Level Up Ch. 02

He reached higher and pulled, the white thread turning pink where he had been previously holding it as he took another step. His eyes stung with pained tears.

His heart leapt when he neared the top of the flat, he threw out his arm, his left foot slipping he barely caught the tip of the heel. Panic briefly seized him and was replaced with relief when he realized he'd actually caught the shoe. Growling he heaved himself up and threw himself over the edge and with one final push fell from the opening and crashed onto the counter. He lay there breathing heavily, his cheek pressed into the cold, clean, marble surface.

Objective Completed: Use the provided thread to climb out of Anna Tenner's Shoe

Quest: Escape Mommy's Shoe - Complete

Reward: Basic Climbing Skills & 1 Basic Perk Point

New Skill Unlocked: Basic Climbing LV1: You have learned how to climb basic surfaces; basic surfaces are now 1% easier to climb

Anna glanced over at him.

"Well done," Anna said, there was a hint of something between relief and pride in her tone. Her hand slipped into the pocket of the black robe that draped over her body, briefly causing the fabric around her cleavage to droop exposing more of the pale line dividing her breasts, and retrieved her phone and placed it on the counter.

Bill stared at the giant device, breathing heavily.

"Your next task is an important one, I want you to send me a text," she turned to look directly at her tiny son to get the importance of her next statement through to him. "I want you to text the words, help me and send them."

Bill didn't move for a moment and Anna slapped her palm against the counter making the marble lightly tremble beneath him.

"Now!"

Bill flinched and struggled to his feet, hunched slightly over as he struggled to regain his breath. He looked at his hands, there were thin red lines that slowly seeped out blood from where the thread had dug into him.

Anna unlocked the phone and opened a new text.

"You'll need to type in my number, I trust you know it, if you ever get taken, I want you to have a chance to get back to us," she said.

Still panting and bent over, Bill looked up at her, a mixture of emotions inside him. He really didn't know how he should feel about his mother and it didn't help that he could still taste the cocktail of his and her sweat on his lips.

He turned his attention to the giant phone and slowly walked towards it. At three inches tall it was nearly twice his height, at least with it being a touch screen he wouldn't have to jump from button to button. The quest notification appeared in his vision.

Quest: Request for Aid

Objective: Send a text requesting aid to Anna Tenner

Reward: None

Penalty: None

He dismissed the notification and stepped onto the screen, just above the graphical keyboard, the keyboard pulled away and out of sight as he had inadvertently unselected the send-to bar. He looked to his mom to help, she'd turned away and was adding an assortment of ingredients to the saucepan she used specifically for healing potions. He stepped off the phone and walked to the top of the device and stepped on the bar, again the keyboard appeared.

This was going to be more difficult than he'd thought.

"Okay...so how do I reach the middle numbers without clicking off the keyboard," he muttered to himself, stroking his naked chin like he'd seen so many times on television. He slapped his forehead after a second, he was a little taller than the phone was wide, all he had to do was walk around the phone and make sure he didn't accidentally hit any of the wrong numbers and it should be a piece of cake.

And so, Bill set about typing in his mother's number. He did accidentally catch the wrong number on several occasions but he was able to delete them and replace it with the correct one, by the end while his arms were aching and some of the numbers had a faint pink layer to them, he had typed out her number, now he just needed to type the words.

At first, he tried kneeling at the base of the phone and tried to type the phrase but when he tried to reach for e on the keyboard it was just out of reach and he nearly fell forward onto the screen but thankfully managed to catch the edge of the phone with his other hand and stop his fall. After which he went back to his original more tedious method of doing half laps around the phone to type the phrase and hit send.

That giant device buzzed almost instantly as it received its own message.

Objective Completed: Send a text requesting aid to Anna Tenner

Quest: Request for Aid - Complete

Reward: None

Bill flinched back as Anna's giant fingers came into view and she picked up the phone. She looked at his message and then deleted the conversation.

"Well done, you're going to do this again tomorrow and each day after, the quicker you can do this the higher chance you will have to reach me should anything happen," Anna said, her voice was soft but there was a touch of finality to it.

Anna reached up into a cabinet and pulled out a jar filled with still cockroaches, placing it on the counter she fished one out and dropped it in front of him.

Bill looked at it, then at her.

"I want you to spend more time on this one, look over the insect and take it apart and sort the pieces,"

"What!? That's disgusting!" Bill objected.

"Insects are another big danger to boys, it's better you study dead ones before you meet with a live one," Anna said before taking another roach from the jar and pulling it apart over the pot, it was unnerving to see her take something similar size to him apart so easily. "And I'd hate to come home and find out my little foot boy was carried off to an ants' nest and gobbled up," she added, a slight grin as she looked at him.

Bill swallowed and gave a false laugh. He turned his attention back to the large bug and tried to mentally prepare himself for the grim task.

Quest: Academic: Cockroach

Objective: Take apart and study the cockroach carcass

Reward: An increased understanding of cockroaches and an increase to chances of survival

The Briarwood Academy

Claire was following the slow-moving rabble of other students as they filed through the hallways. She had quickly found her friend and the two were heading to their Literature class with Miss Blackwood. Amber Li was an Asian girl with an olive complexion and vibrant blue eyes, she wore a black off-shoulder blouse with a green ivy pattern snaking up which warped by her large bust, with a black skirt and dark nylons.

"So how was your dad's birthday?" Claire asked.

"It was okay, mum made a big dinner and we had some family around and I baked some muffins, I don't think dad likes being the centre of attention, to be honest," Amber said, nipping at her lower lip.

"Bill's the same, he doesn't like it when everyone's looking at him, though at that size I don't think I would either."

"Yeah."

Claire pushed open the door to Miss Blackwood's class and held it open for Amber before following her in. Miss Blackwood was a firm but fair teacher, she was sat at her desk in the corner of the room opposite the door, her brown hair in a professional style, and she wore a white blouse with a black blazer and black suit pants.

Claire and Amber took their seats on the second row, their desks pressed together like the rest of the class, everyone had been paired up in twos.

When Amber sat down, she slipped her hand down her shirt and fished out something small and carefully placed it on the table. Claire looked over and her mouth dropped open.

"Is that Akira?!"

Amber glanced over with a light hum.

"Oh yeah, mom wants him to still attend school and stuff, she says just because he's small doesn't mean he can't be educated, apparently dad wasn't allowed to attend school and now she's adamant he will," she said before going back into her handbag to fish out her notebook and her copy of The Cement Garden. Claire wasn't a big fan of this book; it involved an intimate scene between two of the siblings and it made her think of her putting Bill...in her intimate area and it made her feel very weird.

"But why was he in your cleavage?"

"I don't have pockets, it was either there or in my underwear, I think we both prefer my tits," Amber laughed, Akira was scratching the back of his head and looked to be blushing a little, he was taller than Bill, maybe five inches?

"What about your sock?" Claire asked, thinking back to her brother riding to school in their mother's work flat, Amber snorted.

"That would be way too mean, and I'd feel really awkward about the smell..." now Amber was the one blushing.

"You know, Bill wants to come back to school too," Claire said, deciding to change the direction of the conversation.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, mom said he can if he learns the necessary skills."

"That's fair, mom's making sure Akira and dad are always learning skills and levelling up," Amber said as she scribbled the numerical date on the top of her notebook.

"Really?" Claire asked, a thought suddenly coming to her.

"Yep."

"How did she teach Akira the climbing skill?"

Amber laughed.

"Akira got that one early when he was little...err well when he was younger, he was always climbing trees so he already had that one before he shrunk. Mom just helps him level it, we have a piece of fabric taped to our table that reaches the floor, at each meal Akira and dad climb up."

"Oh? That's not a bad idea but...I think Bill needs to gain more experience climbing before he can do anything like that..."

"Why? How are you guys teaching Bill?"

Claire hesitated a minute.

"Well...mom had him trying to...climb out of her shoe," Claire admitted, feeling her cheeks warming.

"Her shoe? Oof, I feel sorry for the little guy."

"Yeah...me too," Claire said quietly.

They were quiet for a moment.

"Though is similar to how mom teaches Akira hand-to-hand combat."

"Huh?"

"First she had dad teach him the basic moves then mom started having him use them on her feet, basically he practises the punches and kicks on her foot, massaging them while levelling up his combat skills, strength and endurance...and dad does the other one so he can see how it's done..."

"I don't know if that's smart or cruel..." Claire said after taking a moment to process what her friend had just divulged.

"Both, she doesn't clean up before and she doesn't stop during summer...she keeps trying to get me to do it too but..." Amber drifted off, her cheeks going pink again.

"Right class, mouths shut, eyes front! You should have all finished Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden last night so today we're going to go over the film." There was a low rumble of cheers at the news they would spend the class watching a film.