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

.

“Until you show me the flames in you ♫

I will smile and keep these three words for myself! ♫

I can’t 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! ♫

Don’t just stand there and keep your mouth wide, dummy ♫

Can’t you feel the rhythm of our heartbeats ♫

Say those words, my Fireheart! ♫”

.

Loud applause erupted from the numerous adventurers relaxing and eating inside the hunter’s 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 didn’t 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 everybody’s 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 couldn’t be sure if they came for my tunes or the smell coming from Saori’s 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 shouldn’t 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 weren’t around. They’d 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 hunter’s guild’s 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, don’t forget to come over to the tavern! We could use some good songs to end the day! I’ll 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 weren’t 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 who’d finished their quests early.

That didn’t mean all adventurers who went out of town this morning would return this afternoon. I wasn’t 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 it’s freezing outside, usually enticing Quest takers with higher pay.

Apparently, that skorr Quest my party took last week would’ve 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.

While their enthusiasm was nice, a singer needs to take breaks from singing once in a while during an extended session. Our most valuable tool is our vocal cords, after all. Although, couldn’t I simply heal them if they ever get sore? My throat hasn’t even gotten tired once since I came over to Peolynca. Can I even get a sore throat with Peolynca’s System? Would my Health drop if that happened? Maybe my Vitality is protecting me from it, or maybe even my Wisdom since [Draconic Roar] and [Idol] improved my acoustic attacks? Was it being influenced by my skills?

Oops…I’m overthinking things again. How about we deal with this problem when it actually happens, eh, parallel minds?

‘Point taken, original mind. Say when you want to continue and we’ll start playing some music,’ parallel mind #1 said.

‘Hey, it’s not like we can take a break,’ parallel mind #2 interjected. ‘We still haven’t tested [Idol] out yet, and it’s ‘cause you can’t decide on a song, original mind. All we’ve been doing is lazing around in our room when we have free time!’

Hey, give me a break. The number of times I could just laze around up until now could be counted with our hands. It has been such a long time since I had a free schedule.

‘Original mind, kinda don’t wanna tell you this considering you are me, but aren’t we being too lazy? It’s like we lost a lot of our drive after our debut and we’re just ‘playing’ around with all the new RPG-like stuff,’ parallel mind #3 pointed out. “Sure, Aurena told us to take it at our pace but I don’t like the fact we haven’t even tried out [Idol] once yet! This is our skill. Since when do idols sit on their laurels and stop practicing and training each day? Just look at ‘SNSD’, ‘Twice’, or ‘ITZY’ for examples, girl.”

Pondering at what my parallel minds have said, I had to agree I have been neglecting my training…a bit. Since we left Carine village, the last time I actually had this much free time was…Wait. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much free time.

Before I met Saori in the Belzac Forest, I was forced to train every single moment I could purely to survive, even inside that cave. After meeting up with Saori and Tasianna, my time was used practically in the same way, the only difference was that I wasn’t always responsible for cooking. Even in Carine village my schedule was filled with idol training, Master Kush’s lectures, and visiting Ellaine.

Now that I think about it, the last time I really exerted myself during training was that one single duel I had with Saori and Tasianna to get rid of [Battle Frenzy]. Training Ellaine was, not to be rude, nearly effortless. My life could be compared to a young Earth teenager nowadays. Shouldn’t I be tinkering with my skills more and trying to make more custom spells?

“Empty vessel” was the proper term for a magic skill that didn’t give its owner any System spells but allowed the creation of custom ones. Either they could be created through mortal hands or given to them from gods like what Shiterno did to me. In any case, to actually use these magic skills properly, they must be used as the base for new spells.

Sure, I could use my two empty vessel skills without needing a spell for them, but looking at how I created [Sanctified Blaze] with [White Flames] and what that spell could do, in comparison, to how lonely [Corrosive Fire] is looking, I should probably kick my ass and do some proper work.

I mean, [Idol] was made just for me, but I still haven’t chosen a song for it. I had two slots while [Idol] was level one. I could just choose “Promise” or even “Sea of Trees” for my first song and test it out. Even if I couldn’t delete songs after registration, it would be worth it to just try.

In my mental space, parallel mind #2 was nodding her head vehemently. ‘You really should, Dummkopf. Saori and Tasianna have been busting their asses to bring their restaurant idea to fruition, but what have you been doing? We had our successful debut and made our dream come true, yes, but can we, please, get back to our usual schedule? Go back to training, original mind.’

Did my drive really drop after the concert? I thought. It felt awkward to consider, honestly.

“Sigh…thirsty.” Noticing my tankard of fruit juice was empty, I was about to call for one of the two waitresses going around serving the other adventurers at the bar area for a refill, but a couple of people approached me.

“Erm, pardon us? Uh, Miss priestess?” A man wearing a brown cloak carrying around something similar to a lute called out to me, acting like a representative for the four people behind him.

Waving my hand to greet them, I kept it short and said, “Hey,” nonchalantly.

Flinching from my casual response, the representative massaged his neck, looked back to the people behind him, before clearing his throat. “Uhm, we are a couple- a few humble bards who witnessed your storytelling and we were quite stunned by your serene voice. Pray, fair maiden of heavenly light, whence did your music cometh and goeth, for it enthralled our ears and mind without being here for us to see?”

“…What?” Blinking my eyes in confusion, even my parallel minds couldn’t decipher what he just said. Was he curious where I learned my songs, or what now? “C-Could you repeat that please? I’m sorry, I know you want to sound eloquent, but it is hard for me to understand your intentions if you don’t make yourself clear enough. Simple Common is just fine.”

As if a dagger had pierced his chest, the man pressed his hands on his chest and dramatically recoiled back a bit. However, after noticing the look I was giving him, he straightened up his back and began speaking in a less flamboyant way. “…Uh, sorry about that, Miss priestess. What I wanted to say is that we’re wondering where your music came from. Your voice is like a gift presented by the Goddess herself to grace us, her humble servants-Ow!” Before he could continue his exaggerated description, one of the bards behind him smacked him on his head.

To summarize what he said, ignoring his frequent use of colorful words, the bards were confused about how I was able to create my music without an instrument, as well as what some of the sounds were. I assume they were talking about stuff like the piano or electric guitar, as I was mostly playing anime songs. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they weren’t able to identify some of them.

As it wasn’t a secret, I told them about my [Aerokinesis], even showing them how I was able to mimic different instruments and play a literal air piano. When they asked where I heard the more modern instruments, I just told them the truth; that they came from where I was born. As they thought I was a lizardman, instead of a dragonewt, they’d probably never visited the far easten swamps before, so they didn’t argue back.

“Oh, while we’re at it, could I ask you guys a question?” I asked the bards, to which they agreed. “You five are adventurers, right? How do bards fight or support their companions?”

The representative eyes widened at my question. “Miss priestess, you don’t know? With your fine musical talents? Aren’t you a bard and cleric?”

“False, I’m not a bard,” I denied his claim. “I’m a mage and priestess. I think this should be clear from my white robes.”

There were even a couple of white-robed priests inside the guild right now, drinking and eating with their adventurer parties. From what Barathan told me, not only nobles but also mana sensitive commoners were able to receive a white robe and learn holy magic. Considering they were active guild members, it seems it wasn’t forbidden for priests to fight monsters with warriors and rogues.

Aside from maybe manners and the skill [Noble Aura], the only way for somebody to distinguish a commoner from a noble, or at least a rich commoner from a poor one, was their white robes. The more wealthy and more influential you were, the more embroidery and decoration were tailored into your robes. Most priests I could see here had plain white robes.

“I did have the option for the [Bard] Job, but I wasn’t sure if I should take it. I didn’t know how bards fought, and taking the mage- or cleric-based Jobs are far more beneficial for my growth. I didn’t want to waste a Job change for something uncertain,” I explained.

Ahh, that seemed to have made it clear enough.

Nodding their heads understandingly, they began their explanation. Apparently, once a person gets the [Bard] Job and its advanced versions, they receive the [Bardic Magic] Job skill. Essentially, it worked similar to my [Idol], except that each song was counted as a spell and had their own effects, beneficial or otherwise.

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 [Synergist’s Oath] that didn’t 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 latter’s effect must have been inspired by [Bardic Music]. However, this System was created by Aurena for me. It can’t 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 didn’t 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 couldn’t 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 wasn’t 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 didn’t have wind magic to spread their music.

That fighting style does fit me. I am a mage but I’m 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 didn’t 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 didn’t step up like these five, I learned they had some reservations about me. Seeing me enchant the whole building with my music and receiving everybody’s 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. “Don’t get me wrong, veterans love stories and tales as much as anybody else, but I don’t think anybody’s been able to catch the whole guild’s 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 goddess’s 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, “It’s nothing. I just feel a bit bad that they think that. I’m only trying out some songs, I wasn’t 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 didn’t 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, I’m not a bard. I’m 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 Melia’s 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 they’ve looked like this ever since! I-If it wasn’t 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 don’t 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 didn’t 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, didn’t even move a muscle. Probably has no talent, and she’s 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! It’s 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 hadn’t 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 didn’t mean I had to react to them every single time…Well, 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.”