Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Detour

Skills, skills, and skills. Right now, it was the only thing occupying my mind, and the same questions kept popping up. Which ones to choose, which one to forget, and last, which current skills to replace?

Even before class evolution, it was obvious that this was going to be challenging. Just the choice of the class itself was. After all, it was a decision that would affect the rest of my life, but I didn’t think picking the right skills would be any harder. Right now, it even seemed impossible.

The problem was that I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to be. 

Was it a fighter like Deckard? Handing out kicks or whatever it was he was doing. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him fight before. However, he wasn’t the problem now; I was. 

So back to me, to my fighting style.

Should I use my claws? That would require some specific combat technique, though. Has anyone even fought like that? Terrans, perhaps? It was worth asking. 

Or my claws could be like Deckard’s swords, a backup option in case my fists weren’t enough. The [Fierce Pounce] could help me deliver some heavy hits, and combined with the [Mantle of Magic]....ah my imagination went wild.

On the other hand, the [Fierce Pounce] made my claws sharper and even deadlier. Basically, the skill was telling me to use them if I chose it. Plus, the [Mantle of Magic] could have given me so much more than just lit my fists on fire.

I let out a sigh. Life on Earth seemed much simpler now, or rather more peaceful. There, I never had to think about how I wanted to kill. Those were the days!

That all changed here on Eleaden. I become a fucking murderer? Yes, I did, had to! Still...better not to think about it. If I wanted to avoid similar situations in the future, I needed to solve my current crisis, a problem that didn’t seem to have a solution. Which skills to choose?

“Grr....” A frustrated growl escaped my throat while I ruffled my hair in despair.

“You all right, lass?” The voice that reached my ears snapped me out of my thoughts, almost making me yelp in fright. Looking up, I expected to see Marcus, but instead, I found a middle-aged woman in front of me. Who was she? Why was she here?

[Florist: lvl 58]

What the actual fuck?! Did the imperial soldiers let her in?

Then, as someone nearly brushed up against my wings, passing by, a realization hit me. This wasn’t a barracks. I left those some time ago with Deckard. That raised the question. Where the hell was he? And more importantly, where the heck was I?

Judging by the busy street behind me and the flower-lined shop in front of me, I was somewhere in the city. Where exactly? I had no idea.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

The woman laughed. “I could see that. Is it a guy that’s on your mind?”

Guy? How the hell did she come up with that? “No! Why would...?”

“Are you sure? You muttered this one name...what was it...Deckard?”

“That’s my mentor,” I said hurriedly, to avoid any more misunderstandings.

The florist chuckled. “Oh... many hearts have fallen for their mentors, teachers, and masters.”

“For real?” Not what I meant to say, as I intended to correct her that it wasn’t my case. Though my curiosity got the better of me. “Does that happen a lot?”

“I married mine.”

“Oh...” What could I say to that?

“Are you buying flowers for him?”

“For whom?”

The woman smiled. “For that mentor of yours, or are you thinking of someone else?”

“No!” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not in love with him or anyone else.”

“That’s sad.”

It was. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for love. “Do guys even like flowers?” I asked, just in case the right one showed up. On Earth, women tended to appreciate the beauty of flowers more, but here it could have been the other way around.

“My man does,” said the florist, grinning. “You’d do better to ask him out for a drink, though.”

So it was the same song on both worlds. “Thanks for the advice,” I said, deeming any efforts to talk her out of my love for my mentor pointless. 

“You’re welcome. Interesting flower you got in your hair. What is it?”

My hand went to the moss on the top of my head. “Actually, I don’t know. It was a gift.” Lie to avoid any future troubles. Although she seemed nice, perhaps too nice, too pushy for my taste, I didn’t know her. So a change of subject was in order. “Honestly, I kind of don’t know where I am. Which way to the City Hall?”

That was my original goal before my mind led me here.

“You can take a shortcut down that alley over there,” she said, pointing to a narrow gap between the houses on the opposite side of the street. “Or take it around...” she started to explain to me the way through the streets of Castiana, and based on what she said, I’ve come pretty far. After giving another look at the alley, I was all the more glad for her explanation of the long way around. Even with evolution, I didn’t feel strong enough to risk a walk down that alley. It had been over a year, but the memory of Fae kidnapping me was still vivid in my mind. I was still afraid.

“If you change your mind about the flowers, you know where to find me,” she called after me after I thanked her and said my goodbye. Although an unexpected encounter, it was a pleasant distraction from what was otherwise on my mind. Skills.

After sharing their descriptions with Deckard and Lord Wigram, hearing their thoughts on them, there wasn’t much more to say. Not before I try every one of them. However, that room was not the place for it, nor did I feel like it. I needed to get a little more energy, let it go through my head.

Thinking back on it, that was probably a mistake.

Of course, the Imperial Chief Healer didn’t just let me go like that and asked me about more details of my change after using the Beast. Then I had to show him the long version of my mane. To put it mildly, he was fascinated, even wanted to cut off a strand for further study. However, the moment he did so, with my permission, the cut hair turned to dust.

And that was it, no more business in the city barracks. My training with Squad Four was only supposed to take place in Fallens Cry. Rayden had other things to worry about than just me, though she did agree to move my magic lessons with Aspen to the evening hours, before my lessons with Ria.

That left me all morning and most of the afternoon to train with Deckard. Except he came to the conclusion that there was no point in teaching me anything today. The reason? My focus was elsewhere, as my mind was busy with the skills. He gave me until tomorrow to get my head straight. Of course, he didn’t mean to make me decide on my skill set. Even he knew it wouldn’t be a one-day thing. That will require testing, which he recommended I do at the Labyrinth and gave me Thread just in case I decided to do some today.

Then he let me go about my business.

However, that didn’t go so well. Standing in front of the barracks gate, I realized I was still in my now tattered clothes with Sage around my waist, keeping my dignity. The workout clothes I left at Broken Mug weren’t any better, though. Dirty and reeking of sweat.

Clothes were turning out to be a problem. Seriously! If it goes at this rate, food and clothing will use up all my money, and my hoard was already small enough.

Opting to stay in what I was wearing, I set off for the City Hall while ignoring the looks ordinary citizens were giving me. I was used to that, and it wasn’t until a small child broke down crying because of me before I realized I still had [Clandestine Terror] active.

Ups! I truly felt sorry and hoped my oversight wouldn’t give the kid nightmares.

I promptly reversed the skill function so that everyone would see me more as a human, but at that moment, I lost it. My mind plunged into pondering the skills, and I found myself outside a flower shop for who knows why. Perhaps it was a subconscious thing when I was drawn to it, to something close to my heart.

Anyway, my goal was the City Hall, and that’s where I arrived, albeit in a roundabout and tardy way.

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“Korra, you seem different today,” Enola, the only receptionist I’ve ever spoken to, said as soon as she saw me. “Although your clothes are more rugged than usual.”

“Than usual? I don’t think I walk around in rags.” Not if I can help it.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that seekers returning from Fallens Cry usually at least change clothes or stop at one of the bathhouses before heading into the city. There are plenty of them around Labyrinth Square, you know.”

Bathhouses were nothing new to me, though I was sure the ones around the square would be much more luxurious and expensive than the one I visited. “Thanks for the info.”

“Just make sure you don’t walk the streets covered in gore or bleeding. You could get arrested for that and given a hefty fine.”

“Again, thanks for the heads up.”

“Don’t mention it, so why are you here?”

“Because of Ria. Something came up tonight.”

“That’s unfortunate. She’ll be bummed.”

Yeah, for sure. “That’s why if she has time right now...” I didn’t have to say more. Enola understood, and with a smile on her face, she went to get Ria. The little kitsune was still short of work.

“Hi, Korra,” Ria cheerfully greeted, waving as she appeared in the doorway, only to pause the very next moment. “Who are you?!”

Having learned from previous mistakes, I knew immediately where the source of her confusion was. [Clandestine Terror]. I was actually curious to see her reaction. She was one of the few terrans who knew me and could recognize the change. Of course, I didn’t want to make another kid cry, so I turned the skill off completely.

“Just a skill,” I said by way of explanation.

“Nasty, I don’t like it at all,” she said, frowning, still cute as hell.

“Oh, wow, that’s weird...” Enola whispered as she looked at me without the [Clandestine Terror] active, then muttered to herself. “I didn’t know Slaves had that skill, or is it a General Skill?”

Wondering if she’d get it, I let her figure it out on her own. When her eyes went wide, I knew she did.

“Level one hundred, how could I have missed that!”

I didn’t find it so strange, as she dealt daily with seekers and people at higher levels than mine. What was one one hundred level chick compared to them?

“Congratulations, that calls for a proper celebration,” she said, stopping short. “That’s why you can’t be with Ria tonight. Where’s the party?”

That was one of my last questions to Deckard before splitting up with him. “Drunken Filly.”

“That tavern full of guards?”

She obviously knew the place, unlike me. I only heard about this place once from Vara, the chatty guardswoman who had fun at Travis’ expense.

Though to Enola’s question, all I could do was shrug. “It’s complicated. I don’t want to go into details, but I’ve achieved evolution while I was in the barracks...”

“You don’t need to say more. The guards need no bigger excuse to get drunk and Drunken Filly is just across the street.”

Yeah, I knew that now too. Deckard pointed it out to me as we stood outside the barracks gate.

“You have reached class evolution?” Ria asked, taking her eyes off Sage for a moment. “What was it like? Do you have a new class now? What class?”

She spewed question after question with the enthusiasm of a small child.

“Ria,” Enola admonished her. “I told you, those aren’t questions you can just ask.”

“Why? It’s Korra.”

I guess I wasn’t just an oddity in my appearance, but also in my attitude towards secrecy with classes and all. After all, I was no less curious than the little kitsune. 

She got an explanation from me later, when we were alone on the roof of the house where she first took me and where our previous lessons took place. Of course, I didn’t go into details, in fact she wasn’t so much interested in skills as to whether I had become strong or not. 

Seeing her looking at me with admiration as I described my duel with the guardsman was strangely heartwarming. On the contrary, the slow pace of my learning a new language was depressing.

I would have thought that with more Intelligence and Wisdom, I would be able to do that in no time, and the first few words suggested that. But the more of them I learned, the slower my pace of picking up new vocabulary became. Well, I’ve never been one for languages.

On the positive side, despite that, I was getting to understand the Standard even without a skill, albeit more slowly than I had hoped. 

It was three hours later, after my lesson with Ria, a bit of playing with little kitsune, with Eleaden Standard Language back at level one, a few coppers lighter, my stomach fuller after a visit to the Broken Mug where I explained why I was going to be late tonight and had an early dinner, that I found myself outside the entrance to Fallens Cry.

It was not my intention to come here at first, and I meant to let myself think it through, maybe even sleep on it. Get more energy and clear my head, as Lord Wigram recommended. Of course, there was still the party thing. 

However, Deckard knew better. That’s why he forced the Thread on me. He just figured I wouldn’t be able to resist and would have to test my skills today.

Honestly, the [Clandestine Terror] turned out not to be what I was hoping for. Quite a disappointment actually, at least at tier one. Admittedly, it made humans feel more comfortable with me, but the terrans in turn became more confused. Plus, if I wanted to sow terror in someone’s heart, I had my abnormal presence for that.

So, although a bit reluctantly, I came to the conclusion that this was not the skill for me.

That was one, eleven to go through. 

However, there was a skill I wanted to try before entering the Labyrinth. With [Sense of Beast], I should be able to sense a predator with its sights on me within 200 meters. For a fact, I knew Sah was out there somewhere. I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck and just didn’t know where it was coming from.

While I didn’t have to, I replaced the [Clandestine Terror] with the [Sense of Beast] and focused on that annoying sensation prickling my hair. This one wasn’t an active skill, yet its use seemed easier. It added to what I’d already felt, giving me direction from where Sah’s gaze was coming from. Definitely an improvement.

Still, when I actually looked, I could not find the Imperial Agent in the crowd of people in the square, despite what the skill was telling me. 

Yet it piqued my curiosity as it gave me the impression that I would be able to sense more at higher tiers. What exactly? That was the question. Would it allow me to sense anything more than the [Spatial Domain]? Right now, it struck me as a much less accurate but much higher-range version of it. If that were to be the case, I’d rather choose a different Class Skill than this one.

Yet, there was still one more thing I wanted to try before I completely discarded the skill. I wanted to give a shot at sensing my prey, and that was something I could only do in the Labyrinth.

So resolved, I walked down the stairs to the round platform and moved to the first floor with Traiana’s cry echoing in my mind. Learning from previous mistakes, the first thing I did was to place the circular disk of Thread on the small platform on which I appeared and put the ring of the tool on my finger, connecting the two with a magic thread.

Then it was time for skills.

I already had the [Sense of Beast] in my skill set. Then it was the [Silent Prowl] and the [Fierce Pounce] that I wanted to try first. However, choosing the last one required letting go of one of my existing skills, namely the [Master’s Lover]. The skill that I managed to get to level six before it became utterly useless to me. After giving it my goodbye, I got rid of it for good with a surprisingly light heart.

The more thought I gave it, the more skills I considered replacing, like the [Painless Agony]. Yes, it was a skill shy of the third tier, yet it was one that I could replace with a general one.

That was a matter for later, though. I wanted to try these three first, without further tampering with my skill set. I was afraid if I did so, it could mess me up pretty badly. Not a good thing to do, especially when I was planning to face the Horned Rabbits alone.

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