Master Of None

Walker was literally dragged from his tent before he knew it. There was only one little dragon that could do this without causing any noise. "Midnight what-" She huffed slightly making Walker stop completely. This was when Walker heard the sound. 

"Is that Alice?" The overwhelming nod from Midnight told Walker that Alice had been singing for a little while. "I wonder why she is up already?" Walker knew he couldn't have been sleeping for long and that Remey would be on look out now. They were still going to rest for a little while longer before they would push to the swamp lands. 

After he sat up, Walker found that Alice had moved a slight distance from where the group was resting. Remey was sitting by the fire and cast a sideways glance at Walker before nodding slightly. She knew exactly what was going on and didn't bother to interrupt Alice. 

The song that Alice was singing was low and slow. It was drastically different than what she normally sang. The song of healing was uprising and powerful. It brought energy and joy. The song of blades was energetic and even a little frantic. The difference was clearly what made the song have certain effects on the light elemental mana. 

As he came closer Onyx came in to sight. But what surprised Walker was what he also saw. There were chains and weights made of light fallen around Onyx. Onyx struggled to move around them and constantly absorbed the light elemental mana. The pair was training against each other while the rest of the group gained more sleep. It was always clear that Onyx wanted to be more powerful so he could stand next to everyone else in the party. But Alice was also behind in terms of level. She felt useless when it came to any danger and most of it would come down to learning on the go. But this was training that she could perform right now to get more powerful. 

Alice was slowly letting beads of sweat drip down her nose and cheeks which showed just how hard it was for her to keep up such a song. But the results were massive. Onyx was in his largest form with almost no shadow showing. He would be able to easily cast off normal chains but these light chains and weights were keeping him pressed down. There was also the impressive rate t which Onyx absorbed the light elemental mana. If the sun wasn't high enough then Alice would not have been able to create such dense chains. 

Sooner than expected, Alice finished her song and the chains began to dissipate back in to the air. Onyx slowly began to move again looking as if he had eaten more than he normally would. He was almost lethargic. "You two have been working pretty hard. Feel like sitting down for a while?" Walker pulled a small towel from his storage and offered it to the embarrassed Alice who had not even noticed him watching. 

"Brother, I am going to sleep for a while." Onyx no sooner said this than he took his smaller tattoo form and rested on Walker. It was clear through their bind that Onyx had exhausted himself in mind and body. Which was fine since there was time to rest and Onyx had been working hard since they left. 

"I didn't know you could use a debuff song. It looked like it would be very deadly for an opponent to be trapped like that. Is it a new song you just wrote?" Alice shook her head. Walker had not seen the song in her book so he had thought it to be new. 

"I couldn't because I was too weak. This is the first time." A brilliant smile spread on Alice's face while she spoke. She had been working hard to be able to perform this song through an entire verse. Now that she could she would be able to do much more to help out.

"I bet that will be perfect for holding down any giant alligators or giant vipers." Walker knew that these would be monsters better avoided. Beating them would be hard and take a lot of time from their travels. Therefore, having a way to slow them down and escape was the best possible way to keep moving without fear that they would catch up easily. 

The recognition made Alice a lot more confident. She was sure that she would be useful to the group because of this skill she had developed. It had taken her a lot of time and effort. "Come on and grab something to eat. I will pull a mana potion out too." The pair sat by the fire together while Remey finished her watch and woke Su, Midnight, and Gil up for them to eat as well. 

After the group had finished their meals and cleaned up their small camp, Walker was prepared to set out. He had gathered enough natural mana to feel even better rated while he could tell that Fleur was better prepared if she decided to show herself. "Can we keep an eye out for white mushrooms with small ants on them? They are used to attract bugs mostly but can also be used to make monster attracting potions. I want to try and sell them in the guild when we open everything." Remey knew that Walker was the only one that could safely store away such a thing.

"Sure. But only if you keep an eye out for some dead wood, poison oak, and purple willow trees. They can be used for some interesting arrows." Remey and Gil made their deal while They eyed the slowly changing landscape ahead of them. The journey was just at its beginning now that they were about to enter the outer swamp lands. 

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