by Okina Baba
Now, what new info will I get this time?
Huh? It didn’t change at all?
Wait, no. Underneath my species name are a few colored lines.
From the top, they’re green, blue, yellow, and red, with the latter two stuck to each other like a single thick line.
What’s this?
When I Appraise the bars, I discover that the first two lines are the hit points that represent my life force and the points representing my magical power, respectively.
I still don’t really understand what the “SP” bar is, though.
Appraising it again, I learn that it’s Stamina Points.
Maybe it’s a physical analogue to magical power that decreases as I move or something?
Hmm? But why are there two gauges?
The yellow bar on top is full, while the bottom red gauge is reduced by about a third.
What’s the difference between these two? I don’t get it.
But it’ll be good to keep an eye on my HP, so if possible, I want to Appraise myself continuously.
I try to do so. Hmm, maybe it’s kind of like this?
Okay. I think it’s actually working.
Now, as long as I don’t deliberately cancel the Appraisal, I’ll be able to check my HP at any time. That’s pretty damn convenient.
Then again, seeing your own health is handy and all, but wouldn’t being able to know an opponent’s HP, MP, and stuff be even better?
If I know how much HP an opponent has left, I can guess how much longer it’ll take to beat them, and if I know when they’re about to run out of MP, victory would be as good as mine.
Having even a part of the enemy’s information would be a huge advantage in a fight.
Does this mean this skill has finally become cheat-code-level useful?
Heh-heh-heh. I knew it! This is why I acquired the seemingly useless Appraisal skill!
It’s certainly not like I had no clue any of this would happen!
Yeah, let’s go with that!
Okay, anyway, back to exploring. Oh, hey, another monster.
I take it all back. This stupid skill is useless. Why fail me when it matters most…?
Sigh. I’m an idiot for getting my hopes up.
At any rate, I should probably do something about the centipede monster I found.
Hmm. But this time, I don’t seem to be in a good position for a surprise attack…
It seems like it hasn’t spotted me yet, but it’s facing this way.
Oh, I just had a great idea!
Sneakily, I start climbing on the wall. Having a spider body is super-convenient at times like this. I keep moving until I reach the top.
Oof, clinging to the ceiling upside down is a little rough. But as long as I brace my legs, it isn’t too bad.
Just like that, I continue scuttling along the roof. Hang in there, legs!
Hmm? My stamina gauge is decreasing?
Well, I have to focus on my strategy at the moment, since I’ve just arrived over the centipede.
Nice, nice. It hasn’t noticed that I’m right above it.
I attach a thread to the ceiling, then descend straight down toward my prey.
Then I leap on top of it.
The centipede monster flies into a panic, but it’s too late.
Hope you like getting wrapped up in thread! And, chomp! Bwa-ha-ha!
Operation “Whoa! Look out above!” was a huge success!
All right, time for another hard-earned meal.
Hmm.
As I eat, I think back to the stamina gauge situation from a second ago.
While I was holding on to the ceiling, it was the yellow upper gauge that decreased.
It had gone down very slowly as I braced my legs.
But now it’s fully recovered. Hmm?
Whoa! So the centipede could cause paralysis?
If I hadn’t defeated this guy with a surprise attack, that could’ve turned out way worse!
I better be more careful with them from now on.
Hmm? Hmmm?
The red lower stamina gauge seems to be recovering little by little…
It was about a third empty before, but now it’s going back up.
Why? Did I do something that would make my stamina recover?
…Oh yeah: I’m eating. Aha! So that’s it! Now I get it.
In other words, the red gauge displays my total stored physical energy.
So maybe the yellow upper gauge is stamina that I use moment to moment, then?
To test it out, I try dashing around at full speed for a bit.
The yellow gauge empties in the blink of an eye. As soon as it runs out, my strength is exhausted.
Huff…huff…
Geez, how stupid was that, running around right after eating? My stomach hurts. Oof.
But that proved it.
The yellow bar displays immediately available power. When that drops to zero, I get short of breath.
But since that stamina is consumed instantaneously, it recovers quickly, too.
By the time I catch my breath in reality, the stamina gauge has steadily recovered.
The red gauge below that represents my total physical strength. This one also went down a bit when I ran a moment ago.
If the red bar runs out, I’m probably in trouble.
Like, I might not be able to move anymore or something. I’d rather avoid that scenario, thank you very much.
Food and nourishment seem to restore it, so I just have to be mindful of how much I have left.
Swish, swish, swish… Fwump! Spin, spin, spin. Chomp!
Thanks for the meal.
Hey, I leveled up again.
Too bad none of my skills went up this time, but that’s all right.
Oh, more prey.
Swish, swish, swish…
Fwump! Spin, spin, spin. Chomp!
Thanks for the meal.
Hmm? Wait, was there something new in the latest announcement? I think the Divine Voice (temp.) said something just now.
Huh? Skill? Stealth? Does that make it harder for enemies to notice me?
Oh hey, more food.
Swish, swish, swish… Fwump! Spin, spin, spin. Chomp!
Thanks for the meal.
Hmm? I heard something again. A title? Come to think of it, this was the first time I’ve gotten any titles since Kin Eater and Foul Feeder.
Assassin, huh? It feels like I’m becoming more ninja-like by the minute.
Whoopsie, dinnertime.
Swish, swish, swish… Fwump! Spin, spin, spin. Chomp!
Thanks for the meal.
Ooh? I heard something again.
Monster Slayer? Well, yeah, I’ve been doing nothing but laying monsters low the whole time I’ve been in this dungeon. A little late for a title like that, no?
Maybe it’s that sort of system? The type where you get a title for killing a certain number of monsters?
Hmm.
Wha—?! Yet another
victim!
Swish, swish, swish… Fwump! Spin, spin, spin. Chomp!
Thanks for the meal.
Again? This sure is a busy day.
Wait, what do you mean, overeating? What kind of a skill name is that?
Does it have a negative effect or something?
……Okay, wait just a minute.
I’ve been ignoring it all up until now, but doesn’t it seem like that voice has been doing its thing a lot today?
Yeah, that thing always does its thing ’cause it does the thing to the thing.
Okay. I should probably calm down for a second.
I’ve leveled up.
Cool. It was bound to happen sooner or later, with all the hunting I’ve been doing.
I got a Stealth skill.
That’s fine, too. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but it sure beats nothing, and I’ll take whatever I can get.
I received a title.
Isn’t that strange? No, getting a title is a good thing, right? Decent, at least?
But two came in a row, right? What were they?
Uh, let’s see…
Assassin and Monster Slayer. They both sound awfully violent. Well, that isn’t any different from any of the titles I already have, huh? A little late to gripe about that now.
So, Assassin sounds like a ninja, right?
Same for the skills that come with it, Stealth and Shadow Magic.
Shadow Magic… Does that mean I can go in and out of shadows and stuff?
There ought to be some spells to help me hide in the shadows and assassinate things, at least.
But either way, I don’t know how to use it. I told you, I don’t know how this magic system works!
Ugh, can I get a manual already?
I don’t know what Monster Slayer is supposed to be about, either.
What now? Strength and Solidity? Those are such vague skill names that I have no idea what they do, either.
Hmm? Thinking about it logically, maybe they enhance my stats like attack and defense power or something?
Either that, or they’re supplementary skills that temporarily raise stats for a fixed period of time.
The former would be fine, but if it’s the latter, I have no idea how to use it. I try just thinking the skill names like I do with Appraisal, but nothing seems to happen. I guess my only option is to leave well enough alone, then.
So what was that last part? Overeating?
Seriously, is that a negative skill?
Who says something like that to a girl, anyway? You wanna pick a fight with me, Divine Voice (temp.)?
Are you calling me fat?! I’m not! Absolutely not! I just get a little chubby right after eating sometimes, that’s all! It goes right back to normal after a good night’s sleep! Feast your eyes on these legs, would ya?! They’re so slender, they might break at any moment! Human beings only wish they could have stick legs like these! And yet you dare to call me fat?! Aside from right after a meal, I’m super-skinny, thank you very much!
Huff…huff…
…Well, that was pointless.
Nobody really called me fat in my previous life, anyway, so I might’ve overreacted a bit.
If anything, they made fun of me for being skin and bones…
But anyway, today is actually a big day for breakthroughs, huh?
I haven’t gotten this many skills and bonuses at once before. Maybe I could keep on raking them in like this.
What, is that too optimistic? Yeaaaah, probably.
My labyrinth exploration is going smoothly.
In fact, I’m on the verge of bursting into laughter.
This seems to be centipede territory, considering they’re everywhere.
These guys are great for grinding EXP. Their senses must be awfully dull or something, because they never pick up on my surprise attacks. As long as I come at them from behind or above, my victory is practically guaranteed. Thanks to that, I’m beating them effortlessly.
Since I’ve been eating so many centipedes, my Paralysis Resistance skill is already level 3.
I also improved the efficiency of my hunting with various experiments and developed something I call a mobile web. All that means is that I carry around a small spiderweb. But if I prepare one before getting into a fight, I can wrap up my prey without having to make thread in the middle of battle, so it’s pretty handy.
I tried other things, too, like making clothes or detecting enemies with my silk, but those all ended in failure.
I can’t wear clothes to begin with, and while it isn’t impossible to use thread to sense enemies, it takes so much concentration that I wind up getting distracted and missing what’s happening right in front of me, so I ended up scrapping the idea.
Since I have such a large food supply in the form of centipedes, I could afford to do my fruitless experiments.
Today, as usual, I’m hard at work hunting. Hoo, boy. Is this centipede heaven or what?
I hum a nasally little tune as I explore. Well, really I’m just imagining music in my head; I can’t actually hum. In fact, do I even have a nose? Well, no use worrying about that.
Oh? The path is broken? Doesn’t look impassable, though.
This labyrinth isn’t just huge; it also doesn’t have any dead ends as far as I can tell.
The path I’ve been following for a while now just keeps on going, without any blockage.
This is good, since it means I probably can’t get cornered if something is chasing me, but when I consider that all the passages in this maze might go on this long, I feel like heaving a hopeless sigh.
The break in the path ahead of me is due to some kind of cliff.
In the middle of the interrupted road, I can see a wide, empty space.
Have I finally passed out of this narrow maze zone?
If so, what kind of place is next? Nothing like the spider hell I first came from, I hope.
I peek over the edge of the cliff cautiously.
And so on and so forth.
Geh! My head!
The information from my Appraisal floods my brain, making it ache as if someone smashed a hammer into it.
Whew, felt like I was going to faint for a moment. That was close.
I guess if you Appraise too much at once, the excessive information literally hurts.
It makes sense that that could knock you out.
……Wait. Enough information that I almost lost consciousness?
Nervously, I peer down over the cliff again.
Really, it’s only about three feet high.
Right below, there’s a wide, spacious area.
But despite its size, the area doesn’t actually feel particularly roomy.
That’s because it’s teeming with centipedes.
Wha—?! What the hell is this?! Centipedes, centipedes, centipedes, as far as the eye can see!
Oof, that’s disgusting. I feel like I’m gonna be sick.
Huh?
What are you all looking at, Mr. Centipedes? Me? C’mon, what would you be interested in me for?
……Okay, I’d better book it. Fly like the wind! I turn around and sprint back the way I came.
Patter-patter-patter-patter-patter!!!
Eeeeek! They’re chasing meee?!
I’m sorry I got carried away! Please, let’s just call it even!
My yellow stamina gauge is empty. Ugh, it hurts. But I’ll die if I stop now!
I have to run for my life if I want to
survive!
With the yellow bar gone, the red one begins to slowly decrease.
In the end, I run until about half of the red gauge is depleted, when I’ve finally managed to lose the centipede army.
Man, I thought I was seriously gonna die back there.
THE SECOND CLASSMATE
I was spending some time alone.
Sue had gone to her mother’s place.
Since Sue and I were half siblings, naturally I had no relation to Sue’s mother. In fact, since she was the king’s wife and I was born to one of his concubines, it made sense that Sue’s mother wouldn’t be particularly fond of me. So when my sister met with her, I made sure to keep my distance.
I was being sensitive, of course, but I also enjoyed having some rare alone time.
Whenever I left my room, Anna or Klevea, the other maid, would usually escort me, but neither was around today.
I didn’t give them the slip or anything. I just told them up front that I wanted to be alone.
Anna was a half elf, a master of magic.
Klevea was a former knight, a hardened warrior so muscular that she could be mistaken for a man at first glance.
I couldn’t shake them off even if I tried.
While I technically had more magic power than Anna already, according to her, I was still no match for her without the ability to use it.
Magic could only be activated by someone with Magic Perception, Magic Operation, and a magic skill.
I didn’t have a magic skill yet, so I couldn’t cast anything.
To learn a magic skill, you had to either pay the requisite skill points or earn proficiency by using a tool with magical powers, like an Appraisal Stone.
I had skill points, but Anna informed me that there were other restrictions on the acquisition of magic skills.
Apparently, this was because it would be dangerous for someone too young to acquire them.
My physical stats might’ve been high for my age, but they were still no match for those of an adult warrior.
In other words, I was basically helpless. So, could a weakling like me roam freely, even just inside the castle?
The answer was no.
No doubt somebody was guarding me in the shadows, and I simply hadn’t noticed.
I walked through the castle with Fei on my shoulder. My destination was the sporting grounds inside the castle. I was weak for now, but if I kept training, I’d eventually get stronger. The skills and stats that existed in this world were proof of that.