Oh, uh, hi there, um, sir Mr King, I was unaware this fine pool of water was under your jurisdiction, if you give me just one moment I'll be out of your, err, hai-,

"CROAK"

OH-, ohgodthat'sloud, uh, um,,,

"C-croak?..."

"..."

Okay yes he's listening

"Croak croak croak, croak croak, croak. Croak? Croak croak! Croackcroakcroakcroak-,"

The last thing I see before I'm ripped out of the light and plunged into darkness is a pair of disdainful eyes glaring at me. The very next moment, I'm in a cramped, tight, and wet place.

I don't want to think about what just happened, but somehow, I know exactly what happened. My croaking was incorrect, and Mr King, um, ate me. It didn't say much about exactly how Mr King would fight, but it seems it used physical means most of the time. But, I was too small, even when in the body of a comparatively huge toad, so...

He deemed it below himself to fight me for real. Somehow, this fact angers me, if only slightly.

Sure, this is my first (real) fight with a predator, and I am a full rank below it, but even so, being underestimated like this stings a bit!

Much like the stomach acid now digesting the body of the toad I inhabit.

...I'd better get out of here.

I pad at the stomach-lining with my useless amphibian flappers, but it is quite useless. It doesn't actually hurt too much, but I can feel my elongated eye dissolving. In not too long, I'll be blind in it, which won't be cool. So, all that in mind, I decide that the best thing to do is dislodge myself from this toad's body.

If my chitin is strong enough I'll be able to survive, but I really just can't stand this body. Opposable thumbs are neat, but it just isn't worth it.

...Now if I can only figure out how to un-dock myself...

Alright, so after a few seconds of thinking, I realize that the thing connecting me to this here toad is my bulb of mana, which I lovingly inserted into its neck. So, if I remove it, I should return to my original body. The mana inside my toad body has dispersed somehow, but it all traces back to a single opening in the neck.

It's almost like retracing old tracks, taking mana and slurping it back into a certain place, kind of like pressing the last remaining globs of kaviar out of a kalles kaviar tube.

Skill (Mana Absorption) has gained multiple Levels

Ooooh, is that what this is? Very well! Allright with me!

With a final tug, I successfully dislodge myself from the neck, returning to my true, much more comfortable body. With the help of my mana-bulb, I successfully light up the inside of the stomach, and it is... nothing you want to see. My non-fear of the dark aside, I've never been afraid of enclosed spaces, but this really does feel like a living, moving casket.

In other words, I want out.

Movement beneath my feet informs me that there is, in fact, someone else who is also not enjoying this specific ride.

"CROAOKAAOAOK"

Looking down, I recognize that my scale-less friend isn't holding out as well as I had thought while in his body. His elongated eye is pretty much all burnt up since it was a first-hand victim of the acids, and the limbs haven't fared well either. It'd be quite the grisly sight had I not gotten used to these kinds of butcherings long ago. Ah, the perks of slaughtering pigs since you were six.

But the death tries and anguishes cries are still quite distracting, and I can barely focus my thoughts, even suspended mid-air.

"CROAKCROAKCROAKCROAAAAOOAOAOAAOAK"

Maybe I could pour all my mana into a fireball... no, if it doesn't work I'll never financially recover...

So, then-,

"CROACKCROAKCROAKCROACKCROACKAOCKOAAOAOOOOAOAOAOAOOOOOO"

---,, SHUT UP GODDAMNIT

I fly straight at the toad and give it a sucker-punch to remember, but sadly, all it does is scratch open a small tear and not much else. The toad doesn't even flinch. Despite its legs being covered in the water equivalent of fire, it stands surprisingly stable, pouring all its energy into croaking/screaming as loudly as it toadally can.

Oh you little rapscallion I'll give you something to cry abou-,

I can say no more before a violent tremor shakes the sack of gastric acid, the toad falling over with a splash, making it croak more in surprise than pain. Yet another tremor sends it flying once more, my own person clutching its shivering form, and before either of us have time to understand anything that's happening, we're out.

It was like experiencing the descent in reverse, being pressed out of a tube before splattering to the cold stony floor, both of our forms covered in sludge and acid.

I quickly lift from the gunk, my wings both serving to take me into the air as well as to remove all the pesky muck from my body. After only a few seconds in the air, I'm once more dry, not a single hair out of place.

Before me stands Mr King, larger than five goblins all smushed together, a small pile of acidic goo stretched out before him. The toad I had hijacked slowly rises from the goo and drags his body over to Mr King like a lowly henchman before the big boss himself.

"C-, croak-,"

"CROAK."

"Croak?..."

"CROAK... Croak."

The smaller toad scurries away to stand somewhat at the side of Mr King, his demeanour meek and reserved. But even so, as he looks at me with his one functioning eye, I can tell there is a fire burning in there.

Mr King takes a step forwards, and I take one back. Well, more like I fly backwards just slightly, but it felt like taking a step.

This is when the true battle begins.

But first, I have to see if I could escape at all.

"Fireflies!"