I look down at the flowy fabric around my arms. The soft green cloth is beautiful, something I would never have been able to wear on Earth. Not for price reasons, either.

A wave of discomfort goes through me. It’s… sad, that I’ll never be able to be myself in the place I grew up. That Earth will never know Oubliette.

I smack my own face to snap myself out of it. No moping! I just got the body of my deeply repressed dreams, and a new friend on top of it! I glance at the slime girl, who is affectionately holding a young kobold. At least… I think we’re friends.

Maybe I’m rushing. I’ve never had much experience with this, with socializing. My only previous friend was the squirrel who would come eat lunch with me in middle school. I’m pretty sure it was only coming for the food I’d give it, but the company was nice all the same… Right, I might be overstepping.

She’s an… acquaintance. Yeah, that sounds right. I just met her, anyway, why do I want to be her friend so quickly? I watch as said girl puts the kobold child’s head into her mouth, just to pop her own head like a balloon, freeing the kid. After a few seconds of the child staring at a headless body, her missing dome regrows, completely unharmed. Naturally the child starts screaming bloody murder, making Wem look around in confusion. A female kobold runs up and snatches the kid away from her, a look of motherly fury on her scaly face.

I can’t help it, I start laughing. I’d been trying to hold back, not wanting the small lizards to think that I’m enjoying their misery, but Wem’s face is just so damn funny.

My laughter, which for once isn’t demonic, startles the kobold woman. Her gaze locks onto me and her eyes go wide. She gives me a polite bow before running away. I hope I didn’t scare her too bad.

For some reason, no matter what form I’m in, the kobolds can instantly recognize me. I guess it’s something to do with being a dungeon monster? Anyway, it’s convenient for me, at least.

I walk up to the depressed Wem. “So, what you wanna do?” She opens up her mouth to comply, but gets cut off by a voice in my mind.

“Ma’am, I have something to report,” Azrael says. I hold my hand up to Wem, so she won’t keep talking while I can’t hear her.

“What is it?” I beam back to the cat.

“Well… I wasn’t sure if I should report this. The ants haven’t attacked in two days, they’re holed up inside their nest on the upper levels.” He pauses. “That’s not all, when I looked through your eyes to find the ants, I noticed that the spiders are up to something as well.” His tone is… angry? What could the spiders have done?

“Well? What’d they do?” I ask.

He sighs. “They’ve sealed themselves in. Not just the tunnels either, they dug out a massive sphere in the stone and filled it with webbing. Through your eyes it looks like a white orb.” I furrow my brows. What are they up to?

I glance over to Wem, who’s looking at me with curiosity twinkling in her eyes. “I’ll be right back,” I mumble, before vanishing.

Once my mind fades back in, I immediately ‘ping’ Maddi. Since my communication ability is one way, I just make a brief connection before dropping it to let her know I wish to speak. Sure enough, not even a full second passes before I feel her presence in my mind.

“What is it, Oubi?” she asks in a concerned tone.

A sigh sneaks out of my mind. “Well, it appears both the ants and the spiders are up to something.”

I feel shock pulse over the connection. “What? The spiders? I just spoke to them about the plans, what did they do?” I quickly give her the vague briefing that I’ve received.

She gasps. “Speaking of that silk ball, I was just looking at it…” Oh, that’s a good idea. “...and there’s a group of ants trying to break in, with no luck.” She growls in anger. “Those cowardly arachnids are hiding!”

Wanting to confirm it for myself, I look at the place where I created Mama Silk all those months ago. Where her cavern had been instead sits a massive ball of thick ropes of webbing. Each strand is bound together tightly into tough looking cables. Like Maddi said, a group of ants is fruitlessly trying to chew its way in.

I sigh. “What the hell…” I guess we can count the spiders out for this one. Maybe they want better pay? Are they unionizing in there? My American blood yearns to stop them, but I resist my inner demons.

Maddi seems to have no such restraint. I feel her presence in my mind strengthen just before a chunk of stone flies up one of the tunnels heading for the orb. She bashes the boulder against the walls as it flies, chipping away at it until it gains a sharp tip. Whistling through the air, the improvised missile hits the side of the webbing.

And crumbles to dust.

“Eights dammit!” she screeches through our connection. Why is she even so mad? Like sure they’re kinda rebelling, but they’re also a bunch of bugs being controlled by one smarter bug. Maybe Mama Silk is just tired.

Before I can offer up that idea to my aide, Azrael’s voice cuts into our connection.

“Ma’am, the ants are assaulting! And the Queen is with them.”

────────────

I pan to the human town instinctively. The warm light of the faux sky fills the space, giving the small village a cheery feeling. At least it would, if not for the carnage happening around the town’s walls.

Since the last time I checked in on the humanoid town, the people have built a sturdy-looking palisade around it. The wood used in its construction looks like nothing that can be found inside me, so they must’ve brought it from outside. None of that is the important part, which is the heaving ocean of ants pressing up against the log barricade.

The ants are desperately trying to get over and/or through the wall, attempting both methods simultaneously. Over doesn’t seem to be working too well, since as I watch any that get near the top of the wall are instantly killed by the guards on top of the structure. Through should be working better, but luckily for the people inside the town, the bodies of the ants are pressing against each other too tightly to allow for the miners to try and burrow into the wood.

Looming behind the mass of chitin and mandibles is the queen ant. She stands in her full glory, not needing to hunch over like she does inside of her tunnels. The tractor-trailer-sized insect watches as her children assault the town.

“Ma’am, can you send someone to help? Or are we letting the people get wiped out?” Azrael asks. Surprisingly the cat’s voice is tired, his breathing erratic.

“No, we’ll help…” But 'how' is the question. With the spiders on strike and the kobolds so deep inside me, there aren’t many options. I guess… I could go down there. Fight in the battle myself. But would I even be a help? The most I can do is summon furniture, for god’s sake…

I guess it’s better than nothing.

Moments later, I’m standing on the worn wood of the town’s streets. Glancing around, I don’t see any people, at least outside the buildings. Looking closer, I see people peeking out of their windows, hiding behind shades or blinds. Whatever, now’s not the time to sightsee.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Where are you?” I send to Azrael.

A gasp for air shudders in my mind as he tries to speak. “I… I’m at the… wall.” Holy shit, why is he so exhausted!?

I start sprinting in the direction of the wall. I purposefully materialized away from it, so that I wouldn’t be instantly attacked, but I’m starting to regret that decision. As I run towards the action, I keep tripping on nothing. After the third time I stop running and check myself over.

I just made this body, how can something be wrong with it? Everything feels fine as I walk in a small circle, nothing pulled, not off balance. So why can’t I run?

My mind drags up the memory of a classroom again, the television still playing the video on jerboas. In the video, it shows one running. Well, running isn’t the right word, the rodent is jumping. Jumping really fast.

Does that mean I have to hop to get around?! I groan in annoyance. There’s a big difference between a rodent and a girl. My eyes drift down to my chest. Well, let's give it a shot…

At first my movements are clunky, I fall over just as much as when I was running. But after a few tries, something clicks in my brain. I jump down the wooden road, bouncing from the ground, to one of the nearby walls, and back to the ground in a zigzag pattern. As my hair whips behind me from the air rushing past, I feel something unfamiliar rise up inside me.

Excitement, trepidation, fear, a strong sense of freedom. I take back what I said, this is great! All too quickly I make it to the wall. With almost no effort I jump a good eleven feet to the small platform that runs along the inside of the wall. My sudden appearance scares one of the nearby adventurers, but they lose interest in me as soon as they realize I’m not an ant.

I look out over the battlefield. The wooden planks covering the ground are stained red and green from the blood of people and ants alike. Some of the stronger adventures have jumped down off the wall, cleaving through the endless horde. The silver armor of Bella shines through the browns and reds of the ants. A pang of worry spikes in my chest, but I push it back for now. I keep looking and eventually find the black hair of Azrael. As soon as my brain registers his condition, anxiety floods through me.

The moronic demon is in his humanoid form and is covered in wounds, gashes that should easily be lethal running along his back and chest. His black fur is matted against his skin, dried blood making it stick together. My general’s red eyes are unfocused as he rushes through the fray, swiping at anything within his reach. With each pass of his claws an ant bursts into green gore, or a group of them are consumed by shadows. Corpses are piled around him so thick that the floor is no longer visible.

He’s going to die. These ants are nothing to him, but his stamina isn’t endless. If he keeps pushing… The stupid guy is at least a hundred feet from me. I look down at the swarming ants that coat the path between him and me, and my stomach churns.

What the hell am I even planning? I don’t know how to fight! Even if I did on Earth, that was before I got caught. On top of that I have a completely new body. My eyes focus on Azrael again, who is barely on his feet anymore.

To hell with it, I’m still gonna go out there. I’ll figure it out as I go.

Before I can do anything, a spike of pain puts me on my knees. I have to imagine being lobotomized with a dentist’s drill would feel similar. I clutch my head, crying out in pain for what seems like eternity. Someone is touching me, trying to help me up, but I can’t respond. The pain is too loud.

And just like it arrived, it stops without warning. Then a somewhat familiar foreign presence fills my head.

Congratulations! For your resolve to fight, even with a form specifically made to not see combat, you’ve unlocked Avatar Battle Mode! Within reason, you can assign a basic class to your avatar, and the system will assign it abilities and spells. Fair warning, though, you can only choose one avatar…

The voice suddenly cuts off.

You know what? Forget that, just take these training wheels and go get your cat back already.

With that, the system is gone. But it left something behind. A small wad of memories, of sensations and experiences I’ve never had. Hours of drills, of workouts. Lessons in almost every weapon imaginable, and some that I’d never think of. How my new body moves, how it acts when hurt and under pressure.

In short, I’ve been taught how to fight.

A smile cracks my face, even as tears still stream down either side of it.

“Are you okay, lady?” I look up, to see one of the pangolin creatures I saw before looking at me with clear concern. “Can you hear me?” The voice coming out of its snout is high and soft.

I shake my head, clearing out the last vestiges of pain. “Yeah, I’m alright.” The creature’s eyes brighten as they sigh in relief.

“I was getting worried, I even climbed up here to check on ya.” They point a clawed finger at several deep grooves in the edge of the platform where their nails dug into the wood. “If ya had been injured, one of the guys up here would’ve pushed you down. But you were just… sitting here, so…” They rub the scales between their small bearlike ears.

I give them another smile. “Thank you.” I look the person over, seeing an apron covered in soot hiding their underside. A blacksmith? “Do you have any daggers? I want to get out there.”

Their already small eyes narrow. “Well… I didn’t make 'em, so I can’t vouch for how good they are, but I do have these.” They reach a large hand inside of their apron pocket, and pull out two daggers. The weapons look like children’s toys in their hands. “Found 'em on the road, was gonna melt 'em. No use wasting metal. But I think you could use 'em more.” They grin at me, showing their long mouth full of sharp teeth.

I snatch the weapons from them before they can change their mind. “Thank you so much.”

The pangolin shrugs. “They weren’t mine, anyways.” They look me up and down, as if trying to memorize me. “My name is Dalla, try not to die.”

Before I can respond to them, they jump down from the wall with a loud boom. The adventurers around me look down in alarm, relaxing once they see the gold scaled person was the source of the sound. I turn back to the battlefield, where Bella and Azrael are still fighting.

With the worn daggers in hand, and new memories in my head, I jump over the wall.

────────────

After a few seconds of wind whistling through my ear fluff, I land with a loud crunch. A quick glance down shows that an ant cushioned my fall, its head taking most of the force. I jump out of the dead insect and kick some of the green gore off.

Scanning the area, I’m shocked to find I’m less than ten feet from Azrael. Somehow I managed to jump almost a full hundred feet in one shot.

I’m pulled out of my awe by Azrael dropping to one knee with a pained grunt. Without hesitation the nearest ants swarm the injured cat.

With another, much smaller jump, I’m by his side. Relying on my new memories, I attack the insects. My two daggers flicker in front of me, moving fast enough to be hard to see. I slash at the armored limbs clinging to my general, trying to force the bugs off him. It takes much longer than I’d hoped, but eventually the bugs all fall away.

I don’t get even a second’s pause before another group of insects jump the two of us. Desperately I try to hold them off alone, but I just can’t stop the entire group. Two slip past me, aiming for the now collapsed Azrael. Without thinking I whip my tail and slam it into the underside of one of the insects. With a loud crack, the bug goes limp.

The remaining ant makes it to Azrael just as I finish off its last comrade. I jump as hard as I can, to try and put myself between the insect and the cat, but I’m too slow. Powerful mandibles latch around the man’s neck and clamp down. Blood immediately starts pouring from under the black jaws.

My daggers cut the pincers off in one movement, making the insect screech in pain. I bring the two blades down onto the creature’s head, one blade into each eye. After that the ant stops screaming. Not losing any time, I crouch down to Azrael and check him over.

The cat is in bad shape. His neck is cut open, bleeding profusely. What seem like hundreds of wounds litter his body. Whole patches of fur are burned away by acid. I probably have seconds before he’s gone.

I can’t think this over, no time! My hands make a thudding sound as I press them hard into his exposed chest. Unsure what else to do, I start pushing lifeforce into him. Light blue light lifts off my skin and drifts into Azrael. At first the river of light moves lazily, but it quickly begins to speed up. Before long, thick streams of ethereal blue are pouring out of my skin and into each wound that lays on the man’s body.

I ignore the horrible feeling this is giving me. The sense of loss, of getting my blood drained from my body. He just needs to live. As the light fills his body more and more, the gashes and burns start to heal over. One by one, each injury disappears, repaired like it was never there. After the cuts on his neck vanish, I cut the flow of power.

I fall to my knees, exhausted. Laughter shakes my frame. It’s the first time I’ve been physically tired since I got to this world.

The black haired man’s eyes flutter open, like a sleeping princess. His red gaze eventually focuses on me. His face changes to a look of shock.

“Ma’am? Why are you here?” His voice comes out hoarse. Tired.

I scowl down at him. “I came to save your stupid ass, you moronic cat!” Anger bubbles over in me. “Why did you do something so stupid, for the people in the village? I never said to die for them!”

Before he can defend himself from my words, his arm shoots past my head. A loud crunch comes from behind me, followed by a squeal. Then the corpse of an ant falls next to the two of us.

The cat looks at me sheepishly. “Now’s not the time to chat…” Without another word, he jumps up and runs back into the fight.

I just sigh. Guess I have to keep him safe, then. With a leap, I follow him into the melee.

This is… fun?