by Okina Baba
Just as it’s on top of me, I activate Poison Synthesis!
Then bail in the nick of time!
Instead of me, the catfish gets a mouthful of synthesized Spider Poison.
My Poison Attack skill reached level 10 while I was training and turned into the advanced version, Deadly Poison Attack.
So my Spider Poison, which was already powerful enough to bring down a giant monkey, evolved into Deadly Spider Poison.
The moment the catfish swallows the toxic cocktail, its HP starts dropping at an incredible rate.
We’re talking the speed of sound here.
As a result, the catfish writhes around in apparent agony.
Wow, I didn’t know my poison had gotten this potent…
I knew it’d be strong, but it’s actually terrifying, if I do say so myself.
Okay, what about the other one?
Turning to look, I see the other catfish recoiling a bit fearfully at the sight of its comrade’s condition.
Wh-whoa. I mean, I guess it makes sense to be scared if you see one of your own kind suffering like that.
I’d assumed that dragons never run away, but maybe that was just the sea horses.
The still-healthy catfish turns around and flees, just like that.
Man, for real? I thought I’d be the one to skitter off first.
Guess I really turned the tables on them.
Maybe it’s okay for me to be a little cocky after all?
I’m actually pretty strong, aren’t I?
For the time being, I’ll put the suffering catfish out of its misery.
I spray more poison in the flapping creature’s face.
With one last spasm, the catfish stops moving.
Hmm? Apparently, I maxed out my Concentration skill with this last level-up.
Concentration. I had rather high hopes for that one.
It’s pretty basic, but this skill has been supporting me from behind the scenes all this time.
So I’m expecting great things from its successor.
May as well start out by Appraising this new skill.
…Wow.
Seriously, is that amazing or what?
I mean, is this what I think it is?
Like, I’ll basically be able to slow down time for myself?
This is like the thing top athletes sometimes experience where the ball seems to move in slo-mo, right?
So I can use that whenever I want now?
Holy crap.
I’m gonna try it right away.
Hmm. Looks like I was able to activate it without a problem.
So how’s this work?
Hmm? Is the magma moving a bit slower?
Also, something feels off.
Like various sensations in my body are moving too quickly and too slowly at the same time. It’s hard to describe.
To test it out, I try moving my body.
It feels heavy, like I’m moving through water.
Not being able to control my body the way I want is frustrating.
This is the default for Thought Acceleration?
I’ve been screwed over by own speed before, so I may want to activate this when I’m sprinting, at least.
Huh? Wait, this isn’t consuming anything?
My MP and my SP haven’t gone down at all.
So is this a passive skill that can be active all the time?
I do seem to be able to turn it off and on if I want, but there’s no disadvantage to having it on all the time, is there?
Wow, is that wicked or what? I totally thought this was gonna eat up MP or something.
Like, you have to spend MP just to activate it for a few seconds at a time, or something.
But I can use it anytime at no expense?
That makes this skill pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?
There isn’t really any downside.
Aside from maybe a slight discomfort until I get used to it.
I might’ve just gotten a crazy cheat skill!
Oh, hey, Foresight. What’s up?
I guess I maxed out Prediction, too.
Well, it was never a particularly necessary skill, but maybe now that it evolved, it’ll be a bit more useful?
Hmm? Possible futures? What does that mean?
Well, let’s try it out.
Okay. Looks like I can activate this one just fine, too.
But it doesn’t really seem like anything’s changed?
Oh, wait. The magma’s moving a bit strangely.
Like it’s kind of blurry in places?
No, it’s more like my vision is overlapping.
So are these overlapped bits showing me what could potentially happen?
In other words, I can see into the future now?
Well, it’s just what’s possible, so I have to take it with a grain of salt, but this skill may be really useful if I train it up more.
Though it doesn’t seem too helpful at the moment, since all I see is a few patches of overlapping magma.
Huh? Wait a sec. This one’s not consuming anything, either?
So, another passive skill?
…That’s crazy.
Who knew that a useless, childlike Prediction would produce something so amazing?
I’m sorry, Prediction. I guess even useless kids can learn to be competent if they try hard enough.
Speaking of formerly useless children!
Appraisal! Did you enjoy this most recent level-up?
Let’s see what you’ve learned to do this time!
Status: HP: 88/88 (green) MP: 185/185 (blue)
SP: 88/88 (yellow) : 88/88 (red) +612
Average Offensive Ability: 109 Average Defensive Ability: 108
Average Magical Ability: 139 Average Resistance Ability: 173
Average Speed Ability: 956
Skills:
[HP Auto-Recovery LV 5] [MP Recovery Speed LV 3] [MP Lessened Consumption LV 2] [SP Recovery Speed LV 2]
[SP Lessened Consumption LV 3] [Destruction Enhancement LV 1] [Cutting Enhancement LV 1] [Poison Enhancement LV 3]
[Mental Warfare LV 1] [Energy Conferment LV 2] [Deadly Poison Attack LV 3] [Poison Synthesis LV 7]
[Threadsmanship LV 3] [Spider Thread LV 9] [Cutting Thread LV 6] [Thread Control LV 8]
[Throw LV 7] [Spatial Maneuvering LV 4] [Hit LV 8] [Evasion LV 5]
[Stealth LV 7] [Concentration LV 10] [Thought Acceleration LV 1] [Foresight LV 1]
[Parallel Thinking LV 4] [Arithmetic Processing LV 6] [Appraisal LV 9] [Detection LV 6]
[Heretic Magic LV 3] [Shadow Magic LV 2] [Poison Magic LV 2] [Abyss Magic LV 10]
[Destruction Resistance LV 1] [Impact Resistance LV 2] [Cutting Resistance LV 3] [Fire Resistance LV 1
]
[Dark Resistance LV 1] [Deadly Poison Resistance LV 2] [Paralysis Resistance LV 3] [Petrification Resistance LV 3]
[Acid Resistance LV 4] [Rot Resistance LV 3] [Faint Resistance LV 2] [Fear Resistance LV 7]
[Heresy Resistance LV 3] [Pain Nullification] [Pain Mitigation LV 7] [Vision Enhancement LV 8]
[Night Vision LV 10] [Vision Expansion LV 2] [Auditory Enhancement LV 8] [Olfactory Enhancement LV 7]
[Taste Enhancement LV 5] [Tactile Enhancement LV 6] [Life LV 8] [Magic Mass LV 8]
[Instantaneous LV 8] [Persistent LV 8] [Herculean Strength LV 3] [Sturdy LV 3]
[Protection LV 3] [Skanda LV 3] [Pride] [Overeating LV 7]
[Hades] [Taboo LV 4] [n% I = W]
Skill Points: 220
Titles:
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Assassin] [Monster Slayer]
[Poison Technique User] [Thread User] [Merciless] [Monster Slaughterer]
[Ruler of Pride] >
Oh, whoa! I can see my titles now!
I’ve been wondering about that for a while.
Also, could it be that this new number next to my red stamina gauge is my stock from overeating?
I didn’t realize I’d stocked up so much.
That’s not gonna run out for a long time.
All right, may as well Appraise my titles.
Since Appraisal lets me inspect my titles now, I’ll take a look at all of them.
Ooh. So titles do more than just giving out skills.
I’d assumed that was all there was to it.
Which means some of my titles may have special effects that I just never noticed.
Now I’m really excited to Appraise them.
Let’s go!
Oh, okay. Makes sense, since I’ve been eating poisonous monsters since I was born.
Guess I can’t really complain about it being called “foul.”
So it makes my digestive system stronger…
Well, I did eat tons of poison, so maybe it helped without my noticing.
If I hadn’t gotten Rot Resistance by acquiring this title, I might’ve kicked the bucket as soon as I took a bite of that snail-bug, so I guess it might’ve saved my butt, after all. Although I wish the name were a bit more pleasant.
No effect.
So was there any point in getting this title?
I mean, it gave me the Taboo skill, which clearly has a negative effect, so maybe you’re not supposed to get this title?
And since I can’t use Heretic Magic, there’s no benefit there, either.
Seems like a total negative to me at the moment…
Ooh. Just like the skills I got from it, this title’s effect is totally ninja-like.
This is definitely a ninja skill.
Ninjas also worked as assassins at times, so I’m not wrong.
Does that mean I’ll eventually be able to do stuff like break someone’s neck with a bare-handed surprise attack?
Ah, I guess I can probably do that already, since I have claws instead of hands.
Ahh. So it does have something to do with the number of monsters I killed.
I don’t know how many a “certain number” is, exactly, but I did get this title after defeating quite a few of them.
The effect is pretty sweet, too, so I’m glad I got this title.
This is probably the most useful one yet.
I’m totally indebted to Poison Synthesis.
Actually, that’s a great effect, too. It’s like this title was made just for me.
Though, it’d be nice if I could actually use Poison Magic…
Since it just requires a certain quantity, does the strength of the poison have nothing to do with it?
My poison is pretty strong, so I feel like I might’ve actually not used that much in terms of quantity.
Maybe that’s why it took so long for me to get this title, even though I’ve been using poison since I was born.
And this one’s the second-most useful.
This title strengthened my other weapon of choice—thread.
Not that I get to show it off in this stupid Middle Stratum!
But I didn’t realize it was specifically for thread-based attacks until I saw this description.
In my case, sticky thread was a mainstay for a long while.
I think that’s more of a support-based use than an attack.
So that’s why a lot of time passed before I scored this title.
Sticky thread must not have counted toward the thread attack tally.
Maybe once I started using Morning Spider and the casting net and stuff, those counted?
If I’d known the acquisition conditions sooner, I might’ve had an easier time getting it.
Oh, come on. Can’t you elaborate on these explanations a little more?
How are these acquisition conditions even remotely informative?
Hmm. The effect is pretty weird, too, so it’s just a weird title overall.
Yeah. This is definitely an advanced version of the Monster Slayer title.
You probably get it for killing more monsters than Monster Slayer.
The effect and explanation and everything fit the bill, too.
Wait. Hold the phone.
What’s up with this effect?
So you’re the reason my stats skyrocketed all of a sudden?!
And on top of that, it adds a bonus to proficiency levels?!
On top of all the bonuses from Pride?
So that’s why Prediction and those other skills improve so fast!
And wait, what are “ruling class privil
eges”?
Huh? What’s that mean? Can I use that, too?
Whaddaya mean, I don’t?!
Seriously, what is going on here?
The Pride skill is way too mysterious.
Well, I guess I learned a lot about titles, at least.
Appraisal always has my back.
The catfish cooled down while I was Appraising, so I may as well eat it now.
It’s a real pain that you can’t eat Middle Stratum monsters until you give them time to sit for a while like this…
Not to mention, half the time, it’s only the surface that cools down, and the inside still stays hot.
It can even decrease my HP if I’m not careful, and I don’t wanna be in pain while I eat.
Oh. The catfish is delicious.
What, seriously?!
This is the first time I’ve had delicious food in my whole life as a spider!
Oh man. I shouldn’t have let that other one escape.
Maybe I can still catch up if I chase it now?
These things are pretty slow, so I might still make it.
Aah, but I guess there’s nothing I can do once it slips into the magma.
Damn, that was a mistake.
Oh well. I’ll just savor the one I have here.
It’s sooo good! Makes me glad I was born. Seriously, yum.
I mean, it still doesn’t compare to what I ate in my previous life, but everything I’ve had so far in this world has been gross, so…
Finally, finally, I’ve found something I can honestly call delicious.
Although I wasn’t so concerned about food in my old life as a human…
I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I came back as a spider.
I’m so tired of eating gross monsters.
I wanna eat tasty food!
All right. I’m gonna hunt catfish.
They’re a little strong, but who cares?
I don’t mind putting my life on the line to satisfy this desire.
For real, it’s worth it.
Just you wait, catfish. I’m gonna eat every last one of you!