Jericho the Bard A VRMMORPG Story - 18 Lillith

Jericho logged back into the game to see his sister and Ken continuing to practice dancing. “Passion is a good thing.”

{You sound like the fire elementals.} Glaw stated unhappily.

Jericho let out a light laugh. {I’m originally human, Glaw, and I am a musician. Like us water elementals, I have seen the value of hard work, time, patience, rest, and skill. But, like the fire elementals I have also seen the value of passion and energy. A human artist needs to understand both. Without passion, there is less energy to create and less motivation. Without time, effort, rest and patience, it becomes much easier to give up and never succeed.}

Glaw calmed down. {You have a point and at least you remember that you are a water elemental too.}

{How could I forget? My favorite non-music ability comes from that fact!}

{True. Speaking of water elemental abilities, when are you going to keep training them?}

{Probably in a few days; Princess will spend more time away again and I will have a lot of time to myself. I do want to practice the effects of Mutable body and my music some more.}

{I understand. Though I am not sure how it would work with your human form.}

{I guess we will find out later.}

“Brother! We are leaving you in the dust, hurry up!” Princess shouted.

Jericho looked up to see the two 12 year olds in the distance. “Coming!” He shouted and ran forward. {It looks like we will have to continue our talk later.}

{Of course,} the elemental replied.

The three people continued their journey under the towering canopy to the wood elf village.

A small crowd of people were gathered at the gate of the walls made of overgrowth. “You are not permitted entry. Persistence will not change that!” The guard shouted angrily at the adventurer’s trying to shove their way in.

“Then how do we gain entry?” The adventurer shouted back.

“I already told you, if you must ask that, then you are already not welcome!”

Ken sighed. “Same as always; even I was never fortunate enough to be allowed entry.”

Jericho shook his head. “It’s too crowded here. Let’s walk around the village gate.”

“You aren’t the only one to have thought that type of solution Jericho.” Ken hastily replied.

The bard smiled. “Even if it is only the outside, it would be nice to admire the place. It may even give me inspiration for a new composition. Besides, it doesn’t look like we will be invited in anytime soon.”

“Yeah, Ken. You can practice more with me as we walk around!” Princess chimed in.

The young man laughed. “Sure. I was hoping to help you get some levels, but I’m okay to practice dancing so we can perform together in the future.”

Trees and bushes of all sorts surrounded the unnatural natural barrier. As the three of them rounded a corner, they noticed a small patch of flowers that seemed to be lined up in a beautiful array.

Princess looked happily at the many types and colors. “It’s so pretty!” She moved forward to pick some.

“Princess, stop.” Jericho voiced.

“What’s wrong brother?” She inquired.

“These flowers are growing in patterns. They were probably planted by someone.”

“Oh, you’re right! I didn’t notice it before. How did they get the flowers to weave into a knot shape like that?” She admired the symbol created by the flowers.

Ken noticed the faint sounds of light footfall. He turned to see a young female elf.

“Because that is one of my favorite designs! The eternal knot is beautiful!” The young elf exclaimed happily. “Thank you, tall human, for reminding the grey elf not to pick my flowers!”

Jericho gave a light nod to the child.

Princess, the ‘grey elf’ in question, turned to face the small girl. “I’m sorry for almost ruining your flower bed.” She gave a light bow as she apologized. “I was so distracted with how beautiful they all were, I carelessly didn’t pay attention. Please forgive me.”

The little elf was shocked. “A grey elf apologizing to a wood elf? It is almost too unreal to believe! You seem really nice. I’ll forgive you.”

“Grey elf?” Princess asked.

“Don’t you know what you are?” The girl was curious.

Princess shook her head. “All I knew is that I am an elf.”

“Oh! No wonder you are so nice! You see, I’m a wood elf. Like most elves we are shorter than humans. However there is a race of elves that are taller than most humans. They are the grey elves. They have really smooth skin and look more like ‘elegant’ humans with pointed ears.” She gave air quotes as she spoke. “According to my Grandfather, Grey elves call themselves High elves and often see themselves as superior to other elves. I’m glad you aren’t like that. I came out to water the flowers again. Some of them are starting to wither and I wanted to make sure they stayed alive.”

Jericho walked over to the flowers and carefully made his way into the center of the knot. He had noticed small trenches traveling around the flowers. He smiled slightly and used create water to fill the ditches.

“Ah!” the young wood elf exclaimed as she saw what the bard was doing. “Why are you watering the whole flower bed?” She inquired. “Shouldn’t you only give water to the flowers that need it?”

Jericho lifted his head and smiled. “I may not know much about plants but I do know quite a bit about people. Just because someone looks like they are doing fine on the outside doesn’t mean they aren’t dehydrated inside and Just because someone looks sick on the outside doesn’t mean they aren’t actually fine. If I just watered the flowers that look sick, others may die because they didn’t get the water they needed.” He left the flowerbed. “Many living things don’t like showing weakness and will try to hide their pain or weaknesses. Others love showing excess weakness because it grants them more care. It is a natural defense mechanism. Of course that doesn’t mean you should ignore the withering ones either because most of the time, they genuinely need the help.”

The young elf thought about his words for a bit. “So that is why some of my flowers would wilt without warning. I thought something bad happened to them while I was away.”

The bard nodded and pulled out his guitar. “I heard from a friend that plants like music and the sound of voices.”

“They do?” The young elf questioned.

Jericho nodded and started strumming the guitar.

The flowers visibly perked and brightened.

The bard received a new notification. [You have gained the tier 2 music skill, Overture for the plants. Play a piece of music to improve the quality of plants as they grow. The effect is minor and will show the best results if it is performed repeatedly over a long period of time.]

The wood elf looked excited. “Thank you for helping my flowers! You said talking to them helps too?”

“According to an old friend of mine, yes talking to flowers will help them grow better.” He replied thinking about the old groundskeeper Staul.

Princess and Jericho received slightly different notifications with similar rewards.

[You have shown a lack of arrogance commonly associated with your race. Lillith is happy that you chose to apologize for almost picking her flowers. You have gained 10 EXP for completing the hidden quest, Friend of Lillith.]

[You have watered Lillith’s flower garden and have brought extra vitality to the plants. Lillith is happy that you cared for her flowers as much as she did. You have gained 10EXP for completing the hidden quest, Friend of Lillith.]

“So, umm. Can I ask you for a favor? Your other human friend can help out too. My grandfather has been not been home for a week. Can you find him and give him this basket? I am not allowed to wander the woods yet to look for him.”

[Lillith would like you to find her grandfather and deliver a special basket full of things. Accept? Complete quest reward: 500Exp. Lillith’s grandfather’s appreciation. ???]

Jericho nodded. “We would be happy to help look for him. Do you know where he usually goes?”

Lillith thought for a bit. “I would check by the large creek. Mom said he likes to fish and that is the only water source nearby that I can think of.”

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“Alright!” Princess shouted. “We will go look for him!”

“Thank you so much! Please be careful, the woods can be a bit dangerous.”

Ken stepped forward. “Don’t worry, I will keep them safe.”

“Oh, thank you friend of my friends!” She replied.

The three left the flower garden and started into the woods.

Ken looked around the forest muttering about small details as he went. He returned. “The river should be this way.” Ken pointed. “The trees in that direction are slightly greener.”

Jericho nodded. “Thanks, your survival skills are great.”

“Of course, oh Jericho I had a question. What will you do if we run into enemies along our way? From what the little girl said, it sounds like our risk is quite high.”

“You said you would protect us right?” Jericho half teased. “Moira and I will perform as we travel. Hopefully that will be enough to keep things peaceful. If not, then I hope you will follow through.”

Kenneth sighed. “So you won’t help me fight at all?”

Princess piped in. “Since it is to help keep each other safe it is different than hunting down things. We can help fight. But our combat skills are weak so we won’t be much help.”

Jericho nodded at his sister’s statement. “Don’t go out of your way to find trouble. If trouble finds you, try to resolve calmly. If trouble won’t go away, don’t play the victim. That will get you nowhere. Like she said, we will help out how we can but our combat skills are weak.”

The blond shrugged. “I figured your combat skills would be weak since you avoid it. At least you are willing to do something. Let’s go find that girl’s grandfather. He may be the key to getting into the elf village.”