After the initial freaking out, covering my chest for some semblance of modesty, I inch closer to it. It really does look like a sac of jelly. It's glowing orangish-red and emanating heat more like a light bulb than a fire. If I'm being honest, the warmth feels very good. It's not like sitting in front of a radiator, the paint peeling off the metal, the dry air stinging your nose. This is just good old-fashioned, natural warmth, and it's doing wonders for my soaked bones. The wet strips of cloth stuck to my back and arms start to dry.
I move very close, till my nose is right next to its little face, and oh my god. I don't think I've ever seen anything so cute before! I want to pinch its little cheeks. If those are cheeks. It's like the whole thing is cheeks!
When it blinks, the black dots of its eyes turn into little horizontal lines. Its squiggly mouth squiggles. It seems kind of nervous, and it's laughable that this thing gave me such a fright. The pretend fireplace is more like a raised cubbyhole in the wall made of stone. I squat down, resting my chin on the creature’s platform. The little thing smells rather sweet too, kind of citrusy, like a clementine. But there’s a mischievous thought in my head.
You ever see a warning sign that something is extremely hot? Danger, don't touch? But there's an itch in your brain that keeps saying, how hot?
Yeah. My hair is drying. Mud hardens on my hips and legs and feet, but my fingers move closer and closer. The little creature stretches forward, its entire body jiggling in such a cute way, and it reminds me so much of a cat trying to get nuzzled. It's not till its round body squishes against my fingertip that I remember what happens when I touch something.
I want to be this cute. I want to be a little cute blob of warmth and light. I don't want to be a frail human thing that's losing my hair and health, filthy with mud and rain, naked and ugly and gross. The creature isn't even burning my hand. It's more like touching a hot compress that I sometimes sleep with when the period cramps get really bad.
It settles down once I start acquiring. Its little mouth straightens into a line. Its dot eyes flatten like it's resting. It looks so relaxed, and my fingertip tickles, and then I initiate the next part right away.
The first thing to change is my tongue. It snaps into my throat like a tape measure sucked back into the case. Shwoop! Straight down into my belly. Then I'm falling. Plummeting like I'd climbed the lighthouse to the top and leaped off. But no, I'm not falling. I'm shrinking!
My hair gets sucked into my scalp like ramen. My limbs shrink into little pink nubs before vanishing into my rounding abdomen. My neck sinks, and for a second my head is inside my chest, and I'm blinking. It’s all turned gelatinous, but I can see my lungs. They’re two fleshy blobs suspended in my chest. The air sacs struggling cause I can’t inhale. Then they vanish with twin pops. I can see the bookshelves through my translucent, reddish skin. I'm turning into jelly. Before I can scream, there's a gloop and I land on the floor like a heavy water balloon.
Fortunately, I don't burst. I just flatten before reforming into a blob. The transformation is complete; I'm an Ember Slime now.
I brace myself, expecting another mind in my head like with the squirrel. Some instincts like fear or hunger to drive me crazy, losing myself. But it's not like that. There's no hunger. No panicking. And while I can feel another mind, it's like a bubble pressing up against my own thoughts. It's relaxed. It's nice and sweet; it's just happy to be here, safe from the rain. And the mind in my head wants to climb up into the little cubbyhole, the safe little space set in stone, and radiate warmth. I’m still wearing my underwear. It’s wrapped around my much smaller body now, the cloth stretching out underneath my jiggling form, and I’m not sure how to get out. Maybe I should’ve pulled them off before
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
A dark, ball-like thing pulses inside me. I guess that's my heart. It kind of quivers every few seconds, but maybe it's my brain. There isn't anything else. It's strange that I can perceive inside myself as well as around my new body. The dot eyes are surprisingly good. I can see clearly out of them, and they move freely up and down my skin. Above me is the original Ember Slime, staring with its eyes bigger than before, the two dots widened with shock. Its mouth squiggles uncontrollably, and my mouth does the same.
I'm copying it. I'm happy. I'm a jiggling sac of red jelly! I'm not too thin, I'm not sickly or anything. No responsibilities. No bills. No exams. No watching my weight or having to cook or clean or anything. I could stay like this forever... That’s when I notice the new notification.
[Leveled up!]
[Level 1 -> Level 2]
[+3 stat points]
Stat points? What are stat points? And as soon as I wonder about stats, that onslaught of words and numbers rushes back into my head, and I can see all my stats again.
> [Samiya]
>
>
> [Epithet: N/A]
>
> [Level: 2] [Progress: 0%]
>
> --
>
> [Job Title: N/A]
>
> [Level: N/A] [Progress: N/A]
>
>
> --
>
> [Soul Expression: Organic Transmutation]
>
> [Skills:
>
> [Current Form: Ember Slime]
>
> --
>
> Stats:
>
> Power: 1 (-1)
>
> Stamina: 1 (+4)
>
> Durability: 1 (-1)
>
> Agility: 2 (-2)
>
>
>
> Stat points available: 3
The numbers are very different now. I’m much weaker than when I was the squirrel, but it looks like I have points I can add to things and get stronger. The Ember Slime’s not built for hunting or anything like that, but it's warm. I'm warm. I feel like the sun. I'm just me and I'm hot, and all I have to do is continue being warm. All I have to do is be myself. That's something I could never do as a human. Maybe this dream’s not so bad. Or if it's real, maybe this world is okay. I can just be a little ball of fire jelly and...
That's when I fuck things up. Maybe I relax too much. Maybe it's something that just happens. But my skin bursts into flame. No, it's not my skin!
It's my underwear! It's still stuck to me, and it's been getting hotter and hotter and now it's on fire. I’ve set my panties on fire.