‘…’
‘Cain?’
‘…’
‘Cain! Answer me!’
‘Yeah, I’m here…’
‘What happened? I woke up and you were screaming.’ Magira didn’t even attempt to hide her anxiety through the bond.
‘Sorry about that. I started messing around with poison magic and there were unintended side effects.’
‘Is that why you were in so much pain? You actually poisoned yourself?’
‘No,’ Cain mentally sighed, ‘the poison was manageable, even if I messed up. I just… got a skill that made some changes to my body.’
‘Um… if you don’t mind me asking… what kind of changes? Some of them are… sort of illegal.’
‘I have extendable fangs now.’
‘… That’s it?’ Magira seemed to be wondering how something so small could cause so much pain.
‘That, and a venom gland, but the teeth were the cause of the screaming,’ Cain elaborated. ‘And before you ask, the tissue in our gums and teeth are packed full of delicate nerve endings that are incredibly painful when disturbed. I grew in several new teeth in what couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes. Usually, that process takes anywhere from weeks to years.’
‘Oh.’
‘Oh indeed. So, is any of that illegal?’
‘I… don’t think so? People don’t really like it when humans try to look more like demihumans, or the other way around. And a couple changes are thought of as too monstrous and are illegal because of that.’
‘Got it. Thanks, Magira.’
‘… You’re welcome?’
Cain still gazed at the cloudy sky. The moon was hiding from him again. He scowled and found the expression felt strange. Pretty sure I know the cause of that. Feeling the inside of his mouth with his tongue revealed that his canines had been replaced by sharp, snake-like fangs. He nearly poked his tongue a couple times. They didn’t come out too much farther than his canines had, but it was just enough to be felt through his lips when he made facial expressions. He could also feel an unfamiliar muscle being stimulated when he moved his mouth. Probably the ‘extendable’ part of his fangs. Cain sighed. He couldn’t even be bothered to look at the other notifications yet. He just stared solemnly at the clouds. What… am I feeling right now? Cain asked himself an unusual question, caught up in the something he was feeling. Anger? No. Disappointment? Sort of. Nostalgia? Not quite right, but it didn’t feel wrong either. Familiarity…?
Oh, he realized. I feel unhappy. He remembered this feeling. The world was bad, his day was bad, and he was feeling bad. Unhappiness. And that’s why it feels familiar. Before he got used to shutting out feelings he didn’t like, he felt unhappy a lot. He would have a bad day at school, have an argument with his mom, get yelled at by his stepdad, and then go cry quietly in his room behind a locked door. The world had been bad, his day had been bad, and he’d felt bad. And now here he was. He was in a backwards world that still kept slaves, he’d had to interact with a literal slave trader and act like it didn’t disgust him, he’d just had an excruciatingly painful experience, and now he was unhappy. And to top it all off, he’d woken Magira up and made her worry.
What did I always do when I was unhappy? He thought back on his life. There were games he would play when he needed a distraction. He would read when he just wanted to kill time so he could go to sleep. And there was music that would soothe him. When I was unhappy, my favorite thing to do was listen to music until I calmed down. Dark lyrics and rock music were some of his favorites for when he was frustrated, but that wasn’t quite right for his current situation. Love songs, rap, and instrumentals were the ham sandwiches of his playlists. It wouldn’t be anyone’s favorite, but it got the job done in an inoffensive way. Then there were the sad songs. Slow tempo, minor key, smooth melody. Coincidentally, the lyrics would usually include a loved one dying. If he felt disappointed, heartbroken, or hopeless, these were the songs he’d listen to, and it helped him relax. Right now he was probably feeling a little bit of all three. What were my favorites…?
There were a couple songs about grieving… didn’t feel quite right.
That one was about “feeling lost,” which was frankly far too vague.
A few breakup songs over there, not what he was looking for… oh. That one.
That… had a lot of bittersweet memories. It felt like exactly what he needed.
‘… Cain?’
‘Yes?’
‘Are… you okay?’
‘It’s just been a really long day is all. I’m sorry I woke you up.’
‘Ah, that’s alright. Just… be careful, I guess?’ Magira’s concern leaked through the mental link. Cain expected she’d picked up on his internal dialogue. He acknowledged her before turning his attention away.
Cain focused inwards once again. There it was. The soft tinkling notes of a music box. His mother gently humming to the melody. The way she ran her hand through his hair. Cain had so many memories connected to this song. All the nights he cried himself to sleep, all the arguments they had over the years, and all the kind words she’d told him. He hummed softly to himself, trying to pull as much of the memory to the surface as he could. He could almost hear the song playing. Eventually, the sound changed. He could feel Magira following the melody, humming with him. Memories intermingled with each other, and every now and then he couldn’t tell whether one was his or hers. Both of them were reminiscing about things they’d lost. Some of Magira’s memories began to bleed into Cain’s, and the tune gradually transformed. Instead of what either of them remembered from their past, a single song emerged, distinct from either but laced with nostalgia and longing from both. Somber comfort settled over them, and the song eventually came to a close.
‘Hey, Cain?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Thanks.’
‘What for?’
‘When I was still a kid, whenever I was upset or sick, my big sister would hum a little song for me and give me hugs until I felt better. You reminded me of her.’ That explained some of the memories he saw.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
‘Ah. My mother did something similar with me when I was little. She’d sing to me when I couldn’t sleep.’
‘…’
‘…’
‘You know, I’ve been worrying… that maybe you were lying to me about all this. That you would… treat me like a tool. That you would start hurting me. Like the others.’
‘…’
‘But… you seem nice. Strange, but nice.’
‘Thanks, Magira.’
‘You’re welcome, Cain. I think I’ll be able to go back to sleep now. Try not to hurt yourself again.’
‘I will. Sweet dreams.’
Cain looked to the moon, once again visible through a break in the clouds. In it he saw a beauty that had eluded him before.
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Magira had finally fallen back asleep. Some of the underlying fear Cain had been glimpsing through their bond was now gone, as though an invisible tension had simply fallen away. This was an advantage to telepathy that Cain hadn’t realized when he first decided to purchase the rune. No amount of honeyed words would have been able to fully convince Magira of Cain’s intentions after the life she’d had. The telepathy rune, however, allowed her to see directly into his thoughts and feelings. It was a built-in lie detector watching every word he said. I have a feeling that will cause almost as many problems as it solves. But it would probably be worth it in the long run, assuming Magira stuck around for it. Speaking of the long run, he needed to get used to having fangs. He could already imagine how often he’d bite his tongue while talking or eating. Would people think his fangs were strange? How common were such modifications for there to be laws about it? Modifications… oh. There had been something on his… summary, he supposed, that marked him as unmodified.
( Cain Peyton, SL: 13, Unclassified )
Human (Modified), Male
[ Next Milestone : (Classification Interface + Primary Selection) ]
Min. SL: 25, Min. Skill Total: 10
( Skill Total : 6 )
E1 [ Self-Awareness (Middling) ], 2 SL
E1 [ Burning Man (Middling) ], 2 SL
E1 [ Boiling Lifeblood (Lesser) ], 1 SL
E1 [ Adrenaline High (Lesser) ], 1 SL
E2 [ Tempered Fury (Lesser) ], 5 SL
E1 [ Snakeblood (Progenitor, Lesser) ], 2 SL
( Mixed Skill Total : 3 )
[ Mana Control (Lesser, III) ], 0 SL
[ Venom Gland (Lesser, I) ], 0 SL
[ Fangs, Extendable (Lesser, I) ], 0 SL
As expected, he was now a modified human. Between a new muscle group from the fangs and an entire new organ, it wasn’t surprising. Cain opened his mouth and bared his teeth, feeling the foreign sensation of his teeth twitching. Actually, scratch that, I don’t like that imagery. He carefully brought his hands up to his mouth and felt around the gums of his newfangled fangs. After a few moments of careful prodding, he nearly skewered his thumb when one of his upper left fang suddenly shot out. The movement made the other three twitch dangerously, prompting him to swiftly remove his hands from his mouth. It seems like they can be independently controlled with practice, but they’re designed to all pop out at once. Cain held his mouth wide open after the fang retracted, and began trying to extend all four at once. After several seconds of making funny faces at the sky, he felt them starting to extend. He focused on the sensation and tried to exert control over the involved muscles, but found little purchase. His brain wasn’t used to having nerve endings for that. With effort, he eventually managed to hold them in a fully extended position.
Cain brought his hands back to his mouth, though not without the caution it was due. Feeling around his fangs revealed that they were about half his pointer finger’s length on the top, and closer to a third on the bottom. Pinching a fang between two fingers informed him that the point was fine enough that he shouldn’t bother testing their sharpness. At the back of each tooth he could feel a slight indentation that he assumed to be a hollow channel for delivering venom. Closer to the base of the teeth he felt a thin, cuticle-like layer bridge the transition between fang and gum. Feeling further back revealed that the gums directly above and below his fangs were softer than in other areas of his mouth. The new teeth had less in the way of roots than his regular ones to facilitate their mobility. They aren’t intended for chewing anyway, so that doesn’t seem like it would be a huge downside.
Wait, he thought. Don’t snake fangs use flap-like muscles to fold backwards? Why do these sheathe themselves in my gums instead of folding? Cain was perplexed. He even had a skill named Snakeblood, so why… oh, right. Snakeblood wasn’t the skill that governed his fangs. It was the mixed skill called “Fangs, Extendable” that did that. Nothing in their specified snake fangs. These were just generic, nonspecific Fangs, Extendable. In fact, it was likely this variant was implemented because it was simply the best fit for him. Folding fangs wouldn’t even fit in my mouth. He had a wide tongue that would get in the way, unlike typical snakes. The entire bottom of his mouth was devoted to soft tissues that gave his tongue mobility, and would be a terrible place to anchor a tooth. Well, I’m not really a dentist, so that may not be how it works at all. Who was he to say where a tooth could and couldn’t be? Cain believed in freedom of teeth, after all.
But it was probably time to stop tempting fate, waving his juicy digits around his overly bloodthirsty bones like that. He was wasting moonlight, or mostly the lack thereof, that he could be spending on training his attributes. He had told Magira he’d try not to hurt himself again, so he’d stick to his word. No playing with fire, and no nearly killing himself with poison. He knew now that just because he didn’t immediately feel the effects didn’t mean he wasn’t poisoned. Which meant he should definitely avoid the lethal kinds for right now. The only kind of poison Cain knew of that didn’t directly try to kill a person was the paralytic kind, though. Those would just inhibit movement so that something else could kill the target. It was still risky to paralyze himself out in the open, but he’d been screaming at the top of his lungs and still nothing approached him. He doubted he’d find trouble so close to the city.
----------------------------------------
[ Body Attribute Increased : Constitution ]
(Current Value: 17 -> 21)
[ Body Attribute Increased : Vigor ]
(Current Value: 9 -> 10)
[ Skill Manifested : Flexible Metabolism (Lesser) ]
The entity’s metabolism can be slowed down immensely during times of hunger or inactivity, or sped up slightly when under stress. Affect scales slightly with constitution and vigor. Enhances nervous system and implements additional organs that regulate metabolic activity and digestion, if none are present. (1 SL)
[ Notice ]
[ Skill : Snakeblood ] has enhanced the entity’s venom gland with the ability to produce neurotoxic venom.
[ Mixed Skill : Venom Gland ] now produces proteolytic and neurotoxic venom.
It was dawn by the time Cain could move again. His constitution had slowly been ticking upwards over the hours, and his vigor increased by a singular point. Halfway through, he’d gotten Flexible Metabolism, which made being lazy more sustainable. He was then treated to the uncomfortable sensation of growing at least two new organs. One was in his gut and the other was in his brain. It wasn’t excruciatingly painful like the fangs had been, but Cain had been trying to squirm the entire time. Once that was over with, the notice about his venom gland prompted him to actually look at the descriptions of his other new skills, which he had entirely forgotten to do earlier, aside from glancing at Fangs, Extendable. It seemed like it would drastically increase his ability to resist poisons, as well as allow him to develop a deadly cocktail of his own using his new venom gland. What does not kill me makes me stronger, taken quite literally.
Cain slowly sat up. His back was sore, his arms were sore, and his legs were sore. He checked his clothes for dried vomit. Miraculously, he found none, though he was covered in a healthy amount of the dirt he’d been lying in. He swept as much of it off as he could and began stretching out his arms and legs. After a couple of minutes, he’d gotten rid of all the stiffness he could. He slowly stood and looked east down the road. He should start heading back to Fellgrave as soon as possible. On the agenda today would be getting new clothes for himself and Magira, consulting with her about the Adventurer’s Guild, figuring out where they were in the world, and looking for someplace else to stay. While he hadn’t been given a time constraint on how long he could stay at the Adventurer’s Guild, he doubted anyone would appreciate him lingering overlong. The sooner he could find an alternative, the better.
Looks like I’ve got a long walk back.