Recuperation & A Conversation

“Nnnngh...” Krvavy tiredly groans out as she slowly wakes up, lying back partially in the warm waters of the hot spring. She really needs to stop sleeping down here in the water.

Slightly moving her head causes an uncomfortable aching pain to shoot through her neck and body. How is she still so sore after sleeping in the magically rejuvenating water?

She just wants to continue lying here... But Krvavy can’t. She is already awake. But, that said, she doesn’t have to get up just yet.

Opening her eyes, Krvavy takes in the sight of Khalia cuddling up against her side. The Greenskin woman’s head is resting on Krvavy’s breasts, and she looks surprisingly adorable. Bringing a hand up, Krvavy begins gently stroking her Orcs hair, causing Khalia to murmur and shift slightly in her sleep.

Using Inspect on the Greenskin woman makes Krvavy feel rather relieved. Beryl’s magic wasn’t enough to really fix Khalia, but this is a lot better looking than before. Krvavy doesn’t really remember the specifics though, as it was such a long time ago that she used Inspect on the Orc and she honestly can’t be bothered to look back through the log. She probably should have checked up on Khalia before messing with her mind, but oh well.

But Khalia is definitely doing better now. No doubt about that. She has so much more health and stamina than Krvavy remembers, maybe even double, though her mana does seem a little low... Regardless, the fact that she doesn’t have quite as many negatives is a great thing.

Sure, the Orc woman still has some in her mental and social stats, but they don’t seem quite as bad as before.

Khalia’s skills are a bit concerning though. Not only does she have next to none, but the few that she does have are pretty basic and honestly feel like the kind of skills an animal would have. Hopefully the rest of them are just locked away in her mind, or something, and aren’t permanently lost.

Her class being Hound is equally concerning, though mostly because Krvavy doesn’t quite know what that entails. The barbarian doesn’t know how important classes are or aren’t, so she has no idea if that is part of why Khalia is so fucked up right now or if it is just a consequence of her seemingly acting like a dog.

And then there are the traits. Some of them are the same as what Beryl has, which is interesting. Well, Consuming Love being there is kind of obvious, but Khalia having the same Endurance and Toughness stat milestone traits as Beryl is what catches her attention. Is that just a coincidence, or are the ones that give a 2.5% bonus more common than the 5% bonus that Krvavy’s traits give?

Guess Krvavy will have to ask Beryl about that sometime.

Might Matters I: Increases Might by 7.5% and strengthens the effect it has on Damage dealt. Associated attribute = Might.

Mindbroken: Whether intentionally or not, this person has had their mind utterly shattered. With effort they may be able to relearn how to function on their own, but they will never again be who they once were.

Orcish Rage: These savage Greenskins are capable of withstanding a great amount of pain when in a rage, increasing their resistances in proportion to their anger.

The Mindbroken trait causes Krvavy’s heart to sink. She had given up on the idea of being able to get Khalia back to whatever she was like before, but... There is a difference between thinking that she can’t do something and knowing that she can’t. And that trait just put the final nail in the coffin of her hope for the poor girl.

The other two traits, well, they pale in comparison to that. Might Matters I is kind of interesting in that it just gives Might, with no change to how Health is calculated. Guess it is just more damage focused? Orcish Rage, on the other hand, kind of annoys Krvavy. It giving increased resistances is fine, but it specifies anger. Why couldn’t her Drakling Rage do that too?!

And Khalia’s title is definitely mocking her.

While she is checking out Khalia’s character sheet, Krvavy might as well also look at her notifications. Or notification, as she seems to only have one waiting for her to pay attention to it.

+5 Divine Favour, for mending Khalia’s mind. But is that all can be done for her?

That... Krvavy isn’t the happiest with how this has turned out, so how come she got five points for it? She only got a single one for coming back to life... But at least it hints that Khalia can get better eventually, somehow. That gives Krvavy a bit of hope, but not much. Who knows how long it’ll be until she truly gets to fix Khalia?

But still, five points is more than Krvavy expected, so she can’t complain. She isn’t going to spend those points just yet though. That feels like a pretty big decision to make and Krvavy just wants to sit back and relax for a while...

As Krvavy’s eyes slowly close once more, she both feels and hears a rumbling noise. Her stomach is grumbling. She didn’t realize it before, but she is actually quite hungry.

Krvavy sighs out in defeat. She isn’t going to be able to relax with hunger gnawing away at her stomach. So she’d better go find something to eat.

With Khalia’s sleeping form held in her arms, Krvavy approaches the living area. She has no idea how long she slept, or how long she was fucking the Orc, but the grotto is filled with daylight now.

“I do not believe you in the slightest! That is just ridiculous!” Thea’s voice calls out.

“Ach, how so?” Beryl replies, infuriating the bratty noble girl.

“You expect me to believe that beast cut down dozens of men before suddenly deciding that she couldn’t handle any more?!” Thea incredulously scoffs. “And she oh so conveniently lost everything she had in the process?! Hah! I doubt it!”

“What’s going on here?” Krvavy interrupts.

“Oh, my dearest love! Ah was just telling this impudent brat about why ya’re back, as she wouldn’t stop botherin’ me about it.” Beryl quickly answers. “She was worried sick about ya~!”

“I WAS NOT!” The bratty noble whines out.

Beryl just smiles nicely before gesturing to Krvavy as the barbarian gently places her Orc down onto the bedding. “Ya see? No scars.”

Thea just scoffs and rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What exactly were you telling her?” Krvavy questions her tomboyish elf.

“Just how ya valiantly fought a caravan full o’ loot, slaying dozens of pathetic human guards before yer axe broke and ya deciding ta take what ya could before running off. Which just so happened ta be a powerful healing potion. Hence why ya scars are gone.” Beryl helpfully answers. “O’ course, the journey back was a bit rough as ya had to shake any followers off yer tail, so it took ya a while ta make it home.”

It seems like her elf came up with a cover story for Krvavy. And it isn’t actually that bad either.

But... “That isn’t exactly how it happened.” Krvavy says. She doesn’t want to be too dishonest with Thea.

“I KNEW IT!” The bratty noble cheers out. “So what actually happened?!”

“Well, for one there were only seven men. Five of which were pretty easy to deal with, though I was only able to kill three before having to flee.”

“Hah! That sounds pathetic!” Thea mockingly laughs out. “And yo–Oww!”

“Let ‘er finish talking!” Beryl forcibly reprimands the bratty girl, after slapping her across the back of the head.

“The problem was that the other two men were rather strong, and I didn’t even get the chance to really fight them.” Krvavy admits, before remembering something. “In fact, I think you may know one of them. The other one called him Dovoryn. Isn’t that the name of the Duke Tarantino guy that you are engaged to?”

Thea narrows her eyes and purses her lips, glaring angrily at Krvavy. “Do not mock me! There is no way you met Duke Dovoryn Terenti out there! Especially with such a small retinue of guards!”

“Greying hair, trimmed beard with a moustache, wears a fancy black suit with a silver sash across it?” Krvavy begins to list off. “He was with an old guy with a bushy white beard, who wore a black robe with an odd hat, had a silver capped cane, and did annoying lightning magic?”

Thea’s eyes widen in shock. “You... you are not just messing with me, are you? Are you being serious?! What is my betrothed doing out here!? Is he looking for me!? Am I finally going to be rescued!?”

“Probably not.” Krvavy honestly replies, causing Thea to scowl at her. “I didn’t exactly stop to talk, but he did ask if I saw any bandits led by a man with a ‘powerful crossbow’. You know, like the ones that kidnapped you.”

“So he is looking for me!” Thea cheers out.

“No, no, I really don’t think he is.” Krvavy says, kind of regretting even mentioning this because she doesn’t want to crush Thea’s hope. But it is a bit late for that. “See, he was pretty pissed when I told him that they were gone, and he mentioned something about having a deal with them.”

The bratty noble girl immediately narrows her eyes, glaring furiously at Krvavy. After a few moments, her expression softens. “Do... do you think he was behind my ****?” She asks.

“I don’t know.” Krvavy honestly answers. “But he didn’t ask me at all about a pretty blonde girl. Just if I had come across any bandits.”

Thea tiredly sighs out, but instead of responding she simply shakes her head dismissively.

“You don’t seem surprised.” Krvavy comments.

“I... I am not.” The noble girl blankly states. “The Duke... He has a reputation as a ruthless man. I would not put something like this past him. Perhaps he believed he could gain some leverage from my ****, to threaten my father with my disappearance or gain goodwill by rescuing me.”

“At least you don’t have to marry a man like that, right?” Krvavy tries to cheer the girl up.

“My family likely believes me to be dead.”

“Ach, no need ta dwell on all o’ tha’!” Beryl interjects, before trying to change the topic. “Ya were wonderin’ about all tha’ noise earlier, and here’s the answer! Khalia is all better! Though she does seem a bit kipped out right now...”

“Well...” Krvavy begins, stroking her Orcs hair. “I’m not sure if better is quite right, as her head is a bit messed up. She seems to think that she is a dog.”

“How so, my dearest love?” Beryl questions.

“You heard all that howling, and–”

“Are you sure that is not just how Orcs act?” Thea interjects in a slightly derisive tone, cutting Krvavy off. She is surprisingly nonchalant about the fact that her fiance may very well be the reason she is in this situation.

“No, I am very confident that her mind is–”

“arwoo...?” Khalia stretches out as she wakes up.

“See?” Krvavy dryly says as her Orc sits up. “That is not a normal Orc noise.”

Khalia tiredly blinks her eyes before staring intensely at Thea, unnerving the noble girl.

“What is she looking at me like that for? I do not like it.” Thea complains. “Now go away, you savage!”

The noble girl’s bratty voice causes Khalia’s head to lean to the side, before a sudden look of realization crosses the Orcs face. Before any of them can react, Khalia throws herself at the silver-blonde haired girl.

“AAHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” Thea screams out as Khalia pins her to the ground, sloppily licking all across the bratty noble’s face.

“Oh~? Ah think she likes ya~!” Beryl teasingly laughs out. “How cute~!”

“GET THIS! AAH! DISGUSTING! UGH! THING OFF! NOOO! GET OFF OF ME!”

“Khalia, come here!” Krvavy tries ordering the Orc, who doesn’t understand the language or know her own name.

With that predictably failing, the barbarian instead sighs out and loudly claps her hands together, catching the Orcs attention. Khalia pulls back just enough from Thea to look back at Krvavy, though she still has the noble girl’s struggling body pinned beneath her.

Krvavy just shakes her head as she pats her thigh invitingly, hoping that Khalia will at least be able to understand that the barbarian wants her to come over. And, much to Thea’s relief, that works as the Greenskin woman barrels over and crashes into Krvavy.

Khalia excitedly shakes while pressing herself against Krvavy’s side, trying desperately to lick the barbarian in the face but being unable to due to the hand firmly gripping her hair.

“GROSS FREAK!” Thea shouts out in rage, as she shakily rises to her feet. “I...! UGH! Greenskin savage! Cur! Disgusting dog! Broken bitch!” The noble brat continues to furiously swear out as she hastily retreats down to the hot springs.