TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

All right... Temporary sanitation, check.

Firewood, check.

Blanket sharing, check.

Supply count, next.

Fresh water, soon.

"Bo Robinson? I was told to talk to Bo?".

Bo had just returned to his campfire after distributing any extra blankets he could scrounge up from the few people who had managed to grab supplies.

Bo sighed. "That's me."

Bo's grip met with the brown-skinned stranger's calloused hand; one of several dozen people who had trudged through the dense woods and arrived at the hill. Bo's brain was beginning to numb from the endless introductions and questions.

The clearing and hillside continued to fill up during the evening with fleeing and sometimes injured people. There were now over a hundred people gathered there; much of the snow had been worn away by their feet.

So many people. No supplies. I gotta figure something out, and soon.

"Glad you and your family are all okay. That's a rare thing." Bo's voice was tinged with fatigue. "Make yourselves at home." He pointed to one of the open areas near a bonfire.

The man gave a grateful nod, and shuffled off to find a spot among the gathered throng. Bo watched the man and his family settle into a spot by the fire, which was already starting to burn low.

Bo sighed, and mentally un-checked 'firewood' on his list. He was one of the few people who were helping in that regard, and his back was already aching.

Bo's gaze wandered, scanning the crowd for familiar faces, when it landed on Loo. She was bent into a pose, her arms reaching for the sky as if she was trying to grab something just beyond her reach. Bo began to feel an urgency; a call to action. Loo was adapting, learning, while he... he was already stalling. He had been pouting about his dumbass class, causing him to look for any other task apart from actually learning about it.

If I made a conscious decision and chose [Bard], then I must have done it with good reason.

He was being weak minded; crying about it when he should have been getting to work.

Time to face the music.

He smiled at his own shitty pun.

Bo took a few steps away from the campfire, searching for a spot removed enough to grant privacy without courting danger. There, a fallen log lay nestled against a thicket, close enough to the campfires' glow that he could still see any monsters that might be coming. Perfect.

"First things first," Bo murmured. He sat on the log, running his fingers along the rough bark. He pulled up his ability interface and found [Summon Ethereal Instrument]. The spell was as easy to execute as breathing. The prompt asked for an instrument choice, and he mentally called out a guitar.

The air shimmered, and there it was in his hands; a guitar crafted of dancing light, its blue glow pulsating with potential. He could almost feel the strings beneath his fingertips, tangible yet tingly.

Bo's vision blurred as he checked his mana bar. It was dwindling, but manageable. He checked his active buffs and verified the XS.01 boost to instrument skill. He had a familiarity with the guitar that he hadn't had before.

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All right, step two.

Bo repositioned himself on the log and got comfortable. He activated [Summon Sheet Music]; a prompt jumped into his vision, asking him to select a song.

Something simple.

"Mary Had a Little Lamb," he decided; a good starting point.

The prompt displayed [Mary Had a Little Lamb by composer Lowell Mason & Hana Josepha Hale]. A [play] arrow floated in the center of the prompt, and Bo mentally clicked it.

His vision swam; he now had a heads-up display. The lyrics to Mary Had a Little Lamb scrolled across the bottom of his vision, as if he was about to sing karaoke. Color-coded musical notes fell through the air, reminding him of Guitar Hero. He had to play the notes on the guitar and sing the song at the same time. He also wanted to use his [Autotune] ability, but couldn't figure out how to toggle the spell while he was inside the sheet music interface.

I bet I can't use other spells once I start the song.

Bo mentally poked around, and missed several of the beginning lyrics and notes. A red indicator flashed into his vision showing a debuff of [Mary's lambs are disgusted by you], giving an XS.01 debuff to sheep herding. Bo frowned; it looked like if he messed up the song, it would debuff the group instead of help.

I better not fuck up.

He had to sing, play, and do that with monsters trying to kill him? He could barely see through all the falling notes as it was, and Mary Had a Little Lamb was a simple song.

Bo looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and missed more of the song. The debuff flashed again; XS.02 now. He jumped into the song and strummed the magical guitar.

He actually played the notes smoothly and easily; it looked like the passive [Instrument Skill] could easily handle beginner songs. He started singing the words.

The debuff glowed blue in his vision and switched to a buff; it now read [Mary's lambs find you barely tolerable] and gave an XS.02 buff to sheep herding.

What's up with these prompts?

Bo played through the last of the song, and the buff disappeared as the song ended. A notification popped up in his vision.

[Bardic Discovery!

The buff granted by your melodic prowess shall endure beyond the final notes; but only should your performance be flawlessly executed.]

That's going to be tough.

Bo looked at his mana; between summoning the guitar and the sheet music he had used almost 40% already. He figured he had mana left for one more simple practice session.

This time he toggled [Autotune] on; it would cut into his mana, but he wanted to see the difference.

He tried to [Summon Sheet Music] for Mary Had a Little Lamb. A red prompt appeared.

[This song is on cooldown for the next 12 weeks.]

"Twelve weeks!" Bo said, too loudly.

He toggled off [Autotune].

The ridiculously long cooldown meant he couldn't practice songs beforehand? Yet, if he messed up, everyone would get a debuff.

Bo's irritation spiked. He didn't want the class anyway, and now he was finding out how difficult and high risk it was.

He contemplated his situation.

Like the work horse he was, he concluded there was nothing he could do about it, except move on and get to work.

He chose another easy song. This time he re-read the description of his class, and lingered on infusing intent into a song.

Bo tried to figure out how to tie Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with some type of battle buff, but he couldn't think of anything.

Let's just shoot for something easy. How about a boost to stargazing? That makes sense, right?

Bo toggled his [Autotune] ability back on, selected [Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jane Taylor]. Bo mentally pushed [play], and thought hard about how much he wanted to give everyone a buff to stargazing.

The notes fell and the lyrics scrolled. This time, Bo knew what to expect. The melody of his music softly filled the air, every note clear and distinct. His usual gravelly voice transformed into a gentle and soothing baritone as he sang the children's rhyme.

Bo's mind buzzed as he confirmed his acquisition of an XS.02 stargazing buff.

The song ended. Bo's head throbbed from low mana, so he dismissed the guitar; it vanished into the air.

Unable to practice without mana, Bo went through a long list of "fight" songs he knew, starting with the soundtrack to The Karate Kid, which he and Finn had just finished watching. He also had to consider the difficulty level of each song when playing and singing, despite how [Autotune] improved his vocals. He still needed to hit the correct notes for each piece.

Bo's contemplations were broken as Bridget approached him. "You're a [Bard]? I wouldn't have guessed that."

Bo chuckled. "I wouldn't have guessed it either, but yup."

"I am too. My specialization is [Rock Diva]."

Bo raised an eyebrow and Bridget laughed. She reminisced for a few minutes about her college days and playing in a band, where her powerful vocals used to turn heads.

"I could wail, but then I met Blake, and he didn't really like the. . . Anyway, Blake thinks we made a mistake staying here, and he's trying to get a group of people to leave for the police station. I-I just wanted to say, thank you for saving us in the street, and I hope the best for you and your family." She paused. "What kind of [Bard] are you, by the way?"

"[Soundtrack]. I was just practicing."

"I heard you. It was good." Bridget turned to leave. "Anyway, thanks again. If we do stay, and you need help with anything, please come find me. I handle stress better when I'm busy."

Bo nodded.

Bridget waved goodbye and headed up the hill.

Despite being drained of mana, Bo refused to call it quits for the day. He grabbed a stick.

Bo wrote calculations in the snow as he timed his mana recovery; working out how long he would have to wait to sing again.

Then he went over his spells one more time.

Once done with that, he mentally categorized a few more songs. Whatever he could do to be ready.

Eventually, Bo got up and made his way back to the campfire where the rest of the group was gathered. They were all buzzing with excitement because Loo had successfully created a [Mana Spring]. Bo congratulated her, and wasted no time sitting in the flowing stream of mana. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it working on his body. He smiled deeply as the uncomfortable feeling of depleted mana reserves slowly began to fade.

Once my mana fills up, it's back to work.