The Ten-Thousand Reale Special (3)

C E-flat G

I had no idea how to play the piano.

Well, in the traditional sense.

B-flat E-flat G

Most spent hours and hours learning from professionals as they passed down their skills. Years and years of scales and exercises, working their way up from a one finger “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to a ten finger “Rhapsody in Blue”. As they practiced, not only their dexterity improved, but their accuracy as well. A well trained pianist can almost jump from key to key in the blink of any eye without ever having to look down. It was amazing, astounding even.

A-flat C E-flat G

Something I couldn’t do at all.

What’d you expect? I was the king of fat fingering, hiding my average skill behind layers of illusions. If it was simple enough, I could wade my way through. But anything complex, it was game over. Of course, it wasn’t me who was playing, but rather my illusory self. Still, it didn’t matter how good it was if I couldn’t think of what and how I wanted to play.

However…

G B D F

You’d be amazed at what you could learn from a fifteen minute video tutorial.

All you had to do was start out slow.

C E-flat G

“Look at that…”

“How pretty…”

“But that doesn’t even make sense.”

With each chord, a little patch of blue hydrangeas sprouted from the harp. They all seemed to sway in line with the syncopated tempo, as if a small gust blew by. A soft hue settled over the area – a mix between the chill adagio and the tension waiting to resolve.

B-flat E-flat G

My left hand stepped down from one to the next, replaying the four chords I memorized. With my right, I pressed random keys along the blues scale – a minor scale with a diminished fifth and an augmented seventh. What did that actually mean? Who knew. I just remembered the pattern starting from middle C: two two one, two one one, three one one. It didn’t matter what, it would sound like a simple blues piece, finger dexterity be damned.

A-flat C E-flat G

Naturally, I didn’t want to stay in this passive mode. Something upbeat was a bit more my style. However, it wasn’t time. The actors hadn’t yet joined me on stage. So, I held the spotlight as it shined on me and me alone.

G B D F

Then, I heard the sound of a soft blade rattling against its sheath. Glancing around, there were my four assailants: two mages and two guards. The mages already had their magic circles ready to fire, while the guards held daggers in a reverse grip pointed towards my neck. The unresolved chord hung in the air, waiting to be released.

“Welcome everyone,” I began, in a slightly out-of-tune sing-song, “to the ten-thousand reale special.”

C E-flat G

I slammed down on the one, dispersing the flowers into the air. In that instant, spells flew, barely missing the guards as the daggers barreled forward. Mimicking the left with the right, I flipped myself into a handstand on the keys, dodging the spells as they passed straight through the piano. The guards didn’t miss their chance to slash, forcing me to jump, albeit upside down, into the air. Like the spells, they skidded straight into and out of the piano. I mean, it’s not real. What else would happen?

B-flat E-flat G

“Now, now. We can’t have the piano getting dirty, can we?” I said, pretending it was my own magic as I pounced onto the next chord, the tempo quickening. Two more balls of water soared along my left as my right hand riffed on whatever it was thinking. Not bad for some random notes.

A-flat C E-flat G

“Aaaaahhhh!!!”

“I can’t see!!!”

The hydrangeas gathered around the mages, quickly growing brighter until it was nothing more than a ball of light, almost like a flash grenade. A myriad of rainbows covered the ground from the hundreds of refractions, turning into a spectacle of its own.

G B D F

I repeatedly played the fourth chord, swerving around every tackle, grab, and swing. Nothing landed on my fake body as the audience clapped along much more steadily than I played.

C E-flat G

B-flat E-flat G

The piece sped up to a nice jog as I ducked under two slashes of wind. My feet continued playing, keeping the jazzy yet poppy beat. Oh and there goes another guard right underneath my arch.

A-flat C E-flat G

G B D F

One of my assailants tried attacking through the piano, but I simply played higher and lower, letting it whiz by. The mages, meanwhile, were trying a homing spell? I wasn’t exactly sure, but I had no idea what they would home in on anyway. There was nothing really there, no matter how much the crowd sidestepped.

C E-flat G

Picking up the pace, the piano and I teleported away into the air.

B-flat E-flat G

And with the next chord, I was back on the ground.

A-flat C E-flat G

The guards couldn’t keep up whatsoever.

G B D F

While the mages were basically clowning around.

C E-flat G

Of course, all songs had to reach a climax, and this one was going to be great.

B-flat E-flat G

The spectators stamped their feet almost like a drum as my attackers caught their breath. But that was all they were doing.

A-flat C E-flat G

It was strange. Usually, they would normally be a bit more frustrated, ready to launch a larger scale attack at a moment’s notice. And yet, I saw none of that here, not with my eyes nor my mana.

I only saw a devilish smile.

G B D F

“Excuse me, I would like a moment of your time.”