“I’ve been waitin’ on a dungeon party for ages now,” said Hannah. “I’d heard that people always wanted healers, but until Alfric, no one had ever asked, which seemed a shame, ay. And I had a few rejections too, which stung. Thought they could just come into the temple an’ get their scratches and bites fixed, which they could, but still.”
“It is fast,” said Alfric. “But for a full party of second elevation, in a dungeon like the one the Pucklechurch portal will produce, there’s not much need for us to go in with more training or equipment than we have. Ten rooms, at the most.”
“For the second dungeon we do, I’ll have some armor,” said Hannah. “A breastplate at least, and maybe a helm, not that I’ll be on the front lines. You’ll mostly be in want of patchin’ after the fights are over, if you’re doin’ it in the normal way.”
“Second dungeon?” asked Verity, arching an eyebrow. “I’m not signed on for more than this one.”
“No one is,” said Alfric. “We’re a half mile away from the portal, and with how little magic there is in the area, it should be a breeze for us. A second dungeon would take more coordination, and maybe a little more preparation, but it would also be quite a bit further, since we’d be going to the next hex over.”
“Well, I’m up for a second if anyone else is,” said Hannah. “A second, and a third, and a fourth, ay?”
“Depends on what we get out of it,” said Mizuki.
“It depends on how dangerous it is,” said Verity.
“Can you sing us a song now?” asked Hannah. “I’ve heard you’re good with a lute, but never found cause to hear you play, and it’s good for a bard to test their strings with a new party.”
“Sure,” said Verity. She looked to Alfric as she undid her case and pulled out her lute. “You said strength and speed?”
“Whatever you’d like,” he said, trying to be diplomatic. He’d given her
the specifics earlier, and her reaction hadn’t been what he’d imagined
it would be. “That
Verity strummed her lute once, then began in on two verses and a chorus. It took a minute and a half, all told, as it was a short song about two children playing in the forest, but when it was over, Alfric felt a warm glow within himself. He unsheathed his sword, dampening the magical effect to err on the side of safety, and twirled it once, feeling the perfect balance of it, and spun again, practicing his forms. There was strength and speed, but something else laced in with it, and when he’d sheathed his sword, he dragged a nail across the flesh of his forearm.
“You added something?” he asked.
Verity shrugged. “Just testing the strings.”
“I can see better,” said Mizuki, using her fingers to spread her eyelids and look around. “That’s you?” She stared at Verity with her eyes held open by her fingers.
“Shush,” said Verity. She tapped her head. “I’m holding that tune.”
Mizuki let go of her eyes and frowned. “So she’s just out of commission for the rest of the day then?”
“No,” said Verity. “Just hard to talk.”
“We don’t need it now, if you’d rather drop it,” said Alfric.
“I can hear better too,” said Hannah. “That’s five effects?”
Verity shook her head, swishing her hair side to side, and held up her fingers, indicating six.
“I’d rather it be stable and weak than unstable and powerful,” said Alfric, looking at Verity. She was very clearly intensely concentrating on the task at hand, her musical magic weaving together their personal qualities and giving boosts to them.
“It’s fine,” said Verity. “Good practice. Easier when I’m playing. Saving that for later.”
“Oh,” said Mizuki. “Is the sixth magic? I think I can see it a bit better.” She looked down at Alfric’s boots. “Are those magical?”
“They are,” replied Alfric, looking down. “They increase my stride length.”
“It’s a real subtle effect,” said Mizuki, looking over at Verity. “Not the shoes,” she said to Alfric, before turning back. “The vision.”
“It works on what you have,” said Verity.
Mizuki narrowed her eyes at Verity. “I can’t tell if that was a slight or not.”
“Probably not,” said Alfric. “Bards exclusively work with what’s already there. If you’re blind, no bard is going to make you see. If you have no sense of taste, then they have nothing to work with, nothing to enhance. Even in a more mild case, a weak person is going to gain less strength than someone who’s already strong. It’s a compounding effect.”
“Multiplying,” said Verity. “Compounding would mean—ah, lost it.”
Alfric felt the effect slowly fade away, leaving him feeling weak, though he knew from experience that it was only a matter of his body needing to adapt back to baseline.
“Compounding would mean that it was building on itself,” said Verity. “Progressive melodies are a bit beyond me. I’ll start up a song again once we’re at the portal itself and probably continue playing and singing throughout, which will help to keep the tune going.”
“Good,” said Alfric, nodding.
