Chapter 9 – Pick Your Instrument
My injuries are still not healed, but luckily, this mountain peak also has an infirmary. When I arrive, I am met with a healer type [enlightened]. He fixes me up, I return to my room and let the world of dreams take me. At precisely 7 in the morning, I am woken up by a shout.
"Alright you babies, wake up it's time to start the day, everyone in front of me in 15 seconds, or else!"
I do not even bother changing my clothes from the day before and rush outside. Everyone else does the same. The Maestro, on the other hand, looks much better than us. If I forget that she is slightly insane, she is quite the beautiful and muscular woman. She wears simple clothes, a white T-shirt and black cargo pants. A vertical scar covers her left eye making me wonder who could have done that to someone like her. Her black hair is complemented by equally black eyes. The only thing that may betray her strength and expertise is her short stature, she stands at around 5'4. I notice that a very large duffle bag rests on the ground next to her.
Maestro Lauren speaks once we've all arrived.
"Did you all sleep well?"
"YES, MAESTRO LAUREN!"
"Good, good, why don't we start with 2 trips up and down the mountain?"
"...."
"Hm? Why am I not hearing an answer?"
"Y-YES MAESTRO LAUREN!"
Left with no choice, we all comply. After this exercise, every muscle in my body is screaming. It took Sylvia and I 4 hours to scale up the mountain the first time. Considering that we were gravely injured, this time, the round trip took everyone about an hour and a half, totaling 3 hours for 2 round trips. We are all exhausted, lying flat on the dirt and it is only 10 in the morning
"Good warmup everyone, a bit slow but you'll get better! Now that your blood is flowing, it's time to do what I called you out here for"
She opens the large bag I previously noticed. From it she pulls out several weapons commonly used by the [enlightened]. At the academy, we've had training with conventional weaponry, ranging from bows to swords to cannons, but the weapons we've used are nothing like the ones in front of us. She begins her explanation.
"Today you will choose your instrument which, for most of you, will follow you for the rest of your life. Their primary function is to increase the effects of your [melody]. They are made by a special group of [enlightened] in such a way that when you play your [melody] inside them for the first time, they shape themselves to your needs and become bound to you. They literally become an extension of your body! Hence, don't worry about the size, grip or shape of the weapon, all you have to worry about is its purpose."
The instruments presented before are explained as such;
The warchord: this is a mix between a guitar and an axe. It is made in such a way that each hit plucks a chord on the weapon, specific combos will yield different chord combinations and different effects depending on your [melody].
The melo-string: The result of combining the bow and the harp, better suited for long-range abilities. If, when an arrow is fired, the right string is used at the right time, the arrow can be imbued with the properties of your [melody] making it easier to aim long-range abilities at greater distances.
The sharpsong : Born from combining the flute and the sword. Similarly to the warchord, this weapon reveals its prowess when swung. Each swing results in air flowing through the sharpsong, this air can be guided by the wielder to produce songs suited to their abilities.
The blastpipe: The last of the 4 basic weapons, this is essentially a trumpet acting as a cannon. It shoots blasts of whatever [melody] is played into it. It is rather heavy and thus requires its wielder to be stationary. This weapon is more suited to large battles or very destructive [melodies] with a wide area of effect.
"Now there are more 'unique' options if you don't like those shown before you right now, but you need to earn the right to make a special request for a customized instrument from the manufacturing division."
The choice is not very difficult for me. My strength lies in my defensive capabilities and the disruption of my opponent's [melody]. I do not make use of long-range attacks so the blastpipe and the sharpsong are out of the question. The ability to resonate is inherent to my shield, not to me. As opposed to understanding [melodies], the ability to emit a destructive [counter-melody] does not come from my body, and thus, it cannot come from the blastpipe or the melo-string.
I do not have the necessary strength to wield the warchord either, this really only leaves me with the sharpsong. I suspect that if it really becomes an extension of my body, I may be able to use it to understand the [melodies] of my opponents when it is struck.
Sylvia picks the sharpsong too, I would have expected her to choose the warchord considering her monstrous strength, but she must have her reasons. Once we have all chosen, we resume training.
Five months pass in the blink of an eye.
I sit in the communal kitchen at 6 in the morning eating breakfast. Today I am having an egg sandwich. Once the clock hits 7, like every single morning, even the weekend, Maestro Lauren calls for us. We all gather in front of her.
"You guys have improved greatly in the past five months; I am so proud of my babies!"
She is correct, right now, the bear we faced on day one would not be able to destroy my shield before I finished it off. Additionally, I have discovered new ways to use the gong feature of my shield. Thanks to my spars with the Maestro and the other [enlightened], I've managed to compose simple destructive sounds that yield similar effects in most [enlightened]. The first I like to refer to as the song of idleness, it briefly stuns enemies, the second, the song of imbalance, it briefly disrupts the balance of my enemies and the third, the song of somnolence, this can briefly put my opponents to sleep. These will be useful in allowing me the time to use my ultimate move, 'harmonic destruction' which requires much more effort but is much more useful.
A caveat is that the songs do not work as well if the opponent sees it coming or if they are much stronger than I am. Additionally, a resistance is built if I use the same one too many times in rapid succession. Maestro Lauren only fell for one of my songs when I took her by surprise, I tried to use the song of imbalance on her once when she was doing handstands as part of her daily training. It worked, but to say the least, she did not appreciate it. I think she still holds a grudge?
"Now that my babies have grown into toddlers it is time to announce the next step of your education! Today, you will be assigned a mission and you'll be able to shortly return to society!"
"W-we can leave this hell....
"No way..."
"Omg, the demon is setting us free!"
Maestro Lauren corrects them.
"Now, now, you'll have one week to complete the mission, if you are not back by then, I will personally bring you back."
"Oh..."
"We'll never be free..."
"There is no light at the end of our tunnel..."
It seems the glimmer of hope they had has already faded, but that doesn't stop Maestro Lauren from continuing her explanation.
"You'll be given special permits to openly carry your instruments and use your [melodies], so use them wisely. Each of you will receive a target to hunt down, or some sort of task to accomplish. If you are given a target, killing is not necessary, but it is allowed. We made sure to not give impossible missions but that does not mean that they will be easy so be careful."
The missions are distributed as files. On mine there is a picture of my target and a mission description.
Name: Calvin Swindell
Age: 55
Allies: Unknown
Location: Has recently been spotted around the Lunar Groove Lounge in the Golden Gate district located in sector Gamma of Melodica.
[Melody]: None
Mission objective: Subjugate
Reason: he runs a lucrative human trafficking operation, capturing and selling children to powerful individuals of the underworld.
I close the file and pack my bags. This is why I became an [enlightened], may the hunt begin.