“You’re up earlier than I expected,” Tess said, her mellow voice cutting into my ears like the screech of nails against the chalkboard. The hangover with everything attached was back. My brain pounded with a splitting headache; the light of the sun long above the horizon streaming through the windows into the inn was cutting into my eyes; every sound was hitting my ears with the force of a blow horn, and I was unable to recall the end of the night nor how I got here to Broken Mug.

“Believe me. I’d rather stay in bed,” I growled at the innkeeper’s daughter. The young girl walked up to my table the moment I sat down. It wasn’t my intention to be grumpy with her; I liked her. This morning was simply a rough one. The hangover was a bitch, and the fact that my own poison was still lingering in my body, trying to chew away at my nervous system, didn’t make her nagging any better. But could I be mad at the soft fuzzy fellow swaying lazily behind me? I just couldn’t.

Luckily, Tess seemed used to serving similarly suffering guests and didn’t seem to mind my grumpiness. “The training at Fallen’s Cry?”

My ears perked up, and in spite of all the anguish, I raised my head. “H-how do you know?”

“You mentioned when you came in last night that you had some important training to do today,” she said and grinned. “...and that if you don’t show up, your mentor will beat your ass.”

“That...that sounds like something I would say. Did I make a mess?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You were loud, but you went straight to bed.”

“On my own?”

When she gave me a sly smile, I realized my mistake. “No man or woman went into the room with you, Korra.”

On the one hand, it was sad. On the other, I felt relieved. Either way, I felt too miserable to be embarrassed, nor could I blame the young girl for thinking that way. Their inn was next door to a brothel, and who knows what their guests usually did in their rooms. If anything, I admired her. Cleaning up after the guests here must have taken a lot of courage.

“Idleaf was with you, though,” she added, chuckling.

Not surprising. The young tree was too curious for its own good. I bet she stayed with me likely until I started snoring and wouldn’t even be surprised if the rascal had some fun at my expense afterward. My only luck was that, as far as I knew, there were no markers on Eleaden or any equivalent to them. The consequences of a tool like that in her hands were something I didn’t even dare to think about.

Where was she, anyway?

But you know what? I didn’t care. In fact, I was glad Idleaf was pestering someone else right now. Most likely her other two Guardians. Esudein was patient and fond of her; Zeewet was reveling in Idleaf’s attentions - I could totally see her puffing with pride right now.

Either way, I was alone and had some peace for the first time in a long time. If only I could stay in bed and it would be perfect.

“Breakfast?” Tess asked as I whined through a rush of headache.

Nodding would be too painful, so I just smiled. “Breakfast...and Dawn Sober. It was one silver twenty, wasn’t it?” A hell of a lot for one potion. Yet to my annoyance, something I had to buy. I couldn’t make the same mistake as last time and go to the Labyrinth with a hangover. The price for enjoying yourself - or so the innkeeper Byron said last time.

“That’s right; one silver twenty. I’ll be right back,” Tess said and ran into the kitchen. I was honestly quite shocked at how well she and her dad took the whole Guardian thing yesterday. In fact, they were one of the few people who treated me in the same way they did when I was an ordinary woman. Well, as ordinary as a human-beast hybrid could be.

Either they failed to grasp the implications of the existence of the World Tree and its Guardians, which wouldn’t surprise me, or they just chose to ignore my newfound status and the spirit whose existence was giving headaches to the bigwigs because it was simply out of their reach.

Honestly, I was kind of surprised they didn’t kick me, their weird guest who got even weirder, out. My Guardianship aside - which I told them about for Idleaf's sake, who wouldn’t bear to keep who she and I are a secret - I wanted them to know the dangers if I was to stay in Broken Mug; about me being watched over by an Imperial Agent and so on. That piece of info in particular piqued Tess’s interest, and when I told Mr. Byron about how he had praised Broken Mug’s security, considering the kind of establishment his inn was, he seemed proud instead of horrified, as I expected them both to be.

Either I failed to grasp common sense, or they were just happy that despite everything, I was still willing to stay in their modest inn, and they had a paying guest.

Tess came back with breakfast in no time, weaving between the otherwise empty tables, plate in hand, like a true waitress I knew she wasn’t.

[Dancer: lvl 27]

“You leveled up, congrats,” I said with a bittersweet taste in my mouth as she placed a plate of scrambled eggs, fresh bread, and a mug of water on the table in front of me. The sight of the food wasn’t why I was struck with a guilty feeling, though. It was the girl and her level I should have noticed right away, but for reasons obvious even to Tess, I didn’t.

“Thanks,” she smiled brightly. “My dad let me dance last night, and it happened.”

Good for her. But that one level wasn’t exactly a game changer, not compared to my level growth. In the time it took her to get one, I grew up by more than twenty. Hence the guilty feeling welling up in my chest and the realization of what a freak I really was that hit my mind. Did I deserve it? I worked my ass off to get to where I was. Was she lazy, then? Tess didn’t make me feel that way.

I took comfort in the fact that she was young, at the beginning of her journey, and had her whole life ahead of her. It was entirely possible that if her drive and luck didn’t fail her, she could be further along than me at my age.

“Yeah, I danced last night, too,” I murmured, trying to remember what actually happened after I took off my boots and romped around with my squadmates. We had a mug of local ale together, danced some more, I ended up at the bar, had more drinks, talked about the freedom of feet, danced, and then...nothing.

“Are you interested in dancing?” Tess’s eyes brightened.

Was learning dance gait and steps in order to learn fighting techniques an interest in dance? “Kind of. Actually, it was a lot of fun.” It really was, and to say I didn’t give a damn would be a lie. I just always considered myself a dance klutz and didn’t find the gumption to ever do anything about it. Now, after seeing Idleaf enjoy it way too much, I had a sneaking suspicion that I was in for more dancing than I’d ever done in my life.

On the plus side, unlike Earth, here I had the skill to help me through the struggle. And who knows, maybe I would start enjoying dancing even sober. Speaking of skills, a few leveled up during that wild night.

[Perfect Equilibrium] reaches lvl 36

...

[Ride of Ancestors] reaches lvl 12

...and so on. The biggest level jumper was [Dancer’s Stride], though. Three full levels and a tier-up.

[Dancer’s Stride] reaches lvl 30

[Dancer’s Stride] reaches TIER III

[Dancer’s Stride] reaches lvl 31

[Dancer’s Stride] reaches lvl 32

No wonder about the levels. I danced, and probably more than I remembered. The tier-up was an interesting one, though.

Dancer’s Stride: lvl 32

Active II (Slave - 10%)

Tier I - Not every step is the same. It can be heavy, cumbersome, short, or clumsy. Yours is neither. The dancer’s step is light, graceful, and swift. All the more true of their stride.

Your [Dexterity] increased by 33%(30%)->49%(45%).

Tier II - The days of counting steps and keeping your eyes on your toes are over, a massive stride in every dancer’s path. With mastery of these fundamentals, you’ll find not only your strides easier to take, yet faster to do too.

Your [speed] increased by 11%(10%)->16%(15%).

Tier III - Getting past the point where the steps fall into place, and you find yourself actually dancing in strides across the floor is the most exciting moment in the dancer’s days. It puts you one step closer to your goal. The same goes for your strides. If you choose, you can cover more ground in a single pace than ever before and get where you need to in fewer steps.

Distance your single step can cover increased by 11%(10%).

Certainly not a skill on par with [Heart of Magic] but one that had its advantages and charms. While not the intended use for sure, it had its place in combat, no doubt. It made me more nimble, more confident in my steps, and if the Tier III of the skill was anywhere close to being what I thought it was, much quicker too.

“Yeah, it’s fun,” Tess said, her face beaming with passion. She was thrilled to hear that I saw the dance in a similar, if not the same, way as her. And I didn’t blame her. I used to get excited when I met someone, a man, with the same interest in flowers as I had.

“Are you learning to dance somewhere, Korra?”

Well, Deckard kind of taught me. “No, not really.”

“So, would you like me to teach you?”

“Tess, I...”

“One silver an hour.”

Oh. Of course, she won’t do it out of the goodness of her heart. Regardless of the world, if you weren’t born with a golden spoon up your ass, had no talent, or just plain luck, getting through life wasn’t easy, and making some money was even harder. She just saw an opportunity and took it. There was nothing wrong with that.

As my mom used to say: If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Fighting back a rush of pounding headache raised with the memory of her, I smiled back with an effort. “That’s nice of you Tess, but not right now. Although it’s good to know that if I get stuck or change my mind, I’ll know who to turn to.” Even Deckard, with all his levels, turned to someone weak like me when hitting a bottleneck. So why couldn’t I do the same?

“If you do, just say so,” she said, not disappointed in the least, and a vial of potion appeared in her hand. “Dawn Sober. Best drunk on an empty stomach.”

“What about my breakfast?” I asked, looking down at my food, which was already getting cold.

“No problem. Just drink it and then have breakfast. Dawn Sober works fast. Just faster on an empty stomach.”

There wasn’t much to add. I sure didn’t want to think too much about it - about anything in general actually - in my state, so I simply took the bottle, uncorked it, and downed the potion in one gulp, hoping for the best. A notion I was more than familiar with. But unlike Dragon’s Fart or Basil’s Breath, the liquid going down my guts was tasteless and wasn’t trying to burn through. Actually, nothing much happened, which made me wonder if Mr. Byron was doing good business by selling plain water, claiming it to be a miraculous hangover potion.

A few minutes later, when the potion began to take effect, I gave him a silent apology in my mind and finished my already quite cold breakfast. Nevertheless, after I parted with a few coins from my hoard, I left Broken Mug satisfied, with my stomach full and hangover free. Still no Idleaf.

The journey through the city to Labyrinth Square was an excellent opportunity to test the new Tier of [Dancer’s Stride], and I took it. Knowing Deckard, if I mentioned to him that my skill tiered up, he would surely insist that I get used to it first, which would only delay my actual combat training again.

The skill worked differently than I thought, thankfully. My concern was that I would be taking 11% longer steps with it, making me look ridiculous as I walked. But no, somehow, without feeling a change in my gait or taking longer strides deliberately, every step I took got me further than the one taken without the skill.

Some sort of spatial movement was all I could come up with as an explanation, even though I knew it was unlikely. If so, what was Deckard’s Void Walker class all about when an ordinary general skill could do the same job just fine? Question for the holder of the class.

“Freedom for your feet, eh?” Deckard thundered so loud when he found me in Labyrinth Square I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. That was something meant to stay in the tavern, not be trumpeted to everyone in sight. “Morning, Little Beast.”

“The fu...” I started as I spun around to look at him and stopped, staring dumbly at his feet. He walked barefoot.

“What? No good morning?” He returned my previous scolding with a roguish smile and amusement crackling from his voice. Bastard.

“Did you forget your shoes at Drunken Filly’s?” I shot back as I woke up from my shock. Not the brightest thing I could come up with, to be honest. Someone like him had to have a spare pair of shoes in his storage, not just one.

He looked me over, thoughtful. “What do you remember?”

“Dancing with my squad, drinking, dancing some more, barefoot,” I said right away. That was as far as my memory of the night went, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember more.

Deckard laughed. “Then you should probably know that from now on, you’ll be seeing the city guards without shoes for a while.”

“Why?” What the fuck did I do?!

“Freedom for the feet,” he repeated, and I facepalmed myself.

“You mean to tell me I made the whole tavern take off their shoes?”

“Yeah, you and Idleaf. Thal must have opened all the windows to let the air in so we didn’t suffocate there.”

“Shit!” I cursed, and then my eyes fell on his bare feet again. “And why don’t you have shoes even now?”

“Why you?”

I dropped my ears. “Because it’s too uncomfortable to wear them.” It wasn’t just drunk Korra who was bothered by the boots on her feet. I tried to put them back on this morning, but the elation I was hoping for was not there.

“Well, me because of a bet, or should I say a dare: Who can barefoot it longer.”

“That’s what I came up with?”

“Oh no, you were just preaching your freedom to the feet, saying how amazing it felt to feel the ground beneath your feet and the breeze between your toes. One thing led to another, and the boys and girls of the city guards began to dare each other. Thal topped it off by offering an entire bottle of Dragon Fart to whoever would endure the longest.”

“The whole bottle of D...”

“Don’t bother. You’re not part of it, Little Beast. Nor your squad mage. It would be quite unfair, don’t you think?” So I was lumped in with the terrans. I can’t say it didn’t hurt.

“Isn’t the whole thing unfair? You have much better regeneration and pain tolerance than anyone else in the city guards.”

“You think too highly of me. Anyway, for anyone at the level of a hundred or more, going barefoot is not about enduring the pain but the discomfort it brings. Dirty feet, worrying about where you’re stepping and all that.”

That made some sense, still...

“How’s your hangover? Are you good to go or...?”

I waved him off, proud of myself. “I had Dawn Sober.”

“Good, you’ve learned your lesson. What about Idleaf?”

“Who knows where.”

Deckard just shrugged casually, taking it as it was, and with his hands in his pockets, he walked to the teleporter platform, me in tow. The next moment I was looking at the rolling green hills and meadows of the third floor of Fallen’s Cry while Traiana’s faint cries echoed in my head. Everything was as it should be.

“This is new,” Deckard remarked as he stepped barefoot on the grass.

“Seriously?”

“It’s been a long time since I was a kid running around with snot up my nose and no shoes. There was no reason to do so, on the battlefield, in the city or the Labyrinth.”

“Fair enough. And...what do you say?”

“There’s something to it,” he admitted without any hesitation whatsoever or hint of being bothered by it. A bit disappointing. Not surprising, though. He hardly ever got annoyed by anything and with his easy going attitude took life as it came - most of the time at least.

“So, Little Beast, how do you feel about today’s training? Ready to learn some moves?”

A wave of excitement ran through my body, and I wagged my tail. He didn’t forget, nor did he come up with an excuse. It’s just..."[Dancer’s Stride] tiered up. It made my walk...different."

“Show me.”

Hoping I wouldn’t regret my honesty, I activated the skill and took a few steps around him. “Well? Is that gonna be a problem?”

“Why should it? Your stride is much finer now.” I guess my confusion was too apparent as Deckard smirked and went on: “It is a basic stride where neither foot touches the ground in the mid-step. Simply put, you run while you walk.”

Did that make sense? Actually, given my gait under the effect of [Dancer’s Stride], yes, no matter how weird it sounded. “So, what am I learning?”

He grinned. “The way to kick, Little Beast. The way to kick.”

***

Name: Korra’leigh Grey

Race: Human/Beast

Gender: Female

Age: 29

Main Class: Deviant of Humanity

Sub Class: Slave

Level: 113

Constitution: 123 (41)

Strength: 69 (29)

Endurance: 38 (28)

Dexterity: 35 -> 40 (27)

Intelligence: 31 (13)

Wisdom: 29 (12)

Class Skills (8/8):

Indomitable Will (Passive V): lvl 124 -> 126

Master’s Shield (Active II): lvl 29

Behemoth (Active II): lvl 19 -> 21

Wrought Hide (Passive II): lvl 15 -> 19

Unbending Resilience (Passive II): lvl 15 -> 17

Mantle of Magic (Active I): lvl 3 -> 8

Ride of Ancestors (Active II): lvl 10 -> 12

Call of Nature (Passive II): lvl 19 -> 21

General Skills (10/10):

Eleaden Standard Language (Passive I): lvl 8

Perfect Equilibrium (Passive III): lvl 34 -> 36

Spatial Domain (Passive III): lvl 37 -> 39

Beast (Passive III): lvl 48 -> 50

Never-Dying (Passive III): lvl 51 -> 52

Tail of Poison Empress (Active II): lvl 18 -> 20

Heart of Magic (Passive I): lvl 9 ->10

Striving Mule (Passive II): lvl 20 -> 21

Dancer’s Stride (Passive III↑): lvl 27 -> 32

None to Squander (Passive II): lvl 13 -> 15