Night is for the Monsters

It is always the same: the first sensation is warmth, then breath, then darkness as his eyes rolled open. This time however things seemed a little different than the first time. The sun was setting but the crag face caught the light giving the area a few more minutes of sun. 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 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 is 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 and 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 am 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 a bit 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 answer right now anyway. Bjorn stood up his movements did not 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 her to make sure she was still alive. He could feel the familiar pact still active so she had to be breathing.

She was in a terrible state, blood caked the ground and stained nearly all of her clothing. Well what was left of her shredded garments. It appeared all of 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 he imagined was some kind of potion she took and most likely saved 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 him and Freja. 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 his other head which 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 are 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 is going to start getting cold soon lets check out the cave I don't think it I'll be smart to stay out here in the open."

"True, night belongs to the monsters." Failsafe agreed.

Bjorn walks over to the cave the troll originally called home. He is pleased to find that his vision easily adjusted to the dark cave. His flicking tongue does not alert him to any more unexpected trolls in the cave. The inside is lined with the bones of all sorts of animals and even other monsters. The strong musk of the troll is everywhere which may keep them safe as other beasts will likely stay away from the troll's territory. 

He returns to Freja with the plan to drag the girl into the cave. He bites onto her shirt, careful not to nick her with his fangs and Failsafe does the same. He didn't think moving her would be easy but he also didn't think it would be so hard. Freja isn't a big girl by any means, she probably weighs about a hundred ten pounds soaking wet. The struggle was real. Moving her a few feet felt like they might as well be trying to move the troll. Even 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 may get sick if she sleeps in the cold like this. He decides it would be best to look through her things on the ground. He runs back to the pile which looked to have been just dropped without any care. He finds her travel bag and decides to leave all of the books, papers and other things. Luckily tugging the bag along was much easier than 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 look like they were meant to grab and hold onto things with three finger-like talons and a forth that functions kind of like a thumb. He uses his hands to carefully open the bag with the zipper. 

He finds that he can do simple movements with his hands but he is never going to be a painter in this life at least. Once the bag is open he and Failsafe use 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 are done with the task they curl up beside her sharing body heat. With things calmed down he finally opened his status to see what changes were 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 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 your neurotoxic venom making even small scratches fatal overtime.

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 kind'a 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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