The wizard looks at me. Then looks at Todd. Evaluating us. And then...

He just walks away. Right on into the forest. As if nothing happened.

Hrrrmmm-?... That is-,, not a bad thing.

"-What was that about-?" Todd asks as he steps close to me. I'm still lying on the grassy ground, so I get back up to stand. We exchange eye-contact. "-You don't seem too happy?"

"I didn't get the skill, but... I'm not sure how to feel about what I did get."

"What did you lose, then?" Todd asks, sitting down in front of me.

"I lost the hijack skill, the one I can use to take over minds and all that. I... I won't miss it. But what I did get... have I told you about the skill that lets you grow big?"

"Mmmm, I think you told me about it, just a little?"

"Well, that's the skill I got. Gulliver's Input, Brobdingnag edition," I explain, absently recounting what the description said. No increase in stats, just a pure increase in size...

"Hmm, that's still pretty cool though, right?? I mean, no idea how big you can get, but, like, if you can get super big, I could totally ride you, right??" Todd proposes, leaning forward, face twisted into that big ol' smile again. I almost want to lean back since he's so big, but... he is right. It would be cool to be normal sized, at least.

"Sure, but, as I said, it's pretty useless since the stats don't increase according to size. So even if I'm super big, I'll still only have like, 92 defence."

"Yeah, yeah, but sti-, hold on. Hold-, hold the phone. 92 defence?..."

"Y-, yeah-? Well, before I evolved I had even less, and it isn't my highest stat, but, that's the number-?"

"...Dude. D u d e. Okay, uh, I have 14 defence. 16 attack, 4 magic, 13 speed," he says, as seriously as he has ever said anything. I stare at him, the cogs turning in my head.

"I-, have I underestimated myself?"

"I have no idea, but, like. Even if you were big, I couldn't nick you, you get me?" Todd says, unsheathing his sword to show it off. I look at it with no little amount of trepidation. Yeah, no, I don't think I could take a sword, man. "So, yeah. Go big or go home, right?"

It-, it doesn't hurt to try it, right? Right, yeah. If a strong wizard had this skill as one of the main ones, it has to be good, right? Right.

I activate the skill.

Within seconds, I start to quake and grow, my perspective shifting to make up for my new size. Soon, I'm looking down at Todd, who is looking up to me. The treetops start becoming visible, and I realize that maybe, just maybe, I should put a stop to this before I grow way too big.

When I finally stop growing, I could hardly even be described as small anymore. My human half is, if I compare it to Todd, the normal human standard size, but the lower half of my body, the insect stuff, seems really really big in comparing.

"Whooooaaaa, dude!" Todd calls, standing up to view me entirely. Even standing, he barely reaches up to my waist. It feels odd, looking down at him from this height, but it also feels better than looking up at him. If I bend my legs and lean down, I can look at him eye-to-eye. "Dude. You're totally huge!! If you don't met me ride you, I'm calling the cops on you!"

"Weird threat, but okay," I mumble. I'm not too sure how to lift him, so I just grab him underneath his arms, and... It works. He is way too light. Lifting him feels the same as lifting a cat or something. "...Are you eating properly?" I ask, still holding him in front of me by the armpits.

"Yeah, of course I am! But, seriously. You're pretty strong, heh."

I can feel my face growing a little flushed at the compliment, but I ignore it, twisting my upper body around to place him on my insect-back. I can't see very well back there, but I can tell he isn't sitting still. No, it seems he's pacing around, touching and prodding at my hard exoskeleton, maybe looking for something?

"Everything alright back there?" I ask politely, hoping he isn't slipping off. With 14 defence, a small fall like this should be able to kill him, right? He'll revive right back in the village, but... still! What if he gets hurt-?

Todd giggles from back there. "Hehhehee, this is really roomy! I bet, if we got like, a bunch of other players and a couple of dice and everything, we could play games back here! That'd be super awesome!"

"...I'm not sure if I want a bunch of people on my back, playing games. Makes me feel like some, some... some sort of forniphilia chair thingy. No, table, sorry."

"Forno-, what? Anyhow, let's get back to the village, dude! You can just wait outside or something, but if you're this big, you can carry all of my party-members! They might still be sleeping, but we'll wake them up!" Todd suggests, hopping a bit on my back. With excitement like that, I just can't turn him down, even if it does feel a little humiliating to be some sort of carriage animal.

Luckily, I'm just barely tall enough to see over some of the trees, so I can easily make out the village, even from over here. Something tells me Todd isn't interested in getting off my back, so... here we go.

To the village.