When I woke up, it was very dark, and very silent, and a little bird was staring me in the face.

Gah!!

I wanted to draw back in fear and surprise, but something was hindering me from moving.

Where-, what-, who-,

Oh, right, I passed out.

Allan, you better not be fifteen, I have yet to teach you the dangers of GHB…

Hm.

Considering my size, I must have, oh, I don’t know…

- You currently have 1/80(+80) mana. -

A single point of mana??

Alright. Well, if memory serves me right, I should be able to shift my focus from where I am(presumably my orb) to some other, far more preferable location.

First up, I collected all the mana that was currently dispersed around Allans body like a fine, protective layer, and focused it on his shoulder.

Why his shoulder, you ask?

Well, I’m certainly too small to create a full body, but if I just make a tiny one that’s really close to Allan, I should at the least be able to, well, exist.

So, soon enough, a tiny little blob formed on Allan(whose shoulder was the size of a mountain I tell you), which soon took the form of a very small little creature I would best describe as a Brownie-like creature, if you’ve ever seen one of those.

At this height, I could actually see what was going on and where we were.

The where was a small crevice in a larger cavern, right beside a small fire. Hey, isn’t it dangerous to have a fire inside, wouldn’t the smoke-, oh.

There was a pipe-like hole right outside the crevice in the roof of the cavern, into which all the smoke went/was sucked into.

Ah, yes, I see.

Allan was-,

“So, did it work?”

“Chririchririchwie”

“Really?! It did?! Where is he?”

Where who what

“C, chwie…”

“On my wh-, AH!!”

AH!!

Don’t look at me that suddenly, you're the size of mount rushmore!

“There you are, I was really worried!”

Why, how?

“I had to meditate for almost a whole quarter of an hour!”

Wait, more importantly, why can you talk to that bird?!

I pointed (with the whole hand) at the weird bird perched on his index-finger.

“Oh, this? It’s my self-made automaton, Kricky!”

“Cwiewiewie!”

Ah, yes, I see.

Wait, automaton?!

As in, robot?~

Don’t tell me that’s a robot.

“What, you want to ride her? I’m not sure…”

R-, ride?...

I can ride her!?

I’ve cared for you since you couldn’t even get your own damned milk, and this is how you thank me?!?

“You look quite upset, is everything-, ow!”

I know it’s generally frowned upon to hit a child, but when the child is the size of the Globe and you have the proportionate strength of a worm, it should be alright, right? Right.

Anyways, I punched him in the neck until he caved in.

Couldn’t stand the strength of his old man, could he?

Nope, I’m simply too powerful.

Putting the finger upon which the bird was perched to his shoulder, he gently cooed to it, telling it to “just go along with it”, whatever that meant.

Kekekeke.

The bird anxiously hopped over to me.

H-, huge!

It was at least twice-, no, trice my size!

Come over here, you oversized parrot!

The bird gently bowed its head, and I nimbly mounted it.

Hm?

It may have a fluffy shroud of feathers, but underneath, it’s as hard as steel!

Curious.

So it really is a robot?~

Fly me to the moon~

“Cwie…”

It waddled like a duck over to the edge, and taking a deep breath(do robots breathe?) it plunged to the depths below.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Spreading its wings, what was once a one-sided plummet became a swooping arc, and within only a second, it had turned around entirely, going upwards instead, and with a few beats of the wings, we were airborne.

For a moment or so, I enjoyed the freedom of it all with perfect fashination and freedom, but after that moment was gone, the realization that I could fall to my(seeming) death at any time stole that pleasure from me, replacing it with boundless dread and fear.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-,

I did not scream.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-,

Not in the least.

Allan chuckled with a thundering intensity, bringing him to my attention.

Sitting beside the little fire, wearing his gown and glasses like always, he looked as he always had.

So, most likely, no years have passed since I passed out.

But, then again, if that’s the case, where are we, and…

What’s that roasting over the fire…!?

Looks like a lizard.

Or something.

I can’t say that I was thinking this in clarity when I was soaring on a horse-sized bird hundreds of meters(my perception) in the air, but I almost thought it like that, so… close enough?

My thoughts at the time, in short, were:

AAAAAAAAPUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWNoh,AllanlooksashealwayshasAAAAAAAAAPUTMEDOWNNNNN

And that’s about it.

Story of my life, really.

After about a minute of me and birdie circling the maniacally giggling mountain Allan, the birdie must have decided to go a bit further away, so it did just that, while I, my tail already having been at the breaking point, plummeted to the hard rock ground below.

I gave one last eardrum-shattering shout before Allan gently caught me in his plain-sized hand.

O-, oh! Nice catch!

“Wow, you fall really slowly, don’t you?”

Alright, maybe not as nice, but still! Ya saved me!! My life is literally in your hands!!!

“Hey, hey, are you alright? I know it’s weird to say, but you look a bit pale there, fella.”

How-, alright, I’m finally here, and square, and there you are, so…

How(questioning look, holding jaw between index and thumb, arm resting on the other(clutching the stomach), raised brow)

Long(Hands together in clasp, hands separate until there is apx. one meter between them, hands clasp together again(slowly))

Sleep?(Palms together in prayer, pressed against right cheek, body leaned towards the right, eyes closed)

“I’d say about an hour or two”

Oho! Surprisingly little!

So, a quarter of an hour was spent on meditating me back from the dead, what did you do the rest of the time?

“I spent the time fumbling through the dark, killing a couple lizards that dwelled in this cave with the knife and finding a very conviniently placed faggot, along with an even more convinient little matchbook.”

Wait a what

“Yeah, I was really surprised too! But I’ve heard just about anything can happen in a catacomb, so you’d better not question it!”

No I mean the thing before

“Anyhow, so I ate one of the lizards and I thought you might like the other?”

A-, anyhow?...

That’s very considerate of you and I’m proud that it’s your body that I inhabit, but A, I don’t think I CAN eat and B, what did you just call a fa*got?!

“Don’t you want it?”

Well-, I-, I’m-, alright, sure, whatever, just hand me the lizard.

“It might be a little big for you, but, here you go.”

Wh-, whoa. It’s much larger like, close by.

It must be the size of a rhino…

What, you want me to grab it?

Sir, I am the size of a mouse, I doubt I can-,

Whoa, don’t just thrust it on me-, oh gorsh-, what is-, oh lord

Come on muscles, I know you can do it-,

Arghhh-,

Current situation: balancing the lizard on the end of the stick above me, trying real hard for it to not fall over.

I accidentally sent a pleading glance towards Allan, which was taken in frankly all the wrong ways, since he glared at me, and then the lizard, in a “come on, do it” manner.

I-, well-, alright-, I guess I’ll just, like, bite the tail or something?

S-, sounds good let’s try that-,

My first meal in twelve years…

“Nomch”

Chomchomchomchomch.

Not bad, could use some salt, but otherwise very well coo-,

With a thundering boom, I was suddenly pinned to the ground by what I soon realized to be the tail of the lizard, which had somehow fallen off. The other, more lizard-y part of the lizard fell the other way, hitting the ground with a “THOOOOOM” like some nord lizardman warrior shouting.

I stared in horror as my life crumbled down.

I was no less disturbed when I noticed that the little meat that I had eaten was visibly travelling through me.

Through the neck, down the torso, into the abdomen, and then…

Into the tail?

My tail.

My tail always makes me realize what a weird situation I’m in, but this time, that sensation was taken to the max as a little clump of chewed-up lizard-meat travelled with startling speeds towards Allans chest.

How was Allan taking this?

Well, at first he was laughing at my precarious situation, but once he noticed I had stopped struggling against the five-tonne tail and was instead staring at my tail, he noticed why I was staring.

And his face turned pale.

Actually, what did I expect?

Well, not this, but still.

“Hey-, can you stop this?”

Allan, you look a bit pale, are you alright?

“Stop smirking!”

Smirking? What, noooo, why would I ever smile at your sorrows?

Allan, realizing I wouldn’t/couldn’t help him feverishly grabbed at the little string of mana through which the clump was travelling, but it was of no use, no matter how hard he held the hair-thin strand, the clump just went right on through, like some god-damned juggernaut.

Nice.

The second the clump hit the ord, at which point Allan was extremely confused/put off, it gave out a little sheen of light and disappeared.

- You have gained 1 exp and 1 mana. You now have 2/80(+80) mana and 1/80 exp. -

Hm. Nice.

Now, what to do with this new mana…

Grow bigger?

No, wait, Allan needs to have some mana around him so I can keep an eye on him.

“What just happened?...”

I gained more mana.

Alright…

First up, form a thin layer of mana around him, then, make all the mana in tiny little strands, curl them, and… pristine!

“Wait-, why am I all fluffy-, oh!”

Hm?

“Right, I’ve read that all reputable mages do this with their mana to be able to perceive everything around them! I think it’s called ‘Curling’?”

Y-, yes.

Nice to know I’m a reputable mage, at least…

“Hm. Well, not that you’re finally to and all, I guess we can continue exploring? I was thinking that you could scout ahead and check it out before I go in as well? I’ve got the knife here, so don’t worry about me.”

Sure, alright, I’ll do that, where’s my soon-to-be-sarcophagus?

He pointed over to a hole in the corner, small enough for Allan to only barely get in if he were to crawl. Hm.

I made my way through the darkness until I stood face to face with the hole.

Looking back, I could see Allan doing a thumbs-up for me.

Alright, alright, I gotcha.

Let me just mentally prepare myself, alright?...

I’ll have to use all the mana I’ve got around him just to walk in here…

Anyhow, back to the hole at hand.

It was very deep, at least like five meters, and I really couldn’t see what’s at the end.

Cautiously, I entered the hole.