My Favorite Game Followed Me!

After playing the song Pachelbel Canon in D, Anton stopped and kept the lute in his private stash. He stopped not because he was tired of playing. He stopped because his emotions were getting overwhelmed from the memories of his parents and he needed to be focused on the surroundings not sobbing because he missed his dead mommy and daddy. The last thought was disrespectful but he needed a slap on his imaginary face.

He also thought that Anders might scold him since if he were not allowed to “meditate” which meant playing the game or surfing the internet, that meant that he couldn’t do anything else that would take away his focus on looking out for enemies, at least not until they were farther away.

“That was a beautiful song, Anton. What do you call that?” Anna asked.

“It’s called Pachelbel Canon in D.”

“You have been given great gifts. First your spell craft and then your stories, now you can even play songs on a lute that would rival any bard. I didn’t know that your memories are so valuable that you received so many great gifts.” Anna said.

“Yes the gifts that I have received are indeed great as you call them but I don’t sell my memories shorts. It basically meant that whoever gave the gifts took an equal value from me and those included the experiences and memories of “Anton.” The love that I have for Father and you and especially for Mother, they took that away. The life that I’ve lived growing up on our farm, meeting my friends and playing with them they took that away. Everything that I was, my identity, they took it away and it was such a great value that they have given equal gifts in return. I know that whoever could do something like that is very powerful and they may have been gods but I’m not going to sell my identity short,” Anton said half in introspection since most of those were lies but also the truth since he was talking about the life of the previous owner of the body, the real Anton.

“that is such a great statement son and I fully agree with you. If I were given that choice I don’t know If I would have the courage to take that trade but as you’ve said, you have not been given one so the only thing that we can do is be thankful and use those gifts for our protection,” Anders told his son.

“I’m sorry brother for belittling your memories. You are right, the memory of our mother was really valuable and all that you have received was equal to that,” Anna said contritely and Anton smiled at her sister indicating that everything was all right.

“Do you know a lot of songs?” Anna asked.

“Yes, just like the stories, which to tell you the truth are endless, the songs that I know are endless as well,” Anton boasted.

“Anton never share that information again do you understand me!” Andres scolded his son.

“Yes Father, I’m sorry. I understand how dangerous such statements could be. I will be more careful from now on,” Anton said realizing his foolishness.

During lunchtime, Anders stopped the cart to rest the horses and feed them the grass that grew on the wayside. One advantage of the season was they didn’t have to bring grains for the horses since there was plenty of forage available but they did bring a lot of grains for the animals just in case and they were stored in Anton’s private stash. They also ate their lunch at the same time which was the food that Anders bought from the inn that they kept in Anton’s inventory to keep them fresh.

The innkeeper actually was curious why Anders bought a huge amount of food but the power of coins prevented the fat man from satisfying his curiosity. Anton could see that Anders was exultant with his magical space which was able to store a huge amount of food without going bad. It probably relieved any anxiety of possible hunger occurring while they were on the road.

Anders told Anton that he planned to purchase a lot of food every time they stopped in an inn so they wouldn’t have to cook while camping.

After lunch, they continued on their journey. While they were moving Anton was surprised that his father asked him to play more songs.

“I thought you wanted me to focus on the surroundings to prevent any ambush or something?”

“Yes, but Anna and I will be extremely vigilant and you can help by enlivening our journey with music.”

Anton was happy to obey and one advantage that he had when it came to playing the guitar was, that he followed his mother’s suggestion that he learn a lot of classical pieces to make sure that his hands were nimble enough to play any songs that he would like and he was such a mama’s boy that he obeyed her. He distinctly remembered proudly boasting to his mother that he learned a total of ten classical pieces like Concerto in Guitar by Vivaldi which was actually made for lute by the composer. He remembered that his parents were very proud of him, able to play difficult pieces after just a couple of years of playing the guitar that there were even plans of sending him to the music conservatory or music universities after he graduated from high school. He was very happy then.

Now, he used the music to heal his soul a bit from the abuse that life had given him in his previous world. It would take more than an hour of playing before he was healed but it was a start.

While playing, Anton remembered the sadness of not being able to play his guitar because of his neighbors’ complaint that it was too loud and he was too tired after work to find some other place to play since he was working two jobs. He despaired when he sold off his guitar when a time came when he needed money to pay his father’s second cousin's rent due to a delay in his pay from work and to purchase food. Selling that guitar hurt him so much since it was something that his parents bought when he requested it and they had to save the money to do so since they were poor.

Come to think of it, life in his previous world was very harsh on him and his family but his parents never showed him any despair. They were always positive and because of that, he was always positive even when he became an orphan. He had plans. He planned to take up his GED and get a better-paying job and only one job so he could have more time and find friends. Well now he was here and he had his favorite game with him and it would allow him to become powerful so that he would not receive abuse from life ever again because if it tried to do so again, he would stand up and conquer it with his power.