Tabula Rasa: Adventures In A New World

“You know, this would get a lot done quicker if you’d help.” Krvavy idly comments, laying down bricks one after another.

“Ugh...” Thea groans from all the way across the room, sitting on a stool beside the fireplace. “Do you need to have your hand held for every little thing?”

A slight smile plays at Krvavy’s lips. “Now come on, it’s just the two of us here. No need to act all annoyed.”

“Act?” The bratty blonde huffs back. “You...! Ugh!” She stomps a foot and crosses her arms over her chest, turning her head away as she genuinely pouts.

Sighing softly, the barbarian places her work aside and rises to her feet. Krvavy crosses the distance in just a few long steps, before lowering herself onto the ground in front of Thea so that they can be roughly face to face. “Everything alright, my little princess?”

“No!” Thea immediately whines. Her soft-blue eyes narrow as she glares at the Drakling. “You have me living in a cave! A cave! How many times do I have to say this for it to get through your thick skull?! There is nothing to do here! I am bored out of my mind!”

“You have plenty o–”

“No! I! Do! Not!” The silver-blonde brat cuts Krvavy off with a rather furious shout. “It is all the same thing day in and day out, for weeks! I have nothing to do beyond failing to learn how to use a bow, meditate and fail to learn magic beyond my perverse spells, laze around in the hot spring, laze around in this unfinished bedroom of ours, play that damned board game, and try to avoid being molested by that disgusting dog!”

The barbarian lightly bites the inside of her cheek. “Well, you could always help Beryl out in her garden.”

Thea’s eye twitches at that suggestion. “I am losing my mind! No, the fact that I even tolerate you is evidence that I have already lost my mind!” She grabs onto the sides of her head, dainty fingers digging into strands of silken hair, and leans so far back that she nearly falls off her stool. “AAAAAGH!” The girl vents her frustrations with a short, and very dramatic, scream.

“There, there...” Unsure of what else to do, Krvavy simply reaches a hand out and gently places it atop the beautiful brat’s bare shoulder. That slightly awkward pat quickly turns into more of a tender massage.

“Ugh...” Again, Thea weakly groans, slumping forwards into the barbarian’s arms and letting herself get hugged without even a complaint.

Krvavy kisses her girl on the forehead, before pulling back just enough so that she can look Thea in the eyes. “Maybe you should try spending more time with the others? As opposed to, you know, going out of your way to avoid them?”

The silver-blonde brat presses her lips into a thin line and glares up at the barbarian, but it is obvious that she just doesn’t have it in her to be angry right now.

“Alright. Come on, get up.” The Drakling rises to her feet, grabbing Thea beneath the arms and dragging the girl with her. “If you are so bored, then you can help me build our bed.”

“Ugh...” The bratty noble girl just groans as she is led across the room. “That is so boring...”

“Better than just sitting there and watching me do all of the work.”

“Why are you making it so big...?” Thea grimaces a little as she looks over everything the Drakling has done so far, only to realize that there is still so much work that she will now have to do. “Did you need to make it take up so much space...? This... this will cover an entire half of the room, from the look of it...”

“Why this big...?” Krvavy looks at the brat with a measure of confusion. “Because it is hardly a bed at all. I’ve been very clear about that, about with what it’ll be. And that is not a mattress with sheets. It is literally just a raised platform that we are going to cover in moss. We don’t even have any pillows. At least not yet.”

“And the pillars?” The silver-blonde noble girl asks, apparently finding this conversation entertaining enough for her bratty tone to, at least slightly, return. Suppose it is better than being made to do some manual labour. Which she isn’t lucky enough to escape from... “How do they fit into this deranged vision of yours?”

“Well,” the barbarian begins, handing a brick to the girl, “I’d like to raise the ceiling and give it some nice arches. So, beyond aesthetics, it’d be nice to have the extra supports. That’s probably not really needed, but better safe than sorry.”

Thea reluctantly places the brick down, doing exactly what she had seen Krvavy do time and time again, pushing it snug against the others. They can be melded together later.

“But the main reason is to make them into bedside tables, of a sort.” Krvavy continues with a slight shrug. “Each pillar will have a ledge near the base that we can put things on. The ‘bed’ is pretty big, so that convenience seems kind of necessary. Also, we could hang curtains between them to section parts off, maybe hang some hammocks if we wanted to, or really anything. Actually, having different sections to the bed sounds pretty nice...”

“Ugh...” The silver-blonde brat really can’t help but groan once more. “Such a shame... If it were not made of stone and moss, that sounds like it would be fairly luxurious... Like a proper four-poster bed made to fill an entire room...

“Yup, that’s the point.” Krvavy smiles towards the girl. “I want the thing to be almost obnoxiously extravagant, at least in its design. This is my home. I don’t want to sleep in a cramped bed every night. I want it to be big enough for over a dozen of myself to stretch out and still have plenty of room to spare.”

“Really?” A dry, disbelieving tone fills Thea’s tone as she asks that. “If you want so much space, then why do you spend every night cuddled up so close to myself or the others? It is as if you do not know what personal space is, and I highly doubt that will change.”

“So? I am allowed to want a massive bed, even if most of it will probably go unused.” The barbarian shrugs her shoulders.

The bratty noble girl just rolls her eyes as she places down another brick. “What does your new spell do?”

“Huh?”

“Ugh... Your Earth Magic, you idiot.” Thea shakes her head in annoyance. “With how much you have been using it, you are bound to have gotten it past level twenty-five by now. So, what new spell did you get?”

“Huh.” Krvavy repeats, a bit more surprise than confusion in her voice. Remembering what Beryl told her about how magic skills level up, she should have gotten a new spell some time ago. But she hasn’t, despite her Earth Magic skill now being in the low thirties. “I, uh, haven’t gotten it yet...?”

“What? How...?” The silver-blonde brat looks absolutely baffled. She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. “Your Earth Magic is at least level twenty-five, right? And you still have not gotten another spell yet?” Her lips twist into a faint frown as Krvavy nods to both of those questions. “Maybe... it is because you have been using Sculpt Stone too much? Maybe the magic does not know what kind of spell to form because you have been doing the same thing over and over and over again? Maybe... Ugh! Look, I do not know what your problem is! Just ask your Elf! Or even your Dwarf!”

The barbarian taps her chin and considers what Thea has said. Even though her girl was just guessing, she might be right. If the specific stat milestone trait that someone gets depends on what they want, even if just subconsciously, then who is to say that getting a new spell doesn’t work the same way? And since Krvavy hasn’t thought about what kind of Earth Magic spell she’d like to get next, she simply hasn’t gotten one yet.

While that does make sense to her, Krvavy is still going to ask Beryl about it later. She could be completely wrong with this assumption, after all. It did come from Thea. And that girl doesn’t exactly know what she is talking about.

A brick clacks down in front of Thea, and goes completely ignored as the girl takes a moment to rub her temples, as if she was nursing a splitting headache. “Ugh...”

“What about you?” Krvavy suddenly asks, causing the girl to glare at her. “You’ve been practicing your magic quite a bit each day, so... Have you levelled up yet?”

“Why are you even asking...?” The bratty girl quietly grumbles, resigning herself to this oh so very difficult work. With next to no effort, she pushes the rectangular block of stone forwards, moving it perfectly into place. “We both know that you scry me all the time...”

“I haven’t actually done that for...” Krvavy trails off, trying to remember how long it has been since she last used Inspect on this girl. After a few long, and slightly awkward, seconds... she simply shrugs her shoulders. “It’s been well over a week. You wanted me to stop ‘violating your privacy’, so I stopped.”

“Wait... Really? Are... are you being serious?” Thea asks, sounding rather suspicious of the barbarian. “In that case, n-no...? I mean, no. I have not levelled up yet. I am still level, uh, eleven. Yes. No new spells either. Still just slowly getting experience. I most likely will not be levelling up any time soon.”

Krvavy narrows her eyes at the girl, who nervously squirms beneath her gaze. “Well, that’s too bad. But, if you haven’t levelled up, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I just...”

“W-wait! I-!”

The barbarian can see why Thea tried, and so horribly failed, to convince Krvavy to not use Inspect on her. This little brat levelled up not once, but twice. And both levels seem to have gotten her some pretty lewd things.

Enduring Ecstasy I: Increases Endurance by 2.5%, strengthens the effect it has on Stamina, heightens libido, and greatly improves your body’s tolerance to pleasure. Associated attribute = Endurance.

Well, well, well... Thea now has a trait that heightens her libido, huh? How interesting~! But it can’t be all that strong of an effect, as she would have gotten this trait at level twelve and Krvavy would have noticed the girl acting hornier for the past few days. Same with that so called improved tolerance to pleasure. Granted, they’ve been having sex while using Thea’s magic, which increases the pleasure she receives by a huge amount...

But the best part about that trait is that it will eventually get upgraded, possibly raising her libido even more. That might make Thea a bit hesitant to put any more points into Endurance, but it will end up happening. The girl doesn’t like how easily Krvavy can fuck her into exhaustion, even with her magic buffing her stamina during sex.

And speaking of her magic...

Euphoric Embrace: Carnal energies flow through you, permeating into the bodies of those in your embrace. Bolsters the recipients libido, fortifies their attributes, and increases all sensations & pleasures they receive. Costs 100 Mana per use and lasts until the recipient orgasms, where the effects will begin to decline alongside their arousal. Associated attributes = Allure & Charisma.

Well, that isn’t as interesting. This new spell is almost exactly the same as Bolstering Bliss, except that it is used on someone else rather than just Thea herself. It might become useful one day, if Thea surpasses Krvavy in terms of sexual endurance, but until then it isn’t all that necessary.

Though the condition for how long it lasts does raise a few questions... Could Krvavy just not cum for a few days and keep the attribute buffs the whole time? The increased sensations and pleasures might be a bit annoying though, maybe even outweighing the benefits...

“Nhhhnnmgh...” An adorable noise somewhere between a whimper and some grumbling draws the Drakling out of her thoughts. Thea has buried her heavily flushed face into her hands, slightly muffling the sounds leaking past her kissable lips. There is no other way to put it... she is quite clearly in the process of dying from embarrassment.

“You know, you aren’t all that composed for a girl with so much Composure.” Krvavy playfully points out, utterly failing to hide her amusement. “Granted, you do get most of it from your sex skills, but still.”

“Nhhh... I hate you...” The silver-blonde girl weakly whines, her voice completely devoid of any bratty tone.

“Now, now, there is nothing to be ashamed of.” Krvavy pats her girl on the head, trying not to sound too happy about seeing this show of adorable embarrassment. “Sex is a completely natu–”

“Sh-shut up!” Thea stammers out, her head jerking up so that she can glare at the barbarian and... completely fail in her attempt at looking even slightly intimidating. The deep red hue colouring her cheeks makes her scowl come across as a pout. An incredibly cute one at that.

“Aww, it’s alright my little princess~!” The barbarian warmly coos as she messes with Thea’s hair. “If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t noticed you acting any hornier due to that new trait of yours.”

“Th-that is because I was trying to... to hide it from you! You idiot!” The bratty girl swats away Krvavy’s hand. “The second I got that... that accursed trait I felt a b-burning warmth inside of me! It! Has! Not! Subsided! Since!”

“Oh~? So you’ve been constantly horny for... how many days now~?”

“This is not a joke! You bully bitch! I do not want to be constantly ready and waiting for you to bend me over and take me with that thick and monstrous–!” Thea abruptly cuts herself off, giving her slightly unfocused eyes a good few blinks. Taking a deep breath, she renews her scowling glare. “I am not a sex addict like you are!”

“Says the girl with literal sex magic~!” Krvavy can’t help but tease.

“That you gave to me! That you forced onto me!” The bratty blonde spits back, her whole body quivering and looking fairly flushed.

“Well...” The barbarian begins and immediately trails off.

“Why are you such a bully!?” Thea weakly whines, her eyes watering just a little even as a slight bit of anger makes its way into the overwhelming embarrassment and humiliation that she is feeling.

“Why are you so easily bullied~?” Krvavy immediately replies, before pursing her lips unhappily. “Sorry. Just couldn’t help myself. Ahem. So, just how horny has that trait made you?”

The silver-blonde brat’s eye twitches as she wordlessly meets Krvavy’s inquisitive gaze with an angry attempt at a glare.

“Come on, I’m not trying to bully or tease you.” The barbarian sighs and tries to pat her girl on the head again, only to get her hand swatted away. Again. “Look, this is a serious question. Is it just a constant buzz in the back of your head? Something that isn’t too bad but feels like it might flare up at the slightest temptation?”

The look on Thea’s pouty face makes it seem like that could be the answer, but...

“Or has it made you so horny that you can hardly think of anything besides being fucked?” Krvavy continues to question, quite curious as to what the actual answer is. “Does it take a lot of effort to keep your arousal under control all so that your sweet, sweet juices don’t constantly drip down your thighs, letting everyone who sees you know just how much of a little slut you are becoming~?” Each hot breath that hisses past her teeth is just a bit heavier than the last. “Does it take a lot of effort to keep yourself from just jumping me~? From riding m–”

“S-STOP!” Thea shakily shouts, unconsciously rubbing her thighs together as her beautiful breasts rise and fall with each panting breath she takes. “You are NOT helping! You lewd lizard! Sex addict! Horny beast! Degenerate dragon!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Krvavy holds her hands up in surrender. “I definitely have a problem... And it is that you are just too fun to tease! Really! There are so many things I want to tease you with~! Like your Riding skill, for example! I really want to make some insinuation about how its been levelling up, even though the only thing you’ve been riding is my c–~!”

“Shut up!” The bratty girl wildly swings her hands through the air, desperately trying to cover up Krvavy’s mouth.

“Haha~!” The barbarian laughs as her little princess’ soft touch furiously patters into her face, delicate fingers pressing down on her lips in vain. “Sorry, really~! But see, I just can’t help it~!”

“Ugh! Why are you like this!?” Thea trembles and complains, gently battering her fists against the unbothered Drakling’s collarbone and chest. “Why do you have to tease me so much!?”

“To be completely honest, I don’t know.” Krvavy shrugs her shoulders, getting an annoyed glare from her brat. “Seriously. I never felt this way before I met you.”

“Do not blame me for this!”

“I’m not.” Krvavy gently replies. “It’s just... you probably woke something in me. And it definitely helps that you, well, you don’t hate it. Now, now,” the barbarian playfully moves her finger back and forth through the air, “don’t even deny it. We both know that it’d just be a lie. The real question is why you enjoy being such a brat. Is it just that you don’t like having to act all proper and responsible? Or... do you like being put in your place~?”

Thea’s face flushes ever brighter, her cheeks burning red as that visible mark of her embarrassment spreads down to her chest and shoulders.

“That’s what I thought~!” The barbarian teasingly coos, bending down to give her girl a quick and loving kiss. “I tease the others too, when I can, but they just aren’t as fun to bully as you are~! That is one of the many things I love so much about you~!”

“You... really love me?” Thea quietly asks, looking incredibly vulnerable as she lowers her light blue eyes down to the ground.

Those barely whispered words jolt through Krvavy’s mind. Her heart flutters at the sight before her. Without a thought, she reaches out and embraces the defenceless blonde. “I... We’ve been over this before. I’m a broken person. But... Yes.” She says that single word with certainty and conviction, more sure of it than anything else in her life. “Yes. I love you. I love you so much. I love all of my girls. I love Beryl, I love Khalia, and I’m really starting to love Inanna. Is it a problem that I love more than one person? That I feel so strongly for all four of you? I–”

“No.” Thea firmly states, her voice filled with bold determination. But once that word is through her lips, the noble girl’s resolve quickly crumbles and she grows visibly nervous again. “I... I do not think it is a problem... If you were just saying that... if your declaration of love was just words, just sweet talk... then it would be a problem. But I... I believe you.”

“Thea, I...”

“I love you too, my Dragon.” The delicate and dainty girl whispers out, leaning forwards and resting her forehead against Krvavy’s collarbone. “You are not broken. Perhaps... perhaps you were once. I do not know what happened to make you think such a thing, so I will... I will not deny your pain. I will simply say that I do not think that you are broken any more. Not in my eyes, at least. I love the ‘you’ that you are now. No matter how mean you can be at times...”

Krvavy’s throat tightens. She can do nothing but close her eyes and breath deeply, hugging onto her girl. The warmth in her arms, in her heart... She dips her head down, lips and nose pressing into silver-blonde hair. “I didn’t think I’d hear something so... so deep from you...” She idly comments, her voice soft and muffled.

“Shut up... Do not ruin the moment...” Thea sighs back.