Chapter 38: Muscle Control
“Is she a Sound Affinity apprentice?”
At that moment, David Berg, who was immersed in the heavenly melody, suddenly felt his arm tugged by Klan Roland beside him, forcing him to break his concentration.
“What did you say?”
“I’m asking you, is she really not a Sound Affinity apprentice?”
Hearing Klan Roland repeat his question, David Berg simply pushed the registration form back in front of him.
“Isn’t it clearly written on the form? She’s a Summoning Affinity apprentice, not Sound Affinity.”
“But her voice is just too good…”
“You two, keep it down.”
Seeing that the interruption came from the upright-seated Troupe Leader Roman Roland, the doubtful Klan Roland had no choice but to obediently close his mouth and continue focusing on Janna’s performance.
…
“Who’s there?”
After the solo segment concluded, Janna, following the plot of Bloodshadow Rose, coldly turned around and loudly questioned the “bush” behind her in Natasha’s tone.
However, at this moment, Shuka Berg, who was supposed to step out from the “bush” and respond as Loki, stood dazedly in place with a slightly vacant gaze, failing to follow the script and reply to Natasha.
Seeing this, Janna frowned slightly. To avoid interrupting the performance, she had no choice but to “raise” her imaginary sword and continued to loudly question the “bush”:
“If you don’t intend to come out, I’ll have to use my sword to invite you out!”
“Ahem… Sorry, I didn’t mean to hide here.”
Realizing he had nearly held back the performance, Shuka Berg quickly snapped back to reality and picked up his lines.
Loki, clutching his right abdomen in pain, staggered out from the bush and saluted Natasha with a hand-to-forehead gesture.
Seeing Shuka Berg return to his performance state, Janna couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief inwardly. However, her expression remained vigilant as she scrutinized Loki up and down, asking suspiciously:
“Are you a soldier of the Rose Legion?”
“Yes, I’m Loki, the whistleblower of the Rose Legion. I was attacked by the Bloodborn on my way back… cough cough cough!”
As a young but seasoned male actor in the opera industry, Shuka Berg immediately showcased his professional skills once he got into character.
Even though it was a prop-less performance, his trembling hand clutching his abdomen and the bulging veins on his neck made the audience feel that Loki’s injury was truly severe.
“Don’t speak!”
Sensing Loki’s pain, Natasha almost instinctively rushed toward his direction.
“Your injury is serious; you need a priest to heal you!”
Upon approaching and seeing the torn-like wound on Loki’s right abdomen, Natasha completely disregarded the noble etiquette of gender separation and directly supported the staggering Loki.
[Character Special Talent: Muscle Control
Effect: Allows precise control over every muscle in the body.]
At this moment, Janna utilized the Muscle Control talent to its fullest.
From her eyebrows to her eyes, and even to her “instinctive” bodily reactions, under Janna’s deliberate control, there was no trace of unnaturalness or being overshadowed by Shuka Berg in the performance from an outsider’s perspective.
…
“Is she really a newcomer performing for the first time?”
If her heavenly singing voice was a gift of talent, then Janna’s natural expressions and movements during the performance made everyone present, including the familiar David Berg and Liji Silks, feel deceived by someone pretending to be weak.
“I’m not sure… Maybe her parents are opera actors too? Perhaps we just didn’t know.”
Hearing Klan Roland’s question, David Berg, who was also seeing Janna perform for the first time, looked bewildered. However, amidst his confusion, he was almost grinning from ear to ear with immense joy.
“But she’s indeed someone I chose; she’s a natural-born leading lady!”
“What does this have to do with you? With such talent, anyone with eyes would have discovered her.”
Perhaps stimulated by David Berg’s “natural-born leading lady” remark, Anna Moonshadow’s words also carried a hint of sarcasm.
“Hahaha, of course I know, but who made me the lucky talent scout?”
Regarding David Berg’s somewhat carefree and smug demeanor, apart from Anna Moonshadow feeling a bit annoyed, the father and son duo of Roman Roland and Klan Roland, who also had discerning eyes, looked at Janna with shining eyes, showing deep agreement.
“You truly deserve to be the talent scout for this little wizard. Whether it’s her appearance, singing voice, or her surprisingly good acting skills, if nurtured properly, she might become the next pillar of the troupe in time. Right, Anna?”
“Hmm, I agree with Director Klan’s opinion. She’s indeed the surprise of this audition… However, if we were to give her an impromptu scene, I wonder if she could maintain her current performance level.”
Hearing Anna Moonshadow’s words, David Berg was the first to object. However, before he could speak, Troupe Leader Roman Roland had already made up his mind.
“Cut! This segment is sufficient.”
Just like how Ollie Berry’s final performance was interrupted early, before the allotted five minutes were up, the puzzled Shuka Berg and the now calm-faced Janna stopped their performance as per the judges’ request.
…
“I haven’t had enough! Why was it interrupted?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. Look who interrupted it.”
“Oh, it was Troupe Leader Roman… I didn’t notice earlier. But why did he stop the performance? Wasn’t it going well?”
“Your voice is too loud; lower it!”
Listening to the nearby companion’s exclamations, the front-row auditionee, who kept trying to quiet them down, could only say helplessly:
“Such a good performance being interrupted early must be a good thing. I guess this newcomer named Janna will also have to undergo an additional test like Ollie Berry…”
“An impromptu scene? Which one would it be? Could it be… the scene where she cuts her hair to join the army?”
“Shh! Troupe Leader Roman is speaking.”
…
“Hello, Miss Janna. Let me formally introduce myself. I’m Roman Roland, the Troupe Leader of the Nightingale Opera Troupe. I must say, your performance was outstanding…”
A friendly smile and an overly gentle voice.
Seeing the usually aloof Troupe Leader Roman Roland take the initiative to introduce himself to a newcomer actor, everyone familiar with him couldn’t help but show expressions of disbelief.