Aarav couldn’t take his eyes off the King. The man was an enigma. The light show he had just been dazzled with was even grander than the palace around them. Having just settled on him, the Oath was not as Weighty as he thought it would be. But it did feel like there was a second membrane over his existing skin, like a very snug pair of tights, over his whole body. An odd and very claustrophobic sensation, but it didn’t trigger his phobia because he was getting out of the box.

At first, he had tried to fly out, but he was too big, so he opted for crawling out on his belly, slithering out to hang half in and half out of the box. None of the bearers seemed inclined to pick him up, so he just waited there. It was better than remaining in the box or sitting on the floor.

“So…am I free to go?” Aarav was a little leery of having to take the Oath, but if he genuinely got some freedom to move around the palace, then he could learn to accept that for now. It was the best possible outcome—no point in arguing further.

“Yes, within reason, we will have a room organised for you. Then you can communicate your specific requirements to the staff, they will spread the word that you are a guest of House Frelaine…” the man of dust spoke, and Aarav looked up at him. There was a pause at the end, the threat implied. What is it with these people and the trust issues? I am super weak right now! I might be strong in the future, but for right now, I am so soft it probably doesn’t even matter.

Aarav was honestly getting tired of it. The prejudice was understandable, with not being human. It was ridiculous when the Slime had done nothing even to threaten the people here. It made very little sense to him. Why were they this cautious of something as tiny as he was? It didn’t make sense, and if he was such a colossal threat, why would that leave him to roam relatively free like this? One could handle threats in one of two ways, lock it up and throw away the key or ‘remove’ the threat. This third option was new to him, and this capture-but-not-cage mentality had him questioning every incarceration situation he had been in. Legal and not.

Pushing himself out of the box, he allowed his wings to help him glide a little more gracefully than just plopping onto the ground. His wings were not even enough to allow him to ease his descent, his body had gained a lot of Weight recently, but it was still better than the alternative. Once on the ground, he shuffled off toward the entrance double doors. It was slow progress, even with manifested legs. The most ponderous humans in the room were faster, quickly outstripping him as they left the King’s presence to be about their days’. Aarav just wanted to get out as soon as possible before the King decided to change his mind about a dangerous monster in the palace.

Aarav was at a loss for what to do once out of the throne room. The palace was a new and unfamiliar environment. Of course, consult your map! Opening up Mental Map, he looked through the areas explored. There was his part of the forest. Then the area around the village and up to where the chase had concluded, then out to his Sanctuary. At some point, he would have to ask Haemish or someone about that, and then there was the path they had taken to get to the palace. It was all laid bare in Mental Map, and as soon as he had opened and viewed it, he received the alert.

Your Skill Mental Map has increased to Level 2!

Alright! It looks like it only increases when I open the map though, I’ll need to do that regularly. It was a handy Skill, it seems. Oh, I almost forgot! Aarav spoke a few words of each language he knew; he had said the required phrase of Darfan for the day. His masteries increased by a single percentage point in each language, proving his effort. New knowledge dripped into him like a particularly persistent intervenous line.

Aarav was feeling a little lost after looking at the map. Even if a map of previously explored areas was readily available, it did not show the next destination. Since capture, Aarav was free to go wherever the Slime wished for the first time. In a way, that was even more terrifying than being in a box.

Sighing, he decided to start at the Haemish’s lab. It was the best place he could think of, but in his head, the words kept repeating themselves, leading the lamb to the slaughter, going straight back to your captors, huh Stockholm?

Reluctantly making his way back, he continued to admire the decor, but the luxury did not appeal to him the way it had the first time. Maybe now that he was free-not-free, it didn’t have the same appeal? The gaudiness just looked decadent to him now. His depressed state lasted for about as long as it took him to get around the corner. He heard fast stepping boots and quickly stepped out of the way to avoid the quickly moving people.

Unfortunately, they noticed him.

“Oi! What’s that!” one woman screeched, pointing in Aarav’s direction.

“Madam, I assure you I mean no harm. The King released me from captivity just a few short minutes ago.” Aarav affected a posh British butler, thinking it might establish some rapport with the staff.

“IT TALKS!!! Quick Henrietta! The broom!” there was no warning before a broom slammed down on Aarav.

“Ahh! Stop! What are you doing!? I am a vassal of the throne!!!” Five strikes and about a full hundred HP later, the words finally worked through.

“What! A vermin is a vassal of the King!? And I am talking to a vermin...” the woman, having burned through her adrenaline, fainted dead away and had to be carried off by the rest of the befuddled party.

Aarav assessed the damage and grumbled to himself. The King could have given me a royal escort, and I bet they knew this would happen. Then he reflected again-and I would have thought they were a guard. I could have asked for a member of staff to guide me. At the moment, I like this better. A little autonomy would not go amiss.

The route back to the lab, while marked out, was long and on Aarav’s short stubby feet and with dismal speed and, therefore, moment capability. Come to think of it, I have never tried to run, either I am walking, climbing or flying, or swimming, I suppose.

Without thinking about it too much, Aarav focused on the sensations coming from his legs, lifting and falling, and he walked. How was it possible that he had never tried running? Maybe system established limits were wearing on him more than expected. As he synchronised his mind with the unconscious movement, he pushed them to move in their prescribed rotation a little faster. They responded reluctantly, not wanting to go more quickly than their established rhythm. Each cycle, they creaked a little faster forward, and each rotation was an additional burden on his already emotionally taxed mind.

But he would not relent. One cycle turned to two, then ten, then twenty. Aarav was sweating from the mental exertion more than the physical. He had plenty of Stamina left and willed his body to use it. Make the Skill damn it! Aarav continued to urge his body forward. His Stamina began to tick down as he had wished, but no Skill came forward. In his estimation, most other Skills had manifested much more quickly, and he wondered why this one was taking so long. Fifty rotations passed, and finally.

Congratulation! You have gained the Talent Run! At Earth and Sky Legs being Level 21. Focus attention on your Legs. Expend up to 2.1 Stamina per metre increases speed by a maximum of 210% on top of walking speed.

He had underestimated his speed. According to the map, it seemed he was only about ten minutes away from the lab at his current pace. It seemed he had found the perfect place to experiment. Getting up to maximum speed was easy as thinking it. Once, he was cruising along at around six and a half kilometre an hour or four-point two miles if you were weird and liked the imperial system. Ugghh, British people! He had been in England for a while in his travels and never gotten used to it.

A minute into his ten minutes run to the lab, he petered out. He’d run out of Stamina.