[Gliding], [Sailing], and even [Flight] were not skills that would allow me to . . . well, actually fly. I had tested them before and tried them again outside of the library. Annoyingly, like every time I ever took a shot at flying, it was to no avail. With my current wings, I could only hope to glide, and not very far at that.

Nevertheless, as Hazel said, there was still hope - and not just [Ear Enlargement] to rely on. First of all, I couldn’t forget my own magic, the Magic of Wind, and all the other schools of magic. And then there was the possibility of my body simply growing into flight.

Anyway, whatever my fate might be, whether it was to be rooted to the ground forever or to soar into the sky, I kept the skill for the time being. Mainly to master it without the system, but also to have some fun. I could only imagine the reactions of others when I surprised them with my giant ears.

“I’m not sure I want to know the reason for that stupid grin.”

I perked up my ear;, the normal not-so-small version. “Oh, I would think Imperial Agents would consider any information of value?”

“You’re both right and wrong, Grey. The key is to recognize what information is of VALUE. To obtain some, on the other hand, could even compromise the agent. You see, being an agent is not a job where you can afford to be stupid . . . or rash.”

“Wait! Are you saying that I’m dumb and that knowing what’s going on in my head could compromise you?”

“My sanity, yes.”

“Bastard. If you weren’t paying for the food . . . you know, as soon as I learn to fly, I’ll leave you in the dust and never look back.”

“With your growth, I’m afraid that might happen before you take to the skies.”

“...” His confidence in my abilities left me speechless, so I stuffed another bite into my mouth instead. I wasn’t quite sure what kind of meat it was, but it melted on my tongue - quite literally. It denied me the joy of chewing the bite, however, the taste it left in my mouth was simply divine.

“Judging by the wagging tail behind you, the food is to your liking.”

“I have never, I mean never,” even on Earth. “. . . refused free food. But I can’t deny that my needs here have become simpler since - you know.”

I never thought of myself as a shallow woman who cared primarily about her looks. A new dress, a designer handbag, or the latest pair of shoes were never at the forefront of my mind. I did, however, take care of my appearance, dressed decently, wore makeup, and went to the hairdresser once in a while. Not anymore.

“Just simpler? I have a feeling that if I had taken you to a street grill chef, I would have achieved the same result and not burdened the Imperial treasury so much.”

Exaggeration. This wasn’t a five-star restaurant.

“Probably,” I shrugged, a teasing smile on my sauce-covered lips. “What can I say? I’m a simple woman with simple needs.”

“If only the other half of you were so simple?”

“You wouldn’t be here if that was the case, Sah.”

“True.”

“…” Not really having a clue what to say to that, I took the last bite and resisted the urge to lick the plate clean. This place was too fancy for that.

“Another plate, or are you done?”

Since burping would have been just as unbecoming of this establishment, I patted my stomach. “I’m full. Thanks for the food, Sah.”

Instead of an ‘Oh, you’re welcome, Grey,’ the agent just gave me a simple nod, obviously wishing he was somewhere other than at this table with me. Knowing the guy a little, it was the people around us stealing glances in our direction, not little ol’ me, that made him uncomfortable.

Honestly, it wasn’t hard to relate. I didn’t like the attention either.

“So, Grey . . . the bath?”

“If the offer still stands, yeah. Not much else I can do today. It’s getting late.”

“Just because the sun has gone down and the streets are lit with the light of magic lamps doesn’t mean you have to crawl under the covers.”

“I know, I don’t really feel tired - despite everything.”

“That’s what happens when you get stronger. You should get used to sleepless nights.”

“I’m not sure I want to. It’s one of the few things that makes me feel human.”

“You don’t stop being one just because you stay up a night or two, but I understand. Know, though, that you are not the only one with this issue. And since it stands to be a matter of mostly people not suffering from a lack of coins . . . don’t give me that look, I said mostly . . . Anyway, as I was saying, a whole lot of alchemists and toolmakers are busy trying to provide these people with the sleep they crave.”

“Oh, there are sleeping pills that would work on someone with my [Constitution]?”

“Well, yours might make it more expensive, but the drowsiness is based more on [Endurance] than anything else.”

“My [Endurance], huh?” At 78 points, it was less than a third of my [Constitution]. Although that was likely to change. I still had 31 stat points to headache over.

“Yes, your - ah, finally,” Sah breathed a sigh of relief as the waitress showed up at the table and he could at least pay for my food.

***

There was so much I wanted to do, so much to catch up on.

For example, before the whole Echo ‘adventure’, I wanted to buy Idleaf some kind of musical instrument. A flute, actually. See, I’d actually given it a lot of thought as her playing on a blade of grass proved to be appalling. Seriously, it was ear-splitting. While she has improved dramatically, the tones produced by the blades of grass just didn’t work for my ears. That said, I had no idea where to get one of those flutes, how much they cost, and I certainly did not have the coin to actually buy one.

Then there was Ria. I could only imagine how disappointed the little kitsune, my language teacher, must have been when I didn’t show up at the City Hall today. Vara and Elira told me last night how she came to see my Soul Dice every single day. Hell, before I was whisked away to the past, I was even supposed to meet her mother so she would know who her daughter was hanging out with.

And then there were others, like the innkeeper Byron and his daughter Tess, my promised rematch with Clay, scrounging for new gear or at least some clean underwear, and last but not least, Aspen, my human teacher of magic.

As I said, there was so much to do.

All those troubles and worries, however, were washed away the moment I - stripped of my clothes - dove into a tub of hot water in [Bubble Bliss]. Not the bathhouse I expected Sah to choose, but despite its name, a fairly fine establishment. I was given my own room with all the trimmings and more, including a bathtub filled with bubbles. Whatever they added to the water made so many of them that they spilled out onto the floor and into the room, floating in the air all around. When they popped, they released a delightful floral scent.

The whole experience would have been even better if I had been given one of the rooms with a view of the city, or at least the streets. However, Sah annoyingly insisted on one of the indoor bathrooms for security reasons.

Despite the small drawback, I enjoyed my stay, playing with bubbles and making a mess of the room. Letting Sage chase them or blow them away with my wings was so much fun. But of course I wasn’t there just to play with bubbles like a little girl. There was work to be done. Luckily, the soap I was given to clean worked wonders. All I had to do was soap up once, and all the dirt from every nook and cranny of my body was gone. Same with the shampoo.

Seriously, I didn’t think I’d ever been so clean.

Not to mention the revitalizing oil I applied to my hair and fur after I got out of the bath - rather reluctantly, I might add. Despite all my stats and skills, that liquid, oily wonder managed to make my mane look even lusher.

Honestly, with clean and shiny as I was, it was almost a crime to slip into my not-so-clean clothes afterwards.

***

“Is it just me, or do you look different, Grey?” the guardsman at the barracks gate asked. The honest bewilderment in the man’s voice warmed my heart and stirred my pride. Sah could take a lesson from him. After paying for my bath, the agent bastard saw no reason to show his face again.

“Don’t you smell it? She had a bath,” the guardswoman said, her eyes running from my ears to my feet. “And I don’t mean the one in the barracks. I mean, one of the better ones in the city.”

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“I never saw a reason for those. All you need is water and soap.”

“Right? A waste of coins.”

“Do I look like one to throw away, guys?”

“Well,” the guardsman smirked, “the amount you spent on shots of Dragon Farts last night . . . you’re not afraid to let go of some coins.”

“That was my apology.”

“And we both enjoyed every last sip of it,” the guardswoman remarked, eyeing my hair. “All hard feelings, forgotten. Though I did take you for someone more beastly-minded. You know what I mean, right?”

“It was a gift, okay? I spent the last few months bathing in nothing but rain.” Seriously, why did I feel the need to justify myself to them? I should give a shit what they think. Fed up with myself, I gave up the idea of shocking them with my ears and got straight to the point. “Anyway, do you know if Aspen Werley is still awake?”

“The slave bitch?”

“Come on Nure, give her a break. She used to be one of us.”

“Used to be . . . now she is what she is, a slave. Sorry Grey, but that’s how I see it.”

“It’s fine - I’m fine,” I lied to the guardswoman, clenching my fists. “So, do you know if she’s awake? Or where I can find her?”

“That’s too much to ask of us,” the guardsman stepped in. “We watch the gate, not other people’s asses.”

“Don’t lie. I saw you looking at the brunette’s butt in the white slip.”

The man frowned. “She had a back slit up to her cheeks.”

“Um . . . ” I cleared my throat, not really interested in what people wore in the early evening.

“Well, unless the Captain sent her on an errand, she should be in her quarters at this hour.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you . . .” I said, stopping short. As good as it was to know, I had no idea where she actually lived in the barracks.

***

Not where I would have expected.

As a slave and no longer a member of the City Guards, she had no place to stay among them. Stupid rules and customs that, if broken by Rayden, would only give Baron Egerton leverage over her. That’s why Aspen had a room outside the main quarters, next to the stables, in quarters designed purely for slaves.

The thought of paying the horses a visit crossed my mind. It was kind of fun to talk to them. Not so much with the stable master. The grumpy man certainly wouldn’t appreciate me lurking around the stables at this hour.

So instead, I found a door with a metal plate on it bearing the name [Aspen Werley] - quite helpful, if I may say so myself - and tapped lightly on the wood, just in case Aspen was already asleep.

*Knock, knock.*

“Whoever it is, you better have a damn good reason for bothering me this late!” a pissed off woman’s voice came from the room. However, before I could come up with an answer - to tell her it was me - the key rattled in the lock and the door opened. There she stood, exactly as I remembered her. Tall, fiery hair, flames dancing in her eyes, and a collar around her neck. Only the long sleepshirt she wore didn’t quite match the image in my mind.

“What the fuck . . .” her eyes wide, the woman tried to process what she saw.

“Hi, Aspen. Good to see you . . . b-but if it’s not a good time, I can come la . . .”

“Oh, no, no, no . . . come on in,” the mage, already in her nightclothes, said hurriedly, with a warm smile on her lips and surprise still written all over her face. “I-I thought you were one of those fuckers.”

“Who?” I asked as she stepped aside and I slipped inside, mindful of my long ears. The place was quite a surprise. Not the tiny, dank, filthy closet I thought it would be. It fit a bed, a table with a chair, a wardrobe, a chest, a small stove, and still left plenty of room for two to squeeze in.

“Sit your ass there . . . and make yourself comfortable,” Aspen gestured to the chairs and sat down on the bed herself.

Well, I did as she said and sat down in the chair, backwards, resting my hands on the backrest. I would have preferred not to have to spread my legs, but it was still more comfortable to sit this way than as designed. The chairs were simply not made for people of my stature.

“It’s you, Grey, right?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Do you usually let someone in first and then ask who it is?”

“People don’t usually show up less than nine months later with thirty more levels and ears to the ceiling.”

A chuckle escaped my lips.

“Is that another mutation?”

“Nah, old one. Just a new trick I learned today. In fact, you’re the third one to see it - fourth if you count Sah.”

“Then I’m honored, but wait . . . didn’t anyone see you come in here?”

Another chuckle, and I let my ears return to their original size.

“Ah, well, that explains it. Hey, did you bring those ears out just to . . . you know what, whatever. Good to see you too, Korra.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has. I heard that you and Palemoon are back. Still, I have to say, you’re the last person I expected to see here tonight.”

“I know - you were expecting some fuckers.”

Aspen laughed, some of the tension dissipating. “The guys from the guards, I never got along with. Not even before I left the City Guards and . . . you know the rest.”

I did. “So they give you a hard time because . . . because they can?”

“Something like that. Look, their lame-ass bitching is nothing I can’t handle. Besides, they’re well aware that Rayden would step in if they went too far. I mean, don’t worry about me, rather, tell me more about you and . . . fuck, I don’t even know where to start. I thought you and Palemoon were gone, lost to the Fallen’s Cry like so many before you, and . . . now you’re back here, fine - minus the long ears.”

“They couldn’t keep me there,” I ignored the well-deserved jab at my ears and said with false bravado, trying to make light of the whole ‘past’ thing.

“Silly me. How could I forget that you’re no stranger to escaping?”

“Am I? I’m just doing my best to survive . . . and stay free.”

That last comment of mine obviously hurt her. “Well, you’re obviously better at that than I am.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have . . .

“Don’t get your tits in a twist. I only have myself to blame . . . and my brother, wherever that piece of shit is.”

“Wait. He ran away?”

Aspen chuckled miserably. “He was perfectly happy for me to work my ass off for those fuckers to pay off the debt HE put on our folks. But as soon as Arlo and Ward were gone, and I had this hung around my neck, he packed his shit and beat it. No sorry or thanks to his big sis.”

A thousand questions popped into my head, most of them about why, if he was the one who ran up the debt, Aspen was the only one who ended up in slavery. But she didn’t even give me a chance to ask.

“Enough, but about me. I want to hear about you and your adventure in the heart of Fallen’s Cry. Did you and Palemoon really meet Traiana there?”

“W-We did.”

“Balls! So she wasn’t shitting me.”

“W-who? Who told you?”

“Rayden, who else?”

“She did?”

“If I didn’t dream it, she sure as fuck did. Honestly, I’m not sure this whole thing isn’t just some twisted dream . . . or nightmare. I mean, no one who has ever gotten lost in the Labyrinth - any labyrinth - has ever come back. And now you two have come back with a story to tell. Too bad it took you to an ancient rainy battlefield instead of a city, but still . . . fuck, right? I mean, labyrinths as places to shelter and train; the system . . . did it really not exist in the past?”

“Only as an idea to be created. I know it’s hard to believe . . .”

“It is. Even harder to turn a blind eye to what’s right in front of my nose.”

“Um . . . you mean me?”

Aspen laughed. “No. My skills. Rayden had me switch two of them. I mean, she suggested I give it a shot. But who am I to say no to my mistress, right? Sorry, just messing with you. I was curious as fuck. Still, two 200-level skills reduced to half their glory in a snap.”

“Half? Actually . . . I think Deckard’s skills ended up the same way.”

“Skills? I thought he only swapped one.”

“Well, he followed up with more when we went to train with the mossbears in Esulmor.” Telling her and the others that he had restarted all of his skills was up to my mentor, not me.

“More skills? Training with mossbears?” Aspen’s eyes widened, only for her to shake her head. “I guess he found the perfect apprentice for himself. Anyway, if all of this is true . . . my mastery of these skills is, in fact, quite lame. I know I’m the one who should be teaching you, but would you mind giving me some tips on how to get those skills back to where they were?”

“You already regret your decision?”

“Wouldn’t you? Seriously though, knowing that the years spent honing those skills were about as useful as scratching your ass when it’s your tit that’s itching is even more irritating.”

“I wouldn’t say it was pointless . . . but yeah, I hear you.” In fact, the more I saw people’s frustration with how the system was supposed to work and what the wrong use of it caused, the more I was glad I hadn’t gotten that far with my skills before.

“So, any pointers?”

“Well, you might be happy to know that Sah is going to suggest to Rayden that me and Stella run - I don’t know what to call it - a course, a lesson on how to use the system properly . . . or some shit like that.”

“Fuck me twice! You serious?”

“Um-hmm. I’m not thrilled about it to be honest.”

“Then sign me up as your first student.”

“Were you listening at all?”

“That teaching others doesn’t work for your ass? I heard you . . . but do you think I imagined myself teaching?”

“Well, I guess not?”

“I sure as fuck didn’t. But you never know what life will throw at you.”

That I knew all too well. “About you being a teacher - that’s actually one of the reasons I came to see you.”

“Ah, I’ve heard that you’ve neglected magical teaching quite a bit in the ‘past’, my student.”

“Rayden?”

“The woman herself?”

“Just how much did she fucking tell you?”

“I guess everything the Oath you took allowed her to say? Feel free to fill in the blanks.”

“I would have thought . . .”

“She probably did it because I am bound not only by our mistress-slave relationship, but also by the Gases associated with you. Even if I wanted to, I could tell shit about what we talk about here or what I know about you.”

“Oh . . .” That actually made a lot of sense.

“I was the perfect gal to test the truth on.”

A snarl escaped my throat. It hit too close to my heart.

“Too soon, I see. Take that as a poor choice of words. So, magic. What do you want to know?”

“Actually, I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to distribute my stat points. You see, I have thirty-one of them, undistributed, and . . .”

“I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“Oh, I came here to . . .”

“No, no, no. The part about the points, how many do you have to distribute?”

“Thirty-one.”

“Traiana’s tits! Are you fucking shitting me, woman? What have you been doing all this time - ah. Tits, I’m stupid. But am I the dumb one? Still . . . damn. Thirty-one?”

“I know.”

“Why me?”

“Because I’m thinking of putting those points mostly into [Intelligence] and [Wisdom]. I couldn’t think of another mage to ask.”

“You flatter me, but I have no idea where to start . . . this is nuts. I mean, is it even reasonable to allocate them all at once?”

“What do you . . . ah?” Too great a change for the body to adjust to. Damn good point.