Both happy and sad in equal amounts, Bathilda was sat in her lair frowning. Constantly examining her new body, she smiled one moment then frowned then next. Repeating the actions over and over, she was stuck in a continuous circle of resignation.

"Why can't I just have what I want for once?" her childlike voice asked rhetorically. She wasn't expecting an answer, her question more for those in paradise, but an answer came nonetheless.

"I thought this was what you wanted?" Responding with a question of his own, Hiro's words only served to infuriate Bathilda more.

"Are you joking? Look at me, Hiro!" Bathilda squeaked in the cutest sound she had ever heard before getting up. Casting (Echolocation+) to look at the areas of herself she couldn't see physically, Bathilda was annoyed at herself for being so hasty.

Standing less than 3 feet tall, Bathilda was barely bigger than Poisonous Bat and she was disappointed at the choice she had made after defeating the King Slime. Even though the monster had only been level 23, his high ranking form had been enough to catapult the Vampire Bat to Max level.

Bathilda's choice for evolution were limited, as the Vampire Bat had explained they would be, and Bathilda only had two options. Out of those, the first option was another Bat-type monster, the Night Terror Bat. The second was a Lesser Vampire. Finally earning the chance to ditch the Bat title once and for all, Bathilda had hastily chosen the second option without reading any descriptions.

As she looked at her new body from a different perspective, she still wasn't pleased as she wanted to be. Bathilda reminded herself of an anemic child that she had treated back when she was still at the hospital. Frail and malnourished, the young girl's body was the only thing Bathilda could compare her current self with.

There was hardly any muscle or fat on her frame and Bathilda shed a tear at the sorry sight of herself. She was a bag of bones and looked weaker than she had done even as a bat. At the same time, golden locks slipped over her shoulder and the colourful sight brougt a smile to her face.

"At least I've got silky-smooth hair and I can talk properly now. Even though I sound like I'm a 5 year old. When I saw the 'Lesser Vampire' option in the evolution list, I was honestly expecting something more than... this."

Bathilda was sad. As a vampire, she played the gloomy, foreboding character rather well. Even if she didn't realise she was doing it.

"It could be worse, remember? You could be a Brat."

Hiro added, trying to give Bathilda a hand to pull her out of her misery.

"I suppose you're right. It could be worse. At least this is a step in the right direction. Even if I am a little girl again."

Bathilda looked completely human. No deformities, no claws, no extra eyes, and a single row of teeth lined her mouth. Mrs Bigfoot was no more as the hair had shed from her body, revealing beautiful white skin beneath. Bathilda was finally able to join society and should have been overjoyed. Ecstatic even. Yet sorrow has its clutches deep in her heart as she stood on the ledge of her base and looked up at the next problem of her own making.

"Why did I decide to come back down the pit to evolve? I should have evolved in that Slime's room!" Bathilda stomped around like the child she was as she gazed upward.

With her childlike body, escaping the pit didn't look like it would be an easy feat. Especially since there were no appendages on her back anymore. One of the the most saddening features of moving away from the bat lineage was the loss of the wings Bathilda had grown accustomed to using.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"There's nothing you can do about it now. Looks like you're going to have to climb out of here."

"Urgh. Why does everything have to be so hard?" Slumping down to the floor, Bathilda wrapped her arms around her legs and began to rock backwards and forwards while cursing the pit, the monsters and her own hasty choices. She wasn't to know that her wings would disappear after she had evolved.

Well, maybe if she'd read the descriptions she would have. But luckily, wings weren't Bathilda's only option for escaping her base in the pit.

As she thought the word (Clone), a second child appeared next to her, giving Bathilda an even better chance to get a look at herself. X rays were fine and all, but using a pair of good, old-fashioned eyes was even better.

The same as before, Bathilda's clone came out at half her size and looked even cuter than she did. Her hair was gold and softer than silk. Eyes that were the colour of flames stared back at her and baby fangs could be felt inside the mouth after Bathilda suck her fingers in to check.

"I don't like this, Bathilda," Hiro complained adorably. "It's not right. I was a guy in my last life, you know? And an adult! Switching genders and age like this is really throwing me off."

"You didn't complain when you were in control of the bat."

"Yes... Well... That was because I didn't think of it as a female bat!"

"Well, that's exactly what it was. A female bat. Plus, someone's got to test this body. If I die whilst testing, then so do you. Whereas if you die, your spirit will return to me and we can try again. It makes sense for you to be the guinea pig, Leech." Bathilda was beamin an incredibly evil grin as she delivered her thought out explanation without hesitation.

"Don't call me that please. It's demeaning," he frowned. "You don't like it when I call you Bat."

"I suppose you're right. I'm sorry, Hiro. I'm just a little vexed out at the moment. I don't want to have to climb all the way up there to get out of this pit, but I know the damn exit is up there!" Grumbling about life, Bathilda brought up her status.

Name: Bathilda

Race: Lesser Vampire

Class: None

Title: Rodent Exterminator

Level: 1

XP needed until next Level: 4800

HP: 1488/1488

MP: 1044/1044

Skill Points Available

Bathilda smiled at the growth her numbers portrayed before sighing as her mind flickered back to her current predicament.

"Well, I suppose there's no time like the present. Go, Hiro! You can do it!" Bathilda stood up and pointed towards the vertical climb as she called out full of confidence.

"I'm literally sitting right next to you and I'm not a dog, you know? What are you even expecting me to do? I like... Half your size." He repliesld in the same adorable voice as before, unnerving Bathilda slightly as he moved to the cliff.

"You need to climb the pit. Just like you said." Giving Hiro a thumbs up, Bathilda also threw him her best smile. Which unnerved the man from another world.

"OK, but just so we're clear, I'm not happy always being the scapegoat... Or the tester... Or the bait!" Hiro was still voicing his complaints as his small body began scaling the wall.

To his shock, it was actually a lot easier than he had anticipated after hearing Bathilda's ridiculous plan. Having small hands and feet made it extremely easier to climb, nimbly fitting into the nooks and crevices of the wall better than an adults would.

"To be honest Bathilda, this is actually quite easy! You may as well set off now because I doubt you'll lose grip whilst climbing up he..." Speaking too soon, Hiro lost his footing while reaching for the next hand hole and went plummeting down the pit.

Unable to alter his course, he locked eyes with a satisfied-looking Bathilda as he passes by on his way to the bottom of the pit. With each passing second the ground got closer and closer. The only thought that ran through Hiro's mind was 'Why did I open my mouth?' before he crashed into the bottom of the pit.

Opening his eyes after he fall, Hiro was shocked at the damage he hadn't taken. Through some miraculous circumstances or divine intervention, he wasn't dead. Though it wasn't the first time he had crashed into the bottom of the pit, it was his first time without wings and he picked himself up from the floor in a daze.

After refainin his senses and checking his stats, Hiro found that he had only lost 10HP from the fall he had involuntarily taken.

"Well, shit!" He chuckled in satisfaction at the resilience of his petite body before contemplating how strong Bathilda's main body was.

"Hiro?" Bathilda called down from above. "You don't need to worry about climbing now. I've found out that we can still use (Fly+) without wings! How cool is that?"

"Of course we can," Hiro sighed, wondering why he had to try and climb the pit in the first place. "Why didn't we try that in the beginning then!"