Yep. Guess there aren’t any here.
‘Just how much more do I have to roll for one to show up!’
I wanted to test out how big I could get with Gigantification and just how powerful it was.
No matter how much I rolled, not a single monster that looked suitable showed up.
Still, it’d be a waste to just use it and blow my mana for nothing.
Especially when I don’t even know how much mana it consumes.
Squeak—
‘This sound!’
A nutria-sized rat was frantically tearing into something on a sunny patch of ground.
Seeing as Weakling’s Sense didn’t trigger, it was the perfect test subject.
‘As expected, rats are the universal standard for experiments.’
They say you don’t even disturb a dog while it eats, but hey, I’m a stone.
Casting all pangs of conscience aside, I leapt almost vertically above the rat’s head.
And the moment I reached the peak, I immediately activated Gigantification.
‘Ooh, ooh. It’s getting big! Ultra Pebble!!’
I could feel my body expanding at a rapid pace.
‘Is this it? That’s a bit disappointing.’
As I willed it to grow larger, my size gradually increased.
At the same time, mana was depleted rapidly.
‘So growing this big consumes more than half, huh.’
Once it reached a certain size, it stopped growing.
‘I can adjust it to some degree. Nice, isn’t it?’
Before long, a round, colossal shadow blanketed the ground.
The rat was so engrossed in its meal that it didn’t notice until the shadow descended right over its head.
Thud—!
‘Poor thing, it passed on without even being able to utter a squeak.’
Well, the wild is a cold, harsh place by nature.
[Would you like to activate Blessing of Predation (lv. 1)?]
Can I cancel the skill before the duration ends, by any chance?
‘Oh, it works.’
My body reverted to its original size according to my will.
And pulling back slightly, I looked upon the trace I had left behind.
‘Aah, it looks like a takoyaki mold or something.’
Seeing the hollow crater that looked like a small bomb had detonated, the power was far beyond my expectations.
The rat was pressed completely flat, turned into rat jerky.
‘But what’s that?’
Beneath the flattened monster, another shape was visible.
It seemed to be what the rat was eating.
Unable to overcome my curiosity, I drew closer.
‘…Oh dear.’
Although mutilated to the point of being barely recognizable, it was unmistakably human in shape.
‘Don’t tell me it’s my benefactor?’
I examined it closely just in case, but fortunately, the clothing was different.
‘What is this emblem?’
On the clothes, an emblem in the shape of a tree encircling something like an earth was drawn.
I thought it might be related to a specific country or religion.
‘What a pity.’
Dying alone in a place like this is sorrowful enough, but to be scavenged by a rat on top of that.
‘I have avenged you against that bad little rat b*stard on your behalf, so please rest in peace.’
It’s definitely not because I’m scared a vengeful spirit might latch onto me, but out of genuine pity.
‘May the deceased rest in peace.’
Caw—
Just as I offered my condolences and tried to turn away, a crow suddenly cawed out of nowhere.
‘What now. That’s ominous.’
In horror movies, crows always seem to cry right before something bad happens.
To caw at this exact timing, of all things.
‘And why are its eyes so red?’
It was even looking straight in this direction.
It seemed to have come to scavenge the corpse.
Seeing that Weakling’s Sense triggered, it doesn’t look like an easy opponent.
‘I’ve eaten everything I came to eat, so handle the rest as you please. Goodbye then.’
Tumble, tumble—
With good intentions in my own way, I left the crow behind and rolled my body.
‘Huh?’
In that moment, my body suddenly began to rise into the air.
Glancing slightly upward, I saw a pitch-black body.
The crow had snatched me with its talons and taken flight.
‘W-wait a minute. Why me…!’
It was so fast that in the brief moment I panicked, I was already quite high up.
‘S-skill!’
Judging that Gigantification was the only useful thing in this situation, I drained the rest of my mana and cast Gigantification.
Caw?
My body grew, but it was still smaller than the crow’s bulk.
It was because I had spent a considerable amount of mana on the experiment earlier.
Perhaps feeling uncomfortable, the crow readjusted its grip on me mid-air and flew on again.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would have saved some mana!’
Now there really is no way. If I squirm around and it drops me, I might split in half and die.
Now I’m in a position where I have to pray that it lands safely without dropping me.
‘What on earth is happening.’
I never imagined that what the crow was interested in was me.
I should have been on guard beforehand.
Since this was a situation where my stone-life could snap in an instant, I deliberately diverted my attention elsewhere.
‘What a great day to get kidnapped.’
Fortunately, the scenery was pretty, which helped stabilize my mind and body.
After having done nothing but roll stuck to the dirt, looking down from above offered a fresh new view, too.
‘Everything around here is forest.’
Wherever I looked in the vicinity, there was nothing but trees.
At best, a large river or something was flowing some distance away.
‘Is that a volcano? The mountain is really red.’
The red mountain range at the edge of the forest also caught my eye.
I had no clue how long it would take to roll all the way there.
‘What is that?’
Among the trees, an artificial structure was visible.
It passed by in an instant so I couldn’t see it in detail, but at a glance, it looked like a house.
‘Could it be a village? It looked too rundown for that, though.’
I was curious, but with trees in every direction, it didn’t seem easy to remember the heading.
‘Well, even if not there, in a forest this vast, surely there’s at least a village somewhere.’
Maybe because I’ve spent 100 years in loneliness and solitude, I found myself missing humans.
A person with whom I could communicate and exchange emotions, that is.
Of course, right now, even if I met one, I’d just be treated as a pebble rolling along the roadside.
‘Well, even when I was human, I guess it wasn’t much different from now.’
Caw—
‘Whoa!’
What, is that an arrival announcement—
‘Aaaagh—!’
The crow suddenly began descending at rapid speed.
It seems it wasn’t an arrival announcement, but a warning broadcast.
In front of me, atop a tall tree, something like a nest came into view.
‘…Don’t tell me that’s home?’
Yep. They say “don’t tell me” always catches a person off guard.
But I’m a pebble now, so shouldn’t that not apply to me?
Thud—
The moment the crow reached the nest and gently set me down, Gigantification ended right on cue.
It’s amazing that only 5 minutes passed to get here.
Well, its flight speed was indeed pretty fast.
Glare—
Just when I felt a piercing gaze, the crow was staring intently and deeply at me.
Is it because I suddenly shrank?
Its eyes being red reminds me of the rabbit from earlier.
‘Why are the gazes of the critters in this neighborhood all so vicious?’
My reflection was mirrored inside its pupils, and it felt like it was seeing right through me, giving me chills for no reason.
I shifted my gaze and looked around the inside of the nest.
I definitely didn’t look away because I chickened out.
‘Whoa, what is all that?’
On one side of the interior, which was as spacious as the crow’s huge frame, glittering accessories were piled high.
From gem-encrusted rings to golden necklaces, they were all sparkling items.
‘They say crows have a habit of collecting shiny things, and it seems this one’s the same.’
If I were human, it’s a sight that would’ve made my eyes spin, but right now it was nothing more than a pie in the sky.
Unless they give me experience or skills, that is.
Caw— caw—
While I was busy touring my kidnapper’s home, the homeowner b*stard suddenly started tapping me with his beak.
‘What! I can at least look around the house!’
I couldn’t tell if he was just toying with me or had some other motive.
‘Hmph. I’m just a pebble. I won’t move the way you want me to.’
Despite my stubborn display of intent, the guy seemed to have no intention of stopping.
Regardless of my will, I was subjected to roll left, roll right.
I felt like the heroine in the movie King Kong.
‘Am I a ball to you!’
Rolling was my basic method of movement so I never thought much of it, but being rolled around by someone else felt awful.
I wanted to leap straight at his forehead and flick him, but I held back.
‘Phew…. Gotta manage my anger properly.’
Seeing that Weakling’s Sense triggered, he could be a strong monster that won’t die from just a headbutt.
I don’t even have mana to use skills right now, and if the crow gets hit, gets mad, and throws me outside, I’ll turn to dust.
If I fell from a height that puts high-rise penthouses to shame, I’d be cracked to pieces without question.
‘If I stay still, it’ll get bored soon.’
Ninety percent of that was just my wishful thinking. Hoping he’d get bored quickly and just shove me into that corner over there.
But it seems I underestimated the crow’s intelligence too much.
I should have realized a little sooner that the purpose of bringing me here wasn’t merely to collect shiny trinkets.
Clench—
After rolling me back and forth for a good while, the guy picked me up again.
‘Right. Just shove me into that corner like this and….’
Uh. Wait, why are you going that way? You should go over that way?
Contrary to my hopes, the crow headed toward the outside edge of the nest.
Could it be… did he find out I harbored ill intentions?
‘I was wrong! Sir Crow, please save me!!’
Caw—!
Whether he couldn’t hear the desperate cry of a small, cute pebble, the crow gave slack to me, who was tense from the threat to my life.
Kyaaaaah—!!
Have you ever tried bungee jumping without a rope?
I am doing it right now.
Along with the thought that it was a truly long yet short life, my past life flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.
‘If I slam into the ground and die like this, does that become my gravestone? Hahaha….’
Crack—!
And just like that, I was shattered into pieces…….
‘? What.’
I’m completely fine?
Then where did that shattering sound just now come from?
‘Uh, uh, the ground is moving!’
Suddenly the ground began to tilt, and my body rolled along.
Come to think of it, my eye level was a bit strange.
Thud—!
Following that, something heavy collapsed.
‘A bear…?’
It was a gigantic red bear.
Seeing the sunken mark on the crown of its head, the cause of death seemed to be a heavy blow to the head by something.
‘I lived….’
[Would you like to activate Blessing of Predation (lv. 1)?]
I don’t know what’s what, but I need to absorb it fast.
This is practically the price of my life!
[You have predated the magic stone of a Long Tail Bear (lv. 17). Absorbing magic power.]
‘Thick Hide, Roar, Tail Whip……. None of these are really necessary for me.’
Caw! Caw!
While I briefly absorbed the magic stone, the bone-chilling cry of the crow rang out once more.
‘I-I didn’t do anything!’
Sensing danger, I immediately rolled my body.
Soon, along with flapping sounds, pitch-black things began flying in at high speed from all directions.
‘What on earth are all those, that’s terrifying….’
Their true identities were a flock of baby crows.
However they found out, they covered the dead bear in an instant and began tearing into it.
‘Wait, did the mother crow hunt using me, by any chance?’
Crows are intelligent enough to use tools to get food.
So it was a completely plausible story.
‘But I never imagined that I would be that tool.’
Looking at it now, the crow that kidnapped me was remarkably larger than the other crows.
Its eye color was different too, giving off the vibe of a named monster.
‘This is no time for this.’
Now that I’m out of the mother crow’s line of sight is my chance.
I quickly rolled my body and hid between the bushes.
My plan was to run away as soon as things quieted down a bit.
‘I wasn’t caught, right?’
Right as I caught my breath in relief, my body floated into the air once again.
‘…You saw me, didn’t you?’
Caw—!
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