Ball of Nothing

Chapter 11


Chapter 11

Remember those worms? Yes, those useless ones that climbed up and disappeared . I must say that I certainly did not expect this outcome .
While Namekuji and I continued our peaceful day to day lives, those worms were working hard behind the scenes . I had no idea what was going on until much later .
Long story super short, they killed the bird and I absorbed its remains . Namekuji and I have long parted ways and there were no tears involved .
How? Well, here's the long version .
Remember how Namekuji first revealed his trump card? I scorned at that useless ability, right? Well, not exactly but something along that line . Anyway, those worms had climbed up but not out . Goodness, they were vicious!
I think that those worms were born natural killers . They targeted all the critical organs in the bird like its heart, lungs, and brain, then the stayed there and ate the organs, absorbing all its nutrients to grow . They ate and grew until they could secrete a paralyzing kind of substance that slowly forced the bird's organs to shut down one by one . It was an unspoken teamwork, one that shocked me . The worms in the lungs started first, causing the bird to cough endlessly until the end . The second one targeted the heart that circulated the poison throughout the body, rendering the bird unable to move while the last worm in the brain delivered the final blow .
It was a perfect crime worthy of my respect . Only masters of the art of murder could pull something off so flawlessly with so much ease .
Once the bird collapsed, they made their escape through the mouth, eyes and just about any exit they could find . Namekuji gave me one last look of thanks before making his way out slowly . I struggling with transforming into a worm . I could only manage to transform into a worm with only five segments . A very tiny existence but something that could pull its own weight at last . The progress was slow and tiring but it paid off when I finally reached the brain .
I knew that absorbing the entire bird would take me a long time so I had to prioritise . The brain was what held the most memories so I targeted that first . The joy of gaining so much new knowledge made me forget about my troubles for a good while .
I envied the bird who had the freedom to see many things from the clouds . The feeling of wind beneath its wings was one that I too wanted to experience . With this new goal in mind, I resolved myself to absorb the bird completely and take on its form no matter what . It took me a while but I finally managed it .
The moment the last of the talons were absorbed, I allowed the exhaustion to claim me, ignoring the lurking dangers in the forest .