Lament of the Slave

"Oh, I can be even faster?!" I said excitedly after looking at the description of my fourth second-tier skill. [Swift as a Whip] was a skill that was quite useful in combat to me, although demanding on endurance. Now that the fight was over and my body was not flooded with adrenaline, I felt tired and quite sleepy.

Despite how I felt, I wanted to test the changes that the new tier had brought right here in the labyrinth. Though I looked around before I started testing anything, checking there were no other rabbits in sight. Making the same mistake twice would be stupid! 

Lastly, I made sure I didn't lose the platform. For peace of mind, I stood on it. It was only when I saw the text [Floor 0] hovering over my labyrinth mark I calmed down enough to focus my attention on my body.

Starting lightly with a few punches, I tried to get used to the new speed. That ten percent change was noticeable, which made me thrilled, and I had to try more right away. So I ran and ran as fast as never before. 

Okay, to be honest, I wasn't that much faster, but the difference still made me squeal with joy.

After I dashed back to the platform, I tried sidesteps, jumps aside, backward, forward, even rolls just to get used to the new speed. I really didn't want to be surprised by it in the fight, and it wasn't just about speed.

My endurance did not increase with the change in skill, which meant I got tired faster. Just a few minutes of this training, and I was dripping with sweat. Even so, I pushed my limits and practiced as long as my body allowed. I trained until I fell into the grass, gasping and unable to move a muscle just to find out where my new limits are.

Lying there and gathering strength, I looked once more at the description of the second tier of the [Swift as a Whip], making sure I had missed nothing.

II - The speed of the tip of the whip may be out of reach for you, but as long as your body and endurance allow, you can double your speed. Although a slave's body has its limits, and you will have to face the consequences of exceeding them.

The double speed at the expense of endurance, I understand. I expected to get tired much faster than a while ago when I used the thirty percent increase in movement speed. But what worried me were the consequences about which I had no idea what they might be!

Hmm...

There was no sun in the false sky, no way to tell how long I had been lying there thinking about the possible consequences as I gathered my strength. Well, that is until I looked at the system clock. To my dismay, I lay there for over two hours, and given how little I thought about the consequences, I had to have fallen asleep. 

"Shit!" I swore, cursing myself for my carelessness. Panicking, I immediately looked around, almost expecting a rabbit gnawing on my leg. Luckily what I felt on my leg was just my tail, there was no rabbit around.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" I growled at Sage, knowing it wasn't his fault that I took a nap.

I stood up, wiped the drool, and was ready for the double speed test. Well, not as ready as I thought, I was still sleepy. So I slapped my cheeks, took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and focused on the skill. 

Right from the start, I rejected the voice activation, just like with [Master's Shield]. For active skills, although embarrassing, it was a valid way to activate the skill.

At least in my experience!

It's been a long time since I've tried to activate skills in Dungreen's dungeon that way, and I've learned a lot since then. It wasn't necessary for me to shout the name of the skill out loud anymore and I was proud of it. However, what was tricky in this case was distinguishing, say, a normal mode from a double one. 

Although, after a few failed attempts, more than a dozen to be honest, I succeeded. Ready to run, listening to a countdown, which I started in my mind, I set off as it reached zero.

And I ... I was speechless!

I've never run so fast before, and it was terrific. At the speed I ran, I struggled with the air resistance that was holding me back. My big ears fluttered behind me, and I felt I would rise from the ground if I adjusted my wings correctly. Though, before I managed to fly, I tripped and fell into the grass.

Canceling the speed bonus and turning on my back, I gasp for air. Despite feeling tired, aching, and sweating, I couldn't help but be excited. Why wouldn't I be?

For a moment, I could feel like the fastest woman alive. 

Maybe too eager to try again, I threw myself into the second attempt even before I caught my breath. Within a few seconds, which meant tens of meters, I tripped again. It was as exciting as before, but this time I knew what was wrong, what I was doing wrong! It wasn't the rocks hidden in the grass that sent me to the ground, but I was tripping over my own feet. Thrilled by the feeling of speed, I didn't focus on my steps. At the pace I was moving, it was a considerable oversight.

So with this new knowledge, after my heart and breathing calmed down, and the muscle pain subsided, I dashed forward in the third attempt. 

I couldn't help but smile with joy like a little girl. But this time, I was watching my steps, glad I had [Space Domain] and [Perfect Equilibrium].

My joy was short-lived yet again!

A sharp pain shot through my knee, and I fell into the grass screaming in pain. Using [Inner Perception] immediately to check what was wrong with it, I swore at what I saw! One of the tendons in the knee ruptured, causing me unbelievable agony. What more, the rest of my legs weren't in much better shape. Every joint of mine hurt, my muscles were stiff, and I suffered severe muscle pain. Breathlessness, racing heart, and sweating were the least of my problems.

So I lay there, motionless, moaning and waiting for my body to regenerate while I thought about this part of the skill, about why the [slaves] actually had it. As I just found out, it wasn't a particularly good skill for prolonged use. 

I saw its primary use in a brief burst of speed. 

Why have it then? To stop the attack in time, grab the object that the master dropped before it shattered on the ground, respond to his command faster, or get out of the master's way more quickly? Well, I didn't really care. But my lewd imagination led me to Zoe, the companion in Broken Heart. I blushed at the thought of what she could use these short bursts of speed for.

"Maybe I could use it to..." I muttered, staggering, remembering my last attempt at self-pleasure. I wasn't ready yet. 

Ehm..coughing imaginary and realizing that, my mind wandered from pondering the practical use of skill in combat a bit, I tried to get my thoughts back on track.

Did this ability have any use? Maybe for a quick sidestep, a jump away, or a flutter of the wings.

Wait!

If I could flutter my wings twice as fast now, there was a chance it would be enough for me to take off. However, before I began to dream of flying, I rejected the idea. Even if I succeeded, then what? I could hold such a pace for only a few seconds before I damaged the muscles or tendons in the wings and fell.

"It wasn't good to be too eager, right?" I asked and looked at Sage. To my dismay, my tail swayed slightly in the grass between my stiff legs, dealing with his worries, whatever they may be and ignored my question completely.

I sighed, raised my hands in front of me, and looking through my fingers at the blue sky, I mused over my fighting technique. Well, rather than technique, it was a fighting style, or better yet an approach. It occured to me, I could use this double-speed thing for one or two quick punches. Hit harder! Slash faster!

These last fights and my training with Razso showed me that hitting the air might have been helpful, but I needed to punch something real if I wanted to improve. However, aside from the strange black pillars holding the ceiling and the blocks lying on the meadows, there was nothing I could strike and not be afraid of breaking my fingers on it.

Nothing but rabbits!

With that thought, I rolled onto my side and looked at the corpse of one, my soon-to-be punching bag. It wasn't respectful! I knew that, but I couldn't have asked for a better exercise tool.

Everything in due time, Korra! I warned myself.

It took a few minutes for me to catch my breath, even longer for the muscle pain to subside, and it took almost half an hour for my tendon to regrow enough for me to walk.

However, when it did, I limped to the corpse of the rabbit. It wasn't even necessary to form a barrier around my head since the wind already had blewn the surrounding poison away. 

"Sorry!" I apologized with a slight nod to the dead rabbit for what I was about to do. Not thinking about it much, because I knew I would hesitate if I did, I stood in a fighting position and hit the beast just with my strength.

It was a decent blow that, with my current strength, would cause serious injury to an ordinary animal on Earth. Even to bears, to which I compared the horned rabbits in my mind. On Eleaden it was different. Such a punch would just piss off the beast even more.

Anyway, [Swift as a Whip] didn't give me more strength, nor was there more mass behind my strike, but I could strike with more speed. Meaning with more power. After a few ordinary punches, that was exactly what I did. Unfortunately, the rabbit was not able to give me feedback, so I could only rely on myself and what I sensed when my punch connected with the corpse. I felt more pressure on my fists, more tension in my arms, and more pain in my hands. Conclusion? I was hitting harder.

Still, I took my sweet time beating the rabbit's corpse. Only after I got used to it and a brief pause to catch my breath and gain some strength, I hit the cooling corpse with the speed of a whip.

"Woohoo..." I expressed my joy at the blow, which sent ripples through the corpse. 

I wasn't stupid, okay? I learned my lesson, so even though I had the urge to pummel it, I only hit it once and checked the condition of my arm. If I neglect the pain I felt from the impact, it was fine. Now I was afraid of the next step, but I saw it as necessary to find my limit.

So after a momentary hesitation, I launched a series of blows on the dead body of a rabbit, each one faster than the next. Four punches, two with each hand, and I could already feel tired in my arms. Two more, and there was muscle pain.

Another strike with my left hand and ....

"Son of a bitch!!!" I cursed as I tore my muscle. Holding my affected arm, I fell to my knees in pain and tears. If this happened to me in combat, I'd be fucked. I still had a working right hand, but I could say with certainty that one or two more punches and I would risk a similar injury. 

It was strange how knowing that your body would last longer, that it healed faster, and that eventually, no injury was permanent for you would push your limits of what you were willing to risk. You will consciously expose yourself to a much greater danger than you would normally do, you will abuse your body more. At least that's what I did, and now I regret it.

Well, a little. It was a necessary evil, though.

Now I knew with some certainty what I could expect from this skill. Pain, tears, breathlessness, racing heart, lots of sweat, heavy punches, and quick dodges. I also knew that double speed was not a "Haste" spell or some other bullshit. Like most of the skills I had, [Swift as a Whip] was more physical in nature. It was still a skill, something unnatural for a born Earthling, but my speed was not due to magic or mana. It was a combination of my dexterity, endurance, and strength. The skill just raised the limits that my body naturally had. For a price, of course!

Ruptured tendons, torn muscles, muscle pain, and who knows what else the price for the speed the second tier of the skill allowed me was. It put so much pressure on my body that if I didn't want to be paralyzed in combat, only short bursts of such speed were safe for me.

My theory was that I could hit the corpse with so many blows and run so far, thanks to my robust constitution. I could only guess what would happen if I had just twenty stats points in it compared to my current sixty-nine. Would I be able to use this ability at all?

Looking around and then back at my punching bag, I sighed. This was a great place to train, but I wasn't fit to do something like that. Not right now! Limping and with a torn muscle in my arm, I wasn't even able to pull the rabbit's corpse to a platform just over a dozen meters away.

That was my plan before I ended up like this. The first rabbit was too far away from the platform. Plus after the fight I was more frightened I would be trapped in the labyrinth than about the loss of potential profit. This was not the case. The rabbit was almost at the platform, and I was just a few steps away. 

The problem was not just my body, though.

When I thought about it, I had no idea if the merchants were buying horned rabbits at all. I realized that I should have done some market research before I dived into the depths below the city. It was quite possible that I would pull this corpse through the square, risking ridicule from others, only to find that I could not sell it. There was also a question about my poison! Was it safe to sell meat from a poisoned rabbit?

With a heavy heart, I took one last look around the first floor, its meadows, the hills, and the mysterious sky, and limped to the platform. After choosing "Floor 0", the runes on the platform lit up, and the first floor disappeared before my eyes in the blinding white light that surrounded me, accompanied by Traiana's cry. Before I could blink, I stood in the middle of Labyrinth Square.

Too late, I realized my mistake. Just a moment after I appeared on a vast platform, full of seekers, their attention turned to me. I don't know what I expected. The heroine's triumphant return after defeating the floor guard, which no one has done so far, which I read about in books, would be nice.

My expectations were a little more modest, though. I hoped everyone would ignore me. 

I wished too much!

"Hey, look at her ..."

"... the first floor? Those rabbits messed her up pretty badly, man ..."

"... hey rookie ... you better give up!"

I didn't need their harsh remarks to know I wasn't an experienced seeker. I didn't need them to tell me how messy I looked to be able to imagine what I had to look like, tousled hair, full of grass, dirt smudges on my face, and the pain in my eyes. What I didn't have to imagine were the green smudges of grass on my clothes mixed with those from dirt and sweat stains. Only Sage was somehow unaffected by what happened in the labyrinth, looking perfect.

Yet, most of these seekers didn't mock my appearance. They mocked me for ending up like that, for my incompetence. After all, this was not a job for princesses, and looks were the last thing on my mind when I fought. I assumed the same was true for them.

Hesitating to move, I wished I had stayed in the labyrinth for a little longer. I could walk, but with pain and limping. Staying in place, however, was as humiliating as what awaited me after taking a few steps.

There was no point in trying to maintain any dignity, so I lowered my ears, pressed my injured hand to my chest, and headed for the stairs leading to the square above. The seekers burst out laughing even more, throwing even harsher remarks at me than I had dreaded.

I could do nothing but gnash my teeth, keep my mouth shut, my head down, and move forward. There was no point in yelling back at them, explaining to them I had killed two horned rabbits, or trying to convince them that my limping was not caused by these beasts but by myself.

Climbing the stairs was a challenge, but it was worth it. The seekers up in the square were not so hostile. Most of them minding their own business.

Except for one!

"Hello, Gorgeous," a seeker approached me.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at him. He was pretty handsome with a disarming smile. And he smiled at me despite my pathetic appearance and quite bad smell. Unfortunately, I suspected he hadn't approached me because he liked me.

"Yes?" I asked cautiously and a little anxious.

His smile widened, "My name is Daniel Fernbough. I couldn't help but notice you could use some help...."

He probably expected me to tell him my name now. I didn't!

"Perhaps," I said, thinking on my next words. "... I need a lot of help, though. Sir!"

"Oh, Daniel is enough," he laughed, ruffling his hair with hand, "...and that is not a problem! My company ...."

Here we go! I sighed.