Motif · Book 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods
Carl's bare feet
Carl loses his borrowed Crocs in the first minutes and the AI notices: the Smush skill, the breathy item descriptions, the Enchanted Pedicure Kit of the Sylph, the Platinum Shoe Box. By the second floor his soles no longer feel the ground, his buffs require him barefoot, and the Maestro's parting gift of tactical boots is a taunt.
Segment appearances
Progression
Sticky Feet from the Leprous Bandit's toe ring — walls and ceilings, barefoot only, dexterity-times-two seconds every six hours (ch. 2) — used upside down over a living floor with a bag of fire (ch. 22) and on a looping biplane's wing (ch. 31); Talon Strike on a changeling's head and a bully's (ch. 6, ch. 31); a gerbil under his sole to end a siege, which is what the AI wanted (ch. 13). 'No socks, no shoes.'