I thanked Ian for the information that he had given me. Then Ian went and opened the trap door for me. There were quite a few steps and I went down. The light from above was enough to guide me down the steps for a while but then I reached a horizontal tunnel and from there on it was pitch black.

I kept on walking forwards. It was scary and I grabbed the hilt of my sword tightly. I kept reminding myself that I was doing all this for Rozy. Then I reached a place where there were two torches above two different branches of the tunnel. The torches seemed to have a magical fire. I chose randomly and took the right tunnel.

I kept moving forwards. All the while I kept thinking of the wishes that I would ask the Worm. Ian had said that the Worm was sly. But at the same time could I do something which would make the Worm act less slyly towards me? I had been able to convince the Well to Everywhere to giving me a second chance at using it, even though it had asked me not to return to it. Maybe I could pull out something similar with the Worm. All the same I was acutely aware that any wish I asked the Worm could still have unforeseeable outcomes.

Then there was a sound behind me.

“Intelligent person,” the voice said, “you chose the ‘right’ way!”

I turned around, but couldn’t see anybody. The darkness didn’t help.

“Who is it?” I asked. No response.

It’s the Worm, a voice inside me seemed to say.

I kept moving forwards. And then I reached yet another point where there were two branches of the tunnel. This time I chose the left tunnel. The moment I did so that the tunnel in front of me became alit. In fact the tunnel was not a tunnel anymore. It was a great hall, filled with hundreds of torches. At the very centre of the hall was a massive being. A monster worm.

I wanted to close my eyes because of the ugliness of the Worm and it took me great effort to keep squeamishness at bay and keep my eyes open.

“Welcome,” a voice said that was coming from the massive worm, “you are more intelligent than I thought you to be. Usually when I tell people that they have taken the ‘right’ way, they keep taking the right tunnel all the while, getting further lost in the mage and slimming their chances of ever finding me. You took the left tunnel, which was wise. I am impressed.”

The Worm was sly. I was certain that the Worm was saying that it was impressed to keep me off my guard.

“So?” the Worm continued to speak, “I fancy that you are after the wishes that I grant?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I only grant three wishes though, so wish wisely. Go on. Wish number one.”

I had thought about it on my way along the tunnel and I knew exactly what to ask.

“My first wish is that you never come in any distress,” I said.

“By ‘you’ do you mean me?” the Worm asked, and from the tone of the Worm’s peculiar voice it was clear to me that the Worm had never expected this particular wish.

“Yes,” I said. The Worm was silent.

“Your wish shall come true,” the Worm said almost gleefully. “You are not just an intelligent person, but you are also noble. Thank you for wishing for my well being. Now wish number two.”

“My second wish is that after I make my third wish, I will be able to go back safely out of the temple,” I said.

“Of course, it shall be granted,” the Worm said. “Now go on, ask your third wish. I am curious what it shall be. Immortality? To become the most powerful? To be forever happy? Let’s see.”

“My third wish is to grant me success at safely rescuing my wife Rozy from the grasps of the evil sorcerer Mintuk who has taken her,” I said.

The Worm gasped.

“I am sorry that such a thing has happened to you,” it said, “your third wish is one that cannot be completed in a single event by me without consequences that I know you would not like. Usually I do not care about the consequences that my wishes cause, but you are the only person who has ever asked for my well being. Your wish will come true, and I will do my best to make it come true in such a way that you are happy at the end. Of course, there will always be variables beyond my control and things can turn out differently than what I intend. But I hope that everything comes out well at the end. May you be happy with your wife.”

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And then the torches about the hall went out all at once. Next, a notification appeared in my vision, as a fuzzy feeling took over me.

Congratulations!

You are the only person to have impressed the Worm!

You level up by 28 levels!

Wait a minute! 28 levels? Did I read that right?

Before I could digest that fact properly, a second notification came.

You receive a new spell: Monsterification

Using this spell you will be able to turn into a giant rabbit. This spell also does not require the expenditure of mana. Activating this spell automatically activates the Rabbit spell that you already possess so you can only become a giant rabbit and not a giant human. While the Monsterification spell is on, the Rabbit spell also does not consume any mana.

Note: This is the spell you are receiving as a way to make your third wish to the Worm come true. Activate this spell immediately for most favourable side consequences of your wish.

I did not think much. If I was going to save Rozy using the spell, then I would use it. I quickly activated the spell. The next moment, I fell down on all fours and felt my limbs shrinking. Following this, I had a feeling of rapid growth. The walls of the tunnel hit against my body, but they couldn’t contain me and gave way. In the matter of seconds the darkness gave way. There was a lot of breaking of walls and there was a lot of dust. And at the end of everything I found myself in open air.

My rapid growth had totally destroyed the temple. Oddly, there were no traces of the underground tunnel in which I had found the Worm. Ian was standing a few metres away from the temple cowering to protect himself from flying debris from the temple. The worms were just beyond him and he was trying his best to maintain his balance and not fall into the area with the worms. Dani, Lia and Slia were still standing outside of the area with the worms. From my new height I could see the canopy of the forest well.

“Are... are you the same person that I sent down the trapdoor?” Ian asked me with hesitation.

I couldn’t speak, so I nodded.

Ian laughed.

“Told you to be careful! Now the Worm has turned you into a giant bunny!”

I looked towards the Lazaki mountain. Since my size was bigger now, the mountain to me looked at best like a very small hill. I thought about my next course of action. I couldn’t just leave Dani, Lia and Slia in the open and then go to the mountain top to rescue Rozy.

First I put my paw near Ian. At first he was confused and then he climbed up my paw.

“You are taking me to some nice place?” Ian asked. It was easy for me to cross the area filled with the worms. I put my paw near my wives and gave them an intent gaze, hoping to convey the fact that I was none other than their husband. They thankfully understood and climbed up my paw. I also put them on my back.

“It’s you right, Rabbi?” Slia asked.

“You mean Rabbit, with a ‘t’?” Ian asked, who didn’t know my name. I made a quick nod to confirm who I was.

“Who are you?” Lia asked Ian.

“This rabbit, who I believe is a man, helped me wake up,” Ian replied.

“We saw you coming out from the temple,” Dani said.

“Yes, I had been inside it for long.”

I broke into a sprint towards the Lazaki mountain. In half a minute I reached the place at the foot of the mountain where the cave was. I made Ian and my wives dismount from my back and gestured them to enter the cave. Once they were in, I was able to move the boulder such that it covered more of the entrance now and left only the tiniest hole on one side through which a person could move in or out. If the Lazaki had seen me come to the cave then they would still have a hard time getting into the cave through the small hole and there was no way they were going to be able to move the giant boulder. And in the scenario they entered the cave one by one, Dani could lodge arrows into their heads one after the other.

Next I raced up the Lazaki mountain. Now there was no stopping me.

***

It was when Ramda’s neighbours began to shout that a big monster had come up the Lazaki mountain that Ramda went out of his house. A giant rabbit moved just in front of his house, its massive paw landing mere metres in front of him and Ramda barely escaped being crushed to death. The giant rabbit seemed to have the fort of the Lazaki in its mind. The rabbit had destroyed quite a few houses. There were arrows sticking to the back of the rabbit. But the rabbit was so big that they were like tiny thorns for the rabbit. Whenever someone tried to block the way of the rabbit, the rabbit would hit the person or the monkey slave with one of its massive paws causing them to fly away.

“This is all happening because of the bloody sorcerer!” an old Lazaki woman cried. “We shoulder have never let a wielder of sorcery to become our leader!”

And for once Ramda truly agreed with a fellow Lazaki.

***

General Information

Name: Rabbi

Class: King

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Level: Thirty

Strength: 800

Health: 1088

Spells: Listen, Rabbit, Monsterification

Weapons: Sword