Abyss Riser

Chapter 3: Into the belly of the beast

It's been only over a minute since we've entered the belly of the demon, and so far, it feels like an hour since I've started running. Right now, I have a trail of what appears to be a horde of hostile, fleshy, zombie baby-men chasing me around the interior of the demon's belly. If you're having a hard time imagining it then picture a grown man, nude and has an umbilical cord connecting him to the fleshy walls of this place. Next, picture him as a skinless, pulsating mass of ground meat that look like they have undergone a trip to the blender. And finally picture a horde of them screaming their lungs out chasing after me in a big circle. Were you able to imagine it? If you have then good, that's what I'm going through right now. And if you haven't then I say, 'Please let me be you.' Because I seriously wish to be you at this point.

[Anis]: "Giant hand coming at you from above!"

I took a glimpse at it and now I wish I hadn't. That definitely isn't a hand! It had an eyeball on the tip of each finger and a mouth as pupils! Calm down Klein... Think. What are my options here? I could either run faster or try to prevent it from grabbing me.

[Skill leveled Up: Composure (Level 12/0)]

[Klein]: "Thanks Anis! I'm going to morph into a ball of spikes on the count of three!"

I took option two. With cold sweat I focused on displacing my spirit form and imagine myself being a hard metal ball with spikes.

[Klein]: "One!"

This better work! I don't care if you are the Devil just give me a hand! I cursed in my mind. If I mess up, I'm screwed. I really should have trained more while I was in my dreamscape.

[Anis]: "Klein stop! That's a pit trap!"

[Klein]: "Fudge!"

I cursed. There isn't any time left. It is now or never.

[Klein]: "Three!"

By now you are probably wondering how I gained the ability to shape-shift into a ball with spikes or how was the demon's stomach so huge I could run around in it. Well it happened while I was training with Anis in my dreamscape.

[Anis]: "Before we start, you need to know that it's impossible for you to learn magic."

[Klein]: "Wait, why?!"

Right now, I feel like my enthusiasm had just been doused with cold water. Why would you tell me that we are going to train in the art of magic when it's impossible for me to learn it in the first place?

[Anis]: "Because we are originally people from a world without magic. That means-"

[Klein]: "We are incapable of using magic..."

Can things get any bleaker? How on Earth can I escape this Hell with no physical abilities or magic? Is the only thing I can do is to die...?

[Anis]: "That's right but you can still use it to a minimal degree, this is because of the skill [Soul and Memory Magic]."

[Klein]: "How does that even work?"

I asked with a face clearly lacking all hope at this point. But as I looked at Anis. She just smiled and raised her left hand and-.

[Sfx]: "Snap!"

I was dumbstruck, her white skin began to pulsate. It grew outward morphing into a sleeveless white dress. My cheeks felt hot as I looked to one side when I realize we had been naked from the start... I'm must be becoming impotent to not remember or notice after this long...

[Anis]: "Klein, why are you looking away? You can't study the technique if you don't observe properly."

[Klein]: "How can I not look away? You were nude!"