Chapter 16: Microphobia

The two giant gates creaked open to reveal The Mother's Pond. Scarlett stiffened her shoulders from the chill coming out the confined space. However for Liza, she acting unusual.

Unusual as in, she was unusually confident. It could be help for her Fear Resistance skill or it could be the fact both her and Scarlett have the Poison Immunity skill. But Liza didn't pay much attention to it.

What was really on Liza's mind was...

'I wonder what the Mother Toad taste like?'

It was neither. Liza was simply hungry and she wanted to get a Toad form by eating the Mother Toad.

It was the main reason why she came the Poison Zone and max out her poison resistance in first place. It was all to just have another form to transform into like her Salamander Mode.

'If I eat the Mother Toad, I'll definitely get a Toad form too. Then I'll be able jump around really high and I'll be able swing with my tongue and act like Tarzan!' Liza chuckled to herself at the mere thought.

Scarlett stares at her master in disbelief, to think her master could be so fearless.

'Master is very brave, not only he's being overly confident as well. If he thinks will be okay, then there's nothing to worry about!' Scarlett would believe all of this if she wasn't for her fear.

Like all of the other girls back in Scarlett's childhood. They were all afraid of bugs or anything that wasn't pretty. Scarlett was the same. However, her reason was different.

It all started with an small bee. Scarlett was playing in a flowerbed surrounded by some bees. Scarlett was only four years old, back then she wasn't yet informed the dangers of bees. So when Scarlett got stung by one of these tiny bees.

Scarlett grew to have the fear of anything that was smaller than her own palm. Not because she thought 'if it's small it can hurt me'. No. It is because if it's small, she'll wouldn't be able to fight back something that could easily dodge her every attack.

Scarlett has....

'You got to be kidding me?!'

Microphobia: the fear of small things.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Liza asked slightly confused.

"Master, there... there... IS A SLUG ON YOUR SHOULDER!!!" Scarlett squeal as she pointed at the small slug crawling up on Liza's shoulder.

"What? This little thing? Scarlett, you need to not be scared by every tiny thing," Liza laughed before flicking the slug off her shoulder.

Scarlett felt chills crawling up spine. Fighting the Mother Toad herself wasn't the issue. The issue was that there were small, little, tiny, itsy-bitsy slugs crawling around all over Mother's Pond.

True, the slugs can't harm anyone nor can they even dodge one of Scarlett's attacks. They are poisonous, but Scarlett has Poison Immunity. So why was Scarlett so afraid of these slugs to begin with?

It was simple. These poisonous slugs can't be killed. Well, not killed easily. If someone cuts one slug, that slugs will become two smaller slugs. Crushing one slug will only make them separate to even more slugs, more tinier slugs. So many that Scarlett can not avoid.

The only way to kill these slugs is by burning them with fire. But if someone use fire in Mother's Pond, that dimwitted someone will most likely ignite the poisonous clouds inside the pond, and the entire level into flames. Resulting in killing themselves and the unfortunate souls who are there with them.

So Scarlett was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Obviously, Scarlett never told Liza this fear of hers. But Scarlett has tried, tried and ended up deciding not to at last minute because of risk humiliation. She really didn't wanted to be here, but the faster Scarlett and her master's take out the Mother Toad the better.

"Are you ready for this?" Liza said with a prideful grin on her face.

"As ready... I'll ever be," Scarlett said shakily, while trying to put up her best smile.

The ground shook underneath them before something launched itself out of the poisonous pond. Standing in front of them is a large purple toad that was at least fifty feet tall.

The poison clouds cover the toad's face but Liza could see a visible thick and dark purple line that resembles of lips. This was it. This was the Mother Toad. The fight beings...