I stared at the grand piano. It was literally just a grand piano, one made with polished dark wood… I couldn’t describe it any way other than it was literally just a grand piano. There was a tiny stool next to it made with a weaved web of reeds and leather capping the top, but other than the fact it clashed with the overall design of the piano, there was nothing noteworthy.

“How do the logistics of this work?” Noam asked after some hesitation.

“I carry it!” Naukoth declared as he flexed his muscles.

“How well do the logistics of this work?” I stressed.

“Not very well,” Utoqa drily answered.

Naukoth looked at his friend betrayed, “Hey hey! I can play it better than the best of them!”

Utoqa’s glassy eyes met his, “You are loud, you cannot get through gaps and you tune it every day.”

The orc snarled, muttering something in a guttural language, before turning to us, “Are you fine with this?”

I looked the orc up and down once again, “Honestly, given your build, I would prefer you just carry a club.” The orc began a rebuttal, “But, play it, let’s see what you can do.”

The orc claimed he was a bard, and while carrying a piano would be… suboptimal for a fight, especially one in a cave, it wouldn’t hurt to evaluate his actual ability first, before deciding which to pick.

Naukoth visibly lit up at my suggestion, “Finally! A chance to show my true talents!” he declared as he rubbed his thick shovel-like hands together.

Wait… “Your fingers are too big for the keys,” I stated. It was a grand piano but one clearly made for human proportions.

“No,” Noam rebutted, his eyes glimmering with interest. “You are too confident,” he said to the orc.

The orc barred his tusks, a gesture I realised with a start was a smile, before he pulled out the stool and squatted on it, his huge frame towering over the thing. I realised with slight annoyance that even sitting he was almost twice as tall as I was.

“First Melody, War of Drums.”

Then, he began to play.

The first song was brusque, loud and rhythmic. It felt at odds with the classical instrument it was played on, but as he played, I could feel a difference within myself.

Strength and agility buff, both by four. I didn’t need to test it, my Analysis of myself simply updated with the new stats.

Then, his song started to slow, before stopping.

“Second Melody, Ilneval’s Edge.”

He said as he began anew. The song sounded slower, his hands were sluggish- No. My mind and perception were getting faster. At least by twenty percent.

“Third Melody, Axe in Motion.”

The third buff I didn’t recognise. The song was something of constant buildup, and my body began to stir. What was this feeling? I could not recognise it, but it felt like… I could do anything and succeed at it. A willpower or motivation increase?

He finished the song, and turned around expectantly.

“Amazing,” Noam breathed.

“Are those all you can manage?” I asked.

The orc’s brow furrowed slightly, “Yes, unfortunately, those are the only complete melodies I know.”

The first song increased my stats by eight total. That was four levels. “Your first song-”

“Melody,” he corrected.

“Whatever. Is the strength and agility increase a flat increase or a percentage one?”

“Percentage?”

“Does your first melody increase a person’s strength by a flat amount or is it dependant on how strong the person you were affecting were?” I simplified.

Naukoth’s forehead furrowed in thought, “I am unsure.”

“Noam?”

“No clue,” he replied, making a fist. “I didn’t get to move around, but it was more than a quarter but less than fifty percent.”

“Can you play the first song again?” I asked.

“Melody,” he corrected before playing again.

As he started, Noam did a few starting stretches, going through all his muscles. Yellow’s eyes on him, I got back the stats I needed.

Strength: 12 (+4)

Agility: 14 (+4)

“Flat increase of four,” I muttered. “What level are-” Wait, no, are levels even a concept for them?

Regardless, a plus-eight stat buff was insane for our level. Even looking back I don’t think I’ve seen a player with a stat surpassing twenty. This orc was either high-level or had an insanely lucky find.

“How long can you keep your songs going and how many can you affect?”

“I can play for a whole day if needed!” the orc boasted, “As for people, I do not know, but I can easily keep up for five.”

“Can you selectively affect only allies?”

The orc looked at me as I were stupid, “Of course, all bards can do that.”

“Just making sure,” I absentmindedly replied. “Do you require a piano to play these songs?”

“If I want to keep it at the same strength,” Naukoth replied. “Regardless, I do not know other instruments.”

A piano would be far too obvious and unwieldy, but the effect it could have was far too tantalising to pass up. He said he can easily play for five, that was forty free stats at least. And they weren’t random stats we weren’t going to use. Noam was a mid-front line gish fighter, even if his spells scaled off charisma he would need physical stats to stay relevant. The lizardman didn’t give much away, but he was clearly also a front-liner. Strength and agility were both dump stats for me but with the song up I could theoretically fill as an off-tank/mid-line combatant. In fact, the person whom this song would be least beneficial for would be the orc himself. Since any sane party would have him sequestered at the back constantly keeping his buffs up.

Not to mention, he could play two other songs. Yes… I can see it now. It can work. The unwieldiness of the piano can be accounted for. At the very least, playing around a piano will be an interesting challenge.

The pros outweigh the cons.

“You’re grinning,” Noam pointed out. “It’s goddamn terrifying.”

“As any good smile should,” Naukoth commented.

“Oh, I know,” Noam replied with his own grin.

“We’ll need a fifth,” ideally a healer of some kind. I could fill in for small wounds with Balm Spores but it wasn’t ideal. My build should focus on area control and DPS.

“Would the hooded one do?” Utoqa spoke, glancing towards our midst.

Our eyes followed Utoqa’s, to a hooded figure standing right between all us.

What the-

“Ah!” a deep voice yelled as Naukoth fell out of his seat.

“None of you saw that!” Naukoth yelled.

“Yo,” Noam welcomed, “How’d you get around all of us without noticing?”

That was the same person who I noted earlier. The similarly cloaked bird skeleton on their shoulder looked around in a jerky manner.

“A necromancer,” the orc snarled. “Blood brother, you cannot be serious about this.”

“We require a fifth,” Utoqa stated.

I had a better view on them now. A rogue type? Had to be, they didn’t just get around the three of us without notice, but the six of us, counting Greenie, Yellow and Declan.

“To be fair I wasn’t paying attention,” my other self’s voice came through, somehow muffled by the sound of chewing even though it was purely in our heads.

“Still. That was Noam, Naukoth, the wisps and me.”

And what kind of stats did Utoqa had, that he noticed what five others could not?

Perception: >10

Still needed more information.

“Umm…” a soft, distinctively female voice shyly sounded out as she pulled back her hood, revealing juniper dark hair, “... I’m just good at blending in.”

“... And I would… umm… also like to join your party.”