The cloud of poison was thicker than Bjorn thought it would be but now was his chance to escape. He spotted the beaker in the foliage below, which he had dropped when the wolf bit him. He flicked his tongue tasting the air, with scent alone he could accurately count the wolves even though he couldn’t see them.
There were twelve in total; he could taste the confusion and fear of the toxic gas radiating from those that remained. The problem was, according to Failsafe, he would not be able to use his magic again for half a day. That’s when the air changed and he could taste death. Two of the wolves were having seizures, twitching on the ground. He believed the first was the wolf that bit him and breathed in the poison the longest. The second must have been in the mist longer as well.
Bjorn wasted no time in sliding down into the mist which to him had a sickly sweet smell. He picked up the beaker with his tail again. He had to run by one of the shadow wolves in order to make it to the lake. The wolf was taken completely off guard as Bjorn bit its leg without even slowing down, pumping a lethal dose of venom into the creature.
The wolf howled in pain and turned to give chase. It didn’t even make it a few yards before it started bleeding from the eyes and mouth and collapsed against a tree. Before any of the other wolves could even react, Bjorn was already jumping into the water, diving as deep as he could as quickly as possible. Surprisingly he found swimming to be quite natural for him. His instincts took over and guided him in how to properly swim with his anatomy.
He continued to swim out until he was sure he lost the shadow wolves. He floated along the surface of the water easily enough. He basked in a mission complete; now all he had to do was get back. Bjorn didn’t like how close the shadow wolves were to the troll’s cave. He was only about forty-five minutes walk away, and with the troll dead it was only a matter of time before they became another problem. Bjorn knew he was going to have to do something about the wolves, but that was a problem for later.
“I think I’m a water lizard thing of some kind,” Bjorn thought.
“Yeah, you might be right,” Failsafe agreed. “That was a close one though; let's not do that again.”
“How did they get so close to us without us noticing them?” Bjorn asked. “They didn’t have a scent or anything.”
“Looked like shadow manipulation magic,” Failsafe stated. “I remember the name shadow wolf so we have seen them before, but I don’t remember anything else about them.”
The duo continued to float in the swamp, traveling far downstream to hopefully leave the shadow wolves’ territory. Bjorn noticed a bask of crocodiles, dozens of snakes and other reptiles and even frogs leaving the water as he slowly floated by. He could taste the fear of him in the air as the animals seemed to be eyeing him warily.
“Well that is weird,” Bjorn stated.
“I think your dragon repellent works on all reptiles and amphibians by the look of it,” Failsafe stated with intrigue. “Hmm. I’m going to have to give that skill a cooler name.”
Bjorn asked while counting the animals he saw at the bank, “That reminds me, what about our cultivation thing, did I get anything from the wolves?”
“Yes, actually we killed four of ‘em. I saw another collapse in the Poison Puff. Also, good news, you have a healing factor,” Failsafe stated as if it wasn’t obvious.
“Well, yeah of course,” Bjorn shrugged. “I kind of guessed that since I had my internals turned into paste and am still kicking. Well, swimming in this case.”
Failsafe was quiet for a minute as he thought about what he was going to say. “Right, of course… Some of the experience was used to heal your tail, but take a look at your status. Oh and-and tell me what you think about the name change for dragon repellent. I am open to some badass suggestions. I will highlight it for you,” he said excitedly.
Bjorn looked back at his tail where the missing scales and torn flesh had already healed. Water washed away the remaining blood.
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Status Menu
Name: Bjorn Salstar
Species: Unknown
Level: 0.9
Vitality: 2
Restoration: 20
Constitution: 1
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Stamina: 2
Magic: 1
Magic Regeneration: 2 (+3 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
King of the Reptiles (Whatcha think?)
Passive Skill
Dragons, lizards, amphibians all show hesitation and fear around you, going so far as to run away from you. More study needed.
Super Regeneration?
Magic Cost: 40-ish
Currently only usable if fallen beasts powers the magic, major wounds can be healed. More study needed but not recommended we try again.
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“Wow, a little more and we unlock more about who I was, right?” Bjorn asked as he looked over the status. “Restoration jumped up but my vitality stayed the same?”
“The two are close in meaning but not the same. Restoration is how fast you heal, while vitality is how much life energy you have. On the same note, constitution is how durable you are physically and mentally.” Failsafe paused for a second. “Uh, actually, I should probably change that one, how does Willpower sound for mental fortitude?”
“I think it would be fine; the more accurate these are the better I’m assuming,” Bjorn stated.
“Yeah and it’s also pretty fun, right? When we get stronger, probably around level ten, no, level fifteen, you should have enough mana for me to scan and calculate other people’s status and skills. We’ll know how strong someone is just by looking at them. Won't that be crazy?”
“Yeah, that would be really helpful in a fight,” Bjorn stated as he looked over the status again. “But why did the amount of mana I’m getting from the familiar bond go up?”
“Huh? Oh, I didn’t even notice that. Weird,” Failsafe admitted.“I don’t know, maybe it’s just how the bond works. It would make sense the more you two interact the stronger the bond would become.”
Bjorn thought about it. “Strengthening the bond would eventually make it so I couldn’t break it. The containment back at the academy was supposed to do that, right?”
“Yep, I imagine there’s a point of no return. I will keep an eye on it so when we reach that point you can make the decision if we’re going to stay or go. So what do you think of the name of the skill?” Failsafe asked cheerily. “King of the Reptiles sounds pretty cool, right?”
Bjorn didn’t really care about the name but thought it was a little on the nose. “Well… it’s not bad…” He could feel Failsafes mood dropping. “It’s not bad, uh, because it’s great, buddy. So-so cool.”
The two continued floating for a while before returning to land and immediately climbing a tree. Now that they had the beaker full of water he had to be careful as he carried it in his mouth. Bjorn wanted to look out for the shadow wolves, and now that he knew the taste of their magic he knew what to look out for. The last thing he wanted was to lead the pack to Freja.
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***
After watching his surroundings for an hour he felt it was safe to move. He climbed down and began his walk back to the cave, this time far more cautious than his arrival. It took another hour and a half for Bjorn to make it back. He wanted to give the wolves’ territory as wide a berth as possible. He tasted the air as he arrived and could detect no changes, aside from the increased numbers of vultures.
He arrived back at the cave and saw Freja still lying on the ground. She was crying and didn’t seem to notice him until the clacking of his talons against the cave floor roused her. She turned her head with a wince and some of her worries seemed to melt.
“Bjorn,” Freja said; her voice was weak. “You really are alive. I thought I might have been hallucinating that.”
***
Bjorn walked up to her and proceeded to set down the swamp water. Which, of course, Freja couldn’t drink as it was, unless she wanted to get sick. He went through her alchemy equipment using his talons to the best of his ability but found that simply using his mouths was far easier and quicker.
“Bjorn, what are you doing, baby?” Freja asked as she tried to get a better view from her spot without causing too much pain. “Did you bring me water, h-how?”
Bjorn squawked affirmatively as he focused on finding the bunsen burner. Once he did he quickly ran out of the cave, leaving Freja confused. She saw the dirty water sitting next to her alchemy case and the majority of her equipment taken out and neatly organized. This just left her more confused. How did her familiar know how to do that? He is just a few days old at this point and he spent most of his time in a containment field at her former school.
“Is he intelligent enough to know how to boil water? Does he know I would need the water boiled?” Freja questioned out loud to herself. “Our bond isn’t even at the Iota stage yet, there is no way he’s seen my memories.”
She continued to question what she was seeing as Bjorn returned with a few sticks in his mouth. Sure she didn’t know what he was, but the fact that he was this intelligent meant he might be a True… something. The True were from beyond this world, much like the True Dragons, which had power beyond anything a mortal could comprehend, unlike the lesser dragons born in this world. If Bjorn was a True then she was very lucky he hadn’t killed her and everyone else when he hatched.
“Bjorn,” she whispered. “Can you understand me?”
Bjorn stopped stacking the sticks he brought and turned to face her. He nodded and squawked before running out of the cave again to gather more sticks. She didn’t know what to think about that, her mind started to swim. If he was intelligent to this level he is sentient. That means their bond is illegal; it is practically a Blood Pact. Does he know that too, should she break the bond? Would it be right to have the bond influence him when he is practically another person.
She saw he was preparing a campfire and was going to use the bunsen burner as a lighter. That all but told her that he was special; he had knowledge that no regular animal born a few days ago would ever have. Where did his knowledge come from? Was he just born knowing how to survive in the woods and take care of an injured person?
She shifted a little and lifted her right hand to rub her face. The healing potion she drank was only enough to stop the bleeding and set the bones in her right ribs, arm and leg. She could feel that they were very much still fractured, possibly still broken in a few places. She was sweating profusely, which wasn’t a good sign. She looked over herself as best she could and saw that her leg was swollen and red. She had an infection, one that would have to be addressed quickly or she would have to cut off the appendage.
She felt tears well up again when she saw Bjorn carry more sticks inside. Something about him trying to keep her alive filled her with hope. He was doing so much for her, so she couldn’t just lay there and cry. He ran out and returned with more dry sticks and finally seemed happy with the amount he gathered. He sat them down, meticulously stacking them to start the fire. He held the burner and seemed frustrated. Freja called him so he put the device down and walked over to her. She petted him warmly.
“To turn on the burner you have to focus mana into the flare jewel.” She pointed at the metal burner. “Can you do it?” Bjorn shook his head no. “It’s okay, bring it to me. It is an older model so it can be tricky. Miss Dimii, Julie and Mat all pitched in to buy it for my birthday two years ago.” Bjorn went and picked up the burner then returned to Freja, placing it next to her. “I was never really all that great at magic, but alchemy… I thought if I got really good at alchemy then maybe dad or mom would… I don’t know. Like me. We see where that got me, huh?”
She placed her hand near the burner and spoke the words of power, expecting it to take a few tries as it always did. As she did she felt her magic core within her and stopped. She examined herself internally, circulating magic in her core and felt that it had changed. Her magic had always been an unruly mess she couldn’t control. Her magic core was an anomaly no one could explain so they labeled her a wizard.
When she examined her core she felt the familiar bond had grown significantly and had begun to unravel her magic in a way she’d never felt. Normally she would only feel chaos but this time she felt that beneath the chaos was very pure and very malleable mana. She decided to tap into it even more and felt something click in the core of her being, and all of a sudden a screen appeared in front of her.
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Status Menu
Name: Freja Thundersky Salstar
Species: Wendigo
Level: 7
Vitality:9
Restoration: 2
Constitution: 2
Willpower: 8
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4
Stamina: 2
Magic: 16
Magic Regeneration: 25 (+3 from bond)
Page 1 of 2
Skills Analysis
Familiar Contract
You are bonded with a named familiar. You gain +3 magic regeneration.
Mystic Wind Hands
Magic cost: 3
Speak the words of power and call forth the mystic hands created from the wind. These hands can interact with the world and will act out the caster’s will.
Mana Manipulation
Magic cost: Variable
Manipulate the pure mana inside and around your body. Allows you to circulate your mana and use mana-dependent tools.
Mana Muscle Saturation
Magic cost: 1
Push your mana into your muscles and bones to temporarily increase your physical attributes.
Page 2 of 2
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Freja looked at Bjorn, who watched her expectantly. She held her hand to the burner again and focused her mana. It flowed at her command in a way she’d never felt before. She watched the flare stone ignite instantly and tears came to her eyes again. She had done it with ease, like a normal person. Like a mage would have, like Mat or Julie or anyone else. All it took was her dying in a cave to finally get there.
Bjorn watched her for a moment, so she reached out her hand and petted him again.
“I am okay, you can start the fire. Be careful not to burn yourself,” she said as a pained smile graced her lips. “Thank you, Bjorn.”
She watched as Bjorn carefully picked up the burner and stood up rather awkwardly on his hind legs as he waddled over to the sticks and lit them. He placed the beaker with the water close enough to the fire to heat up. He then returned to Freja, laying down beside her and watching the fire as it crackled. They just laid there for a while, listening to the sound of the fire.
“Bjorn.” Freja broke the silence, her voice raspy. “I can make a healing potion with my alchemy supplies, but I will need a few things. I don’t know if you understand everything but I am dying. I have an infection in my leg. I will have to cure that first but do you think you can get the ingredients for me if I show you what I need?”
Bjorn’s head rose immediately and he squawked. She directed him to one of the books, a Florea which contained a large compendium of herbs and other plants. He had to help her sit up against the cave wall which was painful, but she needed to endure. She was going to survive this and figure everything else out after. She went over the plants she would need with Bjorn, showing him the pictures. Fleron root, dorma bulbs and shade caps were all she would need for a basic herbal healing potion. Then the jora mushroom and fell-moss for the infection.
The infection would take one concentrated dose to heal but she was on a race against time. If things progressed too far she would have to find a way to cut the leg off. The idea was sickening to her so she turned her attention to the herbal health potions. They would take many doses over the course of a week to heal completely, but she would be able to walk in a few days. She needed to keep her mind on the positives if she wanted to survive.
Freja was surprised at how responsive the lizard was; she could tell that there was real intelligence behind his eyes. That made her wonder even more what he could be. The summoning she performed was a basic one that should have only pulled something from their world, not reached into the Higher Planes. She was sure that wasn’t even possible to do in the first place especially for Mat. He was a student not a master or grandmaster of spellcraft. If Bjorn was a True then why would he help her? He could easily break the familiar contract, kill and eat her then go off to gain power. If he wasn't, why had she never heard of his species before?
“Bjorn, do you know what you are? We tried to look up your species in the library but no luck,” Freja asked, and Bjorn shook his head no. “Hmm.” She trembled a little at the next question. “Do you hate me for summoning you here away from wherever you’re from? I can break the bond, it’s not right to have it if you are… sentient like this. You could go and leave me to my fate.” He shook his head again and Freja let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. “Thank you.”
Freja needed to prepare; she reached for the wand she had at her side only to find it missing. She remembered when the troll attacked her she’d had it in her hand; she must have lost it when she was nearly killed. Her wand wasn’t anything special but it was the only gift she’d ever received from her mother before they found out she was a wizard and not a mage, before they started to treat her differently.
She focused her magic, using her left hand to draw out the formula in the air while speaking the words of power for the Wind Hands spell. Her magic bent to her will far easier than she had ever known, and without even trying she had two substantial wind hands floating above her. The mana flowed so easily she barely realized that she cast the spell at all. She examined her mana core again and could feel the framework of the spell.
“Before you go,” Freja said. She directed the hands to grab one of her bags and tie it to Bjorn’s back. “Please be safe, baby.”
She gave him another beaker to fill with water and placed it in the bag. Bjorn left shortly after in search of the materials. Freja grit her teeth and looked at the incomplete set up of her alchemy equipment. With a thought the Mystic Wind Hands got to work setting up the lab that would soon be her salvation. She knew without a shadow of a doubt she was not going to die here. She was going to live even if it was just to spite the people that put her there.
“I will survive this,” Freja said to herself. “Fuck you Ulfar.”