Leaving the library behind and heading back to Broken Mug, I mused about what I had gathered from Mr. Sandoval. I couldn’t help it. There was so much I learned, yet so much more I didn’t know. The more I found out about this strange world, full of beasts, monsters, and people with powers hard to imagine, the more questions I had.
What was it up there in the north? What made the beasts and monsters flee in fear? Was it coming south? It seemed that the countries bordering the former terran Federation were preparing for that eventuality, or at least on the monster wave that was approaching despite the best efforts of the Terran tribes to stop it. A futile struggle, and everyone knew it.
Sighing aloud at the thought of their inevitable downfall, I scared away a few pigeon-like birds who, for the night that fell upon the city, took refuge on the windowsill by which I passed. It was a damn shame the terrans couldn’t keep it together. As a result, only less than a third of the tribes along the former south Federation borders were left from the nation that could rival in size the Empire just a few years ago.
There were countries like Arda that took advantage of their misfortune to replenish their supply of slaves. Countries east of Sahanal I didn’t even know about who took in refugees just like the Empire. Grand Duchy of Numun took the same approach to slaves as Sahal, and the Khabaramese Union went so far as to ban the slave trade entirely.
Unlike Sahal, I did not know their motivation for accepting refugees. The Empire? It was recovering from the Mind Wars and needed people to jumpstart the economy to replace those who died during those dark times.
But as they say, enough is enough.
Having experienced firsthand what the number of terrans caused in Castiana, I didn’t want to imagine what the situation might have been like in the border towns with the former Federation?
What could I say, though? I may not have been a terran, but it didn’t make me any less of a refugee than they were.
Scratching the back of my neck, I stifled my urge to turn around and find Sah in the darkness. The man was doing his job, and although it rubbed me the wrong way, if it weren’t for my weird sensitivity, I wouldn’t have even known about him.
I was a little worried, though. No doubt Agent Sah will bother Mr. Sandoval. He will ask questions, questions about me. That’s why I told the librarian before I left not to hide anything if it came down to that. It would piss me off if I got the book-loving old man who grew on me a bit in trouble.
Lost in my thoughts, without really knowing how I made it to the door of Broken Mug. It was busy inside. The hubbub of laughter and shouting could be heard all the way out on the street. In the inn, it was even worse. The noise made my ears ring. Quite a change compared to the library.
If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d head straight to my room. Instead, I found an empty seat and had dinner. It was delicious, Byron was a good cook, I gave him that. But…there was a difference. Deckard’s food was better, no doubt about that. Byron, the innkeeper, simply could not compare to a chef after evolution, quality of ingredients aside.
When I went up the stairs to the long narrow room on the first floor, with just a bed in it, I couldn’t help feeling nostalgic. I mean, it was what? Three nights? No, just two since I’d last slept in this bed. One spent training in the Esulmor Woods, the other in the barracks. However, so much has happened in these three days that it felt like weeks.
Being back here felt like everything was the way it should be, even though I knew that was far from the truth. I was no longer just a human slave, a mutant, but a beast, a pup, an apprentice, a seeker, and a woman of interest for the Empire.
Lying down on the bed with a sense of nostalgia, I just checked the moss in my hair and the ever-blooming flower before drifting off to poisoned sleep, hugging Sage.
…
Morning came too damn early, and the thought of what awaited me made me want to stay under the covers all the more. Yet less than an hour later, I found myself in front of the statue of Traiana, wiping away my tears, asking myself questions. Was it really just a statue? If so, the sculptor made her damn lifelike, giving the impression that the kneeling woman carved in black stone, pierced by arrows and crying, was breathing.
What was her story? Did her battle take place in the Ancient Era? Why was she fighting at all, and against whom? Who killed her friends she shed tears for? Without realizing it at first, I did not doubt that the statue depicted an actual event, not just the artist’s epic imagination.
It took me a while to tear my eyes away from Traiana. But as I did, I gave my Status Screen a quick check.
Name: Korra Grey
Race: Human/Beast
Gender: Female
Age: 29
Class: Slave (Master – None)
Level: 96 -> 97
[Unspent Stat Points: 3]
Constitution: 77 (39)
Strength: 40 (23)
Endurance: 31 (25)
Dexterity: 23 (23)
Intelligence: 19 (11)
Wisdom: 17 (10)
Class Skills (6/6):
Indomitable Will (Passive V): lvl 118
Painless Agony (Passive II): lvl 21
Tireless Machine (Passive II): lvl 27
Swift as a Whip (Active II): lvl 22
Master’s Lover (Passive I): lvl 6
Master’s Shield (Active II): lvl 16
General Skills (8/8):
Eleaden Standard Language (Passive I): lvl 9 -> lvl 4
Perfect Equilibrium (Passive II): lvl 16 -> lvl 17
Spatial Domain (Passive II): lvl 19
Beast (Passive II): lvl 28
Never-Dying (Passive II): lvl 38
Tail of Poison Empress (Active II): lvl 12
Heart of Magic (Passive I): lvl 9
Inner Perception (Active I -> II): lvl 9 -> lvl 10
Level 97, three unspent stat points, and a number of under-leveled skills. Yeah, that was my Status Screen. Some, probably most of the locals, would say it was a mess. I felt joy at the sight of it. Was I crazy? No, or so I thought. The thing was, not that long ago, I hated my skills and was incapable of changing them at will.
‘F*** you Dungreen, f*** you!’ One day I’m gonna scream it right into his face, out loud at the top of my lungs and not just in my head like now. One day!
Focusing back on my skills, it was getting more and more obvious that [Master’s Lover] had to go. It’s not that I didn’t know how to level it, but I have lost the will to do so with coming to terms with my current body. Sure, the Charm was an attractive ‘stat’ likely useful at higher levels in dealing with people, not so much in a fight.
With the new revelation of the capabilities of my tail and the poison itself, I pondered the usefulness of [Master’s Shield]. If one day I’m able to control poison to the extent it was described in the story, I may very well be capable of replacing the shield with it. An issue for future Korra, though. For now, the skill stayed.
Three levels in [Eleaden Standard Language]? Yeah, I talked to Mr. Sandoval yesterday more than I intended. However, it didn’t matter. Once I got to my class with Ria tonight, it would be back to level one.
Given what I had learned about my heart and the hours of magic awaiting me in the near future, quite possibly today, [Heart of Magic] had a permanent place among my skills, regardless of evolution.
My breath caught in my throat. Evolution! Will it be today? Three levels in one day? Most would say highly unlikely. With my track record, not so much. So I couldn’t help but feel nervous, which I fought off by petting Sage. Hmm…could it be akin to stroking a beard? The thought made me laugh.
“Traiana’s tits, that’s enough,” grunted Deckard from behind me, scaring the s*** out of me. His arrival escaped my attention, a mistake on my part. Using the domain all the time was something I was still getting used to.
Turning to him just as he sighed, I gave him a questioning look. ‘Enough of what?’
“Seriously, I wonder what’s wrong with you.” He shook his head, making me even more confused. What the hell was he talking about? “I figured I’d wait for the bitch to make you cry.” He glanced at Traiana. “Then you went bonkers, stared at her in awe, turned thoughtful, and rejoiced. Only to get pissed off the next second and serious a breath later. I don’t know what made you so nervous that you had to stroke that tail of yours, and I don’t want to know what made you laugh, but that’s enough. I’m not the only one who got a kick out of your strange antics.”
Who? Not even trying to be discrete, I looked around, searching among the seekers disappearing and emerging in flashes of white light. I didn’t catch anyone staring or laughing at my expense, though. Then one came to my mind, after all, Sah. I could still feel him watching me.
Well, it’s already happened, and Sah or whoever was having fun at my behavior could think whatever they wanted. Deckard made it sound like I had a few loose screws. And perhaps I had. So what? He knew he hadn’t chosen a normal apprentice.
Instead of looking for excuses and explanations, I cleared my throat. “Good morning to you, too.” I tried to play it safe.
He sighed and chuckled. “You too, girl.” His laid-back attitude and lack of any further remarks on my previous antics told me all was well.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked. “Just training in the labyrinth, or something more?”
“I haven’t heard from San yet. I assume she’ll get most of her part done during the day. Rezso is busy today, but I managed to convince Zer to give you some tips on your wings,” he said with a smug smirk on his face. I tried not to think too much about how he convinced this avier ‘friend’ of his.
“She should be here any minute,” he added.
“Oh, she’s gonna teach me here?” I paused, gesturing to the platform.
“For f***’s sake, no.” Deckard laughed, tapping the black slab we were standing on with his foot. “Down there, she’s a seeker…” He snapped his head to the right. “…and there she is.”
I followed his gaze. The woman was just on the edge of the platform, that alone spoke volumes about Deckard’s range of perception. The fact that he found her among the hundreds of people on it was another matter.
She took her time and walked lightly towards us. It was easy to tell she was an avier even at that distance as she carried two large wings folded behind her. She was tall and slender, dressed lightly like me, but wearing shoes.
F***! Why didn’t I stop to buy some? Stupid Korra! I berated myself.
Anyway, in that, they differed from the harpies, who had more chicken-like legs. What they were similar in, on the other hand, were long colored feathers in place of hair.
Otherwise, she had human features. No beak, but full lips and slightly flatter nose. Fine feathers that look like skin at first glance. Breasts, not much bigger than mine. Come to think of it, none of the aviers or harpies I saw in Castiana had big boobs. Was it the trademark of the flyers? To save weight? I swallowed my curiosity, not daring to ask her about it.
[Soaring Strider: lvl ?]
Cool sounding class. One I wouldn’t mind having. Though I was aware, that wasn’t the actual name of it. Still!
Seeing only one question mark was refreshing. The fact that my instincts placed her almost at level two hundred, not so much. Another person I didn’t want to cross. Yet, for some reason, she didn’t seem happy to see me.
Nor Deckard, for that matter. “Is that her?!” she yapped at him instead of saying hello.
Stilling my urge to hug Sage, I held her stare.
He nodded. “She is.”
Not wanting this to turn into a staring contest, I bowed slightly. “Korra Grey.”
“Zeranyphe,” she returned my greeting, introducing herself, but her attitude hasn’t changed. “Now tell me, what the f*** are you?”
Her stern look sent shivers down my spine, and her words put me on guard. Didn’t Deckard tell her anything about me?
“Oh, don’t try that damn ear language on me!” she warned me and made me even more confused. Meaning my ears moved even more.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m not doing this on purpose,” I said quickly, glancing at Deckard for help. The bastard just grinned back.
“You’re like those mutts, wagging your tail, twitching your ears like you’re some kind of beast,” she said with disdain seeping from her voice. “Will you start growling and baring your fangs at me too?”
Lost for words, I wondered if there was any grudge between the aviers and the other terrans. Some deep-rooted hatred that I should have known about because I had no idea what I had done wrong.
“Nothing to say, huh?” she snorted, swaying slightly on her feet. “Beast!”
“Is that an insult?” I raised an eyebrow and this time an ear too in the deliberate provocation. Just because she was stronger didn’t mean I was going to put up with her. Not when it wasn’t my fault.
She crossed her arms. “What are you going to do about it, mutt?”
“Well,” I paused, not thinking about it that far. She called me a mutt. What should I call her? The problem was that I didn’t feel offended by it and didn’t know the right insult to hurl back. Apparently, there were a few specific ones among the terrans. So I resorted to provocation, wagged my tail, flicked my ears, and flapped my wings. “I’m not stupid to fight you.”
“You fought a mossbear,” Deckard objected through the Union Rings. Refraining from noting that I didn’t have much choice back then, I wondered why he’d brought someone like her. Was she even willing to give me advice? If so, would it be a valid one?
“You, fighting me?” She laughed. “Keep dreaming, little beast.”
Was her hearing poor because of her feather-covered ears? “Again, lady. I’m not gonna fight you. Besides, calling me a beast is like calling cattle a cattle.”
That finally gave her pause. She glanced with questions in her eyes at Deckard and back at me. “I’ve never seen a terran openly admit to being a beast. So what are you?”
I took a breath to reply, only to stop when Deckard spoke up. “I think it’s better to continue in Fallens Cry.” Looking around, I agreed with him. Who knows who’s been listening to us around here. So I gave the, for some reason, pissed-off lady a smirk and waved my tail at her again before I stood beside Deckard. To my surprise, she broke into a grin and, with three quick strides, joined us.
As she did, Deckard flipped through the floor options above his labyrinth mark and selected Floor 1. The runes beneath our feet glowed, and with Traiana’s cry echoing in my mind I was swallowed up by the white light.
…
“Quite nostalgic,” remarked the avier woman as we appeared on the teleportation platform between the rolling hills.
“Isn’t it?” Deckard nodded, as he had a similar reaction when he first took me here. But his remark broke the nostalgic gleam in the woman’s eyes. Instead of sharing stories of their budding careers as seekers, she frowned at him. “You told me that your apprentice has a problem with her wings, that she doesn’t move them properly in combat.”
“She doesn’t,” he said, gesturing to me as if unaware of where she was going with this. When the warning finger landed in his face, he just smiled.
“You never mentioned, not once, that she is….” she glanced at me. “What the hell is she?”
“Does it matter?” He asked.
She gave him a sharp look. “I’d like to know who I’m dealing with.”
“Tell her. She just doesn’t like the unknown.” Deckard said to me. “People throw aviers into the same bunch with the scattered brain harpies, make fun of them.”
How that was supposed to explain her behavior was beyond me, but he, unlike me, had grown up in this world. What might not have made sense to me was obvious to him.
“I’m a beast,” I said, surprised at the lack of confidence in my voice. So I straightened up, cleared my throat, and tried again, louder. “I am not a terran. I am a half-human, half-beast.”
“What beast?” she asked, pointing at the whole of me. “Because this doesn’t make sense.”
“More than one,” I said, waiting for her reaction, some rude remark.
She thought for a moment, running her eyes over me, considering my words. “That does make sense! Someone’s messed you up real bad.”
“You have no idea,” I sighed, glad she took it the way she did. No more insults.
“Is that a problem, Zer?” asked Deckard.
She stuck her finger in front of his face a second time. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” Then she turned to me. “Sorry Korra Grey, no hard feelings?”
I paused for a second and looked her in the eye. “Right.” That was more up to her.
“Good,” she nodded, somewhat satisfied, eyeing my wings, the reason she was here in the first place. Help Deckard with my training, me with my wings. This brought me back to the thought I had up there under the statue of Traiana.
If I give it my all, do my best to overcome my limits, will I reach Class Evolution? Was today the day?
