Chapter 113: Bards and Music.

Chapter 113: Bards and Music.

[Stage Fever (Minor)] [Music Resonation (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

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Until you show me the flames in you

I will smile and keep these three words for myself!

I cant wait!

Just watching you makes me feel so anxious

I dream of the day that you will hold me

You are it, my Fireheart!

Say those words!

Dont just stand there and keep your mouth wide, dummy

Cant you feel the rhythm of our heartbeats

Say those words, my Fireheart!

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Loud applause erupted from the numerous adventurers relaxing and eating inside the hunters guild. Some were shouting for me to sing another song, while others turned their attention back to their food and companions at their table, knowing I would continue regardless. Others didnt cheer or clap, simply enjoying the atmosphere or minding their own business, probably knowing this was just another day in the guild.

On the other hand, several were giving me looks of unease. Those people were the ones with a [Bard] related Job, or at least that is what I assumed, considering they were the people who usually played on their instruments or sang a tune whenever I visited the guild. Now, most of them were looking down at their harp-, flute-, and lute-like instruments with dejected eyes.

A few of these bards were surrounded by their parties, being comforted by their wryly smiling companions. The loud cheers and general rambunctiousness of the guild made it hard for me to eavesdrop since all these sounds mixed together. I might have been able to listen in, but that would require me to properly focus. Plus, at the end of the day, I had no interest in meddling with everybodys lives.

Seventh song; a success like the others. Hmm, this makes it hard for me to choose

While seeing and hearing most adventurers asking for encores and praising me for my singing, aside from a few perverts who were shouting some M-for-mature comments, made me quite happy about myself, it also gave me valuable information on how people received my songs.

My geigler play at the marketplace during the Binding Festival gave me some idea of which genres were popular among the people of the lower town. While I couldnt be sure if they came for my tunes or the smell coming from Saoris impromptu food stand, the way they danced around us and the lack of criticism must have meant that they were interested. I only did the instrumental version last time, so I was including my vocals this time.

I decided not to dance this time in order to prevent the guild from having the idea I was some sorta ritual dancer or something. It would be a pain to resolve that misunderstanding afterward, after all. I also shouldnt expect them all to like my dancing like the villagers from Carine village did, so I was going about it slowly.

I activated my party bracelet, opened up the notes function, and ticked off another well-received song from a list of them while sipping some fruit juice from a wooden tankard. Saori and Tasianna werent around. Theyd wanted to ask Ruld when he could guide us to the blacksmith he recommended, so they left me here and asked Melia, one of the hunters guilds receptionists and our Quest handler, to supervise me. Or, how I would like to call it, babysitting.

Hey, hey, come on, little lizard cleric! Another song, come on!

Yeah, one more! Oh, dont forget to come over to the tavern! We could use some good songs to end the day! Ill even listen to a sermon about the Goddess if you do it in song, ha ha!

Guys, give me some time for a break

When the sky started to turn orange, most adventurers working outside the town since this morning would come back to town, and subsequently head to the guild building or tavern for the evening merriment. Most of these hunters and mercenaries were low rankers, which included G, F, and E rank adventurers, and had to work over winter as they lived paycheck to paycheck from what they earned through their Quest rewards.

In contrast, all the D rankers and the most prosperous E rankers werent too keen to freeze their toes off in this cold and had saved enough money to last them until spring came. Most of the people listening to me today belonged to the latter group, although there were also a few low rankers whod finished their quests early.

That didnt mean all adventurers who went out of town this morning would return this afternoon. I wasnt talking about them dying, of course. Melia explained a few Quests would require you to travel long distances that could last for multiple days even when its freezing outside, usually enticing Quest takers with higher pay.

Apparently, that skorr Quest my party took last week wouldve taken a normal E rank hunter party at least three days to complete if it went flawlessly. The first day to travel to the farmers and confirm information, the second day to plan the attack and execute on it, and the third day to come back to Firwood. Our party finished it in a single day since we were a bit over-leveled.

Whew! The next song please, little miss priestess! Cheers, ahaha! a hunter shouted as he raised his ale tankard to bang it with his friends.

From what I understood from [Idol]s description, the [Idol] skill itself allowed me to transfer all the buffs I currently have onto other people. It was like an automatic [Synergists Oath] that didnt require mana to use. With the [Idol System], the System created for this skill, I could register certain songs to grant additional buffs or use them to attack somebody. That meant the latters effect must have been inspired by [Bardic Music]. However, this System was created by Aurena for me. It cant be that simple, right?

La la la la the bards began to hum, stringing their harps and lutes while some blew into their flutes. Using [Mana Eyes], I was able to see hints of their Mana entering their instruments and being spread with each tune they played. I could feel a similar sensation when I would use buffing spells like [Swift Winds] or [Sturdy Earth] on myself. However, unlike normal spells, the amount of Mana used was far smaller than expected, which resulted in a lesser impact.

Do you five have the [Mana Control] skill? I asked, to which they shook their heads. This meant that you didnt need to be versed in magic to know how to be a bard, but even if each song cost less Mana than a normal spell, seeing as how it continuously drained your mana the longer you played, a bard should still have more Mana than a normal warrior.

The bards admitted they couldnt play for too long and that once they stopped playing, the effects of the songs would end. Compare that to buffing spells which could last even if the mage wasnt around, and you could see the disadvantages to [Bardic Magic]. A mage could stand on top of a hill and be useful, but a bard had to stay close to his allies to support them if he or she didnt have wind magic to spread their music.

That fighting style does fit me. I am a mage but Im still mostly a front liner anyways, since neither Saori and Tasianna could act like tanks. In the worst case, I could just use [Aerokinesis] to spread my songs over a whole battlefield.

Still, that didnt help me figure out which songs I should choose.

As I was listening to the bards sing their tales, I noticed a few other bards hiding among the adventurers, looking at us with troubled expressions. When I asked why the latter didnt step up like these five, I learned they had some reservations about me. Seeing me enchant the whole building with my music and receiving everybodys applause and cries of the encore, these bards saw me more as a rival or a target of envy.

Usually, people only treat us as background music, as another part of the atmosphere. We bards travel the world, from towns to villages to cities, sometimes even ruins, to gather all the lore and experiences this world can provide us under the origin gods eyes. Impressing the local townspeople or a new adventurer is easy, but we require some seriously impressive adventures to impress a veteran, the representative admitted. Dont get me wrong, veterans love stories and tales as much as anybody else, but I dont think anybodys been able to catch the whole guilds attention like that, before. Your songs of love and fiery passion coupled with daring tales to evoke the adventurer spirit from within during this freezing season. All sung by a muse with a heavenly voice, la la la, the priestess of red showed us a glimpse of the goddesss serenity

Before he continued singing, he stopped as he saw me frown a bit. Is something the matter, fair priestess?

Shaking my head, I replied, Its nothing. I just feel a bit bad that they think that. Im only trying out some songs, I wasnt intentionally trying to steal their spotlight. Urgh, sorry about that. I guess you five feel the same?

Music is the art of touching the souls of thousands to empower and heal them, was one of my favorite quotes my papa told me. It was his motto. I might have made a few people happy and smile but I didnt want my fellow musicians to feel threatened by me. We are all in this together.

Another breeze in the wind, fair priestess. Being jealous of other bards is part of being one because it drives us forward to seek tales of heroics

Nodding my head with a smile, I could only say one thing, Oh yeah, Im not a bard. Im an idol. This caused them to tilt their heads, but before they could ask what it was, I simply offered them to play some music with me. It would be a great chance to experience some actual medieval music, after all.

However, before we could start, a bunch of adventurers stormed inside the guild, shouting and screaming, Priests! Clerics! We need healers! Seven hunters carried in three others on their back. All three looked pale, sweaty, and had their eyes closed.

Put them on the benches! Melia shouted as most of the receptionists ran out from the counter, carrying bottles of red and green liquids. Without questioning it, the adventurers close to the door listened to her orders and helped lay the three down. Once on the benches, I could see bandages wrapped around their bodies even as the stench of blood exuded from them.

What happened?! Melia asked one of the hunters. He looked quite young, probably around my age, so it took him a few tries to stop stuttering at Melias questioning. Once the few white-robed priests announced they would look after the injured with the guild staff, the young man finally felt relieved enough to start his story.

An ambush! Our party was out to take down some wolves when we were attacked by a bunch of kobolds and goblins on the way to town! My friends got hit by arrows and theyve looked like this ever since! I-If it wasnt for them, we probably would have been wiped out! the young man said as he pointed at the five more experienced looking hunters who helped him carry his three injured friends.

While Melia spoke with the young hunter, another receptionist questioned the others. I saw four kobold archers, four kobold warriors, and seven goblin fighters. They took out the backline first, those two girls and boy there, and were about to overwhelm the frontline. We managed to kill three goblins before driving them off, the archer of that party reported.

The kids are poisoned! Two minors and one moderate! Two minor cure potions, one [Cure], and three minor health potions are enough, one of the priests told a receptionist. Meanwhile, the other three priests began giving the two girls bottles of a green liquid and the boy received [Cure]. After the paleness slightly subsided, the priests administered the red liquid.

The three priests then raised their hands, directed a ring at the soundly sleeping young hunters, before confirming they were not in critical situations anymore. We pray to the Goddess for the safety of their souls, the four priests announced in a prayer pose.

As the chaos of the situation subsided with the cheers of adventurers, Melia and the other receptionist called the young hunter and the leader of the rescue party to come to the reception for a full report of the situation.

Phew, thankfully everything went well. I dont have to be the hero for every situation, especially when those priests competently handled everything without any issues.

A feeling of relief swelled in my chest as the tragedy was prevented. I didnt know where they learned holy magic, it could be here in Firwood or from another church, but they left me with a good impression. The [Cure] took a bit as the priest needed to say the whole chant, but how they were quickly able to assess the injury and how to heal it was inspirational.

Aurena did tell me to learn more about her religion, which included her priests and priestesses. Maybe I should use this chance to ask them about it before I ask the local temple?

Tch, didnt even move a muscle. Probably has no talent, and shes been instantly made D rank. Dafuq is wrong with the guild?

As I was smiling at this sight, my ears suddenly picked up some annoying gossip from behind me. Turning around with a confused frown, my eyes directed me at a dark-red haired young adventurer glaring at me with hatred. As our eyes met, he snorted at me, rolled his eyes, before turning back to his party, who were already complaining at him. I wondered who he was, but that's when one of my parallel minds reminded me that I saw him on the day I met the hunter's guild master and registered as a hunter. He was the asshole who gossiped about me!

Hey, hey, hey, that piece of shit! Its that guy again!

For some reason, hearing him ridiculing me not only ticked me off but made me feel like my pride as a mage was insulted. I thought I was used to mockery, due to my past with the other idol trainees, but it seems I hadnt built up a tough enough shell yet.

Fueled by anger, my feet moved by themselves, moving me towards the table with the red-haired brat. My parallel minds were complaining and warning me I was acting childish when I could just ignore it. Words hurt, but that didnt mean I had to react to them every single timeWell, maybe that argument would have cooled me down if I were older, but it was a bit too early for me to behave that maturely.

Hey, Standing before him, I called him out as my aura skills were leaking my irritation. How about you tell me that directly in my face instead of hiding behind a crowd with your tail tucked behind your legs, you rooster head.