“Reconnecting with old friends. Gathering objects spread to the four winds. I left the adventuring life behind long, long ago. I never expected to rejoin it, but I… I guess, deep down I did. I left myself breadcrumbs. I have been following those breadcrumbs so I can recover a fraction of the power I lost.”

  “That sounds cryptic, but I’m glad you’re back at it! Thanks again for agreeing to be my mentor.”

  “I should thank you, for pulling me out of the bottle when no one else could. It gave me a false comfort for decades… there is something about you, a kindred feeling that goes beyond your kind deeds. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  I thought back to the first time we had interacted, to the error message I had received when I normally would have absorbed an essence.

  I gulped, remembering the reaction that first human had when he saw me. Was this a good idea? Some deep instinct told me yes. I had to trust some NPC with this information eventually. I took a deep breath.

  “Are you a changeling?” I asked. The wind died. Everything stilled. If not for the trees swaying in the distance, I would have thought time itself had frozen. Cahl’s eyes widened, the gold around his irises expanding slightly.

  “That’s it,” he said. “That’s the connection I feel. No, Chanter, I am not a changeling. Do not, I repeat, Do. Not. Ever. Tell. Anyone the truth of your origin.” He punctuated his words with a brief pause between each. His eyes held mine with an intensity I hadn’t seen before.

  “Oh, I know, believe me. I… I know.” I said, remembering the drawing in my inventory and the accompanying quest with a Starmetal Chest, the second-highest tier, as a reward. I remembered a dying man’s gasp. and the feel of warm blood cooling on my hands and chest.

  “If you aren’t a changeling, what are you?” I asked.

  “Old. And tired. I gave up and turned to drink years ago… There is much that I lost, but you are helping remind me that there is still more to this life. Thank you.”

  Henrietta walked in, carrying a small bowl in one hand and an ornate jug of water in the other. “I have the ground herbs here, just need to mix them and apply immediately after. It will nullify the invisibility. Why is my tea table on the balcony?”

  “Ah, yes, the ink should be dried now, Chanter,” Cahl said.

  “Ink? Cahl Goldsonsong if you got ink on that table I swear to—”

  “I was careful not to spill ink on your table, Henrietta. Here, look,” he walked past the bound invisible figure and gestured down at the table.

  I lifted his ink jar and handed it to Cahl, glancing at the spotless table before taking the parchment. I heard Henrietta walking over as I read the sheet music. The page dissipated in my hand as the knowledge filled my mind.

  Cahl’s Tatsu Pizzicato.

  Unique Stringed Instrument Performance. Cloak yourself and up to ten allies within a ten foot radius in invisibility, masking sounds below 40 decibels, just above a whisper. The first three notes are audible but all subsequent notes for this song are masked by the song’s invisibility. Requires constant performance to maintain, with a refrain completion rate of 75%. Sequential performances are silent after the initial three notes.

  Due to the complex nature of this pizzicato, a Dexterity score of 15 is required.

  I read it over two times before looking up. Cahl was watching my flabbergasted facial expression with a small smile.

  “You wrote this song? How can I write a song?”

  “Yes, I wrote it. Anyone can write a song, but breathing magical life into the music takes a certain degree of skill, combined with emotional investment, and a dash of mana. Keep growing and developing your skills, you’ll get there. Go ahead, give it a go before we deal with him.” He kicked the leg of the chair that the invisible creature was bound to.

  I pulled out the lute, my heart racing. This song was complex. Exponentially more complex than the other two I knew. My fingers itched with new knowledge. I positioned my hands and began plucking.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The pizzicato required fingering techniques I had never used. Not only did my left hand, positioned over the body of the lute, pick notes, but my right hand also plucked notes by wrapping my finger around the string and plucking upward.

  The tempo was so fast, it took less than half a second for the first three notes to sound. I almost missed the third note — I could feel my finger slip. A magical force pulled my finger back in position and kept me going as Beginner’s Luck activated, forcing a successful completion of the song. More than 20 notes per second burst from the lute as I plucked the strings with two hands. The song reminded me of rain falling on a metal roof in sheets. It rose and fell, and a dome of shimmering transparent light sprang up around us.

  I made it through three repeating refrains before missing a series of notes. The dome dissipated as the song ended. I wiped sweat from my forehead. My fingers throbbed and threatened to cramp.

  “You’re a madman,” I said.

  Henrietta and Cahl both stared at me with wide eyes.

  “First try? He did it on his first try?” Henrietta looked from me to Cahl, then back to me.

  “That’s not possible unless… do you have a skill that helps with performances?” Cahl asked. “That must be it.”

  “I do, it guarantees a successful performance the first time I play a song.”

  “Chanter,” Cahl said. He held my gaze, pausing for effect. “That is an incredibly powerful skill. I didn’t expect you to be able to perform that song for weeks, if not months.”

  “How does performing a song successfully the first time help with future performances?” I asked. I had thought it was an almost useless skill.

  “The hardest part of learning a new song is playing it successfully. After learning the required notes and motions, it takes extensive practice to pass that threshold for complex songs. Try to play it again.”

  I complied. My fingers raced across the lute, plucking furiously. I activated the song again, but failed the second refrain with a completion rate of 65%.

  “You see? It should have taken weeks to learn that song.” Cahl said.

  I looked down at the lute in my hands, then back up to Cahl.

  “That song is powerful when used properly. You should practice as often as possible. Your life, and the life of your party, may depend on successful performances.”

  I practiced the song one more time, succeeding through three refrains before failing. Each refrain lasted about five seconds, meaning I would need to successfully perform the same frantic series of 120 plucked notes — every five seconds – to maintain the invisibility.

  Stringed Instrument skill has increased! (11/50)

  Connection Status: 79%

  There was an increase in experience gained that seemed related to the complexity of the song.

  “Alright, I will practice. A lot. Thank you, Cahl, this song is amazing. Insane, but amazing.”

  Cahl smiled. “You’re welcome. Okay, ready?”

  Henrietta poured water into the bowl, stirred the mixture with a wooden stick, then splashed it on the invisible figure bound to the chair. Invisibility washed off like mud. A snake beast-kin with black scales sat in the chair. A nameplate appeared as the invisibility was dispelled. Yeckith Orwen.

  Yeckith had softer, cream-colored flesh under the chin on his neck that continued down beneath the soft folds of his silken black tunic. His head was triangular, with thick bands running from the corners of his closed eyes, to the edges of his mouth, consisting of a darker black. His clothes were all close-fitting black silk. A dagger hung at the side of either hip, which Cahl removed, handing them to me. He ran his hands through the pockets and over the clothing, producing twenty Gold coins and a small vial.

  He handed five Gold to Henrietta. “Here, for your help.”

  “Give it to the boy, I have no need.” She said. He shrugged and handed me all twenty coins and the vial. I inspected the daggers and vial.

  Poisoned Dagger. Can be infused with a variety of poisons and toxins by pouring the liquid into a small chamber located at the base of the blade. Currently infused with [Piscivorous Venom].

  Vial of Piscivorous Venom

  Contains 10 doses of Piscivorous venom, which causes rapid flesh deterioration around the area afflicted. Adds 3 venom damage to strikes with a chance of inflicting necrosis.

  Necrosis: Spreads area of affliction with a chance to cause additional damage per second.

  “This is a nasty venom,” I said. I added everything to my inventory. Both knives currently held 5/5 charges of the venom.

  “Alright, time to wake him up.” Cahl said.

  Henrietta produced a small pill, raising Yeckith’s head to place it in his mouth. She stepped back as his eyes fluttered open. He lifted his head and looked around at the three of us. A thick pink tongue flicked out of his mouth, vibrated, and returned. He hissed, opening his mouth. The inside of the mouth was cotton white. Two long fangs dripped with venom.

  He snapped his head out, stretching his neck farther than seemed possible. His mouth closed inches from Henrietta, who slapped him on the top of the head.

  “Stop that!” she shouted.

  “You’re all dead, and you don’t even know it,” he hissed, his tongue continuing to flicker in and out.