Darian's body was in the worst condition it had ever been. Wrapped in bandages, every movement brought pain so intense he couldn't even get up anymore.
"Rusty... can you tell me everything that happened after I passed out?" Darian croaked. He realized he was at home, and assumed Snowy must be under the bed, resting.
"As you wish, Master..." Rusty replied as he peeled some fruit. "I was working as usual at the base, studying the data I gathered yesterday after your transformation."
"That's when I noticed it was getting late. You and Snowy hadn't returned, so I feared something had happened. I went out to search and heard a faint moan, it was Snowy, it was calling for help. As I got closer, it collapsed too."
Rusty placed the fruit on a plate and approached the bed.
"Here, Master. Eat. You need to regain your strength."
"Thank you, Rusty..." Darian winced as he reached for the plate, hand pressed against a covered injury. "Ouch..." Still, he took a piece and began to eat.
"And then? How did you find me?"
"Oh, that was simple. I brought Snowy home first, then followed its footsteps back to your location."
"You saved my life, Rusty..." But then Darian realized, Snowy wasn't beside him. His eyes widened. "Rusty! Where's Snowy?!"
"Don't worry, Master. It's safe, still sleeping in its new bed." Rusty pointed to a freshly built nest-like cushion near the corner of the room.
"Perfect." Darian sighed in relief and took another bite.
"Tell me, Rusty, what were you able to learn from my transformation?"
"Let me explain everything. It's going to be long, so brace yourself."
"All right... what exactly happens to my body when that creature fuses with me?"
"First, let's correct the terminology," Rusty said, activating a 3D holographic projection. "The fox doesn't exactly 'fuse' with you... it sacrifices itself. Its body slowly disintegrates to share its power with you."
Rusty displayed an image of Snowy's body. "Snowy doesn't have internal organs. It's made of snow, not normal snow, but something else entirely."
A simulation showed snow melting under heat. "This snow doesn't melt. No heat affects it. I don't understand why yet."
Darian frowned. "You mean physical laws don't apply to it?"
"That's a possibility. But it makes no sense. The laws of physics are universal."
Darian scratched his chin. "Yeah, I know... Ugh, it's confusing. What else did you want to show me?"
"Ah yes." Rusty brought up another simulation, this one showing the moment Snowy entered Darian's body, more detailed than Darian had ever seen.
"As I said, Snowy breaks down. Each part of it flows to a specific region of your body. But the tails, they stay where the entry point is."
The simulation zoomed in on the glowing blue mark where Snowy had entered.
"Most of its body shares its snow across your system, but the tails are different. They generate your ice magic, they're the core of your powers."
Rusty ended the simulation.
"Hm... think it could fuse into another body part?" Darian asked.
"Technically yes, but you use your right arm for combat. Why change it?"
Darian grinned. "Because imagine how COOL it would be to shoot ice from my butt!"
Rusty turned away. "I refuse to answer that, just rest."
"Mph. Try to laugh sometimes..." Darian's voice dimmed. The silence that followed reminded him of how alone he really was.
No one to laugh at his jokes. No human contact in over ten years.
'I can't do this alone anymore... They were three, and I almost died. I only won because I got lucky. What if there weren't any stalactite? What then?'
Darian clenched his jaw.
'If other humans had been with me... maybe it would've been easier. I need allies. Humanity must fight back.'
He sat up straighter. Determination burned in his eyes.
'I can't just show up unprepared. I need to study the enemy. Rusty called them Krukin, right?'
An idea sparked.
'I should send Rusty to retrieve a corpse. So that I can study it, classify it.'
He stood up, groaning from the pain. He'd make sure humanity saw him not as a threat, but as a hero.
Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, lost in his thoughts.
The next morning, Darian was awakened by Snowy licking his face.
"Oh stop, Snowy! You're making me laugh..." He chuckled, trying to push it away.
After breakfast, Darian stepped outside, still aching, but firm in his resolve.
"Rusty," he said, "can you go back to the cave and bring me one of the monsters' bodies? I want to study them."
"Understood, Master." Rusty left immediately.
While he waited, Darian opened his diary and began to write:
'The laws of physics don't apply to the creature. Sounds weird, right? But that's how it is.
I still don't know where it came from, but it doesn't seem alive in the traditional sense.
No organs. Just snow, layered and packed.
When it fuses with me, its body shatters and embeds itself into mine, possibly flowing into my veins and freezing them from the inside.
The nine tails stay fixed at the entry point. They are the key. They shape and launch the ice magic.
POSSIBILITY TO SHOOT ICE FROM MY BUTT???'
He smiled at the last line, and just as he closed the book, Rusty returned with something big and heavy.
Darian stared at the creature's corpse, silent and still, then narrowed his eyes. If this was war, he would learn everything about his enemy before the next battle.