Ball of Nothing

Chapter 10


Chapter 10


It's been a few days since Namekuji's arrival . I don't know what it normally eats but it was getting thinner . On the other hand, after the liquid has built up high enough and touched Namekuji once, I saw the poor fella wriggle in pain and decided to absorb the liquid enough for it to move to a higher place .
Initially, I did it to ensure that it could survive for long enough before I absorbed it and reap its surface sticking powers . However, it started to grow on me . While I was feasting on the frogs and shellfish that fell, Namekuji remained unmoving . For some reason, I grew fond of its peculiar wriggling and seeing it so lifeless made me feel bad .
I tried to leave some of the creatures that fell for it but Namekuji never moved . I was beginning to worry when the liquid that Namekuji normally produced became thinner and lesser, causing it to slip a few times . Those were some close calls .
Luckily, salvation came in the form of a half-eaten worm . Namekuji moved for the first time since it escaped being digested . I immediately understood that it ate worms .
With my new and improved catching technique, I held the worm up with my sand long enough for Namekuji to get to it .
The moment Namekuji ate the worm, I looked into its tiny eyes and we came to a silent agreement . Both of us wanted to get out of this bird and even though we did not know each other, we had a common enemy . This was reason enough to place our trust in each other .
It soon became a routine for me to catch food for us . While Namekuji bid its time, I resumed my intense training trying to increase my absorbing and transforming stamina . I'd certainly improved a lot since I first started but there was still a long way to go . Namekuji took care of guarding the food supplies during my food coma by using its body as a net to collect all the new things the bird ate . Some fell through but there was never a problem of starvation for us . Things progressed smoothly and before long, I was able to transform a part of me into a living creature for the first time .
I credited the new ability to the countless of frogs and shellfish that the bird ate . Absorbing them allowed me to draw on their powers . However, my new found abilities had limitations . My transformation was unstable at best and I could manage to transform only one part at a time . For example, I could draw out the power of a frog's tongue to catch the falling food for a short time but I could not transform myself into a frog .
The only reason why the transformation ended prematurely was due to the foul liquid . It quickly dissolved the tongue I'd formed and I had to rest to create another tongue . Sometimes, not even sleep was able to recover my transformation ability . I needed to absorb more creatures to be able to form another tongue .
Namekuji seemed slightly impressed with my new ability and decided to show me a few tricks too . It wasn't a very impressive or useful trick but it was still amazing . From within Namekuji's body, many tiny worms came out . They were able to stick onto the side of the bird's stomach like Namekuji and avoid getting digested too . Those tiny worms climbed upwards and disappeared not long after they made their appearance . The awe soon turned into disappointment but I didn't blame Namekuji .
Namekuji looked at me smugly and that left me puzzled . What could a few worms from his body do anything to a bird this huge? Nevertheless, we continued our perfect teamwork to survive yet another day in the bird's stomach .