“Wake up, luteboy.” Katarina’s gentle voice pulled me from sleep’s embrace, and into another kind of embrace. I snuggled up against a bundle of warmth… And fur?

  I opened my eyes, and Encore’s jet black eyes stared back at me, squinted in mischief.

  “Quite the cuddler.” He said. Katarina burst into laughter from the doorway.

  I pulled Encore into a tight hug, rolling around a little bit. He struggled playfully in my arms. I sat up and released him. He leapt from the bed with a ‘harumph’.

  “The indignity.” He mumbled. He turned his head and shot a half smile at me as he walked away.

  “Enough lazing about, we need to go!” Katarina clapped her hands. She was back in her adventuring attire, her hair bound in the bun with the net of small blue flowers she had gotten from Mae.

  Blinking, I glanced at the time. 8:03 AM. I hadn’t intended on sleeping in quite that late. “Wow, okay, I’m up. Have you been awake long?”

  “A few hours. I don’t think Abe slept at all, crazy lil guy. But check it!” She lifted her prosthetic leg, Wind’s Edge. The design had altered slightly. The components appeared slimmer, more compact. The metal shimmered with a faint blue color as it reflected the soft light of the room. A series of small gems were nestled near the base. “He gave her a killer upgrade with some of what we got from that crazy gnome! The mana crystals he embedded here—” she gestured at the gems near the top, “they can store excess chi! Like a battery, I guess? I can’t wait to use it! So c’mon! Up! Up!”

  I rubbed at my eyes. “That sounds really cool. It — she — looks so fancy now.”

  Katarina took a bold step forward and planted a kiss on my lips. She made a face, squeezing my shoulder affectionately before turning and walking for the door, speaking over her shoulder with a wink. “Brush your teeth and let’s goooo! Abe and Sebastian are downstairs eating breakfast. Wait till you see what one of the patrons left for you! You’re gonna love it. And make sure to switch back to your elf form.”

  I stood, cupping a hand in front of my mouth and exhaling. I cringed, heading to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. .I read through the chat logs as I brushed my teeth. Abe and Sebastian had been chatting late into the night.

  Abernathy: I really think you could mimic the uses of a defibrillator, if someone died. To bring them back.

  Sebastian: But I can’t control the strength of the lightning, not enough to do that. It’s too powerful. It would fry them.

  Abernathy: Well they would already be dead, in theory, so that is less of a concern. But I see what you mean. Maybe in conjunction with a healing potion of sufficient strength. I have a couple real bangers I was able to cook up that might work.

  Sebastian: It would also arc out to shock anyone nearby.

  Abernathy: That’s not a problem, mate. I can make a lightning rod to direct the flow no problem. I’ll make that now. If I can get my hands on some more rare metals I might be able to fashion together a battery, too. Store the charges, could open all kinds of possibilities in machines, tools.

  Sebastian: Wow, really? I have felt like I made a horrible choice for weeks now, since making my character.

  Abernathy: Lightning’s far from useless, mate. There are so many possibilities.

  I finished brushing my teeth, transformed back into a wood elf and made my way downstairs.

  The inn was mostly empty, with a dozen customers scattered around the room at different tables. Each of them met my eyes and nodded or waved, which I returned in kind as I made my way towards our table near the stage. Abe and Sebastian were finishing off plates of eggs and bacon. Katarina saw me approaching and jumped up, picking up a bundle wrapped in paper and messily tied with twine.

  “It looks much more presentable before Katarina got her hands on it,” Abe mumbled as I got to the table. Katarina blew a small raspberry at him and winked at me. “Was just too curious to see what someone would bother wrapping for you! It was… disappointing, but I think you’ll love it. You like things with absolutely no combat benefit.”

  “I’m also rather fond of things that exude combat benefit.” I said back, winking as I took the bundle from her hands. Her cheeks flushed with a small blush.

  “Shut up. Open it and see!” She bounced in anticipation.

  “Good morning!” Patty called, bearing a platter of eggs, bacon, two pieces of buttered bread, and an assortment of cut fruits. I could only identify a few of the fruits. “Special thank you from the inn. And I see you got your gift there. Don’t know who left it for you, had no note, just your name written on the side of the wrapper.”

  “Wow, look at all those strawberries! And apples! And peaches?! What are those? And these little orange things? Like orange blueberries? Oh yum they taste like little orange blueberries!” Katarina fawned over the platter of fruits, taking it from my hands and pausing long enough to kiss one of my cheeks before sitting down and digging into them.

  Abe and Sebastian exchanged glances, Abe’s knowing and Sebastian’s slightly confused. “About time, mate.” He looked over at Sebastian. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m glad ya waited until we had a proper inn to cement anything. Saved us from having to hear it.”

  “Excuse me?” Katarina asked around a mouthful of strawberries.

  “We, uh.” I pulled back a chair and sat down, pulling the twine and undoing the messy knot. It got tangled and I fought with it for a moment, glancing up at Katarina, who smirked and shrugged innocently. “We didn’t really cement anything though.”

  “Oh?” Katarina asked, a dangerous undercurrent to her tone.

  “Well, what I mean to say, that’s not—”

  She laughed. “I’m joking with you, luteboy. It isn’t any of their business what we did or didn’t cement last night.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Abe nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “Did you sleep last night?” I asked him. He had big bags under his eyes and looked tired.

  “Eh, yeah, snagged a few hours there at the end. So much to do. Not enough time. I’ll be alright. Ain’t gonna be walking once we leave the city, and I got plenty of mana.”

  “Oh, were you able to build that device for the aura of protection?” I took a bite of eggs. They were good, a flavorful combination of butter and seasoning. I took two more bites in quick succession.

  “Kinda,” Abe replied. “Spent longer on it than I wanted to. Still have a few more kinks to work out, but I can do that on the way. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

  Sebastian looked over at Abernathy with big eyes and slowly blinked twice. “Come again? You know how dangerous it is out there right? And you’ll be crafting while walking?”

  “He’s more of a hopper.” Katarina cut in, shoveling a thick slice of apple into her mouth. It crunched and she made an appreciative noise.

  “You know what I mean.” Sebastian replied.

  “Oh, I won’t be walkin’ or hoppin, mate. I got wheels.”

  “Wheels? Like a bike?” Sebastian’s voice was thick with incredulity.

  “Something like that. But with four wheels.” Abe sat back. “Damn good breakfast, that. Really hit the spot. Be right back.”

  “A four-wheeled bike?” Sebastian asked as Abe hopped away.

  “More like a car,” I replied.

  “A what?!? What the hell? Is there anything he can’t make?” Sebastian sat back, eyed wide and mouth agape. He mumbled two more words, barely audible. “A car.”

  I smirked, finishing off the eggs and resuming my battle with the tangled knot of twine around the package. Eventually I gave up, remembering the small concealed knife I kept. I pulled it loose and cut through the twine, unfolding the wrapping paper to reveal a stack of loose paper. My pulse raced as I read a note, scrawled on the top.

  Chanter,

  Glad you made it through the pass. The lute communication likely won’t work until you are half way across the desert, but I’ll be trying every few hours each day. Dealt with most of the Senc, but that damned Helic got away with a few others, around Bornholdt Keep. Should have more info when you get in range. Leaving these for you. Paid the messenger good money to wait at Arid Spur. You should get these when you arrive. They aren’t magical, not in the literal sense, but then again… Music has it’s own kind of magic, doesn’t it?

  -C

  I moved aside the letter and saw a stack of sheet music. My heart raced, then settled as I came to the realization that they were just normal songs, not bardic songs. It’s own kind of magic. I couldn’t help but agree with Cahl on that one. I chuckled, leafing through the songs. There were dozens of them.

  Flipping through the pages, I realized that not only could I read the music, but something tingled just beyond the edge of understanding if I looked at a page for a few seconds.

  “Hmm, I think I might be able to learn these like bardic songs,” I said, sitting the stack on the table next to my plate and pulling the top song from the pile. I read through it completely, from beginning to end. When I finished the sheet flashed with a gentle golden aura for a second. The aura faded almost as soon as it appeared, but the page was not destroyed. I received a notification.

  New Song Added to Repertoire: Raven’s Sonata

  “I can! And the song isn’t destroyed!”

  “Whoa really? Are they magical?” Katarina leaned over, looking at the sheet of music that I laid to the side as I picked up the next one. “Looks like gibberish to me.”

  “Not magical in the bardic sense,” I replied as I read through the second. It was an energetic song with several lilting sections that looked like it would be fun to play.

  New Song Assed to Repertoire: Anthem of the Starfell Night

  “I’m going to take a few minutes and memorize all of these. There have to be 20 or more songs in this pile.”

  “Are you finished eating, then?” Patty asked from my shoulder. I glanced at the plate, which still had some bacon and bread.

  “I’ll keep nibbling while I read, thanks though.”

  “Of course! Need anything, just holler.” She smiled, taking Katarina’s empty fruit platter and returning to the kitchen.

  “Alright, while you do that, I am going to go do some stretching and katas outside. Just don’t take too long, okay? We got a long few days of travel comin’ up.” She kissed me on the top of the head as I agreed and went back to reading the music.

  “Man, I am not looking forward to going back in that damn desert. Maybe Abe can make me one of those cars…” Sebastian mumbled, standing and stepping away from the table.

  My understanding of paper density was so wrong. There were over a hundred songs in that stack. I got about a quarter of the way through, lost in the music, when Katarina pulled me from the study.

  “Time to head out, Chanter.”

  I glanced at the time. 9:30 am. I stood abruptly, shocked at how much time had passed and sending a few errant sheets of music I had already learned scattering to the floor.

  “Shit! Sorry! I didn’t realize how long this would take! There is so much music here!”

  Katarina laughed, bending to help me pick up the pages. I stacked them and tied them together with a bit of twine, sending them to my inventory. They appeared as Learned Sheet Music. I tied the other, larger stack with the remaining twine and sent it to my inventory. It showed up as Unlearned Sheet Music. I found that I could dive deeper into the menu and pull out individual pages to study. This would be very handy.

  “Some sort of subspace storage you got there? Must have a strong magic artifact. Right handy, that. Can you keep food in it?” Patty asked, standing nearby and watching.

  “We can!” Katarina replied, “especially fruit!”

  Patty laughed. “Good! Give me a moment and I’ll get you some. There’s some eggs, bacon, and bread left over from breakfast that you’re welcome to as well. Want that?”

  “That would be lovely.” I replied. “Thank you so much!”

  “Pleasure’s all mine!” She called from the kitchen.

  “Man, I missed fruit. Actually, you stay here and get that. I’m gonna have Sebastian show me where the market is. I want to bring a bunch with us. Especially strawberries. Mmm.”

  “Alright, maybe I can get through a few more of these songs!”

  She winked and hurried outside. I faintly heard her yelling something excitedly at Sebastian as I pulled out another sheet of music and began studying it.

  I managed to learn two more songs before Patty returned. The had two large platters, one heaped with sliced fruits and the other piled high with eggs, bacon, and several whole loaves of bread. I stashed the unfinished song back in my inventory.

  “Wow, that is a lot of food!”

  “Lad, you brought in enough money last night to float our inn for months. People are gonna be talking about that performance for weeks, at least. Guarantee we get crowds of folks just wanting to talk about the performance. You deserve it and more.”

  I lifted the first platter and sent t to my inventory. It appeared as a Platter of Assorted Fruits. The other was categorized as a Bountiful Breakfast Platter.

  Patty whistled. “If you weren’t oozing talent, I’d say you should be a merchant with a skill like that. You’d be a rich man.”

  I smiled. My brother’s face came to mind, his memory whispering for adventure. “That’s a really good idea, but the adventuring life is for me.”

  She nodded. “Maybe one day, when you seen the world and maybe saved it a few times. Think on it lad. And if you ever make your way back to the Arid Spur, know you’re welcome here. We would love to have ya.”

  “Thanks Patty, it’s been a pleasure.”