Level Twenty-Five

The afternoon sun filters in through the numerous skylights that are scattered across the cave ceiling. Those warm sunbeams illuminate the grotto with a gentle and cozy glow.

Adeline grabs one of the few remaining bricks and hands it over to Krvavy.

Artificial light shines down on the two occupants of the soon-to-be finished living room, the array of quartz crystals allowing them to see just fine despite the lack of direct sunlight and the empty fireplace.

Stone merges with stone as the final backrest comes into shape. The other three parts of this large ‘U’ shaped collection of couches are all already completed. Each one has had its harsh edges and sharp angles smoothed down into gentle curves and rounded corners. The surfaces that will eventually be covered in a thick layer of soft moss are marked with countless wiggled grooves, giving the cushioned moss plenty of places to anchor onto. Those etched marks even extend down to the floor in anticipation of a nice, natural carpet.

Another brick is passed over to the Drakling, and is quickly joined together with those that came before it.

Despite not being entirely finished, the room is coming together quite nicely. As planned, the floor beyond the couches stands taller than the floor in between them, but not by too much. Adeline may have to do a little jump to get over the single bench-like step that cuts the bottom of the large ‘U’ shape in half, but that will be less of a problem when the mossy carpet grows in. And, besides, that isn’t the only way to get in between the couches: there are the two sloped ramps that cut into the sides of the ‘U’, and the slightly steeper slope flanked by steps at the very top that directly faces the fireplace.

A large, but relatively thin, slab of stone stands in the very middle of these four couches. But, much like the rest of the living room, that table isn’t quite finished either. It still needs to be covered in a very thin layer of some fancier material. Like marble. And maybe Krvavy will add a few more supports under it as well... Just to be extra safe.

Adeline picks up the second to last brick and holds it out for the barbarian to take.

Which is a little unfortunate. From the look of it, they’ll need about five or six more bricks to finish off this part of the couch. Maybe Krvavy can use the scraps from the corners to fill that last bit in? That’ll save her some mana, which –

Level Up! You have reached Level 25. As a Drakling blessed by a divine power, you have 6 attribute points to allocate and have gained +2 to Might & Toughness. If not allocated by the time you fall asleep, it will be done automatically.

+5 Divine Favour, for growing in strength.

“Oh.” The barbarian blinks in surprise as those two notifications pop into her awareness, followed by a few more pinging at the edge of her perception. “Oh...”

“H-huh...?” The Halfling’s eyes go wide with worry, quickly looking back and forth between the unfinished backrest and the very last brick. “I-I-I...!”

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything bad.” Krvavy reassures the tiny blonde, gently grabbing onto the Halfling’s hand. “I just levelled up. Didn’t really expect this to happen today... Guess I can thank you for that, huh~?”

A heavy blush spreads across Adeline’s round cheeks.

“I now have a few things to take care of because of that...” The Drakling glances sideways at the numerous notifications. “But I don’t need to deal with them right now. It’d probably be best to have everyone gather around for that anyway...”

The bunny-mouse girl tilts her head, looking a little confused at that.

Krvavy gives the girl’s hand a soft squeeze before letting go of it. “For now though, let’s finish up here. We’re so close that we might as well just do the last little bit and be done with it.” She grabs the final brick herself, bringing it over to the nearly completed backrest.

A longing gaze fills Adeline’s big hazel eyes as she looks down at her hand that was just being held moments ago. A weak little sigh escapes past her lips, causing her cheeks to grow just a bit brighter.

“Ugh... What do you want and why do we have to gather around like this...?”

Krvavy raises an eyebrow and stares blankly at the brat beside her. “We usually hang out after dinner.” She plainly points out, settling into the soft moss that covers their expansive bed.

“If we are just lounging around like usual, then why did you lure us in with the vague mention of something ‘important’?” The silver-blonde noble girl rolls her eyes and lazily leans into the Drakling’s side. “And if it is truly so ‘important’, then can it not wait until that hag of an Elf gets back from whatever she is doing out there?”

“I guess that it could...” Krvavy gently bites the inside of her cheek. “But I don’t know when Beryl will be back, and the rest of us are all already here, so...”

“Ugh, fine. Just get on with it then...” Thea slowly sighs out.

“Alright. Well. I levelled up.”

“Mm. Level twenty-five, yes?” Inanna’s question is quickly answered with a nod. “That is a milestone level. One in which you would normally be given the opportunity to advance your Class, moving from tier two to tier three. Though, as your situation is anything but normal, I presume that you have been presented with more choices than just that?”

“Yes, exactly.” Krvavy smiles at her brilliant and busty shortstack. “But let’s not jump ahead or anything. We should start with the classes. That’s... a bit simpler.” The barbarian pauses briefly to clear her throat. “So... I have three choices. That feels normal, right?”

“From what I understand, yes.” The Dwarf nods her head, before frowning slightly. “It is unfortunate that Beryl is otherwise occupied. She is the only one of us who has passed that milestone herself. That experience, however minor, could have proven useful...”

“I can always go over all of this again later, when she gets back. I’ve got some time before I really have to decide.”

“Mhm.” The grey-skinned Dwarf nods in agreement.

“Soooo...” Thea impatiently drums her fingers on the Drakling’s muscled thigh. “Those class choices...?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll get on with it.” Krvavy lightheartedly shakes her head, squeezing the brat’s body up against her side. With just a thought, she pulls the numerous notifications back into focus.

Congratulations for reaching the second milestone level: 25
You are now eligible to choose a tier 3 class. The choices available to you are determined by various factors (including but not limited to: class history, lifestyle choices, personality, racial heritage, etc...). If a selection is not made within the next 45 hours & 32 minutes, you will be locked into your current tier 2 class for the next 5 levels, only given this choice again at Level 30.

“The first option that I have is... Berserker.”

Berserker is a tier 3 combat oriented class with a focus on frenzied strikes and aggressive assaults. Receive a flat bonus of +4 Might, +8 Endurance, & +4 Toughness, with an additional +5% of base Might, +10% of base Endurance, & +5% of base Toughness. This option is available due to your propensity for **** and your racial heritage.

“Mm. Yes, that is to be expected.” Inanna calmly states. “And that is less a comment on you, my Ushumgal, than it is a comment on your current Class. A Berserker is to a Barbarian what a Barbarian is to a Warrior. That is to say, this is a fairly straightforward upgrade.”

“Isn’t your dog already some flavour of berserker?” Thea almost dismissively asks, doing her best to hide her interest.

“Khalia is a hyena Were-Beast, and thus not a dog.” The Dwarf earns herself a glare as she corrects the brat. “But yes. She is a Beast-Blooded Berserker. A tier four Class, one step above the choices that our Krvavy has available to her at this moment. Though I imagine that she would be given the Draconic equivalent at level fifty, were she to choose Berserker now.”

The silver-blonde brat’s lips twist into a frown, which quickly grows quite pouty as the berserker in question gives her a rough, and slightly condescending, pat on the head. “We always call her a dog...” She quietly grumbles out.

Krvavy chooses to ignore her fiancée’s quiet complaint and continue on. “The third option – and yes,” she gently squeezes Thea’s thigh, “I’m aware I skipped one. I’ll get to it next. So, the third option is... War Shaman.” Krvavy brings that particular pop-up into focus, readying herself to read it out.

War Shaman is a tier 3 combat oriented class with a focus on wild and natural magics. Receive a flat bonus of +4 Toughness, +6 Insight, & +6 Willpower, with an additional +5% of base Toughness, +7.5% of base Insight, & +7.5% of base Willpower. This option is available due to your common usage of aggressive and offensive magics in combat.

“Interesting...” Inanna leans forwards, resting her chin on her fist. “I would say that you are more likely to use your magic for non-combat purposes, purely by how frequently you utilize Sculpt Stone, but the vast majority of your spells are indeed for combat...”

Khalia furrows her brow and scowls. “Rrrgh... Mate fight by my side. Not hide behind.”

“I’m not going to suddenly change how I fight just because of my class.” Krvavy reassures her precious puppy, reaching past Thea to wrap her arm around the Were-Beast’s waist. The bratty noble girl isn’t particularly happy about being squished between the two large wild women. “I would lose a bit of Might and Endurance if I picked this, but not anywhere near enough to suddenly make me too weak to fight properly.”

“If you do not mind refreshing my memory,” a bit of curiosity enters Inanna’s normally neutral tone, “how much to each attribute does Barbarian currently provide?”

“A flat two points to Might, Endurance, and Toughness, with the percentage bonus being an extra two-point-five to each of those.”

“Yes, yes,” a tinge of annoyance fills Thea’s voice, almost certainly due to the two large breasts – one pale and one green – squishing into either side of her head. “And what of this mysterious second option that you decided to skip over?”

“That is... a bit of a weird one, honestly.” Krvavy weakly shrugs her shoulders. “Well, not really in what it does, as it very much feels like it is somewhere between a Berserker and a War Shaman. But its name is... It is something called a Spite-Fang.”

Spite-Fang is a tier 3 combat oriented class with a focus on mixing wild magics with aggressive assaults. Receive a flat bonus of +4 Might, +6 Toughness, & +6 Willpower, with an additional +5% of base Might, +7.5% of base Toughness, & +7.5% of base Willpower. This option is available due to your racial heritage and propensity for integrating offensive magics into your attacks.

The Dwarf raises a single, thick eyebrow. “Mm... I have never heard of such a Class. Though that is hardly a surprise: there are an innumerable amount of niche and obscure Classes which I have no knowledge of. And of which I have no reason to have any knowledge of.”

“Hmph...” Thea indignantly huffs out as she leans forwards, squeezing out from between the barbarian and Were-Beast’s bodies. “That name sounds as if it is just part of a whole.” She comments, leaning her head back and using the two larger women’s tits as a pillow. “Like how this ‘hyena’ is not just a berserker, but a Beast-Blooded berserker. Or how the elf is not just a ranger, but a Druidic ranger.”

“Mhm, I can see that. Though I suspect such a feeling is simply a result of our lack of familiarity with it.” The Dwarf idly speculates. “The description, while brief, clearly points towards it being a Class focused on mixing magic and melee together. Not unlike a Spell-Blade or a Hex-Blade, which are both quite rare Classes in their own right, though not rare enough that I have never heard of them. And, to return to the point I am trying to make, neither of those are used as a descriptor for another Class. At least not typically. There are bound to be some cases out there in which they are used for that exact purpose...”

The silver-blonde brat rolls her eyes as the shortstack’s droning thoughts gradually trail off. “It is obvious that you want our opinions on these choices,” she plainly states, turning her head to the side so that she can properly meet Krvavy’s gaze. “But what do you think about them? Any preferences? There is no point in asking for our opinion if you have already made up your mind.”

“To be completely honest...” a soft sigh escapes past Krvavy’s lips. “I have no idea which one I’d want to pick. None of them stand out to me as ones that I really want. They all have some parts that I like, and they all have some parts that I don’t like.”

“Such as?”

“Well...” The Drakling purses her lips slightly as her hand absentmindedly rubs Khalia’s inner thigh. “Picking ‘Berserker’ doesn’t really get me anything in the direction of, well, magic. That isn’t too bad, because my current class doesn’t help me with that either, but it’d still be nice because I do use magic quite a bit while fighting. On top of that, ‘Berserker’ is a lot more focused on Endurance, which... isn’t the most useful. It helps with some of my spells, but mostly just goes towards stamina. And getting more stamina isn’t high on my list of priorities... Plus, Khalia is already a berserker, so it feels a bit redundant for me to become one as well. But that is more of a thematic... thing. It isn’t like I’d lose control and go berserk during combat just because I’ve changed my class...”

“Those all sound like negatives.” Thea pointedly states, poking a finger into the barbarian’s belly. “What happened to each choice having parts that you liked and disliked?”

“That’s because ‘Berserker’ is... it feels like the safe option.” Krvavy replies with a shrug. “It’s pretty much just a better version of what I have right now. That isn’t a bad thing, as I don’t hate being a ‘Barbarian’, but it isn’t really exciting either. So I don’t really have much to say about it, in terms of positives.”

“And, to keep the order in which you revealed them to us, what do you think of ‘War Shaman’?” Inanna’s intense copper-orange eyes shimmer with curiosity.

“It might be a little too magic focused?” Krvavy gently shakes her head. “Again, the class itself won’t suddenly change how I fight, but... It doesn’t have a bonus towards Might. That’s not much of a problem right now, but it’d become more and more noticeable each time I level up: I get two free points of Might, and Toughness, each level just for being a Drakling. So having that percentage bonus is better than having one for Willpower or Insight.”

“Mm. You could alleviate that issue by manually allocating a couple points to those two attributes.” The Dwarf comments, tilting her head to the side as she voices her thoughts. “But, yes, that would have quite the opportunity cost. Especially since doing so would also hamper your ability to increase your other attributes.”

“But, other than that, ‘War Shaman’ seems like a pretty good choice. I’d get more mana from it, and that’s pretty valuable.” The barbarian admits, before a faint frown finds its way onto her face. “Though it is a bit annoying that these choices are only telling me how they affect my stats and not anything else. I know that different classes add different amounts to health, stamina, and mana...”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have that information,” the grey-skinned Dwarf agrees with a single slow nod, “though it is not strictly needed to make this decision. While Classes do indeed determine the base amount of Health, Stamina, and Mana for both the total values and the rates they regenerate by, attributes play a bigger role in determining the final results. Though to what degree depends on the particular milestone traits that a pers–”

“Ugh...!” Thea loudly groans out, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustrated annoyance. “We are not here to listen to your boring lecture of an explanation!” The bratty girl turns her soft-blue eyes back towards the barbarian. “Just say what you think about that last one so that we can move onto giving our thoughts already!”

“Alright, well, ‘Spite-Fang’ is...” Krvavy placates her beautiful brat of a fiancée by doing exactly what the girl wants. “The unknown part is mostly what I’m concerned about with it. A whole bunch of factors went into giving me these three choices, and ‘class history’ was one of them. So what I pick now will affect what options I’ll get next time. I’m not sure how much it’ll matter, but I have a feeling that it’d be pretty noticeable. After all, the most magical option I have now is ‘War Shaman’, which seems about as aggressive as you’d expect from a ‘Barbarian’. Other than that... well, I’m not too concerned about losing a couple points of Endurance, especially since I’d be getting more Willpower out of it...”

“Great...!” Thea claps her hands together and sighs out.

“You know, this was your idea.” Krvavy dryly reminds her princess, smiling down at the mildly exasperated brat.

“Yes, and I am allowed to regret that very same idea.” The silver-blonde noble girl primly replies, doing her best to not let her cheeks flush even as the Drakling’s hand slips between her thighs.

“Mm. To avoid incurring Thea’s wrath, I will be brief with my opinion.” A slightly sarcastic tinge underlines the Dwarf’s otherwise neutral voice, though it disappears too quickly to be entirely certain that it was ever there. “I believe that you should pick ‘Spite-Fang’. It does not blatantly suffer for attempting to be two separate things, instead striking a decent middle ground between the other two options. Additionally, it seems to focus on exactly what you want: a blend of magic and melee.”

“Hmph... I think that you should pick either that or ‘War Shaman’. You already have enough stamina and are already good enough at hitting people with your axe. What you could use more of is mana.” Thea firmly states, before sighing out and speaking under her breath. “It would be nice if you did not have to pester me so much to... recharge...”

“Oh~?” The barbarian gives the girl’s thigh a playfully soft squeeze. “Do you really think that I’d stop ‘pestering’ you if I had more mana~? Because, honestly, it’s probably the other way around. After all, I’d need much more help to keep myself all topped up~.”

“Y-you are utterly incorrigible!” The blushing brat stammers out, caught off guard by that sudden flirting.

“I see~.” Krvavy’s lips spread into a wide, predatory grin. “That’s what you want, isn’t it~? For us to spend even more time together~?”

“N-no!” Thea’s unsteady voice is utterly unconvincing. And the fact that she quickly turned her head away, refusing to meet the Drakling’s gaze, makes it all the more obvious that she is lying.

Rather than respond with words, Krvavy simply leans forwards and places a finger on the underside of her fiancée’s chin, gently lifting the brat’s head up. The blush on Thea’s face grows even deeper as their lips meet.

“Nnghhhn~...!” The noble girl shudders and moans into Krvavy’s mouth. “Haaahh~...!” She breathily gasps out as the kiss comes to an end all too soon, leaving a longing look on her face. “Y-you –!” Thea cuts herself off before she can really say anything. Her soft-blue eyes dart off to the side.

“Ach, sorry,” Beryl’s voice carries across the room, “Ah’m not interruptin’ anythin’, am Ah?”

Inanna looks towards the Elf and then back at Krvavy. “I will get her caught up on what we are discussing, so feel free to continue as you are.” With that, the Dwarf rises to her feet and heads over to the tanned tomboy.

“Ahn!” Thea makes a sharp, decidedly negative, noise and quickly raises a hand up, pressing her palm against the barbarian’s lips. “Stop that! We are not done with your... your stupid class choice thing!”

Krvavy raises an eyebrow and gazes down at her flustered brat. “Alright,” she concedes with a shrug, pulling back so that her voice is no longer muffled by her fiancee’s hand. “Khalia.” Krvavy lifts her gaze up towards her precious puppy. “What do you think?”

“Rrrgh...” The Orc’s plump lips twist into a grimaced scowl. “No shaman.” She spits that word out with disdainful disgust. “Mate need strength. Mate crush enemies. Magic can help, but just help.”

Both brat and barbarian stare blankly at the Were-Beast for a few, long seconds.

“I do not know why I ever expected anything else...” Thea grumbles out with a sigh, before turning her attention over towards the one girl who so far has been nothing but a silent observer. “And what of you, mouse? Surely you have something to add that is... more valuable than that.”

Adeline stares wide-eyed at the two wild women and her fellow blonde nestled in between them. “Eeep!” She jumps in surprise, realizing that she is expected to speak up and answer. The rosy colour filling her cheeks deepens just a little. “I-I...! Idon’tknow! Wh-whatever makes Krvavy th-th-the happiest!”

Thea simply buries her face into her hands and (poorly) stifles a groan.

“Aye, Ah couldn’t agree more.” Beryl warmly states, wrapping an arm around the Halfling’s shoulders as she drops down beside the timid girl.

“Wha–?” Thea lifts her head up and immediately cuts herself off. Her soft-blue eyes narrow into slits as she glares at the Dwarf. “So you are capable of being concise...”

“My dearest love, Ah know tha’ ya were probably expectin’ a bit more than tha’ from me, but... It ‘as been a long time since Ah picked my current Class, and Ah don’t remember puttin’ much thought inta it.” The Wood Elf admits with an ever so slightly sheepish shrug. “So, Ah say just go wit’ wha’ever feels right fer ya.”

Krvavy bites onto her bottom lip. “Well... I guess that’d be... ‘Spite-Fang’? I’m still a bit uncertain about it, but Inanna is right. It’ll help increase the amount of mana I have without sacrificing any Might. Plus, these two here,” she nudges the brat and Were-Beast, “each had something to say about the other options.”

“Rrgh.” Khalia grunts and lifts her chin up, looking ever so slightly indignant. “Mate must be strong.” She curtly reiterates. “Mate will be strong.”

“And I would not have been upset had you ultimately picked ‘Berserker’.” Thea primly states. “Because I do not ca–”

“Because that would get me more stamina, which means I’d be able to spend more time with you~?” The barbarian speaks over her brat, grinning at the glare that gets her. “Since everyone seems alright with that, I’ll go ahead and pick my new class right now.” She pauses for a moment, giving her girls one last chance to speak up. “And... there. I am now no longer a barbarian. Well, not according to my class at least~.”

“Mm. With that now out of the way,” Inanna seems fairly eager to move on, even letting a bit of anticipation fill her tone. “You alluded to being presented with another, more complex choice that must be made?”