¯t matter to me. I used most of the vines in my body to make three big toes on each of my feet. Then I just jumped down the tree. Playing Spite during the entire fall I used my feet latch onto branches and spin myself around in ways that would make any human gymnast jealous. In just a few short seconds I was on the bottom of the tree holding myself sideways looking up at the goblin. The goblin was astonished staring back at me from the top. Never underestimate a Treant in a tree!
New Song: Song of Honor
The goblin was at the top of the tree with no hope of catching me or escaping. It stared at me in anger. Then jumped from the top of the tree straight towards me. Maybe it was too stupid to know what would happen, or perhaps it just wanted the pain to end. I easily dodged the goblin and it fell to it¡¯s death. ¡°Good job. Looks like I can start bringing goblins in pairs now,¡± said Alex as she started to leave. ¡°Wait!¡± I said, ¡°I just got a new song. Can I test it out on you?¡± ¡°Sure, but make it quick,¡± Alex reluctantly said. I played the Song of Honor, and Alex carefully examined herself. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything this time either. It looks like you¡¯re just too weak to affect me,¡± Alex said as she began to leave, ¡°Oh yeah! Use that knife to take the fangs out of that big goblin. You can sell thouse for a bit of money.¡± I used the knife to get the fangs out of the goblin. It was a lot harder than I expected, but it was made easier because of the goblin¡¯s cracked skull. Alex came back with group after group of goblins as I ran away or up a tree to kill them. I had killed 20 of them before I needed a break. ¡°Do you know of a stream around here. I need a drink,¡± I said. ¡°Fine, there¡¯s a stream this way. Follow me,¡± said Alex. I started walking behind Alex while she lead the way. While walking I played the Song of Moderation as an experiment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I played the song with me as the sole target, and as soon as I started playing it my hunger subsided. It wasn¡¯t as if I was getting fuller. It was more like I was ignoring my hunger. ¡°Did your song...what was it...Spite get more powerfull?¡± asked Alex out of the blue. ¡°I don¡¯t think so why do you ask?¡± I said. ¡°You didn¡¯t notice since you were concentrated on fighting, but as time went on the goblins died faster and faster and became slower and slower,¡± said Alex. ¡°I see. I wonder if I started playing the songs differently?¡± I said as we approached the stream. I had something I wanted to test, but that would have to wait until I had some more goblins. We arrived a small stream in the forest. I jumped into the edge of the stream and started drinking. It was so nice to stick my feet into the water after working hard. I was eating a few berries since I couldn¡¯t find any fruit trees on the walk. ¡°Odis! What are you doing! Thouse berries are poisonous!,¡± Alex exclaimed. ¡°I know, but most poisons don¡¯t effect Treants. Considering that we don¡¯t have blood, ¡± I responded a bit proud of being a Treant. Alex was eating some preserved meat. We sat by the river for a few minutes before hearing a rustling in the bushes. I turned to the bushes thinking that it was just some woodland animal coming for a drink. Alex on the other hand had already drawn her bow, and was ready to fire at whatever was hiding in the bush. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The bush stayed still with the threat of the bow. I thought that if the target wasn¡¯t running away that they are either scared stiff or wanted to fight. I decided to take Alex¡¯s lead and played the Song of Spite with everything in the bush as the target. I was still using my flute just because I had gotten so used to using it. My lute was better for area of effect, but I had grown very fond of my flute. I heard a brief cry of a goblin when I started playing. Alex released an arrow towards the cry followed by thump from the bush. Then three goblins and one hobgoblin jumped out of the bush. The hobgoblin was much taller than the regular goblins, and carried a short sword, wooden shield, and a helmet. ¡°ODIS HOLD OFF THE HOBGOBLIN!!¡± screamed Alex. Her scream was so loud that it nearly drowned out my music, but I didn¡¯t hesitate. I concentrated Spite on the hobgoblin trying to deal as much soul damage as possible. Meanwhile Alex was firing arrows at the closest goblins. It took at least two shots to kill each goblin. She was able to kill two of them before they got too close. Alex was very worried about the hobgoblin, and was dodging his attacks with wide margins. Spite ended and I started playing Song of Restraint while trying to focus on slowing down the hobgoblin. As soon as my song started Alex turned to the last regular goblin. She parried its attack and stabbed its neck before turning back to the hobgoblin that was taking a slow swing at Alex with it¡¯s short sword. Alex started backing away from the hobgoblin while it was still slow. I started playing the Song of Spite again. This time focusing on the weakening aspect of the song. The hobgoblin started charging at Alex with its shield raised. Alex crouched and fired at the hobgoblin¡¯s leg. To her surprise it went all the way through the leg. Seeing the extra power she fired an arrow at the goblin¡¯s shield. I saw what she was trying to do and I concentrated my song on the hobgoblin¡¯s shield. I don¡¯t know if my songs work on inanimate objects, but I was hoping that it would at least work on wood. The first arrow to hit the shield and went through it making a big split. The second arrow went through the shield and the hobgoblin¡¯s arm. The last arrow split half of the shield off. Leaving the hobgoblin exposed. Alex fired two more arrows into the hobgoblin¡¯s body before running out of arrows. Alex was distracted because she ran out of arrows and the hobgoblin was going to get in a free swing on her, but before the hit landed Spite ended and I started playing Restraint. However my target was no longer the hobgoblin. There wasn¡¯t enough time to slow down the attack. Instead I was focusing on making Alex¡¯s defence as high as possible. The slash came down right across Alex¡¯s chest. Her leather armor plus my song blocked most of the attack, but she was still left with a large cut across her chest. I was worried about any follow up attacks, but the hobgoblin wasn¡¯t moving and breathing heavily. It looks like it¡¯s last attack was out of desperation. Seeing the opportunity I ran up besides the hobgoblin, now slowing him with Restraint, and took my small dagger and slit the hobgoblin¡¯s throat.
New Song Derived From Song of Spite: Song of Grudge
New Song Derived From Song of Restraint: Song of Tolerance
I was overwhelmed by everything that had just happened, but I had to get over it and check on Alex. The cut on her chest didn¡¯t look too deep, but she would still need some form of healing. After I started examining her she tried to lean up, but I held her down to let her rest. ¡°Do you have any healing potions?¡± I asked. Alex didn¡¯t talk but rather pointed to her small bag. I searched through her bag and quickly found a healing potion. I poured half of the potion on her wound and had her drink the rest. The wound was healed by the magic of the healing potion and Alex was quickly back on her feet. I wanted to head back to the town and let Alex rest, but she insistent on being fine. She cut off the nose on each goblin, and took the hobgoblin¡¯s equipment before leaving. ¡°Why did you take the goblins¡¯ noses?¡± I asked. ¡°You have to bring back their noses to prove the job done. Each monster has a different proof mark, but it''s almost always noted on the quest so there''s no need to memorize them,¡± said Alex. We kept walking through the forest until we were at its edge looking at the city. ¡°Hey Alex did you want me to make you a shirt out of leaves before we enter the city?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine there''s just a big cut in my armor. Why?¡± Alex responded. ¡°I was under the impression that it¡¯s a bad thing for a women to show her chest in public,¡± I said. There was silence for a brief moment. I had heard the talks in the adventurer''s guild overnight so I was pretty sure of my information, but perhaps it didn¡¯t apply to women with tiny boobs. ¡°....I¡¯M A GUY GOD D*MIT!!!¡± Alex yelled while punching me in the face. Before I blacked out I thought of what I had learned today. On top of the list was easily ¡®Never mistake a male elf for a female elf. No matter how pretty they look.¡¯ (Author¡¯s note: no that is not the Gender Bender I had planed. I will be posting a chapter tomorrow at about 6:30 EDT. At the end of the chapter there will be a little contest. The winner will be the first person with the right answer. The answer won¡¯t be very easy though so don¡¯t worry if you aren''t reading it at the moment when it comes out.) Ch 8 Back in Town A swift kick to my gut woke me up. I was confused for a while not sure what was going on. The city gate was in front of me, my back hurt like no tomorrow, and Alex was next to me getting ready to kick again. ¡°I¡¯M AWAKE I¡¯m awake, you don¡¯t have to kick me again,¡± I said desperately. Alex *tisted* in disatisfaction. HE was obviously still mad at me. ¡°Because you passed out I couldn¡¯t make it to the city gates before they closed. Now we have to spend the night outside,¡± said Alex still very mad at me. The area surrounding the city was plain grassland. Not even one tree to climb up unless we wanted to walk back to the forest. Which Alex was not in the mood for. So we were just sitting by the city gate under a torch. With me as far away from the torch as I could get. The atmosphere between us was so tense. I mustered up my courage and tried to start a conversation. ¡°So Alex, why did you become an adventurer?¡± I asked. It was a simple enough question that could lead to a long conversation. ¡°Why did you?¡± responded Alex. He was very unmotivated and angry with his response, but it was still better than not responding. ¡°Well when I received my blessing. I was told to experience the world. Probably because Treants are very isolated they don¡¯t know much about the world as a whole. I assumed that the Goddess of Nature sent me to learn about the world so I could effect it. So I joined to see the world,¡± I said. ¡°You joined the adventuring guild to adventure? What do you think all of our quests are for?¡± asked Alex a bit surprised. ¡°I always thought those were for traveling expenses. After all city fees are expensive,¡± I said. Alex just stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds before laughing her head off. I felt really stupid about myself. Apparently my plan to adventure was so bad that it left Alex in this mad laughing state. After a few minutes of laughing Alex finally addressed me. ¡°Congratulations Odis you just got into the top 10% of adventures in my book,¡± said Alex still chuckling a little. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked still not sure of what is going on. ¡°Almost everyone in the adventuring guild is just a meat head that thinks the guild is just for killing monsters. So much that it nearly is, but that''s not how it started. The adventuring guild started as stopping points for real adventures. Offering a bed, food, and an opportunity to earn money on their travels,¡± said Alex very motivated in his response. ¡°Then why does the guild have ranks? Is that just the effect of these new adventurers?¡± I asked partially curios partially wanting to continue Alex¡¯s good mood. ¡°No, that was actually set up early on in the guild''s history. Ranks are used to determine what areas are too dangerous to explore, and which quests you can take to earn money. So practically identical to today¡¯s ranks,¡± said Alex. ¡°So did you join the adventuring guild to adventure Alex?¡± I asked. ¡°Of Course! My parents were both adventures so I grew up with stories of the places they visited: Floating islands, infinitely deep canyons, flaming mountains, forests with trees bigger than castles. I always wanted to be an adventurer, and last year I set out to start with my friends,¡± Alex said his mood dropping on the last line. ¡°What happened to your friends?¡± I asked not remembering them at the bar. ¡°They left me behind, or more accurately I made them leave me behind. Over the year we were adventuring together it was obvious that I was the weak link. We had to pass up so many opportunities to go to fantastic lands because I wouldn¡¯t have survived going to them. About a week ago I made them leave me here, and continue on their own adventure. My plan is to either get strong enough on my own to start adventuring again, or return to my village that isn¡¯t too far from here.,¡± said Alex. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry that you had to waste your time on me then,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t be. The guild master made me join you in hopes that we would form a team so that I could start adventuring again. I told myself that I would try to start again, but ever since everyone else left that seems like a dream within a dream,¡± said Alex. ¡°Is it really that hard to adventure on your own?¡± I asked. ¡°Well of course adventuring is very dangerous even in a party there are dangerous monsters.¡± ¡°Most monsters avoid Treants since we have no meat.¡± ¡°You can starve.¡± ¡°I only need air, sunlight, mana, and water.¡± ¡°You can dehydrate.¡± ¡°I can go without water for about a week or two if I pace myself.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°It may take hundreds of years to see the world.¡± ¡°Treants have a very long lifespan.¡± ¡°You need the motivation to explore the world.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that Treants are basically the perfect adventures, but none of them want to?¡± asked Alex. ¡°I think so,¡± I responded. ¡°For God¡¯s Sake. I¡¯m going to sleep you keep guard all night,¡± said Alex while he lied down. The night passed uneventfully. In the morning when the gate opened Alex was still sleeping so I carried him inside. We entered the city, and we had to pay the toll since it was a new day. Alex was still sleeping when we arrived at the adventurer¡¯s guild. I laid down Alex by the receptionist and turned in the request. With the bonus for killing a hobgoblin I had a total of 10 silver and 4 copper to my name. Alex would get his compensation when he woke up. So I left him there to go and see Smith. When I opened the door to Smith¡¯s shop I was met with his angry voice. ¡°About time you showed up! I was starting to think you were dead!¡± said Smith bluntly. ¡°Good to see you to,¡± I said having learned how to deal with Smith from Herold. ¡°So just why are you late?¡± asked Smith. ¡°I was sent on a training mission by the guild master,¡± I responded. ¡°Oh, that means you have more money right? In that case it will now be 5 silver for your instrument,¡± said Smith. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not fair. You can¡¯t charge me more because I have more money now!¡± I yelled. ¡°Do you really think that 1 or even 5 silver can buy an instrument? Get real. Herold is paying for the instrument on your behalf. The least you can do is take some burden off that old man,¡± said Smith. ¡°Herold was doing something like that for me? I didn¡¯t know that he was such a good guy,¡± I said I handed over 5 silver coins and Smith gave me a small case. I quickly and carefully opened it up to find its riches. ¡°It¡¯s a trumpet with a livingwood mouthpiece. Your lucky I had some livingwood to make that,¡± said Smith. ¡°Do I need to use livingwood for all of my wind instruments?¡± I asked. It would get very annoying to have to get custom orders all all of my wind instruments. ¡°Well...you should. It is possible to play with a metal mouthpiece, but it is far better for a Treat to use a wooden mouthpiece. You''re really lucky that I know that kid. I once met a Treant instrument maker that told me about that little tid bit,¡± said Smith. The case had one other circular piece of metal in it so I picked it up. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh right! Thats for tuning. It has holes around the side. When you blow into each hole it creates a pich. You then use that pitch to tune your instrument. I don¡¯t know for sure, but that might affect your songs,¡± said Smith. After a brief lesson on how to tune my trumpet and lute I didn¡¯t need to learn how to tune my flute since it was made of living wood. After that I went to look for Herold. I was lucky to find Herold at the fountain again. He showed me how to play the trumpet with more of those stupid scales. I kept playing and at the end of the day someone threw a copper coin at my feet. Some people would take that as disrespectful. As if I was a beggar that needed the money. But I was so happy that someone spared a coin for my music even though it was still so bad. New Song: Song of Reserve After I gained this song I went into deep thought trying to figure out what causes me to gain all of these songs. I tried to find the connection, but gave up since I didn¡¯t even know the effects of all my songs. It was getting late again so I bid Herold farewell and left for the adventurer''s guild. There are so many things I have to get done and so little time. (Contest: I have 42 songs planned for Odis to learn. Whoever can guess 5 of the songs titles first wins. Enter your guesses in the comments; you can make up to 42 guesses in each comment; I will not accept songs I have already revealed as guesses. Once I see someone has won I will comment on the winner and private message them. The prize will be answering any one question with total honesty, or effecting the story in some small way: naming a character, having Odis learn a song sooner, going to some special place, etc. If there is no correct guess in 48 hours I will post a hint. Let the games begin.) P.S. Sorry this didn''t go up at the time I said. There were unforeseen issues.