Chapter 11 - What is Music?

It had been 3 days since he moved into Jeff's villa and Kai wanted to laugh at the duality of life. Ever since he was young, he had scrapped for the bare minimum and seeing this side of the world where everything was in abundance made him very uncomfortable.

Plus the lack of mobility and the reliance on somebody else for the smallest of jobs made him extremely irritated. Until a week ago, he did everything for himself and this abrupt 180 degree situation made his head spin.

The house help was extremely accommodating though. Albert, in particular was extremely helpful and was very attentive to Kai's needs. But the feeling of reliance and the system's mission made him extremely antsy.

'Why hasn't Jeff spoken to me about music since we arrived? Is he going to back out from teaching?' Kai wondered as he was escorted to the garden area by Albert. Kai requested some fresh air as staying in his room made him feel antsy. 

'For the past 2 days I didn't bring it up because I know that it might be difficult to open that door after god knows how many years. But I only have 12 days to upgrade my singing talent to level 3. And I currently don't even have it at level 1. How do I unlock it even??' During the past 3 days, when he was alone, Kai tried to think of ways to unlock his singing talent. He tried watching people sing, tried singing himself but nothing seemed to work. He was really started to get frustrated!

Eventually they arrived at the garden and surprisingly Jeff was also sitting on a bench near the entrance of the garden area. Kai instructed Albert to just wheel him next to Jeff as he wanted to talk to the old man in private.

As they approached, Jeff turned his head towards them and smiled. "Good evening kid. Come to get some fresh air?" "Yeah. I was just feeling a little suffocated inside." "It happens to the best of us. Come here."

Albert quietly wheeled Kai alongside the old man and quickly took his leave. The duo just sat together and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Kai made up his mind to speak but surprisingly Jeff unknowingly cut him off. "What is music Kai?"

"Music?" Kai parroted. 

"What's music to you? You asked me to teach you how to sing. So I want to know. What's music to you?"

The young man felt like this was a test and for a split second thought to give a superfluous answer that might sound impressive but ultimately untrue but immediately scrapped the idea. He wasn't facing some random John here. This was Zephyr. One of the greatest musicians alive and if anyone could sniff out a disingenuous answer, it was him. Eventually he just decided to speak from his heart.

"Music to me..... is freedom I guess. Not just music but the entertainment industry in general. While listening to songs or watching a movie, you don't worry about your problems, what's wrong in your life, the debts you have or anything else. You just lose yourself to them. Music has the power to amplify our emotions and bring out our true selves like nothing else can. It's .....beautiful"

Saying his piece, Kai just closed his eyes to remember the times were going wrong in his life and how music and art in general saved him from falling into despair. Throughout this entire realization he did not see Jeffrey smile while glancing in his direction. Eventually he was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar *DING* sound.

*DING*

[New Skill- Singing : Level 1]

He got the singing skill? How? Kai tried so many things for the past few days and nothing seemed to work but just a few words with Jeff and the singing skill miraculously appeared in his skills tab. He hurriedly looked at his stats

[User Stats]

Name - Kai Jones

Talent Grade - E (B)

System Level - 1 (0/1000)

Titles - 

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Strength - 5(9)

Agility - 0(12)

Intelligence - 10

Stamina - 8

Charisma - 4(11)

Luck - ??(??)

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Skills -

Singing - Level 1

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It was there! How though. Before he could ponder any further, Jeff broke his silence.

"That's a good answer. If you said something untrue or shallow, I would have advised you to give up on singing right away. Kai, you need to understand that a good singer isn't just a person who has the best voice. A good singer or rather a good musician is someone who can convey their feelings, their motivations, their thoughts the best. Someone who can convey empathy with their voice." he cleared his throat before continuing "A good singer can make their audience laugh with them, cry with them and someone the audience think is close to them. That's the key to be a good musician. And without realizing this, no one, no matter how talented can become a good singer. How matter how much they practice, no matter how many instructors they keep, it will never matter."

That's when Kai realized it. When he opened up his heart about music, he let go of any doubts or insecurities about being a musician and thus he could finally unlock the first level of the singing skill!

Jeff got up and turned away to walk back into the villa. "I'll be informing Albert to bring you into the Music room tomorrow after breakfast. We'll start your training then. Be mentally prepared. I don't know what your level is but I won't be pulling any punches. If you are bad, I'll break you and build you into something that I am satisfied with." he then walked away without any help or waiting for any of the butlers to help him.

Hearing Jeffrey's words, Kai let out a huge smile and celebrated internally. Finally he was going to learn how to sing by Zephyr himself and. And he was one step away from the goal to level up his skill to level 3!