They both scramble for a moment, grabbing onto whatever they can. After a moment, they settle down. It seems the slip-n-slide on my back earlier proved a valuable lesson.

Although I can't see what they're doing, they seem to have calmed down, so I get moving. A single step moves me leaps and bounds, and the far-off mountain quickly grows near. Right above my face, I can hear someone oo-ing and awe-ing. May I'd be as interested as they are if I wasn't so afraid of stumbling. Man, my legs are kinda trembling.

Eventually, I happily reach the mountain. Yeah, uh, I'm done being this big, let's go down.

As it turns out, going down is much more destructive to the general environment than going big was. As soon as I shrank just a few meters, the trees underneath me started getting crushed, twigs and branches cracking and snapping under the pressure of however heavy I was at the time.

Lesser Weaver (45) have been defeated

You have gained EXP

You have gained several (36) Levels

Hum...

Along with myself getting smaller, I could also notice a weight growing on my head, which was probably my two friends. Pebbles became rocks became, eventually, cats. After they realized hanging from my hair/antennae wasn't an option, they both dropped down to sit on either shoulder. Unbeknownst to them, I was actually looking to get down to a more normal size. Being human-sized, as fun as it is, has become a bit strange compared to being small.

And so, as I shrank even further, Todd and Mal were forced to actually hop off of me as I became my normal, foot-sized self. Ah, feels good to be small. About one foot tall and two feet long. The optimal size.

I flew into the air, a bore witness to Todd and Mal clattering to the floor, confused but unharmed. The next second, I was sitting on Todd's shoulder, a throne I had earned. Man, sitting down is just... it can be better than walking sometimes.

"Dude, warn us next time!" Todd complained, but he didn't force me off or anything. Hehehehe, success! Now, take me to the monster!

Todd, however, does not take me to the monster. Instead, he glances behind us, taking in the view of a hundred or so squashed and crushed trees.

"...What destruction..." Mal mumbles, his face a stale mask that I can't read. Hrm. Uh. Yup, a lot of trees went down, didn't they-? Well, uh, it's okay! This forest needs more glades, I'm sure! "With that kind of strength..."

Mal mumbled something more, but I couldn't really tell since he mumbled it into his collar. Looking at him, I can't help but notice what's behind him. Namely, a lot of darkness and a whole lot of cobwebs. Really, even the crushed trees have a lot of webs entangled in them. Along with just a whole bunch of crushed dead spiders.

Oh. So this is what the pop-ups from before were about? I nudge Todd, and he willfully walks closer to the crushed spiders. A few seem to be alive, but with limbs and carapaces completely or partially crushed, they're pretty much already dead. They all have this really white colour, like white sheets or cotton. Their blood and innards, on the other hand, were perfectly neon-green. Like limes. Or pears. Or kiwis. Or apples. Or grapes. Or honeydew melon, or-,

"If you keep leaning like that you'll fall off, dude," Todd warned, pressing me back onto his shoulder.

...How much was I leaning there-? Uh, hopefully not that much? I'm not sure what got into me, but, uh, thanks Todd. I don't think a fall would've hurt me, but you never know!

Thumbs up. Todd smiled.

"...Let's just continue," Mal said, turning around to walk into the dark woods.

"Oh, we're coming dude!" Todd said, jogging up to walk beside him. The darkness became thick really really fast, probably since the trees were wrapped up in sticky white webs like cotton candy. Yeah, this is getting too dark, let's see here...

Guess this is as good as any to try out this new spell? Alright, here goes!

"Halo!"

As the word left my mouth, a small, ring-shaped fixture of light formed above my head, lighting up the darkness.

In this new light, we saw the eyes around us.