Bariton staggered back as the party members all accepted the quest rewards at once. It was nice of the system to give the rewards when they were all ready, especially since his vision itself shifted greatly as it did not send abilities of his choice to level 99.

  They were his quest abilities; which wow… Really threw him off a little bit. Now he saw the songs of people constantly, and the music flooded the air. It didn’t hit his ear just yet, but he noticed how some of them were slow crescendos that drew towards a violent crash; some songs were more melodic, repetitive.

  It was definitely interesting for Bariton to see it, and he could even see remnants of the musical the craftsman was entrapped in. Everyone was ensnared in their own musical, without many musical numbers lest you played music on your own.

  And it was kinda a sucky musical nine times out of ten. Especially with how some of these songs were clearly composed by someone inexperienced, with flat notes going straight into ear piercing points of notes that sound more like a dying owl.

  And Bariton was wondering about what caused sudden shifts in mood; especially in the tune that broadcast these people’s next action and past action. Some songs randomly changed from happy and joyous to a tune of rage and violence.

  Pallad’s was more akin to the violent, with some form of aggressive guitar playing as it brushed past Bariton’s ears. He looked on to where Pallad’s gaze was pointing and saw a similar tune emanating from someone about to commit violence.

  Bariton made a simple hum as he leapt up to face the scene from higher up the stairs. The first skill loaded for him as he landed and saw the ‘violence’ be committed. He watched as the person splashed their drink on the other’s clothing.

  [Legendary Trait Acquired; Patient Stalker]

  Bariton almost immediately noticed how he had partially melded with the banister as he watched the scene unfold. When he wished to move, he appeared from the shadow with a very faint crescendo.

  Whether the crescendo were a part of [Patient Stalker] or it was a part of his divinity, he couldn’t tell, nor did he quite care. This trait helped him gather intelligence for his party as he walked along, picking up on small noticeable details within the ballroom.

  A person wearing a metallic birdhead, and even Shammus flying around down below. His trait made his gaze linger on things for a second; as long as they would’ve caught his eye were he given time to examine things.

  It was fun to see everyone do things like that. And he was happy watching them from afar. He made up a reason in his mind to help him feel better about being so disconnected and so content with that; the happiness behind it was entirely from how he knew them, and he was glad to know people.

  The reason didn’t sit quite right in his mind, but he was still watching his party members from up high, when suddenly he felt glasses form over his face once more. He couldn’t see any better with them on, but he could tell details better.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Eyeglasses of The Treasure Seeker]

  The name immediately caught his attention. The details didn’t blur without the glasses; but they had a contrast. Some gold poaches were more shiny, and glinted with a light that wasn’t hitting it from within the room.

  Some other gemstones glimmered unnaturally; granting him a sort of rough estimate on the value of them. And some people glowed with their skin with these glasses on. A deep pit grew in Bariton’s stomach as he wondered how the glasses had decided upon the value of people.

  Is it based off market value; or is it based off value in combat? The riches of the people didn’t really fluctuate, but some of them offered a few hints of battle. Usually scarred people don’t sell for much, but they do typically lead to be good warriors.

  Willing to fight for everything; unable to lose anything, terrible slave material, which meant that since more scarred people glimmered under the light the eyeglasses let Bariton see; it likely meant value in a less monetary sense.

  He looked onwards at the void, and saw each candle glisten. They had a very faint amount of the value seen in gemstones, about a tenth the price of a diamond ring each. That made Bariton more curious about the material.

  [Legendary Trait Acquired; Merchant’s Eye]

  The fact that Bariton was receiving mostly merchant related abilities and items was not lost on the bard. He could tell the material of the candles easily; not just having to deduce it as the system fed the information to him through his vision.

  The candle’s were made of a material he’d only heard of before from noblemen talking about what they wished were in their spell focus; whether it be a wand, crystal ball, or staff. The crystalline, waxlike Reginium.

  Before the system could give Bariton a textbook like mention of the waxlike crystal, he looked up at the crystalline chandelier that first had made the crew have spotlights of interesting shades.

  And there he saw a material he’d never heard of before, making up the chain. It was an interesting material; the crystal shining best under the gaze of the eyeglasses. The material of such a valuable chain was Narrativium, something with a reddish hue now that he looked closer.

  He almost wanted to summon his god form just to take a better look, but he decided against it as the boots Shammus picked with him felt more solid. Less like metal, but more solid than the fabric. They felt more full now.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; The Cloudtrotter’s Stepping Stool]

  He didn’t allow the system to guide his hand, but rather instinct did the heavy lifting. He took a step off the bannister and felt a light fluff to what he stepped in; it was nice as solid, and he could easily climb up them like flight.

  It cost a miniscule amount of mana for him; especially in comparison to his ascent. Maybe the cost was nicer; but he could now walk up to the chain to get a betterlook at it. Then he looked upon the crystal that made up the chandelier itself.

  The light ball was mana, that he could tell. But the crystals that deflected it was a glassy material that clearly wasn’t the original gemstones that they looked like at first glance. Especially with what his eyes were telling him through the system trait.

  They told him it was a rare crystal found North of Forsivo; Nertal. It had mana dispersing properties similar to other gems, but it was much better with Cryomancy, in fact growing with contact of strong enough.

  It comes in all sorts of colors, but sky-blue was certainly the most common type as most grown Nertal grew in that shade. He gripped one of the gemstones lightly and felt a Legendary Skill develop.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Taken By Life]

  He felt his very soul take the crystal without his own motion occurring as his mana went through the system. When he looked in his inventory, the crystal was in there. Bariton looked down at the crowd, and noticed he would greatly appreciate some kinda stealth skill.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Now You See Me]

  He felt himself slip in between the story of reality for just a moment, as he reappeared besides the one person who was looking at him up in the air. The way they jumped almost made Bariton laugh.

  They didn’t speak, and rather looked guiltily away from the Bard. Bariton made a confused head tilt in response, unsure if they were deaf or mute or something similar. When they simply waddled away, he noticed a large amount of value in this person’s pocket.

  He shrugged, knowing full well the witness couldn’t afford to snitch, not with the amount of goods that person stole themselves. But Bariton knew it was wrong to steal, and yet he kept the gemstone.

  He tried to reason it out in his head, but he decided against it. He felt his hand wrap around something he hadn’t been holding before, similar to casting something out of the air itself. But it felt different, it felt connected to his mind.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Sanity’s Blade]

  Bariton felt a light shiver down his spine as he looked at the blade. The edge seemed to alter itself constantly, to constantly mirror something he couldn’t quite grasp. The idea that it formed was lost nearly immediately as his mind reeled to protect itself.

  He nearly screamed but his merchant’s eye saw what it was. And upon the forced understanding, it quit hurting. For he was capable of handling the truth, it was to reach the truth that hurt.

  Its edge was made of something evershifting, because it was a fractal in of itself. The metal didn’t have a name, for it wasn’t something humans, nor anything that could think for itself could name.

  The name shifted away from his gaze whenever he tried to look upon it, and his gaze resisted his own control over it. It avoided the name like a nightmare he couldn’t ever gaze upon. The very same gaze landed on Shammus flying through the sky.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Showman’s Glare]

  Another group of people looked around at Bariton as he quickly noticed he turned on a spotlight. Whatever was caught within wasn’t vaporized but was rather frozen; held in stasis. He pointed it really quickly away from Shammus before it activated, and now he was curious.

  He wondered why the System was rewarding him with entertainer based skills and merchant’s traits. It was interesting for him to receive more hints towards his dreams that were kind of impossible to reach in the tower.

  The Tower was going to kill him, and he knew it. There was no use in trying to fight it. But the system kept granting him a path to his dream; but either way he was leaving as a god or leaving as an empty coffin.

  [Legendary Equipment Acquired; Ignis’s Ring of Flare]

  The ring on his finger had a brilliant ruby; that was so wonderful it was likely heat treated, and the small orange light in the center clearly showing such a glamorous flare. The spark held within it didn’t try to break free.

  The ring was platinum too; or at least it looked like it, but it was just a layer of paint that was hiding a more expensive material. The brilliant pink Bariton could tell was underneath, as his eyes told him the song of Orichalcum, taught him the tune of such an item.

  And now he had all 5 legendary equipments, and the shadow called out to him one last time. The final skill settled in his mana pool, as the system finally finished the efforts of the quest rewards.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Backstage Director]

  He could see the song of the world slightly more clearly, and upon activating the skill, he was able to change it ever so slightly. He could use his special form of magic gifted to him from the light of his divinity.

  The divinity hid another magic secret he couldn’t quite grasp just yet, and the notification’s era had left him in a stupor. It wasn’t created unlike the equipment being fully new. His gaze locked onto the word ‘acquired’. Somebody else made this skill.

  Just like the Wish Spell, or something truly talented mages had worked towards before. Sornid was one of them actually. Bariton looked out to the moonless sky, and thought back to his failure to confess.

  Maybe Shammus did get it; maybe Shammus just declined his love as the Bard walked towards the five pointed star rug Clara stood upon. He noticed the godly symbol on his point of the star.

  It was the cause of death for Sornid. Bariton glared at the rug; but he accepted his spot as the rest approached. They had all attained a new strength. A new strength that Bariton could never fight against.

  A new strength he would fight alongside to help kill one more god on this pointed star. He picked up the view of Shadowing Voice’s symbol, and he began to speak as he remembered what he was first and foremost. A showman, not a commander.

  “Alright; are we ready to meet up with the sins?” Bariton’s voice was shaking on an unnoticable spectrum. One the party clearly didn’t pick up on. He sighed a breath of relief as nobody commented on it.

  “Absolutely.” Judine’s voice fit for giving out a verdict.

  “We must go on.” Clara pushed on Judine’s Determination.

  “We will fight on.” Pallad made a similar comment to Clara’s; more violent.

  “To move on is to progress, to progress is to save more lives.” Shammus said just the right thing Bariton wanted to say, as he nodded. He looked down at the rug and got the group to surround him properly as he stepped forward.

  “Then let’s go speak to those sins.” Bariton returned back to his original outfit as he looked onwards to where the music was loudest.