Ch150: Learning A Couple New Spells

“Ya sure tha’ ya want ta be ‘ere fer this?”

Thea narrows her eyes at the Wood Elf, her stare turning into a glare as she crosses her arms over her completely bare breasts. “Yes.”

“Alrighty then... Just don’t blame me if none o’ this works fer ya.” Beryl gently shakes her head, letting a long second pass before suddenly turning her attention towards Krvavy. “Now, my dearest love, wha’ school o’ magic would ya like ta focus on first?”

“I was thinking... Wind?” The Drakling hesitantly suggests, not quite sure of her choice. “It is pretty close to naturally giving me another spell, which... might help...?”

The corners of Beryl’s lips slowly curl upwards. “Tha’ is a great idea, my dearest love!” She affectionately coos, leaning right up against her lover’s side and nuzzling so close to Krvavy that her pert tits have no choice but to be pressed nearly flat against pale skin and black scales. “Wind Magic is often seen as more passionate and wild!” A mischievous gleam enters her blue-green gaze. “So yer lewd brat o’ a fiancée will likely get some use out o’ followin’ along as well~!”

“I am right here you know...” Thea quietly grumbles, looking even more pouty and annoyed as she gets completely ignored. Though the fact that her engagement has been acknowledged does seem to placate her a little...

“Do ya already ‘ave a particular idea in mind fer a spell?” The very tips of this tanned tomboy’s nimble fingers trace small circles on the inside of the Drakling’s muscled thigh.

“Kind of?” The thick layer of soft moss that serves as the mattress to their expansive bed squishes beneath Krvavy’s body as she makes herself just a bit more comfortable, one of her hands gliding across Beryl’s back as she loosely returns her sweet berry’s half hug. “Would it... Would it be possible to have something that can deflect projectiles away from me? Like some sort of little storm swirling around me? Just as long as it isn’t too annoying. I still need to be able to see out of it, and I don’t want it messing with whatever I’m doing either.”

The tanned Elf takes a moment to think, her brow knitting together. After a few seconds, she slowly nods her head. “Aye, Ah’m sure tha’d be possible. But it might be a bit... complicated. Could take ya a while ta get it right. Though ya do ‘ave maxed affinities, so maybe it’ll be easy...?”

“That’s fine.” The Drakling replies with a smile, pointedly ignoring how her fiancée just exaggeratedly rolled those beautiful blue eyes of hers upon hearing that shameless bit of flattery. “If we don’t make any progress and it starts to get frustrating, then we can just move onto something else.”

Beryl simply nods again. “Sounds like a plan...” She softly sighs, reluctantly peeling herself away from Krvavy’s warmth and scooting just about an arms reach away, matching the barbarian’s pose as she sits on their big bed with her legs crossed. Her pointed ears wiggle in amusement as she watches Thea mirror her already mirrored actions a little bit off to the side. “Are ya comfortable and ready ta jump right inta it, my dearest love?”

“Yup.”

“Then close yer eyes.” The Elf gently orders, her voice calm and purposefully devoid of any emotion. “Breathe deeply and slowly. In... and out... In... and out... Calm yer ‘eart and yer ‘ead. Focus just on my voice and on yerself. Push aside yer idle thoughts and relax. Relax yer body, and yer mind. Look inta yerself.”

It doesn’t take much time nor effort for Krvavy to fall into a meditative state as she listens to Beryl’s tranquil instructions, letting them guide her. A slightly disorienting feeling of deja vu washes over Krvavy as she once again sees the vague silhouette of her own body in her mind. It has been quite some time since she last did this, and she nearly forgot just how odd it is to see a ghostly echo of herself hovering in a void of nothingness...

The sight of those vein-like rivers of purple-blue energy flowing beneath the misty white glow of her ethereal skin brings her back to the task at hand.

Her inner vision slowly glances up and down her imagined body. Just as she is sitting in reality, the tail of this ghostly projection is curled around her side. The river of magic within her tail is frayed along its length, like a single long branch with hundreds of little twigs growing all over it, though that fraying becomes sparser and less severe as it nears her torso.

Her toes and fingers curl slightly as her attention shifts to them, watching the wispy strands contained within her translucent shimmering skin move along with those faint motions. The nodes in her palms, in her feet, and at the back of her mouth all feel brighter than she remembers from last time. But, then again, this whole vision is clearer than it was before...

Rather than dwell on that thought, Krvavy’s focus flows upstream along the channels. In the center of her chest, buried beneath her ethereal breasts, stands a miniature purple-blue sun. Each beat of that false-heart thrums with power.

“Are ya ready, my dearest love?” Beryl’s soft voice echoes from the distant void all around the Drakling, those words muffled faintly as if they were both under water.

Krvavy calmly nods her head, keeping her focus on this imagined projection of herself.

“Good.” The Elf pauses briefly, audibly taking a deep breath. “Think o’ the wind, the ever-present air around ya. Feel the caress o’ a gentle breeze flowin’ through fields o’ wheat, ‘ear the whisperin’ it draws from the leaves o’ a forest. Watch the clouds driftin’ through the sky, their migration driven on by a steady gust. Imagine a forceful gale blowin’ over the hills, carryin’ wit’ it sand, snow, and storms. This is the ever-movin’ breath o’ the world.”

The barbarian’s body feels light and airy as she listens to Beryl’s words, not letting a single errant thought enter her mind.

“Keep those sensations and images in yer ‘ead, and look deeply inta yerself.” The Elf gently orders. “Focus on yer core, on the power tha’ radiates off o’ it. Breathe the air in. Blow the air out. Now do the same wit’ yer core, wit’ yer ethereal ‘eart. Feel the wind inside o’ ya, and draw it from yer core. Lead it through yer channels, and let it escape their confines. Let it suffuse through yer body. Let it seep through yer skin.”

Krvavy follows Beryl’s soft-spoken instructions, letting her mana bleed out from her channels and into her ghostly form. A tingle runs across her body as a gentle caress trails across her skin. Her channels pulse in time with her core, glowing brightly as a purple-blue mist seeps through her ethereal skin, growing fainter as it moves away from her.

“Let the wind dance around yer body, free and ‘appy as can be. Let it grow more excited, more passionate. Let it whirl around wildly, pushin’ away all tha’ means ya ‘arm. The wind is yer shield...! The wind is yer skin!” Emotion begins to enter Beryl’s voice, her words sounding almost like whispered chants filled with the excitement of a twirling breeze. “Now, my dearest love, open yer eyes!”

A quiet whistle of wind fills Krvavy’s ears as her eyelids raise, staring at the slightly wavering sight of her sweet berry’s wide smile. The world around her wobbles slightly as a magical wind swirls around her body... in an ever so slightly nauseating way. She blinks once and then twice. Before she can blink a third time, the dancing currents of air shift around and her sight becomes clear once more.

“Keep it up, my dearest love~! Ya got it right on yer first try, but don’t let the winds fade yet~!” Beryl joyfully laughs, arm outstretched as she wiggles a freshly grown branch in front of her, the breeze blowing its leaves to and fro. “Time ta test ‘ow effective yer storm is~!” Her eyes twinkle with a mischievous light as she uses her own magic to quickly grow a thick wooden knot from that branch, breaking it free before gently tossing it at Krvavy.

The Drakling’s eyes widen in surprise as the chunk of wood is abruptly sent careening off to the side.

“Wow, lot more effective than Ah thought it’d be...” The tanned tomboy idly muses, already forming another knot. “But Ah did toss tha’ rather weakly... So let’s see wha’ ‘appens if Ah throw it ‘arder!”

Krvavy can’t help but smirk as the winds swirling around her deflect that wooden ball as easily as the first.

“Ach.” A bit of disappointment enters the Wood Elf’s eyes, even though she should be happy that this new spell is able to protect Krvavy. “Can it block more than one thing at once though?” She idly wonders, turning her gaze towards Thea. “Ya can give it a try as well. Catch!”

A blocky chunk of wood lands in the noble girl’s lap, snapping that brat out of her already rather distracted meditation. For a moment, it almost seems like she wants to throw it back at the Elf...

“On three, aye?” Oblivious to that brief bit of danger, Beryl hefts her piece of wood up and aims it at their shared lover. “One... Two... Three!”

“Ha!” The barbarian lets out a single laugh as both blocks of wood are deflected away from her body.

“Don’t get cocky, my dearest love!” Beryl is quick to caution Krvavy, waggling a finger in front of her. “Overconfidence can kill ya! This is just a little test ta see if it works, and it does...! We’ll ‘ave ta properly test yer magic late thoughr. See if it can deflect my arrows, or even a ‘eavier bolt from one o’ the crossbows ya’ve got lying around.”

“Ooh!” Thea perks up as she hears that, just the slightest bit of malice entering her eyes. “Can I ‘help’ with that?! It would be so very fun to shoot some arrows at this arrogant lizard~!”

“Loose some ah’rows~.” Beryl teasingly corrects the brat. “Ya’ll be loosin’ ah’rows at ‘er~! Tha’ is the proper term~. And yes, ya can ‘elp out. It’ll be useful ta see if our dearest love’s new magic will accidentally redirect an ah’row tha’d usually miss ‘er inta ‘ittin’ ‘er instead~!”

“Grea – Hey!” That noble girl’s excited expression quickly shifts into one of outrage as she realizes what the Elf just said. “Y-you hag!”

Beryl’s lips curl into a satisfied smirk as she turns back to Krvavy, completely ignoring Thea’s sputtered insult... and the few other that follow it. “My dearest love, ya’ve clearly got an ‘andle on tha’ magic. Ah take it tha’ it is an actual spell and not just ya usin’ mana ta move the air around?”

“Uh, let me check...” The Drakling turns her gaze to the side, before bringing up her stat sheet. “Yes.”

Turbulent Shroud: Wind magic emanates from your body and forms a protective cloak which redirects the trajectories of incoming projectiles away from you. Faster moving projectiles and those with more mass require stronger winds to deflect. Costs up to 250 Mana to activate, with the winds growing in strength in proportion to the Mana spent, and drains 20% of initial cost per minute to maintain. Associated attributes = Dexterity & Perception.

Krvavy lets the winds die down completely as she reads that description to her girls.

“Ach, tha’ sounds like a rather costly spell... But it also seems rather effective at wha’ it does...” The tanned Elf idly thinks aloud, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “My dearest love, ‘ow much Mana do ya ‘ave left after tha’?”

“A little under two-thirds. I wasn’t casting that at full power, I don’t think.”

“Great!” Beryl happily chirps back, her wide smile dripping with joy. “Ah was a little worried tha’ we’d ‘ave ta cut this short, though Ah suppose tha’ ya’ve got a good way ta generate more Mana sittin’ right ‘ere~!”

“Hmph!” Thea doesn’t deign that with a response. Unless crossing her arms and pouting counts.

“So, my dearest love, are ya ready ta get right back ta it and learn another spell or two~? See if we can continue this successful streak o’ yers~?”

“Of course.” Krvavy quickly nods, smiling widely and warmly at the beautiful Wood Elf sitting across from her.

“Any preferences on which school we do next?” The tanned tomboy asks, innocently stretching her arms high above her head and, definitely unintentionally, pushing her pert breasts forwards in just the perfect way to put them on display. “Nnnnh~...” A slightly lewd sigh passes through her lips as she settles back down and casually continues on as if nothing had happened. “Beast Magic, perhaps? Ya’re also pretty close ta levelling tha’ up ta ten.”

Krvavy lightly shakes her head, both to push aside any distracted thoughts and as an answer. “I’d rather do Nature Magic first. I have a vague idea of something I want, but I’m not really sure how it might work.”

“Lucky ya~! Nature Magic is my specialty, after all~! Ah’ll be able ta ‘elp ya out as easily as Ah breathe~!” The tomboyish Elf glows with pride as she makes that bold, and probably honest, claim. “Go ahead! Wha’ do ya ‘ave in mind?”

“You know my javelins, yeah?” That rhetorical question gets an immediate nod. Beryl is the one who makes those for Krvavy, after all. “Well, I hardly ever use them for anything beyond hunting because they’re kinda inconvenient to lug around everywhere. So it’d be nice if I could just create them as I need them.”

“Ah see... Hmm...” A rather thoughtful look fills Beryl’s face, her lips pressing together and scrunching a little to the side. “In theory... tha’ would be rather simple. It is quite easy ta grow a straight stick wit’ one pointy end...” Her blue-green eyes suddenly snap towards Krvavy, staring rather intensely. “Ah suspect ya want somethin’ a bit more specialized than my own Shape Wood spell, aye?”

“Yeah.” Krvavy quickly nods her head. “I mean, it’d be fun to be able to make whatever I wanted out of wood whenever I wanted to, but... A spell that only makes javelins feels like it’d be a lot more effective at that. And maybe even cheaper to use...?”

“Aye, yer magic would be more focused wit’ a spell tha’ is less free-form.” The tomboyish Elf responds, nimble fingers idly drumming away atop her toned thigh. “But... Such a spell won’t be quite as simple as ya might think. Nature Magic is... rather tangible. Ta create somethin’ out o’ nothin’ but Mana is not a cheap affair. Ya’d ‘ave an easier time doin’ tha’ wit’, say, yer Fire Magic. Though those javelins wouldn’t exactly be physical, and might not be the best fer ‘untin’...”

“I see.” The Drakling lightly clicks her tongue, feeling a little disappointed. She really needs some sort of ranged option better than just breathing fire, and she thought that this would be that...

“Ach, don’t be discouraged.” The Wood Elf gently reaches over and pats Krvavy on the knee. “We can still make yer idea work, it’s just... Take those wooden knots tha’ Ah just threw at ya as an example. Ah could ‘ave formed them from nothin’ but my Mana, it’s just tha’ doin’ so would ‘ave been needlessly taxin’ fer wha’ they are. So instead Ah grew them from tha’ stick, which Ah grew from the moss we’re all sittin’ on.”

The barbarian blinks. “So if I had some sort of wood on me I could just... pull these javelins out of it?”

“Aye,” Beryl nods, smiling softly as she confirms that thought, “tha’d be much less Mana intensive. Especially if it was livin’ wood.”

“Okay, great! So we can do this?”

“O’ course, my dearest love~! Nature Magic is wha’ Ah’m best at, so Ah wasn’t goin’ ta just tell ya it couldn’t be done~!” A light peal of rather musical laughter dances through the air, the bright blue-green eyes of this Wood Elf woman shining with love and joy. “It might be a little complicated though, so give me a moment... And yer arm. Yer left arm~.”

Krvavy quirks her brow. She isn’t quite sure why Beryl might need her arm, though she does have a few guesses, but still she complies. Krvavy trusts that her Elf is doing something that is at least slightly important and not just an excuse to hold hands.

Beryl’s fingers gently grab onto the Drakling’s wrist, holding it in place as a twiggy vine slowly extends upwards from the moss bedding below. Just before it touches Krvavy’s skin, the tip of that little vine splits into four separate parts, two of which begin to crawl over to the left and two to the right.

The tanned Elf smiles as she pulls her hands back, letting the four split ends of that vine coil around Krvavy’s arm. Once they meet on the opposite side from where they started, the two pairs begin to braid themselves together into a full and continuous circle.

A fuzzy green texture sprouts from certain parts of that twiggy braid, making a fairly nice pattern along with the smooth light-brown bark. The twisted vines disconnect from the moss bedding as an oval shaped piece of wood forms on the inside of the barbarian’s wrist. That kind of makes this whole thing resemble a watch, just one worn backwards...

“Tada~!” Beryl playfully wiggles her hands and ears as she gestures to the newly grown bracelet resting snugly around Krvavy’s wrist. “It should be a lot easier fer ya ta grow a javelin out o’ this than thin air~! It’d still be easier ta grow them out o’ a plant tha’ is in the ground, but makin’ ya constantly crouch down isn’t quite as practical~!”

“Huh.” The barbarian trails a finger over her faintly fuzzy, and fairly leafy, new accessory. It is soft to the touch.

“Tha’ is lichen, fer the most part. It is technically somethin’ in between lichen and moss, but tha’ isn’t really important.” The Wood Elf rather dismissively explains, looking quite proud of herself. “Real soft, aye~? Ah made sure ta make it as comfortable as Ah could fer ya, so any part o’ it tha’ touches yer skin is covered wit’ tha’ soft stuff~!”

“It does feel pretty nice to wear...” Krvavy idly mutters, gently tugging on the snug fitting bracelet. “But how do I take it off?”

Beryl’s mouth opens and then closes. Her blue-green eyes blink a couple times as a slightly embarrassed hue fills her cheeks. “Ta be honest, Ah didn’t really think about tha’...” She sheepishly replies. “Ya’ll need ta learn ‘ow ta coax plants inta doin’ wha’ ya want ta take it off and put it back on again... At least if ya want ta do it on yer own, as Ah’ll always be ‘appy ta ‘elp ya do tha’! But ya don’t really need ta take it off. It should be able ta survive on its own as long as ya occasionally let it soak up a bit o’ the nutrient rich ‘ot spring wa’er. And lettin’ it get some sunlight every now and then wouldn’t ‘urt.”

“Right...” Krvavy stares at the living bracelet resting on her wrist, before shrugging her shoulders. She really doesn’t mind wearing this all the time, especially since she could easily rip the thing off of her if it starts to get uncomfortable. “So, back to the magic... Should I start meditating again?”

“Maybe?” Beryl tilts her head to the side, looking surprising uncertain. “Ya could meditate, if ya’d like ta, but Ah’m not entirely sure if tha’ll be necessary. Especially since ya ‘ave maxed affinities...” The tanned Elf taps her fingers together and furrows her brow. “Ah think tha’ it’ll be good fer ya ta at least try doin’ it without meditatin’ first. Better knowin’ ‘ow ta finely channel yer mana without being entirely focused on tha’ could be useful if ya need ta tweak a spell in a tense situation.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The barbarian nods... and looks expectantly at her Elf.

A gentle smile fills Beryl’s face, her confidence in Krvavy’s success clear in her bright eyes. “Try ta feel the energy deep inside o’ ya. The power thrummin’ in yer false-heart. Do ya feel it?”

Krvavy nibbles on the inside of her cheek as she follows along with her Elf’s soft words. What was rather easy in that meditative state is actually quite difficult out of it. But she can feel her core, just barely perceptible beneath the beating of her heart. And the more she focuses on it, the more obvious its presence is. “Yes.”

“Don’t lose tha’ feelin’.” The Elf instructs, her voice dropping to a more calm and peaceful tone. “Keep ‘old o’ it, let it linger at the back o’ yer mind. Now... think o’ nature, o’ trees, o’ forests. Think o’ rustling leaves, o’ steady trunks. Think o’ the young sprouts and the ancient woods. Draw upon those thoughts, those images in yer mind, as ya reach out towards the energy within ya. Coax it out. Gently. As if ya were encouragin’ the growth o’ a little seedlin’.”

A slightly nauseating wave of dissociation washes over the Drakling as her core pulses with power. It isn’t real. It isn’t an actual physical object within her chest. It overlaps with her organs. With her heart and her lungs. She can feel that much. It is disorienting. It is difficult to focus on that non-physical thing. But not impossible.

It take Krvavy a few excruciatingly long minutes before the steady pulsing flow of mana seems to follow her will. The... flavour... of that energy inside of her changes to something resembling the... scent... of a forest. She tries not to think about why her senses picked that up, as those thoughts cause the back of her mind to throb uncomfortably.

“Do ya ‘ave it?” Beryl gently asks, getting a single terse nod back in response. “Good. Now let tha’ energy flow down yer right arm. Like a vine growin’ along a branch. Keep it contained within yer channels. Trim it if ya must, like ya would an unruly plant in a garden. Now, ‘as the energy reached yer ‘and? The node in yer palm? Aye? Let it gather there. Let it condense. Like a seed.”

A faintly numb tingle spreads through Krvavy’s arm, feeling almost as if it had fallen asleep.

“Press yer fingers against the wood o’ yer new bracelet.” Beryl continues after the briefest of pauses. “Let the seed sprout, let tha’ power spread along yer fingers inta the wood. It wants ta grow, like all things in nature. So let it. Guide it wit’ yer will.”

The tips of Krvavy’s fingers glance across a little twig, feeling it grow larger and larger, pushing into her palm.

“Now grab onta tha’ growin’ branch. Yes, like tha’.” The Wood Elf’s calm voice is tinged with pride and love. “Gently, ever so gently, pull it from yer bracelet. Focus yer will. Guide its growth. Ya want it ta remain straight and true. Ya want it ta be free o’ other sprouts and growths. Once it ‘as reached a length tha’ ya are comfortable wit’, stop. Feel fer the spot where it connects ta yer bracelet. Squeeze down on tha’ spot wit’ yer mind. Tighter and tighter. Until it snaps free.”

Krvavy slowly exhales, her fingers wrapping around the shaft of wood that her magic just grew.

“My dearest love~! Ya did amazingly fer yer first time~! As always~!”

Despite her Elf’s infectious happiness, Krvavy can’t help but frown a little. She isn’t holding a javelin. In her hand is a branch. A relatively straight branch, but a branch nonetheless. One that is covered in little leaves and tiny twigs. It isn’t even sharp on either end.

“Ach, don’t look disappointed!” The tomboyish Elf clicks her tongue and leans forwards, almost crawling across the moss bedding to get into Krvavy’s face. “Ya did great!” She gives her Draconic lover a quick kiss after saying those words of praise. “Don’t worry about it not bein’ perfect. Ya’ll get it right on yer next try! The ‘ardest part o’ this kind o’ thing is actually gettin’ somethin’ ta grow. Which ya were able ta do. So now tha’ ya know wha’ ta do, ya can put more o’ a focus on wha’ ya truly want ta grow. So go on, give it another try. Ya can do it! Ah believe in ya!”

Krvavy takes a deep breath and slowly nods her head.

Beryl lovingly smiles as she snatches the stick from Krvavy’s hand and pulls herself back. “Do ya need me ta guide ya again?”

“No.” The barbarian replies after a moments thought. “I think that I’ll be able to do it on my own.”

“Then go ahead, my dearest love. Show me wha’ Ah know ya can do~.”