Ch141: Recuperating & Dealing with Level Ups

A numb pain fills the barbarian’s entire being. Her lungs burn with each laborious breath she takes. A sharp sting throbs behind her eyes.

Her body rolls slightly to the side. She finds herself staring up at the sky. Her vision is blurry and hazy, but Krvavy can still see the general shape of the clouds. The dark masses that were spiralling above, summoned by the Patriarch’s magics, are fading away and dispersing into nothingness.

The slowly clearing sky is almost peaceful... It is kind of bea–

Krvavy grimaces as a loud noise bursts into her ears, breaking the silence and leaving an incessant ringing in its place.

“MATE! MATE!” Khalia’s despairing howls echo through the barbarian’s cloudy mind. “MAA-AAATE!”

Claws dig into Krvavy’s shoulders as a certain Greenskin looms above her, little more than a hazy blur blocking out the sky. “I-I...” She struggles to get even a sound past her cracked lips.

“NO SLEEP!” Khalia frantically cries, her shouted words stabbing into the sore eardrums of her Mate. “NO DIE!” Her grip grows tighter, almost painfully so, as she gives Krvavy a good shake. “STAY! AWAKE! STAY! HERE!”

“I... I... ahk...!” The Drakling weakly sputters and coughs as her precious puppy abruptly empties a waterskin onto her face. “Ahk! Spht! St-stop...! I’m... f...fine...!”

“LIES!”

Each uneven beat of the barbarian’s heart sees her vision grow just a little more clear. The vague shape of this Were-Beast becomes easier to make out. Those green-skinned cheeks are... glistening. Stained with tears.

“I... I’m not... dead...” A soft sigh accompanies that incredibly weak attempt at reassurance. “Really, I’ll... be... fi–”

Khalia’s plump lips abruptly press against the barbarian’s mouth, silencing those words with a clumsy kiss. “Ma-aate...” The Orc sorrowfully whines. “Please...! No die...!”

Krvavy closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, earning herself quite a few frantic taps on the face... which quickly start to feel more like slaps... “I’m... not dying...” She groans in open annoyance, trying and failing to push the Orc off of her.

“Rrgh!”

The barbarian’s vision is mostly clear now, though everything still looks like it is wobbling just a bit... And her eyes still hurt. Granted, that isn’t exactly saying much. Her everything hurts right now... “Did you... kill all the... the guards...?”

“Yes Mate!” Khalia swiftly barks her answer, perking up a little. “None escape!”

A feeling of relief washes over Krvavy, only to quickly fade away as she properly takes in the sight of her precious puppy. “You’re... covered in blood...”

“Not mine! Mostly!” The Were-Beast boasts, pulling back and proudly puffing out her breastplate covered chest, furred fists pressing into wide hips. Her muscled midsection tenses, bringing attention to her buff – and more than slightly bloody – belly as she sits there, expecting an appreciative gaze to rake across her body. “Me strong! And Humans weak!”

The concern Krvavy may have for her own current state is swiftly overtaken as she worries about this Were-Beast’s well-being. “Any injuries...?” She cautiously asks, slowly pushing herself into an upright position.

“Rrgh...!” Khalia growls and narrows her eyes at her Mate, clearly considering pushing the Drakling back down to the ground. But after a few seconds she decides to instead cuddle up against Krvavy’s side. “No. Me fine.”

The barbarian flinches slightly as that cold metal breastplate touches her sore skin. She gives her head the softest of shakes... and then waits a few seconds for the world to stop spinning... before very carefully looking over her Orc. The runes painted onto Khalia’s skin and fur seem to have lost most of their rust-red colour, dulling into a shade that is approaching grey, but other than that...

Krvavy weakly grabs onto the Were-Beast’s shoulder and tries to push Khalia back a bit. Emphasis on tries. That clingy Greenskin refuses to be even slightly separated from her, and the barbarian currently lacks both the strength and energy to change that. “Fine...” She mutters, more to herself, before beginning to clumsily search for the straps holding Khalia’s breastplate in place, undoing them one by one.

That successfully tricks the cuddly Greenskin into pulling back... if just for a brief moment. Still, that is long enough for Krvavy to quickly look her over.

There are only a few small cuts and bruises visible on Khalia’s body, nothing major or particularly serious looking, which is quite the relief. It looks like those runes did their job quite well indeed.

But the same can’t be said for Khalia’s breastplate. That piece of armour is covered in deep gouges and large punctured holes, though luckily none of that damage seems to have a matching wound to be worried about...

“Heh...!” A single laugh passes through Krvavy’s lips, quickly shifting into a pained wince at that sudden movement. A pair of intense amber-gold eyes stare straight at her, filled with confusion and concern. “You didn’t... believe when I... when I said I was fine... And here I am, not... believing you either...”

Khalia scowls and looks almost insulted by that comparison. “Me fine, Mate not! Can Mate stand!? Walk!? No! Mate not fine!”

Krvavy can’t help but smile and slowly shake her head, only to pause as she sees the Patriarch’s body in the corner of her eye. A large puddle of blood surrounds that corpse, pooling the deepest where its head used to be. Chunks of... debris... pollute that bloody pond, leaving it a grisly mess made even more grim by the sight of the charred hands still held up and pressed together in prayer.

The Drakling’s lips slowly twist down into a frown.

That fight was... It could have gone better, to put it lightly. She didn’t do as well as she could have. She could have used more of her magic. She should have used more of her magic. At the very least she should have used Windborne Haste to move quicker. Maybe she could have even avoided the lightning wizard’s attacks altogether if she had done that...?

But Krvavy knows why she didn’t do that. She knows why she was saving her mana.

A part of her, a dark part of her, wanted to torture that frail old man to death. That part of her wanted to use Knit Flesh to keep him alive long past the point he should have died. That part of her wanted to spread his ribs into bloody wings as she gutted him alive, it –

“Mate...?” The Were-Beast’s quiet voice pulls Krvavy from her thoughts. “Mate... okay...?”

“Yeah... Yes... I’m... I’m fine...” The barbarian breathes deeply and slowly. It is better that the lightning wizard died so quickly. Even if that is what is making her revenge feel a little... hollow...

The Drakling grimaces and decides to forcibly put those thoughts aside. She doesn’t want to dwell on what she might have done, or even what she could have done better. She survived and she won, that is what matters.

“Mate... need heal...?” Khalia slowly asks, tilting her head to the side. The worry and concern in her amber-gold eyes only seems to grow as she repeatedly looks her Mate up and down.

“I... Probably...” Krvavy mutters back, wincing as she lets her shoulders slump.

It would be nice if she had a healing spell... An actual healing spell. Knit Flesh is great for closing wounds, which is kind of healing, but that isn’t exactly what she needs right now. For the most part. She does have a few scratches and cuts that it wouldn’t hurt to close... The blood slowly oozing out of her probably isn’t helping with how lightheaded she is...

“Hngh...” The Drakling grits her teeth and groans, discomfort washing over her in waves as Knit Flesh does as advertised, her skin and scales and flesh all squirming back together...

“Mate.”

Krvavy jumps as the Were-Beast suddenly reappears in front of her, that quick and jerky motion drawing out another wince of pain. Her head throbs and swirls with dazed confusion. Khalia had stepped away from her around a minute or so ago. She remembers that. But... she didn’t really notice it when it happened...?

“Mate...!” Khalia snarls in worry, her clawed fingers digging into her Draconic Mate’s shoulder. That strong grip is the only thing keeping Krvavy from toppling over. “Drink!”

“Wha–?”

“Potion!” That Were-Beast’s other paw-like hand shoves a tiny vial right into the barbarian’s face. The dark red and disgustingly murky liquid within looks unnatural in a way that Krvavy’s mind can’t quite describe. “Drink!”

“Ughk!” Krvavy instinctively gags as the vial’s stopper is removed, the potion’s pungent odour burning into her nostrils. Her whole body seizes up as her precious puppy presses the vial past her lips and pours its contents into her mouth. A mouth that is forcibly shut, lips pinched together to ensure that not a drop is spilled.

The bitter liquid splashes against her tongue, sending an unpleasant shock through Krvavy’s cloudy mind. It... doesn’t taste quite as horrid as she expected... It reminds her of cheap cough syrup, just a little thicker and filled with pulp... Rather chewy pulp...

Without realizing it, she swallows.

“Ghh...” The barbarian chokes as the slimy liquid trails down her throat, leaving its disgustingly bitter taste in her mouth. An almost uncomfortably warm feeling suddenly washes over her body, spreading out from her stomach in waves. Her heartbeat quickens and her muscles begin to burn as –

+500 Health

“Mate better now?” Khalia asks, her tail wagging expectantly behind her.

The barbarian blinks, and takes a deep breath. Neither her lungs nor ribs protest sting. Basically all of the aching pains assailing her body... are gone. “Yeah...” She slowly replies, daring to rolling her shoulders. Which doesn’t hurt to do. She stretches her arms next. “Yeah, I – oof!”

A crushingly tight hug squeezes the air out of Krvavy, her eyes watering from that bit of pain.

“Mate...” The Were-Beast quietly whimpers, her trembling voice barely audible as she buries her face into her barbaric Mate’s breasts. “M...mate...”

Krvavy grits her teeth and pushes through the pain. “It’s okay... I’m... alright.” She gently reassures, running a hand through Khalia’s coarse hair. Those black-brown strands are damp with sweat. And blood, judging by how sticky they are. “Where... Where did you find that... potion?”

“Rrmhmnhh...” Khalia grumbles as she reluctantly releases the Drakling from her crushing hug. Not that she really pulls back, trailing her touch up down her Mate’s sides. “On knight. Dead one.”

“What?”

“In fight. Knight drank healing drink. Got more energy. Still died. This,” Khalia taps the empty vial resting on the ground, “on knight you killed.”

“Oh.” Krvavy blinks. Guess it makes sense that those knights would’ve had some health potions on them to use in an emergency... It didn’t heal that much though... But it was also in a pretty small dose... “Wait.” Her thoughts cut off as she realizes something. “You fought some of them as well?”

“One.” The Were-Beast grunts and shrugs her shoulders. “Rrrrgh...” She quietly growls, pawing at Krvavy’s chest. “Not fully heal...!”

“Huh?” The barbarian tilts her head in confusion and finally looks down at herself. The first thing she notices is that the runes painted onto her body are completely black and dusty, smudging across both her and Khalia’s skin. Those charred lines are so distracting that she almost doesn’t notice what it is her Orc is grumbling about.

She has some new scars.

On her collarbone, right in the same spot where she activated the runes, is a faint little crater. If it wasn’t pointed out to her, if Khalia’s finger wasn’t currently poking at it, then Krvavy isn’t sure if she would have even noticed it. That scar is hardly even visible, and not just because of this awkward angle.

But while it isn’t easy to see with her eyes, it is incredibly obvious beneath her fingertip. She can feel the slight ridge surrounding it, she can feel the change in her skins texture, and she can feel... “Beryl is not going to like this...” Krvavy clicks her tongue, trailing her finger away from the crater.

Extending across her chest are countless branching lines. While they are even more difficult to see, they are still visible. And now that she knows that they are there, those scarred lines seem so obvious to her. She can see them reaching across her skin and even some of her scales, extending outwards from that little crater...

“Runes burned for Mate...!” Khalia grumbles, almost sorrowfully smudging the charred paint around.

“Mhm...” Krvavy hums in agreement, as that certainly seems to be the case. “Could be worse...” She idly mutters, pulling her hand away from the lightning-like scars. They don’t extend all that far away from their starting point. None make it the whole way up her neck, ending well below her chin. None make it anywhere near to her nipples, fading away long before that point. They do extend out towards her shoulders some more, but they end shortly after marring her black scales with faint greyish lines.

“Rrrgh!” The Orc angrily growls, clearly not happy about whatever thoughts just popped into her head. “Mate...! Almost...! Die...!”

The barbarian just gently pats Khalia on the head, knowing that there is no point in arguing about that. Even if she thinks that her precious puppy is overreacting a bit. After all, Krvavy isn’t dead right now, so she is fine.

With a long sigh, Krvavy decides to turn her attention to the deluge of notifications brimming in the back of her mind. Most of them seem to be unimportant little status effects detailing just why she felt so exhausted and sore before, but luckily none of them seem to be particularly serious. A good long rest should be enough to deal with anything that potion didn’t solve.

But there is one important popup buried beneath the others which stands out to her.

+20 Divine Favour, for slaying Patriarch Grigori and avenging your own death.

If she had more energy right now, Krvavy would be absolutely ecstatic. A full twenty points of Divine Favour... That is a lot. But, annoyingly, it is still not enough to get that Inventory that she has her eye on... And, to be honest, she doesn’t really know what to spend it on. But it isn’t like she has to spend them right away, so there is no harm in putting this off and looking over her options some more when she gets back home.

The same can’t be said about her stat points though, as those will get automatically allocated when she falls asleep. Which... might have happened already? Krvavy doesn’t know if she fell unconscious for a little bit or not. Guess there is an easy way to find that out...

The barbarian freezes in shock as she sees the amount of health that she currently has. Numbers race through her head as she hastily does the very simple math to realize just how close she came to dying. Maybe Khalia wasn’t overreacting...

Krvavy is absolutely one-hundred percent certain that she would not have survived that fight had it not been for all the extra preparations that she had. There is no way that she is going to thank Shadow for that anti-magic grenade, no matter how useful it was, but she is definitely going to thank Inanna for the nails and runic body paint...

Taking a deep breath, Krvavy moves her eyes further down her stat sheet, and sighs in relief.

It looks like she didn’t fall unconscious, as she still has the points from all of her level ups. All five level ups. That just feels like an almost crazy amount. Granted, Libidinous Lifestyle is currently increasing her experience gains by an extra forty-five percent – ten from all four of her girls and another five from the Countess – and she killed a few people who were definitely higher level than she was, so it isn’t too much of a surprise...

But now she has to allocate all of those points, which is... Well, it is a bit of a relief, as she’d like to continue getting milestone traits...

And thinking about those traits, just which ones should Krvavy get? She is tempted to use all twenty-five stat points to upgrade Willful Warrior, as that’ll increase her magic resistances and make her even tougher. Except that is... that isn’t really necessary right now. It would have been useful an hour or so ago, but she isn’t exactly planning on hunting down some more wizards any time soon...

Guess she’ll just continue increasing her Charisma and...? Well, her Perception has been at fourteen for a while now, so it makes sense to bring them both up to twenty-five. That will get her two new traits and leave her with two points left over... Hmm... She’ll still need three level ups to get Rationality, Allure, or Guile to their first milestones... So it doesn’t really matter where she puts these last two points....

It isn’t much, but maybe putting them into Allure will help make up for her new scars?

“Mate.” Khalia draws the Drakling out of her thoughts just as the last couple points are allocated. “Loot now?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Krvavy nods, giving her puppy a soft smile as that Greenskin helps pull her onto her feet. “I was just – ugh...” The uncomfortably moist ground squelches as she steps into a pool of blood. Her magic drains it a little, converting that mess into mana, but that doesn’t make her feel any cleaner... She pushes that disgust aside. It was probably her blood anyway. “Ahem. I’ve levelled up a few times, so now I’m a higher level than you are~.” The barbarian playfully teases, bringing her stat sheet back into view.

Charismatic Courage I: Increases Charisma by 5%, greatly strengthens the effect it has on Total Health, and slightly strengthens the effect it has on Mana Regeneration. Associated attribute = Charisma.

Perceptive Passion I: Increases Perception by 2.5%, strengthens the effect it has on Stamina & Mana Regeneration, now affects Total Mana, and bolsters your ability to read the emotions of living beings. Associated attribute = Perception.

Krvavy’s two new traits aren’t really anything special, though that little bit at the end of Perceptive Passion is kind of interesting. Living beings... It doesn’t just say people, so guess it’ll help her understand animals better...?

“Me still stronger!” Khalia arrogantly growls back, drawing the barbarian from her thoughts once more. The green-skinned Were-Beast is standing up straight, proudly puffing up her now bare chest and trying to make herself look big next to the taller Drakling. “And me level too!”

“Oh? Really~? Took you long enough~.” Krvavy playfully asks, dismissing the various popups in her vision and immediately using Inspect on her precious puppy.

“Already allocated the points?” A tinge of surprise underlines that question.

Khalia nods. “Got Willpower trait. Mate likes traits. And others go in Charisma. Spells use that.”

The Drakling can’t help but smile as she lovingly ruffles her puppy’s hair. Khalia may be a little simple at times, but she isn’t an idiot. She actually thought about where to put her points, rather than just dumping them into some random stats. “Good job~!”

The Were-Beast woman almost glows with joy as she gets praised, her tail flicking back and forth behind her butt. “Me not dumb!” She happily states, her smile turning a little predatory. “Mental numbers even bigger than Mate’s~!”

“Tsk.” Krvavy clicks her tongue in mock annoyance. “Attributes aren’t everything, you know that.”

“Excuse~!”

Krvavy smiles and gently shakes her head, turning her attention towards the Orc’s new trait. She can guess what it does, but there isn’t any harm in checking.

Wild Willpower I: Increases Willpower by 7.5% and strengthens the effect it has on Resistances. Associated attribute = Willpower.

As expected. Khalia doesn’t care much about magic, and it isn’t like she needs a lot of mana either, so it is only natural that she would get a trait that focuses on making her even tougher.

“Hrmgh?” Khalia tilts her head questioningly as the barbarian reaches over and touches her toned belly. The runic paint has now lost all of it’s colour, leaving it as nothing more than dull grey lines which smudge under Krvavy’s thumb.

It would have been nice to see just how tough those runes made Khalia, but at least this way Krvavy will get to see her Orc’s raw resistances, without any buffs increasing them.

“Wow, you really are one tough puppy~.” The barbarian lovingly ruffles the Were-Beast’s hair, letting Khalia nuzzle up against her once more. “No wonder you hardly took any damage in that fight~.”

The Greenskin gazes up at her Mate, amber-gold eyes twinkling with pride. “Me strong~! Me tough~!”

Krvavy smiles warmly as she cups the Were-Beast’s chin. “Yes, yes you are~.” She praises her precious puppy, leaning in to give Khalia a long kiss. “I love you~.”

Khalia’s wagging tail swishes back and forth even quicker as a wide toothy grin spread across her face. “Love Mate too~! Arwwhooo~!” She howls in joy, lunging forwards and overpowering her Mate with another tight hug. One which doesn’t hurt nearly as much as before.

“Haha~!” The Drakling can’t help but laugh in pure joy as her green-skinned killing machine cuddles and clings so tightly onto her. “Alright, that’s enough~!” Her scaled fingers grab onto her Were-Beast’s waist as she forces herself to be more serious. “We shouldn’t linger here too long. Let’s gather up any loot, wash up a bit, burn as much evidence as we can, and then quickly head home. Sound good?”

“Yes Mate!” Khalia quickly pulls away and nods, growing serious despite the longing look in her amber-gold eyes.

“Great. You check out the wagons. I’ll join you once I’m done with the bodies over here.” The Drakling orders, her gaze slowly trailing over the corpses littering this road. It wouldn’t hurt to strip some armour off those dead knights... Khalia’s breastplate is utterly ruined, and these silvery suits of armour are definitely better than what she had before...

Krvavy’s thoughts slowly trail off as she sees something sticking out of some bushes quite a distance away.

“What...? Oh!” She gasps in realization. That is her axe.

Quickly hurrying over, the barbarian wrenches her weapon free from the ground and gives it a worried look over. It... isn’t in the best state, but it could be worse. A good portion of it’s axehead appears to be rather warped, as if the lightning that struck it had partially melted the metal.

Well, good thing this isn’t an ordinary weapon, but a Soulbound one. It will be able to repair itself, though Krvavy isn’t sure how long that will take... Hopefully it’ll be back in perfect condition before she needs to use it again. That oversized axe briefly becomes transparent before disappearing back into the safety of her soul.

Now... She should actually get to looting...