“[There, that is it. The pump is now complete. This early and small iteration of it, at least.]”

  Krvavy raises an eyebrow as she looks down at their handiwork. The stone pump standing before her is not really what the barbarian expected. Granted, she doesn’t exactly know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t this.

  Positioned directly above the rough and rather square well is a mass of stone tubes, twisting and spiralling around each other, all held up by numerous arches extending from the walls. Reaching down into the watery pit is a single long and straight pipe, slowly narrowing towards its submerged tip.

  The entire confusing mass is coated in carved runes, though even those aren’t what Krvavy was expecting. She imagined that they would look like Nordic runes, as that is pretty much the stereotype for both runes and Dwarves. But what Inanna made is... rather different.

  Various arranged lines and triangles decorate the stone, forming patterns that are repeated all over the pump. Krvavy has no idea if those patterns are letters, words, or just her mind trying to make sense of it all. But whatever they’re supposed to be, Inanna had carved more than just that onto these twisting tubes. Alongside those potential written words are numerous straight and angled channels trailing all around, each one splitting off into another or ending with a small circle.

  It honestly looks a bit like circuitry...

  “[You will have to wait a while to see it in action.]” Inanna states, pulling the barbarian from her thoughts.

  “[Don’t want to turn it on before we have somewhere for the water to go?]” Krvavy guesses.

  “[Correct. That would put it through a needless amount of stress.]” The Dwarf nods her head. “[We should construct the rest of the system first. That will be comparatively simple work, if rather time consuming.]”

  “[Yeah, it’ll be a lot of digging...]” The barbarian softly sighs, not looking forward to that tedious work.

  “[Mhm.]” Inanna hums in agreement. “[If you don’t mind me asking, I’m curious about how you intend to deal with the waste?]”

  Krvavy stares at the Dwarf for a few long seconds. “[Fuuuuck...]” She groans and very much struggles to resist the urge to bury her face in her hands. “[How did I not think about that...?]”

  “[What about a septic tank?]” Inanna suggests after a few moments. “[With that your Elf would be able to collect the waste and use it as fertilizer, if she chooses to do so. Though I do believe that waste from a person is... less than ideal for agricultural use. But I am sure she would know better than I.]”

  “[Beryl already has a spell to put nutrients into the soil, so I don’t think she’d need that...]”

  “[The only other option within our current means would be to direct it into the river that runs below your home.]” The Dwarf states.

  Krvavy grimaces slightly. She doesn’t like the idea of polluting the kes down in the grotto like that. Even if they don’t exactly use the water down there for, well, anything. And even when considering how the amount would probably be pretty negligible compared to the size of those kes...

  But she also doesn’t like the idea of having to eventually empty a septic tank... Of having to shovel who knows how much waste into some sort of cart or wheelbarrow... and then having to push that all the way out of this cave of hers...

  “[I guess there isn’t any harm in doing that for the sinks and showers, as the hot springs flow down there anyway...]” The barbarian idly mutters. “[But... I’ll just leave that decision up to you. You know more about all this stuff than I do.]”

  Inanna gives a curt nod. “[Then we should get started. We have a lot of work ahead of us.]”

  “Good girl!”

  Khalia bounds towards Krvavy, skidding to a stop in front of the barbarian and dropping a stick onto the ground. “Wuhf~!” She happily barks out.

  “Such a good girl~!” The barbarian ruffles her Orc’s hair.

  “Don’t you have anything better to do?” Thea dryly asks from off to the side as Krvavy picks up the stick and throws it again.

  “I can’t spend all day moving bricks out of the hot spring. And I don’t have enough mana to keep digging, unless...?”

  “No.” The silver-blonde brat immediately and quite curtly replies, drawing an arrow back on her crude bow. She holds it there for hardly more than a second before releasing it with a sharp thwick. “Tch.” The girl unhappily clicks her tongue, having missed her target by quite a bit, the arrow sticking into the ground close to a few others. Her grouping isn’t all that bad, at least...

  “Come here, good girl~!” Krvavy scoops the panting Orc up into a hug. Khalia’s chest quickly rises and falls with each heavy breath she takes, so rather than make her run after the stick again Krvavy decides to simply sit down and drag the Greenskin woman into her p.

  “I thought that you wanted her to walk on two legs, like a normal person.”

  “I do.” The barbarian replies, cuddling her excited and slightly exhausted Orc puppy. “I’m just... letting her get away with running around on all fours when its pytime.”

  “Hmph.” Thea audibly rolls her eyes as she draws back another arrow.

  “What, do you want to be called a good girl too~?” Krvavy pyfully asks her brat.

  With a thwap the arrow goes flying away far off to the side, nding in a bush nowhere near the empty target. “Ugh! Look at that! You made me miss!” Thea stomps her foot and turns to gre at Krvavy, her face flushed ever so slightly.

  “Aww, sorry.” The barbarian insincerely apologizes, her teasing tone causing Thea’s eyes to narrow into thin slits. “I couldn’t help but notice that you levelled up earlier. Good girl~!”

  The silver-blonde brat’s face turns bright red. “S-shut up! And stop scrying me all the time!”

  “One more level and you’ll have the trait for Endurance.” Krvavy points out, ignoring Thea’s compint. “Do you know where you’re going to be putting your points after that?”

  “Oh, I bet you are going to tell me...” The girl grumbles back.

  “Not really, no.” Krvavy shakes her head. “I do think that you should raise your Allure up to match your Charisma, which will only take one point each level once it gets caught up. But if you do that, then you’d still have five free points per level to put wherever you want.”

  “So you are not going to just tell me where to put all of my attribute points each time I level up?” Thea skeptically asks, clearly not believing the barbarian in the slightest.

  Once again, Krvavy shakes her head “Nope.” That word pops past her lips. “I might tell you what I think, but its ultimately your choice. You are a big girl, and can decide for yourself~.”

  The bratty noble girl’s eye twitches at that pyfully condescending remark. “Then... where do you think I should allocate my future points?”

  “Well, beyond slowly getting everything up to twenty-five, you should probably focus on the Mental and Social stats. Your magic uses Charisma and Allure, so it doesn’t hurt to keep increasing those. And, let’s be honest, you could really use a bit of a boost to what is going on up here,” she taps the side of her head, “as well.”

  “Yea–Hey! What do you – Ugh!” Seeing Krvavy’s wide smirk, Thea immediately begins to pout. “You... you big meany!”

  “Aww, does my little princess want a hug~?” The barbarian pyfully teases, holding an arm out invitingly.

  Thea takes a deep breath and pces her bow aside. With an angry gre, the blushing girl begins to stomp her way over.

  “Good girl~!” Krvavy condescendingly coos, in as pyful a manner as possible, as she pulls Thea into her tight and cuddling hug.

  “Wuhf~!” Khalia barks rather happily, nuzzling against the bratty girl now pressed against her side.

  “You are such a bully...” Thea quietly mumbles out.

  “And you like that~.” The barbarian teases back, kissing her brat on the neck. Her sharp and carnivorous teeth gnce across soft and supple skin, threatening to nibble and bite and mark the girl with her love.

  Thea’s blush slowly spreads down to her shoulders, though she doesn’t refute that cim or even try to leave the Drakling’s embrace.

  “Your garden is looking nice.”

  “Eh!?” Beryl jumps up and spins around, her eyes wide with surprise. “Ya startled me, my dearest love.” She brings a hand up to her breast and heavily breathes out in relief upon seeing Krvavy standing nearby.

  “I didn’t think that it was possible to sneak up on you.” Krvavy idly comments. “Are you alright?”

  “Nnm...” Beryl shakes slightly as the barbarian’s rge hand gently cups her chin.

  “Don’t worry, my sweet berry.” Krvavy whispers those warm and loving words as she leans in towards her Elf, their lips almost touching. “You just have one more day.”

  “Haahhh...” The tomboyish Wood Elf pants in need as the Drakling abruptly pulls back.

  “Is everything growing alright down here?” Krvavy asks, acting as if she didn’t just tease her Elf. A good bit of revenge for what Beryl so often does to her.

  “Y-yes, my dearest love.” Beryl gasps out, shakily lowering herself back onto her knees and taking a few deep breaths. “There aren’t many weeds growin’ down ‘ere, but Ah still ‘ave ta keep an eye out.” She reaches forwards and grabs onto a stem just barely poking out of the ground, pulling it and a bunch of roots out from the soil in one smooth motion.

  “Not having any problems due to, you know, this all being in a cave without any direct sunlight?”

  “A little, ta be honest.” The Elf admits. “Ah’m concerned tha’ they won’t grow as well as they could outside. But it isn’t all bad, as they are more sheltered in ‘ere. We won’t need ta worry about losin’ them ta a storm or a sudden frost.”

  “Oh?” Krvavy raises an eyebrow. “I get not having to worry about storms, but what makes you so certain that frost isn’t an issue either? It isn’t exactly warm down here, away from the hot springs.”

  “The pnts in this grotto are a little more delicate than those outside.” Beryl replies. “Not enough ta suggest tha’ it won’t freeze durin’ the winter, just tha’ the frost won’t be as bad. O’ course, Ah do suspect tha’ snow coverin’ up the skylights and blockin’ out the sun will be a bigger issue than tha’. Though perhaps tha’ is wha’ keeps the warmth in...”

  “Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Though I’m not looking forward to a few months of complete darkness...”

  “Ah’m sure it won’t be tha’ bad.” The Wood Elf reassures, grabbing another small weed and effortlessly uprooting it.

  “Oh, while I’m here...” Krvavy changes the topic, prompting Beryl to turn and face her. “I’m not really sure if you could help, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have a bunch of pnts in and around the river that flows down from the hot springs? We might end up having to connect the plumbing to it, and I don’t really want to pollute the ke with our, ahem, waste like that.”

  “Hmm...” Beryl thinks for a moment. “It would definitely be possible, but Ah’m not sure if it is somethin’ we could really do. Fer one, the beds o’ the rivers are mostly stone, so there aren’t many pces fer pnts ta grow in them. But more importantly, those types o’ pnts are a bit out o’ our reach. They would be more common in wetnds, and there are no wetnds anywhere near ‘ere.”

  “Well, it didn’t hurt to ask.”

  “My dearest love, Ah’m not sayin’ we can’t do tha’!” The Elf hastily adds. “Ah’m sure there are rushes and bulrushes around the rivers in the woods tha’ we could use. It’s just tha’ those might not be enough fer wha’ ya want. They alone could only filter so much.”

  The barbarian simply shrugs her shoulders. “It’s better than nothing, right?”

  “Aye.” Beryl nods back. “Ah’ll see wha’ Ah can find next time Ah’m out. Ya aren’t in a rush fer them, are ya?”

  “Nah, not really.”

  “Good, good.” The tanned Wood Elf idly replies, before the two of them fall into a comfortable silence, her lips curling into a gentle smile as she dreamily sighs to herself.

  “My eyes are a bit further up than that~.” Krvavy pyfully smirks as Beryl’s gaze suddenly jumps up to meet her own.

  “Ahh... Hah...” Beryl awkwardly ughs as a slight flush fills her cheeks. “Ah’m sorry, my dearest love.”

  “Seriously, are you doing all right? I didn’t expect your punishment to be... this effective.” Krvavy softly bites the inside of her cheek, feeling a little guilty now. “Which is kind of why I’ve more or less been going out of my way to, well, tease you...”

  “Don’t ya worry about me. Ah’m doin’ just fine.” The tanned tomboy cims as she does her best to ignore the juices trailing down her thighs.

  “Mhm, sure.”

  Beryl slowly and deeply exhales, letting her shoulders slump as she tries not be too tense. “Ah spend my days around a bunch o’ attractive women who are constantly barin’ their bodies. It is only natural tha’ Ah get aroused. But Ah’m fine, really.”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t get this pent up when I went on my little adventures.” Krvavy points out, unable to keep a tinge of concern from her voice

  “O’ course not. Ah was allowed ta relieve myself. And Ah didn’t ‘ave ta deal with the extra temptations tha’ ya being around brings.” The Elf sighs and can’t help but squirm a little, toned and tanned thighs rubbing together. “Every time Ah hear Thea’s screams o’ pleasure Ah can only imagine myself as the one squirmin’ beneath ya...”

  “Fair enough.” Krvavy shrugs her shoulders. “I just didn’t realize you were so... horny. In general. Not just now specifically.”

  “Neither did Ah.” Beryl gently replies, doing her best to maintain eye contact. Which is a battle that she is slowly losing, if the increasingly frequent furtive gnces are anything to go by. “Perhaps my body is simply tryin’ ta catch up on lost time? Or perhaps like Thea Ah too ‘ave been affected by yer lust, just not ta the same degree o’ course.”

  “Well... I should probably get out of your hair then. Don’t want to make you slip up so close to the finish line.” The barbarian smirks a bit as she reaches over and ruffles the tanned tomboy’s short hair. That bit of contact alone causes a twitching tremor to roll through that lithe woman’s body.

  “Tha’ may be fer the best...” Beryl quietly breathes out.

  One of the Elf’s hands hovers so close to her crotch as she watches Krvavy walk away.