A Practical Gift

“A... a gift?” Thea slowly repeats, sounding just about as surprised as she does skeptical.

The Dwarf simply nods her head in response, the voluminous mass of her coal-black hair bobbing with that fairly curt motion.

“Well,” Krvavy’s lips curl into a playful smile. “Since we aren’t doing anything right now, why don’t you go and unwrap this mysterious present that Inanna so kindly brought over for you~?”

Thea jumps as a strong hand softly smacks into her ass, encouraging her forwards. She shoots a slightly pouty glare back over her shoulder. “Hmph! Fine.” The girl lifts her chin high, trying to act like her cheeks aren’t a little rosy as she struts on over to the very edge of their ridiculously big bed. “Did you need to put a blanket over it?”

“No.” Inanna plainly replies, hefting that covered object up and plopping it down on the softly padded moss. “But I felt that it would make for a good surprise.” She pushes the present closer, nearly to the point where it bumps into that brat’s basically bare feet. Those stockings hardly count as clothing. “Here.”

The noble girl stifles a sigh, gracefully lowering herself down onto her knees. She grabs at the sheet and, without even the slightest bit of fanfare, pulls it aside. Her delicate brow furrows just a bit, her gaze moving from that gift to the grey-skinned shortstack who gave it to her. “A crossbow?” Her lips twist with a touch of disdain. “Your ‘gift’ is a crossbow?”

That rather irreverent tone doesn’t bother the Dwarf. She is more than used to Thea’s... peculiarities. “Not just any crossbow,” Inanna begins to explain, climbing halfway up the short steps set into the edge of this expansive bed. Her titanic tits, contained within her leather apron as they are, soon tower over that practical present... though she herself still remains a little shorter than the seated brat, treating their mossy mattress as a table of sorts. “From what I understand, this particular weapon once belonged to the leader of those bandits who had kidnapped you. Perhaps there is some poetic justice to be found in the fact that I am now giving it to you, but that is not why I chose it: this was simply the highest quality crossbow within Krvavy’s hoard.”

Thea stares at the Dwarf for a few long seconds. “So you just took something from our greedy Dragon and decided to give it away as a gift?”

Inanna meets that girl’s unimpressed gaze. “Krvavy gave me permission to do whatever I want with any weapon within her hoard.”

“Looks like you’ve modified it quite a bit.” The Drakling interjects, taking a seat by her fiancée’s side. More for that brat’s benefit than anything else, she reaches over and taps the wooden case resting atop that crossbow, making it quite clear just what she is talking about.

“Of course.” If not for how neutral Inanna’s tone is, those two words would have no doubt come out as a scoff. “It was hardly fit to use before. And not just by my peoples’ standards. The right limb in particular had a number of defects that made it incapable of exerting the same amount of force as the left. That has been fixed to the best of my capabilities.”

Thea holds up her hand, hoping to stop the shortstack in her tracks. “Before you start droning on and on, can you at least explain why you decided to give me a crossbow?” A hint of exasperation underlines that question. “What makes you think that I would even want one?”

The Dwarf nods, seeing no issue with taking a moment to answer the brat. “Despite the fact that you practice rather regularly with your bow, you have improved very little and are still terrible with it.” She bluntly states, ignoring the annoyed and honestly insulted scowl directed her way. “Thus I felt that it would be a good idea to switch you over to a weapon which is far easier to use yet similar enough that it benefits from the same skill. That being Archery. But the crossbows that we had on hand would have been too much for you to handle, not to mention that they were of inferior make, so it was only natural that I modified one specifically to be more fit for you to use.”

“Hmph. I do just love to get a gift that is accompanied by an insult...” The noble girl sarcastically grumbles, crossing her arms atop her already covered chest, the smooth fabric of her sundress squished into her soft skin.

“What exactly did you change about it?” Krvavy curiously asks, giving her fiancée a quick pat on the head... which is definitely meant to be reassuring and not condescending.

“Perhaps I should start with the most obvious: I have added a top-mounted magazine.” The Dwarf gestures to the wooden case attached to the top of the crossbow. “I was tempted to mount it underneath, so that it wouldn’t be in the way when aiming, but felt that doing so would compromise the structure of this Human-made weapon. That said, this current position is not a negative. It allowed for a larger magazine. One which is capable of holding ten individual bolts, or perhaps fifteen if you wanted to pack them more closely together. Though doing so would increase the weight, which may make it too cumbersome for someone of insufficient strength to accurately use.”

“Does that number include a bolt that is already nocked on the bow part?” Krvavy idly asks. “Or...?”

“No. And I would not recommend keeping it loaded just to get a single extra shot. Primarily for safety reasons.” The Dwarf replies, turning her attention back towards the crossbow. “The magazine is currently empty, but refilling it is an easy affair. Simply undo this latch here on the right and open the top to the left along these hinges.” She explains, demonstrating how to do it herself. “Once open, you simply need to place the bolts inside, making sure that they are facing in the right direction.”

The Drakling leans a little further forward, looking into the empty magazine. It is pretty much just a trapezoidal box, with the bottom slanting into a relatively slender slit to ensure that the bolts remain centered as they are loaded. “So they just fall down into place one after the other?”

“In part, yes. But the process is more controlled than that, regulated by a simple internal mechanism. Relying entirely on gravity would vastly increase both the risk of jamming and premature loading.” Inanna’s stout fingers grab onto the crossbow, lifting the back half up and letting the metal limbs press into the sheet it was lying atop. “And speaking of loading it... To do so is quite an easy task. Simply pull this lever on the underside downwards and to the front, before reversing and moving it back into place. That will span the crossbow and load a bolt onto its rail in one simple action. Provided that it is held in a more horizontal position than this, of course.”

“And you added all that yourself?” A hint of awe and appreciation can be heard in the barbarian’s voice. This was a pretty simple weapon before, needing the thick string to get manually drawn back... with the help of some hooks intended to be attached to a belt.

“Yes, I also replaced the trigger mechanism as a consequence.” The Dwarf nods her head as she lowers the weapon back down. “The only other major modifications that I made were to the stock, replacing it with a much more comfortable shape while also making its length adjustable via this nob here, and through adding a series of runes primarily intended to make reloading it require much less force despite the considerable draw weight of the limbs. I also left the stirrup at the front, even though it no longer has a practical use. I did not feel like there was a need to remove it.”

“Nice.” Krvavy idly nods her head as she looks over the crossbow. “It’s completely done and ready to use, yeah?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t be much of a gift if it wasn’t complete. Though I suppose that it wouldn’t hurt to pretty it up a little by adding some decorative details...” A faint frown finds its way onto Inanna’s face as she pointedly looks at some of the rougher aspects of the heavily modified crossbow. Mainly the metal plate that is no doubt covering up the spot where its new internal mechanisms now rest.

Thea rolls her eyes and finally speaks up, tired of silently sitting at the sideline of this conversation. “Funny how you are far more interested in a ‘gift’ that is supposedly meant for me, Krvavy.” She dryly comments.

“Am I not allowed to appreciate Inanna’s work~?” The Drakling playfully replies, wrapping one arm around her fiancée’s shoulders and pulling the beautiful brat into a half hug. “And there’s no need for you to act so disinterested. I can tell that you want to go down to the grotto and see how it feels to try shooting this thing~.”

“There is no rush.” Inanna calmly states, looking at Thea with an odd glint in her copper-orange eyes. “I disturbed your time together, so it would be completely understandable if you would rather resume your reading. Or whatever other activities the two of you may or may not have been getting up to before my interruption.”

A faint flush fills the noble girl’s face as she realizes that the normally neutral Dwarf is teasing her. “Hmph! No, we done here!”

“Wonderful.” Inanna nods, still showing next to no emotion. Was she actually teasing the girl, or just trying to be a bit subtle...? There is no way to tell. Without directly asking her, at least. “I will go fetch some bolts. Feel free to get acquainted with how it feels to hold your new crossbow in the meanwhile.”

With that the Dwarf turns and, after descending the few short steps back to the ground, walks away.

Thea slings her legs over the edge of the bed. But she doesn’t stand up just yet. Left and then right, she peels the silken black stockings away from her legs, placing them aside. Her now bare feet touch the cool stone floor. She takes a moment to stretch, before turning her scowled gaze towards the rather large crossbow. “It is a bit big...” She points out the obvious with a mildly annoyed grumble.

“Yeah. It is.” Krvavy completely agrees, but unlike her brat she finds that fact more amusing than anything. “Don’t worry, Inanna wouldn’t be giving this to you if she didn’t think you were capable of using it. Though it probably wouldn’t hurt for you to put a few more points into Might either way~.”

The silver-blonde brat just rolls her eyes and, without further comment, reaches out towards the heavy crossbow. She hesitantly grabs at the large weapon’s wooden body, one hand near the trigger and the other one a bit too close to the front, before hefting it up and off of the bed.

Thea grunts in a slightly undignified manner as she briefly struggles to maintain her balance, nearly toppling forwards before pulling the crossbow in closer to her body. The bratty girl looks more than a little uncomfortable as she awkwardly clutches onto the rather large weapon, clearly not knowing how she is supposed to hold the thing and probably just trying to emulate how she vaguely remembers other people holding one. “It... is about as heavy as I expected...”

“And its weight will increase even more once the magazine is loaded.” The Dwarf offers that obvious reminder as she returns from the direction of her Draconic lover’s hoard, effortless carrying a sack of metal bolts in her hand. “These,” she gives that bag a gentle shake, “are not the lightest. As should be expected from bolts that Krvavy looted primarily from soldiers. They are made for war: they are solid metal.”

“And you did not think that that would be a problem?!” Thea’s lips twist into a derisive and decidedly unhappy sneer. “What good is a weapon that I will only be able to hold for a few minutes at a time?!”

Inanna calmly stares back at that brat, her copper-orange eyes unblinking. “If it is that much of a problem, then we could replace these quarrels with lighter wood-shafted ones. They would not be quite as effective against heavy armour, but that is arguably an edge case. And if that is still not enough, we can see about adding a series of runes to reduce the overall weight of this crossbow.”

“Wait, you could hav–? Ugh!” The silver-blonde brat cuts herself off with a frustrated groan. “Why did you not do that already?!”

“Reducing the weight of an object through the use of runes is not a particularly mana-efficient task. Thus it is best avoided unless truly needed.”

“Ugh, whatever... Here.” Thea rolls her eyes and holds the heavy crossbow out towards Krvavy, wobbling a bit as that simple act threatens to topple her over. “I do not want my arms to be tired by the time we get down to the grotto...”

The crossbow is barely out of Thea’s hands before she spins and begins marching off, expecting the other two to follow her.

Which is exactly what they do.

Krvavy idly glances down at the heavily modified crossbow, focusing more on safely climbing down the stairs to the first floor than actually looking the thing over. It definitely seems a lot more reasonably sized in her hands. Which, to be completely honest, is actually a little disappointing. Krvavy likes oversized and kind of unrealistic weapons, her axe can attest to that, so this just feels a little lackluster...

At least it looked good when Thea was holding it. Having a comparatively small girl use a comparatively huge gun, or crossbow in this case, is a classic for a reason. There is just something about the slightly ridiculous contrasting sizes that is so appealing... That said, Krvavy will miss the vaguely Greek Goddess aesthetic that her beautiful brat had when holding her bow. Granted, that aesthetic was lost pretty much as soon as Krvavy gave the girl actual clothes, as Thea hasn’t wrapped herself up in a makeshift toga since then...

The Drakling’s aimless train of thought trails off as something about the weapon in her arms catches her attention. Or, really, a lack of something. “I don’t really see any runes on this...” She idly comments, glancing at the Dwarf walking by her side.

“That’s because most of them were etched onto the interior mechanisms.” Inanna plainly replies, not sounding even slightly out of breath despite the short length of her legs more or less forcing her to jog to keep pace with the barbarian and brat. “Which has the added benefit of protecting them from accidental damage.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever asked this before, but how often do runes get damaged?” Krvavy curiously wonders, only slightly distracted by the rather hypnotizing sight of those absolutely massive tits bouncing around with each hasty step that her shortstack takes. The presence of that thick blacksmiths apron hardly changes a thing, not having nearly enough structure to keep those gigantic globes from jiggling. “Because I feel like that is a pretty big counter against them.”

“Mm. That can be said for a great deal of things. Armour is less useful, potentially useless, when sufficiently damaged. As is a weapon.” The Dwarf calmly replies, a meaty slapping sound punctuating her every word. “But I do understand what you are getting at. A sizable arrangement of runes, or even an entire runic matrix, can indeed be entirely disrupted by damaging a single individual point within the system. If the Runesmith who arranged said system did not care about shaming their ancestors with their laziness and lack of foresight, that is. A proper Runesmith would know to mitigate this issue via making many of the runes parallel to each other rather than have them all be in series, thus allowing mana to flow from start to finish even if some of the lines are inoperable. A weakened array may not be ideal, but it is much preferred to a failed one.”

Krvavy’s gaze purposely trails further away as she listens along. Her brow knits together. Runes really do just seem like the magical equivalent of circuits...

“That said, the practice of preparing for the worst does not imply that such damage is a common occurrence. We Dwarves are simply a cautious folk.” The grey-skinned shortstack is breathing just a bit heavier now, not quite halfway down the switchback path leading into the grotto. “The structure and overall integrity of a rune is strengthened by the flow of mana within itself, almost proportional to the amount of power harnessed by the system. It may not be the best analogy, but you can imagine it as similar to trying to block off a rapid and intense river while the water still flows. Not impossible, but exceptionally difficult.”

The Drakling idly nods, glancing towards the rather rushing rivers that this meandering path crosses again and again.

“In other words,” Inanna’s impromptu lecture continues with hardly an interruption. “It is much harder to damage an active rune compared to an inactive one, with the increased durability scaling near proportionally to the amount of power being harnessed. Add on the fact that runes are typically etched onto tougher materials, such as stone or metals, and I am sure you can see how tough it would be to truly cause any significant damage.”

“And I imagine that even if someone did have the strength to break a rune, it wouldn’t simply just turn off. Right?” Krvavy guesses, hardly paying attention to the increasing amount of plants and vegetation around her as the three of them descend into the grotto. Ignoring the very beautiful, and incredibly busty, shortstack trotting along by her side is... easier said than done.

“Correct.” The Dwarf almost gasps that word, her copper-orange eyes shining with a hint of pride. “Though the exact result would vary depending on the amount of mana within the system as well as how said mana enters the system... the expected result could be described as explosive. Weaker flows would elicit a minor jolt of pain or simply discharge the disrupted energy into the air in a short and relatively harmless flash of light, while stronger flows would be more literal with the term ‘explosive’.”

The barbarian blinks. Does that mean...?

“But, worry not, the runes that I had painted on both yourself and Khalia... when you went off to fight the Patriarch... did not carry such a risk despite their comparative strength.” Inanna reassures, as if she had read Krvavy’s thoughts. “That...” She takes a deep breath, her considerable chest heaving from more than just the motion of her quick steps. “That variety of runic array functions differently, utilizing ambient mana and mana already stored within the designated channels. Thus... if you were to compare it to my previous analogy... those runes would be akin to still bodies of slowly evaporating water, rather than an active river.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I am sure that is all very exciting.” Thea loudly and sarcastically sighs, her steady march coming to a sudden stop as she turns towards Krvavy, expectantly holding out her hands. “Give it to me.” She impatiently demands.

Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow.

“Ugh... Please?”

That brat quietly grunts as the rather heavy crossbow is very carefully lowered into her arms. It takes a slight bit of shuffling for her to hold it a little more comfortably.

“Mmn.” Inanna shakes her head, still breathing heavier than normal. “Move your left hand further back.” She immediately instructs. “A bit more.” Words alone aren’t quite efficient enough for her. She reaches up and prods at Thea’s hand, forcing it into the correct spot. “Move your right hand around so that the thumb is on the top while the rest of your fingers are holding onto the bottom. Don’t touch the trigger. Now lift it up so that the stock, the end of it, is pressed against your shoulder. There. Get used to holding it like this.”

“Happy?” Thea scowls down at the shortstack, before glancing towards the bag in Inanna’s other hand. “Can I have the bolts now?”

Rather than respond, the Dwarf takes a step back and turns towards a nearby rock that has had its surface flattened into a table. Brushing aside a few crude wooden arrows, she makes enough space to place the filled bag down next to an unstrung bow. “Make sure to only point it at what you want to kill: your target. That crossbow packs a serious punch. Which is to say... it is quite deadly.”

“I am not an idiot.” Thea huffs and rolls her eyes, letting the heavy crossbow drop down from her shoulder as she moves towards the ammo. The noble girl hesitates slightly before removing her right hand from the heavy weapon held close to her body, unlatching the top of the magazine before reaching for the opened bag of bolts. “Do these need to be perfectly lined up?”

“No. It will be fine as long as you point them in the correct direction.” The grey-skinned shortstack replies, standing with her arms loosely crossed over her immensely bountiful breasts, squishing those massive mountains beneath her thick leather apron. “There is a degree of looseness within the magazine, as I am sure you can already tell. That isn’t ideal, but it does allow for the crossbow to use non-standardized bolts.”

“Will jamming be an issue?” Krvavy asks, restraining her curiosity just enough so that she doesn’t get into Thea’s personal space. Emerald eyes watch on as bolt after bolt is dropped into that trapezoidal box.

“Jamming will always be an issue, and it would be foolish to think otherwise. That said, it should not happen often. Basic maintenance and cleaning should prevent that from being a problem.” The Dwarf states, briefly glancing at the barbarian before turning back to the brat. “But if it does jam, simply reach inside the magazine and pull the offending bolt out. Though do not do so when it is spanned, or drawn if you want to use the improper term. That is an unnecessary risk to your fingers.”

Thea closes the magazine and clicks the latch shut. “So now I just need to pull the lever down to load it?”

“Hold it properly first. Your body would be in the way of the string otherwise.”

“Ugh...” The noble girl groans a little unhappily as she is forced to hold the heavy crossbow in one hand, firmly pressing the stock into her shoulder to keep that end from slipping. Her fingers wrap around the metal lever below, pressing it downwards. “Oh...” She breathes out in surprise, finding it much easier to move than she expected. A light click marks the string getting locked into place, followed shortly after by the metallic thud of a bolt falling down just as she pulls the lever back up.

“As I said,” the faintest smile, tinged with pride, pulls at the corners of Inanna’s dark-grey lips. “The runes do most of the heavy lifting, helping to amplify your force by a few orders of magnitude.”

The silver-blonde brat turns her attention towards the target at the other end of this basic archery range. She takes a deep breath, trying to steady her grip on this heavy crossbow, before pulling on the metal trigger.

Thnk!

“Ahh...!” Thea gasps in shock as the weapon roughly thumps back into her shoulder, the bolt violently flying free.

“Mm. Not bad for your first try.” Inanna idly comments, looking across the range. The bolt is just barely visible, embedded deeply in the edge of the target.

“You should have told me that it would do that!” The bratty girl angrily hisses, glaring back over her shoulder.

“You should have expected that recoil.” The Dwarf replies, her voice utterly neutral... as is normal with her. “You are familiar with using a bow, if unskilled, and you knew that this crossbow was capable of exerting much more force.”

“Maybe you should add some padding?” Krvavy interjects before her brat can say anything else. “To keep her from getting bruised just by firing that thing?”

“Mm. Alright.”

“Hmph!” Thea huffs and turns her attention back towards the target, pulling on the lever and loading another bolt.

“You made this pretty quickly.” The Drakling idly comments, glancing down at the Dwarf. “It’s only been a few days since you even asked to work with the weapons I’ve collected.”

“Of course she was fast...” Thea quietly grumbles, bracing herself for the crossbow’s recoil. “This thing is only half finished...”

Thnk!

The sound of bolts being loaded and then loosed quickly fades into the background.

“A few days is more than enough time to modify a single crossbow.” Inanna humbly replies, completely ignoring the brat. “I have had far tighter deadlines in the past.”

“Sure, but I assumed that you’d have been busy messing with that Heartstone chunk.”

A faint frown finds its way onto Inanna’s face. “Perhaps I would have been, had it not dissolved into nothing within the span of a few hours.”

“Wait, so it just faded away?” Krvavy can’t help but keep the surprise out of her voice.

“Mhm.” The Dwarf hums and nods her head, furrowing her thick brow in a show of (mild) frustration. “And I was unable to gleam any information from it before that had happened. Not even the fact that it had faded away was helpful, as I am not sure if that was a consequence of its origin as a Heartstone or if that was simply a result of it now being a part of your Soulbound Weapon. I am leaning towards the second option, as otherwise we would be able to ‘harvest’ your weapon for its materials, but I truly can’t know for certain. Heartstones are complex, presumably more so for synthetic ones.”

“That’s a bit annoying.” The barbarian agrees, idly shrugging her shoulders. “Though I guess it is also kind of a good thing...? Not really for you, but just in a general sense of security.”

“I suppose.” Inanna dispassionately shrugs back, her leather apron tied tight enough for her tits to hardly bounce from that. “I am not sure if I would have been able to get any information from that shard. So it having fade away so quickly was, to some degree, a blessing. I would have wasted a considerable amount of time otherwise.”

“That’s a positi–”

“Ugh!” Thea loudly groans, inadvertently cutting Krvavy off as she lets the front of the crossbow thump down onto the makeshift stone table. “This thing is so heavy!”

“It would seem like you do require those extra runes after all.” Inanna plainly states, glancing towards the bratty noble girl.

“Hey!” Thea narrows her eyes and purses her lips as she lets go of the heavily modified crossbow, leaving it on the table. “Do not look at me like that! Not everyone spends their days swinging around a stupid little hammer! You cannot expect me to hold up this heavy block of lead!”

“There is no lead inside that crossbow. The new mechanisms are composed of a basic yet durable steel that I made using the iron that was grown using our Ore Seeds, and the original –”

“I do not care!” The silver-blonde brat huffs, rubbing at the sore spot where the crossbow’s stock pressed into her shoulder. “Just make it lighter!” She impolitely demands, marching over towards the Drakling.

Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow as that little princess leans up against her body. Without a word, she scoops Thea up into her arms, holding her fiancée in a bridal carry. “So... how was it?” She asks, already carrying the brat back over to the range.

“Hmph! It was alright, despite the weight...” Thea grumbles, turning her head away from the pale tits that are really quite close to her face, a rosy blush quickly colouring her cheeks.

“How many bolts did you shoot? Two full magazines?” Krvavy asks, moving her gaze away from the target to lovingly look down at her beautiful brat, who simply nods in response. “You still don’t have the best aim, but... wow...! It doesn’t look like you’ve missed a single shot! Good job, you did great~!”

Thea’s blush only burns brighter and brighter as she hears those genuine words of praise.

“Mm.” The Dwarf’s hum is hardly even heard as the silver-blonde brat’s arms reach up and embrace the barbarian. “If you are done testing out the crossbow, then I will take it off of your hands. It shouldn’t take long to add the requested modifications.”