Tabula Rasa: Adventures In A New World

The blonde girl’s babbling becomes more irate as the minutes pass, with her arms reaching angrily through the bars. She either realizes that Krvavy has cleared the camp, or she doesn’t care about potentially luring in more bandits with all the noise that she is making. Probably the second one, considering how the girl is acting. And the fact that she didn’t seem to care about alerting the bandit chief earlier...

Shaking her head and spitefully ignoring that increasingly frustrated captive, Krvavy looks down at herself. Her body may be a mess, covered in drying blood that both is and isn’t her own, but at least the gutted grouse that she caught earlier is still hanging from her hip... It didn’t get squished or destroyed in the fight. Good. It would be a pain if she had to find something else to eat.

Krvavy can hardly wait to get back to her big and beautiful cave... To have a nice, hot meal – even if she has to cook it herself – and... a bath. She could really use a bath. A long, relaxing soak... But... would that mess with her bandages?

Bandages of Mending: These bandages have been infused with magic, healing wounds at an increased pace but losing their magical charge in the process.

How lucky of her to have found magical bandages. Bit of a shame that she likely wasted a bunch by using too much, but maybe it’ll heal her faster? At least the box still has a lot left in it, which has already made attacking this camp worth it.

But now that she has a chance to catch her breath, Krvavy might as well go and allocate those points that she got from levelling up.

Krvavy doesn’t care enough to do the math, but it looks like the bandages are already healing her up a fair bit. She honestly has more health than she thought she did. Narrowing her eyes, she notices that her total health is almost a hundred points higher than before. Looking over to her traits, Krvavy quickly finds the answer to that.

Might Makes Right I: Increases Might by 5% and strengthens the effect it has on both Health & the Damage dealt. Associated attribute = Might.

How did she get that trait? She isn’t going to complain, as percentage bonuses are great and it gave her more health, but she still wonders. The only thing that comes to Krvavy’s mind is that she may have gotten it for reaching twenty-five Might. In the ‘Base’ column. Not ‘Total’.

Testing that theory, Krvavy puts one of her points into Toughness, bringing it up to twenty-five as well. Doing so immediately causes her health to jump up much more than it normally would from a single point, though the bar remains at roughly the same percentage.

Tough It Out I: Increases Toughness by 5% and strengthens the effect it has on Health & Resistances. Associated attribute = Toughness.

Krvavy is more than pleased with that, as not only are her Might and Toughness equal but she got a pretty big buff out of it as well. She wouldn’t mind if the percentage bonus was a little higher though, but both traits look like they can be upgraded. If she had to bet they’ll improve at the next attribute milestone, which is probably... fifty points? Yeah, that sounds about right

Its a shame that she can’t see how her damage is calculated, so she can’t know how much more she is doing now. But at least she can check to see how Tough It Out I affects her resistances.

The bandages covering her body have brought her True Defence down, which is annoying. But her physical resistances and her resistance to disease have all increased by five percent. It would have been better to have that before fighting so she wouldn’t have taken as much damage, but alright.

She still has four more points to allocate though, so where to put them? Krvavy really could use more health so that she doesn’t come so close to dying every time she fights. But it could also be worth getting more of those attribute milestone traits...

Thinking it through, Krvavy decides to put four points into Endurance. She really doesn’t need more stamina, but there isn’t any harm in getting her physical attributes all up to at least 25 before focusing on anything specific.

Krvavy is quite content with how her stats are looking. Again, she doesn’t really have any frame of reference, but she feels pretty tough for a level five. Though she does wonder what level all of these bandits were...? She feels like they should have been a bit on the lower side, but the bandit chief was more dangerous than the Orcs were. But he did have better gear, so maybe–

Due to your Not So Cunning Linguist trait you are now proficient in Common Trade Tongue (Northern Dialect).

“–ing filthy beast woman! Can your simple savage mind even understand what I am saying?! Get off your dirty ass and free me already! Damn you! Cur! Bitch! At least respond!” The captive blonde spews out vitriolically as she rattles the bars of her cage.

The incomprehensible babbling of the caged blonde is suddenly, and rather jarringly, understandable. Weirdly enough, the blonde is speaking in an accent that Krvavy can’t quite place but is also kind of familiar. She sounds a bit Scandinavian, but also slightly like a stereotypical sexy Russian woman from an old spy movie. Albeit a little on the younger side. Not quite squeaky, but still a bit grating. Despite that, her voice would still be rather beautiful if it wasn’t for what she is saying.

“You disgusting animal! Your kind are always like this! Violent savages that laze about whenever something important is needed from them! What even are you?! Doxy churl! Filthborne beast! Worse than those savages in the plains! Too stupid to even wear clothes! Immodest harlot! Get ov–”

“Oh, shut up already.” Krvavy dryly responds. It seems like she used the right language too, judging by how the caged blonde sputters in anger.

“Y-y-you can speak?! And you just sat there ignoring me this whole time?! You vile cur! Free me right this instant!” The blonde indignantly demands. The cage door rattles slightly as she violently tries to shake it.

“What,” Krvavy begins with a smug smile, “are you not enjoying your time out?”

“How dare you?! Do you not know who I am?! Stupid beast! I am Theadosia Constance Severina, youngest child and only daughter of Baron Nicodim Valeri Severina of Svaneti!” She proudly declares, tilting her chin up in an oddly adorable display of arrogance. “Now release me from this cage lest you face my father’s wrath!”

“My, you’re quite the spoiled one, aren’t you?” Krvavy playfully asks, finding it rather fun to tease this girl. It helps that this teasing is definitely deserved. This caged girl doesn’t have the best attitude. “Do you even know where you are? What are you going to do if I let you out? Get lost in the wilderness?”

Theadosia huffs out in anger and petulantly stomps a foot down. “You contemptuous harlot! Once I am out of here, you would escort me back to Svaneti!”

“Oh? And why in the world would I do that?” Krvavy sincerely asks. While she is having fun teasing this brat, she is also genuinely curious about how this girl will answer. Not that she is expecting much.

“Because I order you to!” Theadosia forcibly states. Krvavy’s response is to simply raise an eyebrow, which causes the spoiled noble girl to roll her eyes exaggeratedly. “Fine! You will receive riches beyond your wildest dreams! Any maybe some clothes too...!”

“Ah,” Krvavy nods her head while rising to her feet, “no thanks. Not interested.”

“WHAT!?” The caged brat shouts out. “Are you slow or something!? A simpleton!? Stupid!?”

“Quite the opposite.” Krvavy responds as she picks her axe up off the ground. This girl really has a terrible personality, so giving her a little scare is only fair.

Digging into her memory of playing map-based strategy games, Krvavy continues. “Aren’t barons the lowest of the landed nobility? Could your father even afford to reward me? And would you even be worth it? You said it yourself, you are his youngest child. What is there for you to inherit? How valuable could you really be?”

“YOU VILE FIEND!” Theadosia sputters out in rage. “How dare you speak of me that way!? My father loves me dearly and would give the world to ensure my safety!”

“Would and could are very different concepts, little brat.” Krvavy calmly states as she walks towards the exit of the tent. “Now goodbye and goodnight, I really must be on my way. I have a pet to feed back home.”

“Wait!” The caged girl cries out in desperation, reaching through the bars and grasping at the bandages on Krvavy’s left arm. “You cannot just leave me here! Please! I will starve and die! Scavengers will pick my bones clean!”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic. I’ll be back in the morning to properly loot the place.” Krvavy dismissively responds, doing her best to mess with this caged brat. “Though maybe I should drag this body outside first... Otherwise you’ll have to deal with the smell as it starts to decompose.” Not that that would happen any time soon, but this spoiled girl wouldn’t know that. Granted, being left near a dead body all night still wouldn’t be a pleasant experience no matter how ‘fresh’ it is...

The bratty noble pales at the thought. “N-no! Please, let me out! The key should be just over there, in the other room! If you free me I... I can help carry some stuff back to your home! A-and after that you can escort me to my home! That is fair, r-right? Right?!”

Bringing a hand to her chin and exaggeratedly pondering that, Krvavy turns to the caged blonde. “You know, that isn’t a bad idea. At least the part where you help carry some stuff back for me. That’ll save me a trip tomorrow. Guess I’ll let you out, hmm?”

“Oh! Thank you, thank you! You will not regret this!” The dirt covered noble girl beams, her shoulders sagging in relief. If it wasn’t for the impatience lingering in her soft-blue eyes, then the happy smile on this girl’s face would almost enough to make Krvavy forget just how vile she was acting a few seconds ago.

Ignoring the rest of Theadosia’s hollow thanks, Krvavy heads through the curtain and into the other half of the tent, where the bandit chief had emerged from. There really isn’t much back here. It just seems to be a crudely made bedroom.

Beside the bed is a small cabinet, so Krvavy begins rummaging through its contents. Beyond a bunch of men’s clothing, there isn’t much to be found. The only thing that could have even the smallest bit of value for her would be a sealed inkwell and a nice wooden pen, which she decides to take. Having long since finished off the jerky she brought with her, Krvavy is able to store the inkwell and pen in that pouch.

Krvavy has a lot more luck when she checks under the bed, as she finds both a small rectangular chest and a rather large backpack. The backpack is completely empty and appears to just be down here for storage, but Krvavy doesn’t mind that. She is just happy to have finally found something that’ll make carrying her loot easier. The chest, on the other hand, appears to be the opposite. It is locked, so Krvavy doesn’t know what is inside, but giving it a little shake makes a metallic clinking noise so it is likely coins or some other treasure.

Snugly fitting the chest into the backpack and then slinging it over her shoulder, Krvavy gives one last look around the room. She doesn’t seem to have missed anything, as there wasn’t anything under the pillow. Thinking about it, the keys to the cage and the chest are probably on the bandit chiefs body, which gives Krvavy another chance to mess with that spoiled brat.

Heading back through the dividing curtain, Theadosia excitedly greets her. “Good! You found it, right?! Now let me out!”

“The key wasn’t back there, but that’s alright. No need to worry,” Krvavy tells the worried captive, “because I found this nice backpack. Guess I won’t need your help carrying anything after all! So I’ll just drag this body out and leave you here. Goodnight!”

“N-no! Please don’t!” Theadosia begs from her cage as Krvavy exits the tent, dragging the bandit chiefs body after her. “You bitch! Get back here! Let me out! Vile fiend! Harlot! Disgusting cur! Filthborne beast! Churl!”

The fabric of the tent doesn’t do the best job at muffling the caged brats voice, but Krvavy is fully capable of just ignoring the stream of insults and obscenities flowing past her pouty lips.

Looking down at the mildly mangled body of the bandit chief, Krvavy decides to loot it as quickly as she can. After a little bit of rummaging through pockets she finds a ring with two keys attached to it. One of the keys looks like it was somehow damaged during the fight, as it is bent and gives the impression that it is going to break at any moment. Maybe the blast from his sword exploding did that? Or maybe the bandit just landed on it when he fell down?

The other key looks fine though.

Taking off her new backpack and removing the (hopefully treasure filled) chest, Krvavy tries opening it with the intact key. It unlocks with a soft click, and opening up the chest reveals a whole load of gold and silver coins along with a few colourful gems. Perfect...!

Krvavy can’t help but smile widely as she gazes down at those treasures, fingers idly sifting through shining coins. Now this... this is some real loot! But... the chest isn’t completely full. Which is a slight disappointment. Though not too much of one. The fact that it still has a bit of space inside means that she can fill it up with the various coins that she saw in the other tents. It might take a bit of time gathering them all, but she doesn’t have to be too thorough today.

After all, she’ll be coming back here again tomorrow.

The barbarian pauses, glancing at the other key. The broken one. The one that is supposed to unlock a certain cage containing a certain not so noble girl, who is still shouting out rather indignantly. A bit unfortunate, that is. But not the end of the world. And it does give her another chance to bully that brat...

Well, that’s not a problem she needs to worry about right this instant. She should get moving and properly loot this place already. But before getting on with that, Krvavy decides to try grinding her Seismic Stomp spell a bit. It isn’t like she has anything else to spend her mana on, so she might as well try to get some more experience while she can. Besides, that spell caused a rockslide when she used it last time, so there is no way that she’ll use it in her home. Krvavy doesn’t want to risk causing a cave-in where she respawns.

She has enough mana to cast it four times, with each stomp cracking out loudly and causing Theadosia to call out in worried confusion, which Krvavy ignores. Each stomp is a little less disorientating to look at than the last, but it is still weird seeing the ground ripple like water. The spell levels up after the third stomp. Which is a good sign as it means that she didn’t just waste 160 mana for no reason.

Continuing to ignore Theadosia’s ranting, Krvavy finally begins to loot the camp. She doesn’t want to be here all night. She really needs to get back to her Orc...