4 The First Absorption

"WHAT THE FUCK ID HAPPENINGGGG?" shouted a small pink ball while rolling down an hill. Well, it wasn't exactly a ball. It had two completely black eyes with red pupils, a mouth and what seemed to be an antenna? A short pink antenna. In the end it seemed a ball full of holes and with a face. A completely normal thing, right? It seemed to be made of something like rubber so someone could have even exchanged it ti be a pink tennis ball if it wasn't screaming like crazy.

"SHANTIAAA, WHY AM I ROLLING?"

[Because you are a ball? You know, balls are famous to be rolling champions]

"AND WHY THE HELL AM I A BALL?"

[...I don't know]

"..."

[I'm only a genie you know. I can't know everything, I'm not omnipotent]

While Shawn was thinking the various cursing words he know a blue screen appeared in his mind.

{Adaptation period almost complete}

"Adaptation period?"

[Oh right, the adaptation period. I had completely forgotten about it]

"What is it? Is something bad?"

[Oh no, don't worry. This is a new body for you, completely different from your old human one so it's normal that your soul would need some time to adapt to it]

"But I have already passed six months in this body, shouldn't it be enough"

[Yes, normally it would have been enough but your situation is a special one. You have passed the previous six months as an egg, your body formed only a few seconds ago. But don't worry, it shouldn't take more than a minute to adapt completely]

"Oh thanks god"

Shawn thanked god but obviously that old green man didn't intend to help him seeing as soon as he said those words he bumped on a tree... and then another... and then another one.

"FUCKING TREES. WAIT UNTIL I'LL ADAPT AND THEN I'LL BURN ALL OF YO-" but he couldn't end his tree hating phrase because he bumped in another tree.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Fifteen trees later...

"... Why that hill was so full of tree?" said Shawn with tears running down his cheeks. The trees didn't made any damage to his body but, well, they hurt like hell.

[Probably someone planted them?]

"...Shantia"

[Yes?]

"I know who will be the first person I'll kill] said Shawn with a scary tone.

They continued to chitchat for a bit on various thing ,like what was the most painful way to kill a tree loving man, but their pleasant talk was rudely interrupted by something. It was a black monster almost as big as Shawn. It had six legs, two antennae and his body seemed to be divided into three segments. Add to that the pincers it had where his mouth should be and it's huge abdomen and only a fool wouldn't realize what it was, a black ant. An enormous black ant!

"...Shantia"

[Yes?]

"Where am I?"

[In a normal forest]

"THEN WHY IS THAT ANT SO FUCKING HUGE?!"

[...It's not the ant that is huge]

"What? What do you mean?"

[...]

When Shawn heard the not so useful genie words he had a terrible presentiment but he though he had heard wrong so he asked for confirmation but Shantia hesitation made it even worse.

[...The ant it's not huge, it is a normal one. It's you that is really small]

"WHATTT? WHY AM I SO SMALL?"

[Wellll, as I said before I'm not omnipotent and your wishes were pretty big ones. I gave you a body capable of rivaling that of a god, it's only normal that there would be some small drawbacks]

"Small drawbacks?! Being as small as an ant is a small drawbacks"

[Hey, I gave you a body with an unlimited lifespan and an unlimited potential. Being small isn't so much of a drawbacks. Moreover, you have the Absorption ability. With it you should be able to return to a normal size easily]

"...Your right, sorry. I shouldn't have shouted so much" said Shawn with a guilty tone. She was right, he was small but he was near immortal too. And he have the Ability to absorb other so even is size wasn't much of a problem.

"What are you doing... John?" said Shawn to the ant he decided to call John. It was circling around him while sometimes pinching him with it's pincers.

[John? Who is John?]

"The ant"

[...And why are you calling an ant John? It's not normal]

"...After passing six months only with a genie playing words game I don't think many people would remain normal"

[... I don't know why but I feel offended]

"Whoa! What are you doing John? Put me down!" shouted Shawn at the ant who had lifted him up but it ignored him and began to walk towards a small earth mountain, probably the ant nest.

Shawn tried to struggle to free himself from the ant grip but, because the adaptation period wasn't over yet, he couldn't even move so he made the only thing he could think of "Activate the technique Absorption!" he tried to use a technique.

[You don't need to shout a phrase so long to use a technique! You only need to sat it's name!]

The ant, unhindered by Shawn shouts, scaled the nest and entered it. The nest was made of so many tunnel that even the person with the better orientation sense of the world would become lost but the ant seemed to be unhindered by all of it and began to walk toward a specific spot. It passed many other ants who, curious by the huge pink ball it was carrying, stopped doing whatever they were doing to see what it was and then returned to work.

The ant passed few other tunnels before stopping in a specific one that seemed to be something similar to a warehouse. It was full of things like seeds and small pieces of fruits. The ant stopped and finally put Shawn down.

" Uff finall-" Shawn didn't have time to exult before the ant began to approach him with a menacing air again. It began to pinch him again but this time stronger than before, this time it was trying to tear him.

Shawn began to feel an incredible pain and he thought it was then end but then a blue screen appeared in his mind [Adaptation period over. All ability restored]

The pink ball began to shift and transformed in a humanoid figure. He had a childlike stature but with many differences from a normal human. He had a short antenna and only four fingers instead of five.

The ant remained a stupefied but the sudden change of its "food" but then began to attack again but before it could even land a blow on him Shawn tried to activate his ability again.

"ABSORB!"

And this time it worked. Shawn shifted again and from it's belly shot numerous pink tentacles that completely surrounded the ant and then retracted again into his belly and so it become, without knowing it, the first prey of a voracious predator.