Plip. Plop.
A trail of crimson streaked down the fish's misshapen head, briefly slowing down at its upper jaw, before dripping onto Kadar's hand.
*Crap, what a mess...*
He was crouched over a bloodied rock, the sleeves of his drenched shirt hastily rolled up like an amateur chef's. He clearly seemed like one anyway, for the food he intended on serving now rested on the ground, battered. Body torn open. Its dead fisheyes stared up at him in cold fury, as though asking why it had to be the first victim. Well, dead fisheye, to be exact. The other lay several inches away from its socket, held only by a single slimy entrail.
Kadar had clearly whacked it too much.
After thrusting both bloodstained hands into the pool beneath him, Kadar stretched his arms and sighed.
Man, was it good to have his complete body back. However, he still didn't feel like his usual self. Ever since they had accepted that body separation option, his limbs began to feel like jelly. Simple tasks, like walking, getting up, and jumping seemed to take a little more effort than expected. And controlling his weakened strength was evidently a problem too.
*Sorry fishy.*
It took him five tries to put it out of its misery and now it'd probably take him five hours to get it cooked. The twins seemed to be taking forever to get the campfire sorted, after all.
"Bloody hell..." Kadar muttered as he heaved his shivering body out of the water. "Hurry up and get that fire ready..."
Mangled fish in hand, he made his way towards the sounds of hushed bickering behind the willow tree. Within a couple of minutes, his two companions were already in sight, huddled together in the large black coat he'd taken off and given them whilst hiding his eyes from their bare bodies. And now that he was reduced to a single soaked layer of clothing, Kadar thought it was an appropriate time to check on their progress.
"How many twins does it take to light a fire?" He asked as he approached, his resonating voice causing the twins to stiffen apprehensively. "Didn't I tell you two that I had a lighter in my coat pocket?"
Dolly hastily covered the embarrassing amount of cleavage she'd unintentionally exposed and indicated at the smouldering pile of twigs and dry leaves in front of them.
"We did find it and things were proceeding smoothly," Dolly explained, "Until my idio—"
"I broke it," Etoile finished simply. Her unapologetic attitude earned her a slap from her sister. "Sorry… It was wet, and my hands felt really numb, so I just…"
She handed him the object, which Kadar took and inspected carefully.
"The fuel space is a little shattered," He said, "but it should still be able to ignite. Here."
As he placed it back in her palm, Etoile suddenly gripped his hands firmly with her own. For someone of such petite stature, her grip was surprisingly strong.
"Kadar, your hands… they're trembling. But you're not angry at me, are you?"
"Uh… no… it's because they're cold."
"They're so purple…"
"Yeah... Like I said…Can we just get the fire going, please? I'm going to get hypothermia."
The girl continued to inspect his hand, until a dry cough brought her back to her senses.
"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'm freezing."
As Etoile awkwardly pulled her hands away and busied herself with the lighter, Kadar made eye contact with Dolly and raised an eyebrow. However, she also looked away immediately without any explanation.
*Have I done something wrong?*
Kadar was usually good at guessing what people wanted, especially if it was something they wanted from him. But here, he drew up blanks. The only conclusion he could make was that Dolly had something she wanted to say, but something was holding her back.
"Ow!"
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Etoile's wince. She leaned back, sighing frustratedly, and then loosened up her wrist before attempting to ignite the lighter again.
"Sorry," she muttered, apologetically "I can barely feel my fingers."
Like himself, everyone else seemed to have lost their dexterity since being divided into three bodies, and so far, Kadar had only managed to find one way to compensate for it.
"Let me help you. I'll share some of my Life Force."
Kadar willed the Soul Menu to appear, and sure enough, the mysterious grey window manifested before him. displaying what seemed to be the stats of their respective souls.
---
[System]
[Etolldar]:
Kadar [Physical Body] [Soul 1] (33%):
Lv 4 (200/800 XP)
Life Force (15%): 455/455
Identity (10%) (Warning: Below 10% at this level may permanently damage mental state)
Mana (8%): 24/24
Etoile [Physical Body] [Soul 2] (33%):
Lv 1 (15/150 XP)
Life Force (11%): 333/333
Identity (12%)
Mana (11%): 33/33
Dolly [Physical Body] [Soul 3] (33%):
Lv 1 (8/150 XP)
Life Force (7%): 212/212
Identity (11%)
Mana (14%): 42/42
---
Although he still couldn't make complete sense of the Soul Menu, he and Dolly had experimented enough to figure out the reasons behind their sudden weakness. By separating their soul and body into three, their original physical capabilities had somehow been cut down to a third. In other words, each of them had roughly one-third the strength of an average human being. The stat 'Life Force' apparently determined the physical limitations of the body. Strength, Speed, Dexterity, and possibly even health points, all fell under the category of 'Life Force'.
And the thought of them wandering around with at least two-thirds of their health points missing was enough to give Kadar chills. Did that mean stubbing his toe could possibly kill him?
*Maybe I'm thinking of this too much in game terms.*
Kadar gave himself a mental shake as he held his breath and began slowly draining his Life Force.
---
[System]
Do you want to transfer 151 points of Life Force (5%) to [Soul 2]?
Y/N
Kadar: Life Force (10%): 304(-151)/304
Etoile: Life Force (16%): 484(+151)/484
---
"Yes," Kadar confirmed
As a sharp tingling sensation coursed through his body, he felt himself growing a little heavier and number.
"Yeeeessss! I did it! Finally! Finalment! Ore no kachi da!"
Her squeals of joy were so raw and high-pitched that Kadar could barely understand what she was saying. The fact that she suddenly broke out into several different languages didn't help out either. But the pile of sticks and leaves lying before them were now engulfed in small flames, crackling loudly as it bathed the three of them in orange light.
"Make sure it doesn't go out," Kadar warned "And here's today's lunch."
He passed Dolly the battered fish in his hand, who stared cluelessly at it for a moment, before turning back to him as he made to leave.
"Where are you going?" Dolly asked. "It isn't safe to go out alone."
"Yeah! Why so sudden?" Etoile chimed in. "Warm up by the fire!"
"I'm not going far," Kadar said "I'm just going to poke around for a while. I'll be back soon,"
And with that, he walked away, his breath growing more haggard by the moment.
*Damn... It hurts like hell...*