"I never really thought that such music was possible", the gaudily dressed man said as he listened to Richard play a few pieces he had been "developing".
"Well, most people play to show off their musical ability, I play music to bring joy and entertainment", Richard said as he finished his rendition of a modern pop song piano cover. With a small breath he left the stage and sat on the seat opposite of the gaudily dressed man.
The piece was nothing more than a random song he came up with based on the axis chord progression (I-V-vi-IV). It was a simple piece with even simpler lyrics he just came up with on the spot.
The trick to modern pop music was repetition and subtle shifts every now and then.
For lyrics, all he had to do was prepare a four line verse that would stick. Something akin to a chant or a mantra was good enough.
This world's entertainment was stuck in a weird loop that is controlled by a whole demographic of people. Fortunately he was in the same demographic which made it easy for him to just jump into the scene if he wanted to.
But Richard was not all that brave, he did not dare get into the scene.
If he did, he would have done that the moment he woke up in this new world.
He had no plans to try but Marie's challenge partnered with the appearance of a group filled with familiar faces made him try things out.
After he had finished performing his piece, the manager of the theatre, Hans Christorffer Allen had asked him if he knew any other pieces.
One thing led to another and Richard ended up playing a few of his experimental pieces.
What shocked him was the fact that his own voice was quite good.
In his previous life, he had voice lessons but he quickly found the limits of talent. His natural range was not that great and his voice had nothing "unique" about it. He was quickly told by his coach that his limits were obvious.
He could train to become a great singer but that was all he could become. A "great singer" not a "star", although he had lied to himself and tried to break past those limits…
After the experiences of his past life, Richard swore that he would never push past his own inherent talents until he realized just how much of a talent his body had in this world.
His voice had a natural charm to it, his range was slightly better than an average singer and the previous Richard had obviously done training to open up his vocal chords. Even the instinct to play the instruments which Richard thought he would need to work hard to regain came back like he had never died.
This body of his was a lot more talented than his previous one and this gave him the confidence to test out the few pieces of music he had developed in his past life.
In his past life what he lacked in talent, he made up for using research and hard work. He studied music and entertainment while he worked hard as a biologist. The knowledge he gained allowed him to write songs that could have become hits if he wanted but…
He didn't want to be just another music producer, he wanted to take the stage and so he took his songs to the grave.
Now though…
"Richard, how would you like to make a show with me?", Hans, the owner of the theatre, asked with sincerity.
"What's in it for me?", without missing a beat, Richard asked as he leaned forward. All his inhibitions had been released, he was now riding on cloud nine as he showed off the charm one with vulpis blood had.
The small bits of knowledge he had of his own blood allowed Richard to use his newfound confidence to take advantage of every small advantage he could.
Hans squinted, he stared into Richard's eyes, he could not feel a trace of etherlite in the air. Knowledge of the various races was something he had to have great mastery over. After all, he was in the business of entertainment where talent and potential is key to success.
Vulpis had the natural ability to manipulate minds, their magical ability was focused only on manipulation but it was so great that it was all they used to dominate countries in the past. Now, the knowledge of their abilities is widespread but few people could feel the subtle manipulation they use.
Moreover, it was not completely illegal to use magical talents, hell, many even saw it as a basic skill to resist the manipulations used by vulpis.
As a veteran in the field of entertainment where many vulpis use their charms to take advantage of others, Hans' sense for vulpis magic was sharper than many others.
'It's still frightening though…'
Hans thought as he realized that Richard should be of royal blood, the charm he exudes is not simply magic it's natural.
His features were not striking or eye-catching but they had a magnetic charm to them.
'Vulpis royalty and some noble clans are known to use veils to hide their charm… I could see why'
Attraction was not something that could be generalized, in fact, many confuse sexual frustration and attraction to love.
If attraction was all about carnal desires, then anyone could charm others.
But that was not the reality of charm, attraction had many factors involved but the vulpis were born with the natural charm to break through all these barriers. It didn't matter if the vulpis was handsome, pretty, sexy or muscular.
They attracted people on a level deeper than surface charm, their attraction is the type that could lead to devotion.
Because of this, those who understood the inherent talents of the vulpis could easily distinguish between the bloodlines. The greater the natural attraction, the closer the vulpis blood was to the royal family.
"I wonder, what kind of deal would attract a talent such as you?"
As shrewd as Hans was, he did not want to deal with the nobles.
Richard is a face even he was familiar with, the man was capable of wasting time and money. His bloodline was obviously high class and his abilities did not come from pure talent-
A vulpis from a normal family could not do the same things as Richard, the young man did not even try to hide that he was someone with quite a background. Now, he was showing off this reach and Hans did not dare to give a deal that could anger the young man.
But that fear did not stop Hans from trying to strike a deal, after all, the young man could have used his own resources but he didn't- why?
Hans did not care why the young man was acting the way he did, he had seen nobles act out for even crazier reasons so he just did what a shrewd businessman would do… take advantage of the young man's desires.
"Full creative control", Richard did not know the kind of conflict going through Han's mind, instead, he acted out the personality that he believed could get the best deal. Pride and confidence matched with arrogance, Richard was putting up a front unaware that his actions had caused a misunderstanding.
Hearing Richard's response, Hans snickered internally, he thought about the young man's performance and his own dying shows.
"I'll handle all the resources and marketing, but how quickly could you come up with a show?", Hans asked, he showed confidence and assurance, he did not fawn over Richard and simply acted as if he was getting a good deal.
Richard thought for a moment, he then turned his attention towards the group of performers behind Hans.
"Are they part of the act?"
Hans turned to his employee's, they were all "seasoned performers" but their backgrounds and record of shows could only give them the label of "amateurs".
"Yes"
Without any hesitation, Hans responded to Richard and his words brought a smile to the young man's face.
"They are performers not slaves though, please treat them as colleagues or employees", Hans quickly added when he saw the smile on Richard's face.
Hearing the words of Han's, Richard realized that he may have taken his act a bit too far. Maybe he looked like some Hollywood producer looking for young "talents".
Recalling the disgusting image of such people from his past life, Richard quickly straightened himself up and answered.
"Sorry, sorry, I did not want to sound like a scumbag, I was just happy to hear that these talents could be part of the show"
"What kind of show are you planning?"
Hans question made Richard pause, he turned towards the instruments and stage inside the cafe, he pointed at the stage and said-
"A concert"
"..."
Not only Hans, even the other performers were left staring blankly at Richard. The young man's confidence was in stark contrast to the looks of confusion and worry the others have.
Richard noticed this as he began to explain his plan.
"Look, it sounds crazy but hear me out…"
Richard had long noticed a few things about the performers.
First, the elf lady, despite being an pureman, she chose to take on a career in the entertainment industry. That in itself is quite unique but on a marketing standpoint, the image of a noble elf, even if she did not have noble blood- the mere fact that she was performing for others was something "unique" and could attract attention.
But that was not all, Richard had watched her perform countless times, although the other members of the audience were more focused on sneaking a peak under her skirt, Richard had noticed her special voice.
She had the normal range a female singer who practiced years would have but her voice had with it a natural raspiness. Although a raspy voice is not really natural, Richard noticed that the elf lady had a habit of adding her own twist to her lines.
Her only weakness was her endurance and obvious lack of ability in terms of dancing but her voice was powerful and carries a heavy weight to it. Her singing reminded Richard of a famous artist in his past life, an artist who was able to make you feel the weight of her songs.
Unfortunately, most of the plays she performed in focused on using her appearance as an elf. This gave her roles in shows that were focused on magical tones, love, wonder and joy.
But her voice did not match such tones, it was a great contrast but her performance did not try to use that contrast instead it was like she was in the wrong place. Though that was the same reason why Richard was unable to contain his excitement.
Not only the elf lady, there was also the canis woman whose voice matched RnB, Jazz and soul type music.
Finally, the jolis man who was a skilled dancer and was great at poetry.
Although Richard spent most of his time watching shows looking for entertainment, his mind did not simply blank out when he was not entertained. In fact, shows that left him bored made him try to find ways to improve the shows.
He started with critiquing the stories, then the performances and before he knew it, he had already gotten a good grasp of a few talents that stood out in the shows- for better or for worse.
Now, blinded by confidence, he started to plan out a whole concert performance, complete with an opening, main and closing act.
He had already started to imagine how he would create the first music festival when he was dragged back to reality.
"Sorry to burst your bubble Richard, but the theatre could not accommodate more than a thousand people…"
Hans' words caused Richard to realize that he was making a show for the theatre not some large arena…but instead of giving up, the blind confidence that fueled Richard had yet to dry up and instead of giving up he thought of a bold idea…
"Then let's remove the chairs!"
"Excuse me?"
"A bar, multicolored lights… let's make a live music bar!"
"..."