It turned out that even with Gamielle out of the way, Ryan still wouldn’t get the money immediately. Apparently Seffara had to talk to her accountant and Larix had informed him that the money would need to be sourced from the [Secretary] to ensure it was untraceable.

  But that didn’t matter anymore, what mattered was that Ryan would get it soon enough and that he’d pulled one over on Gamielle. She hadn’t shown her face around the Sect again and he was left to his own devices.

  Ryan started his machinations with a sparring session with his favorite crow. He took it slow, throwing regular knives at the crow while it experimented with some ranged attacks of its own. It didn’t throw its feathers. The crow was far too protective over its feathers for that. Instead, a shimmering layer of opaque feathers appeared on top of its wings, it waved its wing.

  The loose barrage of nearly invisible feathers were slow, and frankly, not that tough. Not that his knives were doing any better. Cerul simply hopped away to dodge them. They circled each other, not wanting to escalate to a melee just yet. Ryan shot a question to Cerul.

  “What brought this up? All of a sudden you want to spar?”

  Cerul lowered its head with a glare.

  “Brrpt.”

  Ryan laughed. “I see, you’re afraid that I’m going to be stronger than you soon so you want to fight me now.”

  The bird spat on the ground. Ryan blinked, he didn’t know birds could spit. Then the shitcrow scoffed and scratched the number twelve on the ground.

  Cerul was saying that it was a Sector Twelve creature and Ryan was nowhere near the level of that. It was a silly comparison.

  “Yeah, but how many decades is it going to take until you’re an adult? Centuries? I’ll be at realm twelve far before you can mature.”

  The shitcrow conceded the point by waving its arm and throwing another layer of transparent feathers at him. Ryan stood still and condensed his aura. Then he punched. His fist shattered the feathers in front of him, his aura doing the rest and blocking the rest. Ryan felt like he made his point.

  “Tell you what, let’s make a deal. I’ll stop calling you shitcrow and we can stop being enemies.”

  The crow narrowed its eyes and clawed the ground. It was asking him what his deal was.

  “In return I’m asking you to fly me to places.”

  The look the crow gave was of absolute disgust. It spat on the ground again. Then sneered at him, beak a little open as it snapped once more. Ryan laughed, he expected that.

  “In return I can help you get more system portals. You get to evolve quicker and I get to raise my achievements.”

  The crow sniffed, it drew a circle on the ground then stomped on it. Cerul was saying that it could get system portals itself.

  “Oh really? You know you can’t evolve from another Sector Three portal right? You think with your strength you can just freely travel The Realm? Dragonslayers hunt birds like you all the time, especially since they all know you have a system portal on you. The lower Sectors are much smaller and harder to sneak around in. Sector Four? Forget it, there’s only one interrealm portal in a leveled zone. In Sector Five? You’d just be a regular apex monster. You’re the one that’ll be hunted for that portal evolution. By both monsters and adventurers. I’m not lying about any of this, you can ask anyone in the Obsidian Sect yourself.”

  This was something found out in the early years of the Settler generation. As a balancing mechanism, the Trial System didn’t allow monsters to evolve from more than one system portal per Sector. While yes, Cerul was a stupidly powerful raidboss for a Sector Three monster, it could never take another portal from Sector Three again.

  It was said that the dragon Wellarrioussa had taken over nine Sector portals before waging war against the Settlers. It was the reason why Wellarrioussa seemed so much more invincible than the tenth Trial dragons.

  Cerul hesitated. It was right where Ryan wanted it.

  “You want to follow Gamielle right?”

  The crow narrowed its eyes and snapped at him. It hadn’t expected him to remember that. Cerul was practically obsessed with Gamielle, hopping around at her every command.

  Ryan was going to shatter its dreams.

  “Well she doesn’t give a shit about you. To her you’re just a flying rodent with wings. At best, a little obstacle to throw at a promising adventurer’s way. Just another pile of achievements that will drop a system portal whenever someone takes you down.”

  “.”

  Cerul growled. The crow actually opened its beak and growled at him. Instead of spreading out its wings and puffing out its feathers in a challenge, it lowered its head and looked ready to pounce. Ryan grinned.

  “Well you know who Gamielle does care about?” Ryan pointed at his chest. “Me.”

  Gamielle appeared in record time, looking more than a little annoyed. The shitcrow’s attention immediately locked onto her as the pissed off [Mage] pointed at Ryan.

  “You little arrogant self-absorbed piece of dragonsh–”

  Ryan spread his arms out wide. He grinned as Gamielle trailed off, her eyes widening in horror as she realized she fell into another trap.

  He turned to Cerul.

  “See?!”

  Gamielle pulled at her hair.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

  She disappeared again. This went exactly as planned and Cerul the shitcrow couldn’t help but see his point. Gamielle cared about his progress while Cerul was obsessed with her. It was a completely messed up relationship triangle. One he was going to use for himself.

  “I don’t need you to fly me around, but you do need me if you want to follow her around. Your choice Cerul.”

  Ryan stepped away as he let the offer stand.

  –

  With the bird out of the way, Ryan was pretty much done with everything he needed to do. He was preparing his clothes and gear for travel, humming to himself at his well-deserved victories.

  Obsidian Sect leader’s robes with an emergency spell matrix on the back, five realm five quality knives of returning and boots fit for a fifth realm. If only he had a real weapon he could use it would be perfect. Ryan wondered if he could get some more quality knives from the Obsidian Sect.

  There was a rising murmur outside his room. Footsteps and music stepped closer as they stopped right outside his door.

  Ryan cautiously opened his door.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  What he didn’t expect was an outrageously flamboyant [Bard] smiling warmly at him, a crowd trailing behind him. They flinched as they saw Artigan, the effects of the duel with Larix still fresh in their minds. Despite it, the brave tried to stick close to Ozyell.

  Even here, in the fairly isolated Obsidian Sect, the infamous [Bard] was very popular.

  The [Bard] greeted him and bowed slightly.

  “May I come in?”

  “Uh, sure?”

  Ozyell stepped into Ryan’s room, turned around and gave his followers a wink then closed the door. The crowd looked scandalized.

  It took a moment for Ryan to figure out what had happened.

  “You fu–”

  A loud keyboard note cut Ryan off, then musical enchantments drowned out the sound coming out of his voice. It hit the walls as the skill layered throughout the room, making sure no noise could get in. Or out.

  [Uninterruptible Melody: Ambience]

  Ozyell put up a finger.

  “Relax Artigan, what is a harmless little rumor between friends? of course you don’t wish it to be just a rumor?”

  Ryan just crossed his arms, this time prepared. He took a moment to compose himself.

  “Nope. Pinkie harassing me was one too many as it stands. What do you want, Ozyell the Fallen?”

  The [Bard]’s smile faltered briefly by the blunt and unflappable [Rogue]. Still, Ozyell was a high realm [Bard] and they were nothing if not good at recovering from a heckler. Ozyell cleared his throat.

  “Well, if you wish to cut to the chase then I have come here for one purpose, and one purpose only.” He paused for dramatic effect, “I wish to finish your theme song. A feedback loop aura, someone who quite literally farms his audience for his own power. Someone who has much talent and flair for the dramatics! You must help me complete it!”

  Ryan grinned. “Now that I’m happy to do. Did you want feedback?”

  Ozyell was stunned. The idea of an amateur giving the most infamous [Bard] feedback on his music was ridiculous. Ozyell clearly did not come here to listen to Ryan’s critique, he came here for something else.

  “No, what the music needs is authenticity. What it needs is the true . You must tell me your tale from the beginning. Gamielle has told me parts of it, and I have deduced much of the rest. However, I must hear from the source directly.”

  Ryan hesitated.

  “My identity is a little…”

  “I will swear

  The [Bard]’s eyes flashed. The circular edges of his pupils beating slowly. A steady rhythm that was only known to Ozyell himself. Ryan took a moment to stare into the sincerity that was a [Bard] and his craft. Then nodded.

  “Fair enough. But if you’re going to ask for something personal then I want something in return.”

  “Ah well, I can’t say this is the first time this has happened but of cour–”

  “I want you to tell me how you died. A story for a story.”

  Ozyell blinked. The [Bard] hadn’t expected that. As flamboyant and egregious as he was, the storyteller never really made songs about himself. Ozyell was also the first [Bard]. A support class he may be, Ozyell still managed to pass the tenth Trial solo.

  A feat that only three non combat adventurers had ever done.

  Killing a dragon was a grand feat on its own. Standing up to a dragon and impressing it with your craft? It used to be considered an impossible task. Quite a few teams of smiths had gone up and ended up melted in dragonfire. A [Bard] wasn’t quite a craft based class but it wasn’t a direct combat class either.

  It was a supportive class, one that buffed allies and distracted enemies.

  His feat in impressing the dragon was a tale told by everyone else, but himself.

  “That is a fair trade. A tale for a tale! I would request that you go first.”

  “No thanks. I’ve been having a bit of trouble getting people to pay up lately. You tell me yours first then I’ll tell you mine. A fair story for a fair story.”

  Ryan’s implication was clear. The [Bard] would have to tell him a genuine story before he would get something so personal from Ryan. For a moment, the tenth realm [Bard] looked like he wanted to argue. Then he eyed Ryan’s right arm and sighed.

  “Ah. Well then, the truth is that I never hit dragonslayer at all. I died in the tenth Trial.”

  “What?”

  Ozyell gave a small smile. “I tried to impress the dragon with craft alone, thinking myself good enough for it. I played for her. A full scale orchestra. I learned everything about her and combined all of my talents. Her name was Jissariel with the most stunning iridescent scales I had ever seen. She laughed and even sang along! She said that nothing and nobody had ever sung something like it for her before.”

  Ozyell’s eyes gleamed as he fell in remembrance of the scene. His eyes danced in joy at a tune and his aura hummed the very music he talked about.

  “Then Jissariel said she wanted to keep the music to herself. That the final performance of a trailblazing [Bard] was worth more than her false hoard in the Trials. Then she burned me alive.”

  “But that’s… you had no backup? No emergency artifacts?”

  The idea was maddening. While not every dragon acted the same, they all had one thing in common. The love of their horde and a mercurial temperament. Trying to impress a dragon without any emergency gear was insane.

  Ozyell seemed to accept that.

  “It was arrogance. I had studied Jissariel in my earlier Trials. I believed I knew her well and she would be more impressed if I appeared with no reserve... What I did not expect was that she had been studying me in turn.”

  “Ah.”

  Ryan understood. The old Dragon appearing as a mortal trick. The dragons were not like the kings and queens of the fifth Trial. While they couldn’t attack adventurers before the tenth Trial, it did not stop them from roaming around and directly wreaking havoc in your earlier Trials. It wasn’t until a few dragonslayers later that adventurers found out quite a few dragons liked pretending to be wizened old mortals.

  It was like when the kings and queens took interest in you before the fifth Trial. Except you didn’t need to stand out for them to do it. The dragons would do it with no rhyme and reason. The best chance was for you to find out what kind of dragon you had and hoped that they didn’t single you out specifically.

  Although something didn’t quite add up with Ozyell’s story.

  “I don’t understand. If you studied and understood her then why didn’t you realize she would burn you? Why would her studying you make her want to kill you?”

  The [Bard] shifted uncomfortably. There was definitely a story there that Ozyell hoped he would gloss over. Ryan pushed.

  “If you want me to tell you about my sorry story, you're going to have to tell me yours.”

  The [Bard] sniffed uncharacteristically. “My past is not sorry. I just did not realize that Jissarial, , had been enamored with me from the sixth Trial.”

  There was a moment of silence as Ryan connected the dots.

  “You fucked a dragon.”

  “I–well yes. I wouldn’t put it like that but yes. I should have realized it when I got the most odd skill offered to me after the sixth Trial.”

  The [Bard] preened, taking pride in sleeping with a dragon. Ryan saw through the dragonshit, realizing just exactly the [Bard] had been so shy about telling it.

  “You slept with a dragon then she killed you because you probably cheated on her while she watched you in the Trials. .”

  The [Bard] opened his mouth then closed it. Then opened it again.

  “We were not in a relationship! She teased and made advances but a good [Bard] is a traveler on the road, we cannot commit ourselves with such relationships.”

  “So you rejected a dragon, then slept with other people while she watched you from the shadows. you tried to serenade her without knowing you’d already slept with her. ”

  From the look on Ozyell’s face, Ryan had hit the nail on the head. He had to give it to the guy, Ryan had heard of any of the dragons sleeping with an adventurer before. They were described as dangerous, conniving, a little mad, but most of all? They were all incredibly arrogant. Ryan remembered Pinkie’s draconic form and shuddered, imagining trying to sleep with

  Then again, Pinkie did say something that did stick to him.

  He couldn’t imagine being attracted to a giant lizard. Although… Ryan side-eyed the [Bard].

  “How was it?”

  Ozyell looked scandalized. “A gentleman does not kiss and tell!”

  “I don’t think a gentleman breaks a poor dragon maiden’s heart either. You can’t just tell me you slept with a dragon then not expect me to wonder what it was like.”

  “She was a perfectly respectable human lady when I first met her.”

  “So you’re saying you wouldn’t sleep with her true form because of her looks? Some gentleman you are.”

  “I did not say that!”

  Was Ryan having fun messing with the [Bard] as payback for his stunt earlier? Absolutely.

  Though, what really helped him ease up around the infamous celebrity adventurer was being reminded that Ozyell was the original sleazy [Bard]. From his very first Trial, Ozyell had been a force of change. Taking a class nobody in their right mind would touch. Then being forced to navigate the lower Trials solo because no team would take on a [Bard] with unknown skills. Despite being solo, Ozyell had somehow made a difference in the war between two kingdoms and impressed at least one of the rules with musical buffs.

  A true trailblazer. A sharp musical storyteller that realized he was being kept away from his story.

  “I see now that you are stalling so you don’t have to tell your story.”

  Ryan just chuckled. “Yeah, maybe a little.”

  He reframed things in his head. This was just another adventurer and they were just swapping tales with each other.

  “Well it started when I met this big mean orc at the Manaburger I worked in…”

  The tale continued to the part where Ryan got shot and it quickly turned out that this story wasn’t quite what the [Bard] was after.

  “No! I said from the very start. I need to understand you before you became an adventurer. Before the menace and false villainy.”

  Now he was regretting having promised the [Bard] anything. Had Ryan known Ozyell wanted to hear about his past before he became an adventurer, he’d have never agreed to it. That was a little too much out there to bare. It was a little too personal and there was a reason he never did talk about it.

  Ryan was reminded of another time, when Seffara had told him about her past. She had probably felt something similar when she talked about her past. So Ryan did what a [Rogue] did best and stole some of her words.

  “Fair is fair. Listen up cause I don’t like talking about this. It involves a stupid boy who had a dream of becoming an adventurer.”

  Yes it is finally time for Ryan's past. Chapter 101 too, pretty much perfect. In other news, is 23 chapters ahead!

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