[7] Night is for the Monsters

It was always the same: the first sensation was warmth, then breath, then darkness as his eyes rolled open. This time, however, things seemed a little different. The sun was setting but the crag face caught the light, giving the area a few more minutes before night. Bjorn found it difficult to focus, his vision now split between four eyes. 

Now that was new. The last thing he remembered was being caught in the grasp of the troll, then nothing but darkness and pain. He coughed, his throat dry and scratchy.

He tried to focus on his vision; he was still seeing double. It was starting to become more normal to him. It was less like an affliction caused by injury and more of a new natural. He rolled over onto his paws, now laying on his stomach instead of his side. His muscles were sore and felt as if he had been shredded from the inside out. That’s when he noticed his neck was touching something. He turned and saw himself staring back at him.

Startled, his necks reeled back, getting a good look at what he was seeing. He was seeing himself from two different angles at the same time. He had sprouted a second head, which only made him confused. He looked around and saw the troll lying dead not too far from him. His other head also swung around and saw something concerning. It was also his head, fully detached as if ripped off. 

“Failsafe. Failsafe?” Bjorn called for him mentally. 

“Ugh… Damn that hurt,” Failsafe responded.

“You can feel pain?” Bjorn asked.

“I feel everything you do,” Failsafe responded with a groan. “Like the new look by the way. I’m sure two heads are in style right now.”

“Was this your doing? What happened to me?” Bjorn asked.

“No, it appears this is just a natural thing that you do now,” Failsafe responded. “You got our head ripped off and man did that suck. But hey, we aren’t dead. Let’s not do that again though. Getting decapitated is not conducive to a long life.”

“Wouldn’t they just grow back?” Bjorn asked.

“Maybe, but probably not,” Failsafe continued. “It took way more magic than you currently have to do this. The only reason we survived this time is because the troll died.” He squealed in excitement. “Wait-wait, I just thought of something.”

Failsafe went quiet, and shortly after Bjorn’s vision returned to normal. He looked at his second head, which was bobbing up and down without him doing it.

“Failsafe, is that you?” Bjorn asked.

“Yep I have a body now! Look out world,” Failsafe said in triumph. “Well I have a head.”

“How are you doing that? Can you take control of me?” Bjorn asked, feeling uneasy at the development.

“No, the only thing I can do is take control of one of your heads, and only if you let me. We can switch if you want, or you can kick me out, but I call dibs on the right side,” Failsafe responded casually.

The answer was still worrying but there wasn’t much they could do right now anyway. Bjorn stood up, his movements didn’t seem to be impeded by Failsafe controlling the other head. Now that he was standing he could make out the crumpled form of Freja not too far from the collapsed troll. He limped over to make sure she was still alive. He could feel the familiar pact still active so she had to be breathing.

Freja was in a terrible state; blood caked the ground and stained nearly all of her shredded clothing. Well, what was left of them. It appeared all the bleeding had stopped but she still had nasty scars along her right arm and side. On the ground beside her were her belongings, which appeared to have been thrown to the ground without care for the contents. She had an empty bottle in her hand which Bjorn imagined was some kind of potion she’d taken, most likely saving her life.

Now that he knew she was okay, at least for the moment, he cautiously walked towards the downed troll. He needed to confirm it was dead. The last thing he wanted was to let his guard down only for it to wake up and crush them. With each flick of his snake-like tongue he could taste death in the air. He hung his heads low, being sure to minimize his presence as much as possible, almost tiptoeing to the beast. 

He walked around the completely still cadaver a few times from what he considered a safe distance. With no movement from the creature he approached its back, not confident in being able to escape if it suddenly sprung at him from the front. After scratching it with his claws and jumping back with no reaction he approached again. The creature was good and dead, but that left Bjorn with a question.

“Failsafe, did the cultivation thing you were talking about work? I mean we killed this thing, right?” Bjorn looked at the head Failsafe controlled; he was still bobbing around wonderstruck with his new freedom. “Failsafe. Did you hear me?”

“Huh, oh that, well yes and no,” Failsafe responded mentally. “Most of our share of the energy I took from it, and I mean like 95% got used up healing us… and apparently growing a second head. This is so cool by the way, I never had a head before and this one can bend and twist and-”

Bjorn cut him off. “I get it, have your fun, but you said most of the energy got used up and our share. What about the remainder?” 

“So, funny story. I forgot to account for the fact that you’re a familiar. So when I created your menu system Freja’s magic copied it. I don’t think she’s used it yet, in fact I don’t think she consciously knows she has the ability, but her body is also able to create mental projection menus, stats and skill sheets.”

“You lost me, what does that have to do with my question?” Bjorn asked.

“Well,” Failsafe’s eyes darted sharply away. “When I developed our cultivation method her magic copied that as well, and technically you are an extension of her magic as long as you have the familiar bond.”

“So, when I kill something the reward is shared between us?” Bjorn asked.

“Yes so your… uh, let’s call it experience, got split between the two of you,” Failsafe said. “And she now has a cultivation method.”

“Well, I guess that will be a good thing in the long run,” Bjorn said. “It’s going to start getting cold soon; let’s check out the cave, I don’t think it’ll be smart to stay out here in the open.”

“True, night belongs to the monsters,” Failsafe agreed.

Bjorn walked over to the cave the troll had called home. He was pleased to find that his vision easily adjusted to the dark cave. His flicking tongue didn’t alert him to any more unexpected trolls in the cave. The inside was lined with the bones of all sorts of animals and even other monsters. The strong musk of the troll was everywhere, which might keep them safe; other beasts would likely stay away from the troll’s territory. 

He returned to Freja with the plan to drag the girl into the cave. He bit onto her shirt, careful not to nick her with his fangs, and Failsafe did the same. He didn’t think moving her would be easy, but he also didn’t think it would be so hard. Freja wasn’t a big girl by any means, she probably weighed about a hundred ten pounds soaking wet. The struggle was real. Moving her a few feet felt like they might as well have been trying to move the troll. Ever so slowly but surely, after an hour and a half they finally managed to pull her into the cave. 

The sun fully set and the temperature was dropping fast. Bjorn worried that Freja might get sick if she slept in the cold like this. He decided it would be best to look through her things on the ground. He ran back to the pile, found her travel bag and decided to leave all of the books, papers and other things. Luckily, tugging the bag along was much easier than dragging an unconscious Freja.

Once he returned to the cave he decided it was high time he got to see how dexterous his hands were. He didn’t want to rip the bag because it would be useful when they traveled. His front paws looked like they were meant to grab and hold onto things with three finger-like talons and a forth that functioned kind of like a thumb. He used his hands to carefully unzip the bag. 

He found that he could do simple movements with his hands, but he was never going to be a painter, not in this life at least. Once the bag was open he and Failsafe used their mouths to quickly take out all of the clothing inside, placing a layer of skirts, sweater vests and shirts on top of Freja. Once they were done with the task, they curled up beside her to share body heat. With things calmed down he finally opened his status to see what changes had been made.

Status Menu

Name: Bjorn Salstar
Species: Unknown
Level: 0.5
Vitality: 1
Restoration:10
Constitution: 1
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Stamina: 1
Magic: 1
Magic Regeneration: 2 (+2 from bond)

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Skills Analysis

Reincarnation Failsafe
An incomplete reincarnation magic construct and your best friend that has your back no matter what!

Venomous Bite
Magic Cost: 0
You have a neurotoxic venom which can be injected through a bite with your fangs.

Poison Puff
Magic Cost: 1
You can mix your venom into the air using magic, creating a small area of poisonous gas. This gas will reduce the health of those inside. The wider the area of effect, the less effective the poison.

Poison Scratch
Magic Cost: 1
You can infuse your claws with neurotoxic venom, making even small scratches fatal over time.

Familiar Pact Connection
Magic Cost: -3
As a familiar you are receiving +3 to your magic regeneration 

Dragon Repellant?
Passive Skill?
Dragons seem to dislike you for some reason and show hesitation and fear around you. More study needed.

Head Regeneration?
Magic Cost: 40-ish (Was kinda decapitated at the time so numbers may be off.)
Currently only usable if fallen beasts powers the regrowth. Major wounds including decapitation can be healed. More study needed but not recommended we try again.

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