So I’M A Spider, So What — Part 6 of 8

Part 6 of 8

There are still hundreds of bees flying around above me.

At first, the number horrified me, but now that I know they can’t tear through my webs, it’s another story.

Whether there are a hundred or a thousand, if they can’t pierce my nest, their stingers will never reach me.

Finally, the chances of my escape are starting to improve.

Feeling exultant, I set about finishing off the bees I caught.

After I repelled the first squad with ease, the other bees started coming at me constantly. I dispatched the second wave as easily as the first, but after that it became a bit of a problem. That was when several squads started attacking at once.

This is unreal.

Well, actually, I guess it’s a good idea from the bees’ perspective, but still.

As the target, I would prefer it if they didn’t come at me in such large numbers, is what I’m saying. Sure, I’m safe and sound in my nest, but it’s still an oppressive sight.

Who would want to spend their days constantly surrounded by giant drones buzzing around?

I heave a sigh as I take a look. Bees, bees, bees, as far as the eye can see.

Seriously, what the hell?

With this many of them in one place, the buzzing is getting really loud. It’s super-annoying. How am I supposed to sleep?

Besides, if I keep on diligently taking them out, there’ll be too many for me to eat.

Sure, I feel like I could eat a lot more than normal because of that Overeating skill, but even that has its limits.

Considering how big one of these buzzers is, acquiring them in bunches of five at a time could be overwhelming.

I mean, my Overeating skill even increased to level 3 because of them. Thanks a lot, bees.

The most annoying thing of all is that dealing with them is totally preventing me from working on my nest.

My primary objective is escaping from this place. Not fighting a bunch of stupid monsters.

And yet, their attacks are so constant that I’m completely unable to continue construction at all.

I have more than enough food by now, so I’d be more than happy to leave them alone, if they would just stop attacking me!

I have no way of getting them to understand that, though.

At any rate, it looks like I have no choice but to use the brief lulls between the bee raids to make progress on my nest project.

At this point, they’re so focused on me that leaving the nest at all would be suicide.

Clearly, my previous backup plan of speeding past them isn’t viable.

No matter how fast I am normally, I wouldn’t be able to use my full speed running vertically, so I can only see that strategy ending in me getting caught and stabbed mid-climb.

Aw, dammit.

Getting delayed like this is the last thing I wanted… I still don’t know when that earth dragon might show up again.

Wait… Earth dragon?

Suddenly, I feel a terrible chill run through my body.

What was that…?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooo!!!

I can’t bear to look.

I can’t bear to, but I have to anyway.

My worst fear has come true. And worse yet, it’s definitely eyeing my nest.

What am I gonna do?!

No, there’s nothing I can do.

Nothing at all, and I know it.

I sure can’t fight that thing.

The only option I have is to pray that it’ll leave me alone.

But that option gets pulverized in an instant, along with my hopes of survival.

The earth dragon opens its mouth.

Right. A dragon’s strongest weapon is usually some kind of breath-based attack.

A thunderous roar booms out.

The blast whips through the air. A whirlwind of destruction explodes all around me.

I don’t really know what’s happening.

But this much is clear.

My nest has disappeared, along with its rock foundation. For that matter, the wall behind the foundation has a huge hole blown through it, too.

Even the wall opposite is full of cracks.

As the fissures spread, rocks begin crumbling away from the wall.

It’s collapsing.

The single attack has decimated over half my nest. Even the remnants higher up start falling apart along with the wall.

I’m somewhere in that upper part.

It doesn’t seem like the breath attack hit me directly. Still, I’m tumbling down with the webs around me.

Without a spare second to react, I slam into the ground.

Ouch.

My HP is utterly devastated. But somehow, I’m still alive.

I’m not dead yet, but I don’t know for how much longer things will stay that way.

The rest is all up to the whims of the earth dragon.

One of my webs lands on top of me.

But that may actually be a good thing.

My body is totally covered by thread now, hidden from view. And none of the falling rocks hit me directly. If I keep hiding here, it’s possible the dragon might not notice me.

With the faintest of hopes, I hold my breath and do my best to stop my body from trembling in terror.

My shaking abates somewhat.

I’m still terrified, though.

My body hasn’t stopped trembling.

Help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me!

The Divine Voice (temp.) pulls my mind back to reality.

Or maybe that’s just my new Fear Resistance skill skyrocketing in levels while I’m busy quivering.

At any rate, I have no idea how much time I’ve spent hiding.

Based on how much my skills have improved, I must’ve been concealing my breathing for a while.

I wonder if I could tell how much time passed by checking how much my stamina decreased, but for some reason, it hasn’t decreased at all.

I use Thread Control to pull the web off my body. Then I crawl out slowly from the pile of fiber.

The earth dragon isn’t around anymore.

I’m saved.

TRAINING

Katia and I were lazing around.

The two of us had been working out in the courtyard of the castle to try raising our skill levels.

Well, actually, there were three of us if you count Fei.

Anyway, we had finished for the moment and were resting in the garden, looking at the flowers.

“Ahh, that was tough. My magic-related stats are solid, but my physical stats still need some work.” Since Sue wasn’t around for once, Katia was speaking in Japanese today.

“Yeah. But still, we’ve got better reflexes than we had in our old lives, and it’s nice how much easier it is to improve with training.”

“Totally. It always seemed pointless when we had to run marathons at school and stuff, but every step you run here builds your stamina.”

In this world, both skills and stats only improve when you use them.

Since I couldn’t level up yet, the only way I could strengthen my stats was by training the old-fashioned way.

But that old-fashioned training was all you had to do to get stronger.

It was tough, but when you knew it would pay off, it was a lot easier to stay motivated.

“You may be a girl now, but you’re still boyish on the inside. Personally, I have no desire to work out so intensely.”

“You say that, but you’ve been working out, too.”

“Well, I hardly have much of a choice.”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well, I suppose it’s not as immediate now that I’m no longer in that egg or freshly hatched, but I’m basically on the verge of death.”

“Huh? Since when? I had no idea.”

“Well, of course not. I never told you.”

“So what gives?”

“You know that I was found in a dungeon called the Great Elroe Labyrinth, right? Well, turns out I was in considerable danger at the time. Apparently, I was in a spider’s nest, and it nearly ate me.”

“Seriously?!”

“Seriously. But the spider ended up being some inferior species, so it couldn’t break through the shell and gave up.”

“Whoa, sounds like a close call.”

“You might’ve wound up dead before you were even born, then.”

“Right. Unlike in Japan, you can be killed at any moment in this world, so you’ve got no choice but to get as strong as you can. Besides, I have to evolve.”

Evolution occurs when a monster satisfies certain conditions, like reaching a particular level. Usually, it comes with a new appearance, better stats, and so on.

“You heard Ms. Anna, didn’t you? If I don’t evolve from this form within ten years or so, I’ll die.”

Fei’s current species was a monster called an Elroe kolift, which had a short life span.

In order to prolong her life, she had to evolve.

To that end, she had to defeat other monsters and raise her level.

And if she wanted to do that, she had to be stronger.

Unlike us, Fei had a very real need to become more powerful.

That was why she voluntarily participated in our training sessions.

“So? How’re you doing?”

“My Instantaneous, Persistent, Strength, and Solidity skills are all up to level eight.”

I was using the Appraisal Stone in my hand to check my status. It was a level 9, belonging to Katia’s family.

This item could be considered a national treasure, yet Katia casually borrowed it from her home. I had to wonder if the duke was all right with it, but since it was convenient, I decided to just be grateful and use it.

“Your skills sure go up quickly, man. Is it just a difference in natural talent or what?”

Katia seemed a bit frustrated.

Even though we were doing all the same things, I was gaining levels faster. In this world, anyone can get stronger with effort, but the speed of progress varies.

They say it’s due to a difference in talent.

“I mean, they’ve called me a prodigy in the duke’s family all my life. How can you be this much faster than me? You cheating bastard!”

“You should give me some of that talent, too.”

I avoided Katia’s and Fei’s envious gazes. It wasn’t like there was anything I could do…

Katia’s and Fei’s skills had strengthened steadily, too, but not as much as mine. For some reason, Fei had Fire Resistance and Petrification Resistance, so I was kind of jealous of that. But I figured she’d get mad if I said that, so I kept it to myself.

“By the way, have you used any skill points?”

“No, I kinda haven’t been able to commit yet, so I’ve still got ’em saved up.”

“Oh, I think I know what you mean. You want to keep them for when it really matters, right?”

Skill points can be used to acquire new skills or add to the proficiency level of the skills you already have.

Usually, people are born without any, but as a reincarnation bonus or something, Katia, Fei, and I’d had plenty of them since birth.

“You’ve got a hundred thousand points? You cheating, bourgeois bastard!”

“Hey, that’s even meaner than before!”

I really hadn’t gotten around to using them yet.

At first, I wanted to acquire magic skills, but Anna told me not to use magic, so I backed off. She probably didn’t realize I had skill points, but to take advantage of that and acquire the skills secretly would feel like a betrayal.

Since then, I just hadn’t felt like using them.

“Does that mean you two have used some of yours, then?”

“Just the hundred points it took to get Telepathy.”

“What about you, Katia?”

“…Only a thousand.”

If I remembered correctly, Katia had 50,000 points.

Given her behavior during the conversation, I had assumed she’d used them all up, but she’d barely touched them.

“What’d you get?”

“…I’m not telling.”

“What? Come on, just tell us.”

“…You promise not to laugh?”

“Yeah, I swear. What is it?”

“Oh, I’m ready to laugh, don’t worry.”

“Hey! Ugh, whatever. I got Appraisal, okay?”

I didn’t laugh, but I probably looked baffled.

Without thinking, I exchanged glances with Fei.

Appraisal is more or less the one skill you shouldn’t acquire.

If anything, I was really curious as to why he did it anyway.

“Why would you do that?”

“I couldn’t help it! Appraisal is a staple of reincarnation stories. It’s tough gathering info in a new world, right? So if this were a novel or something, the protagonist would be super-good at Appraisal. I just wanted to do that, too…”

“But Appraisal is like the number one offender on the list of crappy skills. Why would you spend your points to get it, knowing that?”

“Listen, man, I didn’t know that at the time! I was still just a baby when I got that skill! You remember how hard it was not understanding anything, right? So of course I wanted to try and get more information. And as soon as I started thinking about Appraisal, the Word of God spoke to me! So of course I picked it up on impulse!”

Yeah, it made sense when he put it that way.

I did remember my anxiety when I was a clueless baby.

Not being able to understand what the people around me were saying stressed me out, too.

And since the Word of God spoke in Japanese, it’s only natural that you’d want to cling to that.

“So is Appraisal as bad as they say it is?”

“Yeah. It sucks. It’s totally worthless unless it’s a super-high level, I get a headache every time I use it, and as a bonus, you won’t get proficiency from Appraising the same thing twice unless you wait a long time in between, so it’s ludicrously hard to level up. I do my best to raise my proficiency whenever I have spare time, but I’m still only level four. It’s breakin’ my heart, man.”

Just hearing about it was irritating.

Still holding the Appraisal Stone, I re-Appraised my skill point field.

As soon as I did so, a list of available skills was displayed, along with the required skill points.

I looked through until I found the Appraisal skill.

“Oh, hey, I can get Appraisal for a hundred points.”

“What? For real?”

One hundred points is the lowest number needed to acquire any skill.

Skills that could be acquired for a cheap hundred points were either equally ineffective or particularly compatible with the user.

The fact that Katia had to use 1,000 points to get Appraisal proved that it wasn’t truly an ineffective skill.

Sure, it wasn’t very helpful at a low level, but it could be a major asset if raised high enough. My low price meant I was particularly compatible with the Appraisal skill.

After a moment of hesitation, I acquired Appraisal.

My remaining skill points went down to 99,900.

“I got Appraisal.”

“What? For real?” Katia repeated herself. “Well, don’t come crying to me if you regret it later.”

“Well, I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it. I’ve still got plenty of points, anyway.”

“Nobody likes a man without a plan, you know.”

For the time being, I decided to hang on to the rest of my points for a more important time.

CLEARING THE LOWER STRATUM

I survived.

I bask in the joy of this fact for a moment. I’m alive. What a wonderful thing.

At the same time, though, panic slowly overwhelms my heart.

What am I gonna do now?

My nest is ruined, completely beyond repair. I look at the site where the breath attack had hit.

There’s a huge crater in the wall there.

Ha-ha.

How strange.

Is it even possible to cave in a wall like that?

I thought craters were formed when meteorites or whatever crash into the ground.

So how am I looking at one on a vertical surface? It seems fairly deep, too.

How very strange.

Despite the fact that I’m standing around in a defenseless daze, the bees aren’t attacking me. Maybe the earth dragon freaked them out, too. I can’t blame them. That thing is a terror. I’m still scared, myself.

Really, what am I going to do now?

I could still try to break through the bees’ territory and return to the original passage.

As long as the earth dragon doesn’t come back, of course.

I was lucky to have survived this time. But if the same thing happens again, I doubt I’ll have the same fortune.

It’s like the dragon saw my nest as an annoyance and deliberately destroyed it.

In other words, if I make another one, it’ll probably just aggravate the monster even more.

In which case, that option is out of the question. I’m a little too afraid to do it, anyway.

My nerves are totally shot at this point.

The last thing I want to do is provoke the wrath of the earth dragon.

Of course, it’s possible that I’m misunderstanding and there’s no particular motivation behind the destruction of my nest.

Considering how powerful it is, though, it’s entirely possible that it was a calculated move.

But from the perspective of a weakling like me, the result was the same either way. If I run into the earth dragon, I’ll die. Simple as that.

I’ve successfully avoided death twice now.

Both times, I was extremely lucky. However, I don’t think luck was the only factor.

Is it possible that despite its overwhelming power, the dragon didn’t notice me hiding?

I think so. I want to think so, at least. Otherwise, I have nothing left to cling to.

My one and only means of survival.

Hiding, and somehow staying out of the way of the dragon and far from its territory. That’s the only way.

I can only rely on my Stealth skill.

When I got it, I didn’t think it’d be particularly useful, but now it’s my lifeline.

Its skill level is 5. To be honest, that makes me a little nervous, but I have no choice but to rely on it.

My mind is made up.

I look at the ground. The earth dragon left some magnificent footprints behind. My gaze follows them toward where the dragon was headed.

There’s a single large passage. So it’s somewhere down that way. Just thinking about it makes me nervous.

I head in the opposite direction.

Obviously. Who would go after a dragon by choice?

I don’t know where this path leads.

To be honest, it would probably be better to ignore my feelings and climb out of the hole, but that just isn’t possible.

All logic aside, my heart is completely against this course.

I proceed with caution, hiding myself as I go. If only I had a cardboard box, the ultimate stealth device.

Whew. Am I a little calmer now, maybe?

Come to think of it, my HP took a serious hit when I fell before, but now it’s completely recovered.

HP Auto-Recovery is awesome.

If only I’d used skill points for this instead of Detection.

But I managed to learn it of my own accord, so it worked out.

I was too frazzled to pay attention to it earlier, but I wonder how quickly it recovered.

Since my skill level is relatively low, it probably wasn’t all that fast, but it seems like it’d be able to take care of small injuries without a problem.

Other than that, I also notice that my red total stamina bar is still full.

Why is that?

This has never happened before, so I wonder if maybe something happened to make it stop decreasing, but I have no idea what that might be.

There isn’t a bug where it’s actually going down but isn’t displaying properly or something, is there?

It sure would suck to suddenly run out of stamina and be paralyzed or something.

But I believe in you, Appraisal! I know I can count on you to always have my back now! I believe in you, although when I think about your track record so far… No, I still totally believe in you! I think.

My Appraisal skill may be due for an upgrade, too.

It’s been a while since it last leveled up, after all, and I’ve been Appraising nonstop this whole time. Considering the giant leap forward when it hit level 6, I have high hopes for the next level-up, too.

Hopefully it will start displaying skills and stuff soon…

Not knowing the effects of some of my abilities is a little inconvenient. And one of the skills I don’t understand may be able to help me out of this current situation.

That’s probably too much to hope for, but it’s a slight chance to improve things a little.

I’m willing to take any help I can get during these desperate times.

Maybe there’s a skill that can inform me about enemy locations or something?

If that’s possible, I could keep constant tabs on the dragon’s location while I traveled.

It’d be nice if I could use Detection, but that’s useless.

A map would be nice, too.

I have no idea whether this path will actually lead somewhere safe. I mean, it’s just as likely that it’ll take me somewhere even more dangerous.

In that case, well, I’ll probably die.

Anyway, for now, I have to trust in my luck, bad or otherwise.

Please, I’m begging you, let this path lead somewhere safe.

The path I’m traveling along is pretty big.

Big enough for the six-foot-long bees to fly around unhindered, as well as a fifteen-foot, giant praying mantis–like creature.

The giant mantis creature uses its sicklelike claws to intercept a swarm of bees. Unlike a normal praying mantis, this thing has six arms. It looks like an Asura demon.

The bees are trying to attack from the air, but they can’t get too close for fear of entering the range of the sickles, so the battle is at a bit of a stalemate.

I hide in the shadows of some rocks, observing the situation. Neither side has noticed my presence.

My Stealth is still working even better than I thought.

As I peek at them cautiously, I Appraise the species.

Oh, one of the bees got sliced in half.

Those things must be really sharp to bisect something with a single swipe like that. If they’re that strong, they may even be able to cut through my thread.

Well, it doesn’t seem to have noticed me, so I figure I’ll just scurry on by.

Wait, though.

There are some words in those Appraisal results I haven’t seen before.

Wow, really? So this place is named the Lower Stratum? Wait, so there’s a layer even lower than this?

So there are lots of strong monsters here, too… I almost wish it didn’t tell me that. Still, I’m surprised to learn there’s a lower level than this.

All I can picture is a hellish place crawling with super-powerful monsters.

I mean, it’s the lowest level of the biggest labyrinth in the world!

Monsters always get stronger the farther down you go in a dungeon, and if this Lower Stratum has reasonably strong monsters already, the Bottom Stratum can only be worse.

A whole bunch of enemies in the same league as that earth dragon… Just imagining it is horrifying.

Although I do have one more thought.

Most likely, the area I was in before was the Upper Stratum. There were humans exploring up there, after all, so it’s probably connected to the outside world.

In which case, I might’ve been closer to the exit than I thought.

But I guess that doesn’t matter now.

At any rate, I have to escape from this stratum.

And once I get out of here, there’s still the Middle Stratum, too. Hopefully, this path is connected to the next floor up. I sure don’t want to go down to the Bottom Stratum.

Oh, another bee bit the dust. They’re probably gonna lose, then. This praying mantis thing sure is strong. Probably even stronger than the snake.

Which is strange, considering that the snake seemed like a boss monster to me before…

It obviously doesn’t compare to the dragon by any stretch of the imagination, but this mantis monster still seems intense.

The snake is rapidly dropping in my mental rankings. What if it’s a relative weakling by the standards of the Lower Stratum?

Well, it may be too early to judge something like that. It’s possible that the mantis is just exceptionally strong, after all. At least, that’s what I think at the moment.

Just as the praying mantis cuts down the third bee, a totally unexpected fate befalls it.

More specifically, a giant spider appears out of nowhere and crushes it in its jaws.

Huh? Wait…what?

Oh, wow. It’s my super-evolved form.

Seriously?

Oooh. So if I keep evolving, I’ll end up like that?

It’s still small compared to the giant mama spider I saw before, but it does look to be around thirty feet long. It dwarfs the praying mantis.

Wait, it bit that thing and killed it without even whipping out any thread, didn’t it?

Does that mean it has crazy-high strength? My strength stat is still only 21… How many times do I have to evolve before I get to that?

Well, at any rate, it’s time to take my leave before it finds me. This is one battle I won’t win.

Yes, one thing is abundantly clear:

The Lower Stratum is insane.

What about it, you ask? Exactly what you just saw!

My life depends on my Stealth skill even more now.

Maybe I was too hasty with my decision? Should I have tried breaking through the bees’ territory after all?

But at least I don’t feel the same sense of impending doom that I did around that dragon.

Besides, even the bees could beat some of the monsters here, so it’s not entirely unbelievable for me to survive.

Sure, the mantis and that big ol’ spider seem strong, but other than them, maybe I can handle the rest? Well, if I see monsters I think I can take, I’ll go ahead and eat them. Otherwise I’ll proceed in stealth mode.

As of now, my red stamina gauge still hasn’t decreased.

If I can trust that display, then there’s no need to panic. I can just take my time until I’m sure I’ve found prey I can handle.

Plus, I want to avoid messing up and drawing attention from any dragon-class beasts.

I scuttle along sneakily.

Occasionally, I stop to watch some other monsters duke it out, but I don’t want to get involved, so I always hurry on before long.

Man, the Lower Stratum is wild. I thought that praying mantis seemed strong, but turns out that’s about middling at best down here.

Besides the big spider that devoured the mantis, there’s a big lion-looking thing with wings, a giant snake that looks like the evolution of the species I encountered before, and all kinds of other crazy monsters.

Unreal.

To avoid getting involved with any of that, I’ve been sneaking along as stealthily as possible, which is working for me so far.

I mean, if I get caught even once, it’s probably game over.

So I try to keep pushing ahead without stopping for sleep, but that catches up with me eventually, and my unyielding red stamina bar finally starts decreasing again.

I still haven’t figured out why it wasn’t going down, but in any case, now I’m on a time limit again. I have to eat before this number goes from 38 to 0, or else.

I say that, but I haven’t encountered anything I think I could beat, so I decide to go to bed for the day.

I’ll be honest—I can barely sleep at all.

Up until now, I’ve always slept in at least a simple home, but I don’t want to risk standing out more, so I go to sleep without cover for the first time in my spider life.

I’m nervous the entire time, so I don’t get a very deep rest.

It’s not too terrible, but if I continue without a good night’s sleep like this, I know it’ll eventually come back to haunt me.

Then again, in my previous life, my average night’s sleep was about four hours, so I’ll probably be okay for a while.

So sleep is more or less all right for the time being, but food is becoming a real problem.

I have to find a meal in this monster madhouse somehow.

That worries me, but it turns out to be pretty easy to get ahold of some food.

Suspiciously easy, in fact.

It’s weird, honestly. The monsters here are freakishly strong. But among them are still some weaker guys like the kind I’ve seen in the Upper Stratum.

The snakes are one example. Man, I never thought the day would come when I’d refer to those snakes as weak.

The point is, I’m very curious as to what these puny monsters are eating.

I mean, if you’re too weak to eat, you’re just gonna become the main course yourself, right? That’s what “survival of the fittest” is all about, really.

And that’s certainly how my time in this dungeon has been so far. But some of these guys are even on the chubbier side. The bees must have targeted them as their main source of food.

So, after observing the various weak monsters for a while, I’ve come to the conclusion that they all have one thing in common.

They’re all poisonous.

It’s like a revelation. I have natural Poison Resistance, so I eat that kind of thing without a problem, but most normal creatures won’t eat something poisonous.

These guys are weak, but since they’re toxic, other monsters won’t eat them unless they have Poison Resistance themselves.

By that logic, even if a monster does find me, I might be spared for the same reason.

Still, there’s no point in risking it as long as I can just keep sneaking along covertly.

Anyway, I’ve discovered that these weak monsters have two main sources of food.

One is other small-fry. That seems to be the most common method: fighting and eating one another.

So I figured I’d just wait for a moment when there aren’t any badasses around and take out a weakling with a surprise attack myself.

Then there’s the other thing, the food source they resort to only when they’re truly desperate.

This creature is shaped sort of like a flat black insect.

Actually, it resembles an insect, but it kind of acts like a snail. These things stick to the walls of the labyrinth and crawl along slowly in a very snail-like movement. I decide to call them snail-bugs.

There are tons of these snail-bugs in the Lower Stratum.

Anytime I look at the wall, I always spot at least one. That’s how many there are.

Why don’t the other monsters eat them? There are so many of them! That’s what I thought, foolishly, before I ate one myself.

Oh, yes, I was foolish.

I should’ve at least prepared myself a little more before attempting to eat one. But there’s no use wallowing in regret now.

Only after eating one did I truly understand why they are a last resort.

That’s right, I did it. I ate one.

I used a thread to pull it off the wall, and I finished it off with my poison bite, never realizing how truly horrific the creature was.

If only there exists a skill that would let me go back in time and stop myself before I ever tried.

It was unbelievably disgusting.

The taste was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in either world.

Since my rebirth as an arachnid, I’ve eaten all kinds of revolting meals, but this took the grossest, most disgusting cake.

It was so nasty that I actually lost some HP from eating it.

You definitely can’t call that thing food.

Eating it even made my Rot Resistance skill go up, so that should clue you in as to how unfit it is for consumption.

If I didn’t firmly believe in not leaving waste behind, I wouldn’t have even tried to finish it.

Anyway, that’s how I discovered that technically, I can get food whenever I want. It just happens to involve a lot of suffering.

But I mean, if it comes down to eating something so disgusting it makes me want to die or actually, literally dying of starvation, I would have to choose the former.

So if things get truly desperate, I will eat a snail-bug again.

…I fervently hope that it never comes to that, though.

At any rate, I’m doing my best to forget the whole thing and move on.

The mazelike zone in the upper area was full of branching paths, but this one is just one long passageway.

It’s nice that I didn’t risk getting lost, but if this path connects to the Bottom Stratum, how am I ever going to get back?

Well, there’s no point in thinking about that.

I’m sure it’s connected to the Middle Stratum! At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Now my red stamina gauge is starting to get a little low.

Although I survived eating the snail-bug last time, I really want to leave that as an absolute last resort.

Even now, I can see a few of them creeping along the walls, but that’s not whetting my appetite.

I mean, those things are so gross that even other monsters don’t want to eat them.

Which is why I want to find a more normal meal while I still have some stamina to spare.

As far as a poisonous monster can be considered normal, anyway.

I mean, I’ve been eating poisonous stuff for a while now, so it’s a little late to get hung up on that. It’s not like I don’t want to eat something tastier—it just isn’t an option… I miss cup ramen.

Okay, front check, all clear! Back check, all clear! No dangerous species in sight! Nice, nice.

In front of me is one of those close-knit monster trios. These guys really do travel in threes no matter what.

However, as I probably should’ve expected for the Lower Stratum, their levels are pretty high. If this species also evolves at level 10, then they’re getting close. Not that they’ll ever live to see that future.

I sneak around behind them to catch them unawares. Then, it’s time to debut my new weapon: the casting net!

What, is that name too straightforward?

Whatever! Even I can’t come up with a clever name for every single thing, okay?

I was rather pleased with myself when I thought of the name for the Morning Spider, though.

But just because I did it once doesn’t mean you should expect me to bust out high-quality puns every single time!

Anyway, casting net, go!

Now, don’t go thinking this is some ordinary old net. This new equipment…hmm, it really does need a better name, doesn’t it…? Oh, right, the explanation.

Yeah, yeah. So when I first throw this thing, it’s just a clump of thread, but as soon as it reaches its target— Bam! It opens up into a spiderweb and wraps up the victim!

This weapon is a dream team of delicate web-spinning work and careful manipulation with Thread Control!

All three monsters get tangled in the net in no time.

Ha-ha-ha! Now, that’s a catch!

As usual, I finish them off with my Poison Fang skill. Chomp!

Oh? Ooh? Here come some new titles! Poison, poison, and more poison!

So, Poison Synthesis and Poison Magic, huh?

As usual, I have no idea how to use magic-related skills, so I’ll ignore that for now.

More magic manure for me, I guess.

As for Poison Synthesis, I don’t really know what that does, either.

Does that mean poison making? But I’m a spider, so I already create that on my own, right?

Okay, enough about that. I can spend more time investigating my skills later.

I have to finish off the other two monsters and dispose of the trio.

And so: Chomp, chomp.

Oh? Ooh? Ooooh? Did the forecast today call for a downpour of poison? Well, you won’t catch me complaining.

If 10 is the highest level, then 8 must be pretty darn toxic, right?

It sure works well, even on other poison users.

This is even better than the new title.

All right. Now that I’ve finished off the three monsters, I carry them into the shadows of a nearby rock.

Oof, with my crappy stats, it’s tough to carry three monsters like this. Maybe I should’ve carried them one by one.

Wait, huh? Didn’t I do something like this before?

And didn’t I regret not carrying them one at a time back then, too?

Hmm? Don’t ask me! That doesn’t ring a bell at all! I have a great memory, okay? That never happened—that’s all! Got it?! Good.

Anyway, I decide to test out my new Poison Synthesis skill a bit while I eat.

Except I can’t figure out how to use it, so all I can do is experiment at random.

And so: Poison Synthesis! I think, pray—and would’ve whispered if I had a mouth that could form words.

Somehow, this actually does something.

Like with Appraisal, it’s as though text is displayed in my head.

What’s this, now?

Oh, hey. If this is being displayed in my mind, then Appraisal ought to work on it.

Hmm. So Spider Poison is just my original poison?

So doesn’t that mean that by acquiring Poison Synthesis level 1, I just gained the ability to make Weak Poison?

I select Weak Poison to test it out.

A ball of liquid appears in the air in front of me, then drops to the ground and forms a puddle.

Aw, man. Do I need to have a container for this or something? Just for kicks, I Appraise the puddle.

Yep. It really is Weak Poison. All righty then.

In other words, Poison Synthesis is a skill that can produce poison without needing any materials or anything, then?

This might’ve been useful if I were still a human, but I’m a spider, sooo…

Well, depending on how I use it, it could still come in handy.

Hmm. I guess producing poison at no cost is a neat trick.

No, wait, what?

My MP has gone down. So it wasn’t at no cost, after all.

Ah, that just makes things even more questionable.

As the skill level goes up, the kinds of poison I can make may increase or something, but since I can already make my super-strength Spider Poison, well… I’m not really feeling this ability.

But I’ll probably find a use for it eventually. If nothing else, it’s still better than those unusable magic skills, right?

THE SECOND PRINCE

Sue and Klevea were facing off in front of me, practice swords in hand.

Taking advantage of Sue’s small physique, Klevea easily deflected her sword as my sister charged.

Sue still kept attacking resolutely, but Klevea’s precise defense warded her off easily.

The petite girl attacked with all her might, but the muscular Klevea’s swordsmanship was more reminiscent of an elegantly flowing river.

In both appearance and movement, the two of them were total opposites.

Sue certainly couldn’t be considered weak, but compared to Klevea’s extensive experience in real battle, her skill was bound to fall short.

This was particularly unsurprising given that Klevea had Sword Mastery, the advanced version of Swordsmanship, at level 7.

Sue’s Swordsmanship skill was at level 6. So, according to a simple calculation, that was an 11-level difference.

There was no way to compensate for a disparity like that.

Still, there were many times when simple stats could at least prolong a battle.

Sue was invoking both Magic Warfare and Mental Warfare at the same time.

These were skills that could consume MP and SP to raise base stats, and since Sue had so much MP, the improvement Magic Warfare afforded her was nothing to sneeze at.

Her physical stats had gone up a lot recently, too, so she actually had a bit of an edge on the status front.

Still, Klevea was abstaining from Mental Warfare to create a handicap. If she were using it, too, the odds would certainly tip further in her favor.

Even without it, she was likely to win anyway.

Sue’s stats could be a bit higher, but that was a slight advantage compared to Klevea’s huge lead in fundamental strength and experience.

Sue didn’t have a chance of turning things around.

Just as I expected, Sue wore herself out on offense, and Klevea’s counterattack defeated her.

Taking a hard thump to the stomach, Sue fell to the ground.

Immediately, Anna rushed over to her and cast recovery magic.

Brushing the dirt off her clothes, Sue stood up with frustration written all over her face. “I lost.”

“If you can fight like that at your age, Princess, you’ll surely surpass me soon enough. Truly, your talent is a wonder.”

“No need to flatter me.”

As I was about to walk over to my sullen sister, I heard the sound of clapping from right beside me.

“I don’t think that was flattery at all! You really did fight well.”

Everyone in the room, myself included, widened our eyes in surprise.

Not even Klevea and Anna, never mind Sue and myself, had noticed this newcomer.

Even when he was standing right next to me, I didn’t detect the slightest hint of his presence.

“Julius!”

“Hey. Did I surprise you?” Julius, the second prince and my elder brother by the same mother, chuckled as if he’d pulled off a prank.

“When did you arrive back home?”

“Just yesterday. I wanted to say hello sooner, but between seeing Father, our older brother, and everyone else, I never got the chance.”

My brother was several years older than me, and he was already working on various things abroad.

So it was rare for him to come back to the kingdom like this.

“Sue, I take my eyes off you for a second and you get even more talented, every time. Your speed of improvement never fails to amaze me.”

Even though Julius spoke kindly to Sue, she only scowled in response. For some reason, she didn’t seem to like Julius very much.

Personally, I liked him a lot, since he was much friendlier than my two other elder brothers.

More than anything, I respected him.

So to be honest, the friction between the older brother I admired and the younger sister I adored kind of bothered me.

“Come on, Sue. Should you really be acting like that toward your own brother?”

“Ha-ha, it’s all right. Sue’s at a difficult age right now,” Julius said sympathetically.

If you counted my previous life, I was theoretically older than him, but Julius still seemed to outclass me in mental age.

“How about you, Shun? Want to practice together like we used to?”

“Could we?! Yes, please!”

Getting to train with my brother Julius? I couldn’t have asked for more.

“All right, I’m gonna borrow this, then.”

“O-of course.”

My brother took the practice sword from Klevea, who shrank away. She was never this nervous around anyone.

I guess it made sense with someone like Julius, though.

“Okay. Ready when you are. Come at me from wherever you like.”

“Right!”

I immediately activated both Magic and Mental Warfare.

There was no sense holding back against my brother Julius.

I focused on using all the power I had.

Then I shot forward, tracing a diagonal strike from below.

My brother effortlessly blocked me.

Though I’d come at him with all my strength, he easily stopped the blow with his sword held in just one hand.

But that was what I’d expected.

He’d never fail to fend off an attack like that.

Immediately, I drew the sword back for my next attack.

Again, he stopped me without a problem.

It was fun.

Even trying with all my might, I couldn’t touch him.

No matter how quickly or powerfully I swung my sword, no matter what complicated techniques I tried, I couldn’t get to him at all.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I might get past his defenses.

But that was why I felt lucky that someone so skilled was willing to spar with me.

It was incredibly fun.

However, no matter how much I wished to keep going like this forever, the end would come.

My Magic and Mental Warfare expired.

Breathing heavily, I dropped to one knee.

“Very nice. Your swordsmanship is very straightforward and strong. It’s like there’s no limit to how far your talents might go.”

“Thank…you…very…much…”

I panted out my thanks. Despite how worn-out I was, my brother’s breathing was perfectly even.

He really was amazing.

It made sense, since he was a hero.

The strongest human in the world.

Could I measure up to him someday?

If I had one dream in this world, it would be to become his equal.

I couldn’t even come close right now, but someday, surely I’d at least be able to have Julius’s back in battle.

That was my main goal.

THE HERO AND THE KING

“Here, for you. This is liquor local to the Boudier region.”

“Oh, excellent. I’ve never had this before. I’m excited to taste it.”

The room was clean, but full of documents and papers.

That was where I gave my father the liquor I’d bought him as a gift.

My father was a big drinker. So big that it had become an open secret that he liked to drink on the sly when he was working alone.

So, whenever I came back to the kingdom, I always brought some rare alcohol as a souvenir.

As the king, my father couldn’t simply leave his domain whenever he pleased, so this was always greatly appreciated.

By now, it was our custom to have a drink together whenever I brought it.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be working, Father?”

“Oh, it’s not a problem. Even if it were, I could just cut down on sleep to make up for it. Spending time with my son when he comes home is far more important than work.”

The only response I could muster was a wry smile.

The work of a king could hardly be so easily dismissed, after all.

“Besides, Cylis has gotten quite good at his work. Even if something were to happen to me, the kingdom would be in good hands.”

“Father, I’ll be the first to admit that my elder brother is very talented, but the kingdom still needs you. Please don’t say such ominous things.”

“Sorry, sorry,” my father apologized lightly, and I sighed.

Father produced two hidden glasses from a shelf and poured liquor into each of them.

“Hmm. What a unique aroma.”

“Agreed. In fact, I purchased it because I took such a liking to the scent. I’m sure it will taste just as pleasant.”

A mellow fragrance filled the room.

After clinking our glasses together, my father and I quietly sipped from our glasses.

“Mm-hmm. What a pleasant mouthfeel. Why, I could drink this all day.”

“I was told it’s popular among women there, too. They say it becomes even more flavorful if you drink it with fruit. Which is why I brought these, too.”

I presented the fruits I’d brought with me. My father took a bite of one, then another sip of his drink.

“It’s very good. Normally I prefer strong drinks, but this sort of thing is nice from time to time, too.”

“I agree.”

He seemed to enjoy my latest offering, much to my relief.

I had been a little worried about whether my father would like this drink, since he usually preferred hard liquor.

But I hadn’t needed to worry.

The two of us continued drinking in relative silence for a while.

Then, I remembered the afternoon’s events, and my lips formed a small smile.

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s just that I saw Sue and Shun earlier today. I suddenly started thinking about it again, that’s all.”

My two younger siblings showed so much promise that it even surprised a hero like me.

When I practiced with Shun, pretending to be totally unfazed was actually very difficult.

I shouldn’t have tried to show off by fighting him one-handed.

Next time we sparred, I’d have to fight normally with both hands.

“I see. What do you think of them, Julius?”

“I’d say they’re incredibly talented. Especially Shun. If he had been born a little sooner, it might have been Shun who received the title of Hero instead of me.”

It was an honest opinion.

In fact, in terms of pure talent, I felt that Shun and Sue far outpaced me.

Really, the only reason I outstripped them was that I had the stat-enhancing effects of the Hero title.

I probably wouldn’t lose to them without it just yet, but they would best me soon enough.

They had the talent for it.

They might still catch me and surpass me yet, Hero title and all.

Hopefully not, though, since that would annihilate my pride as an older brother.

Shun, especially, seemed to look up to me, so if he became disillusioned with me, he might not recover from the shock.

This is a serious situation. I should probably train a bit more so that my younger brother and sister don’t beat me. Yeah, let’s do that.

“What are you muttering to yourself and nodding about?”

“Oh, I was just thinking that it’s hard to preserve my dignity as an older brother.”

Come to think of it, Shun seemed to have a certain level of pride as Sue’s older brother, too.

He was certainly succeeding there. She was distinctly attached to Shun, to the point where her jealousy included me.

She’d probably grow out of that soon enough, but for the time being, it was amusing how she seemed to see me as a threat to her relationship with her beloved brother.

“I didn’t do right by those two.”

Regret shadowed my father’s face.

The two of them were born just after the previous Hero had met his demise. That was when I inherited the Hero title, too.

The sudden death of the missing Hero, whose whereabouts and actions were unknown at the time, was a mystery.

I became the new Hero, and the forces of evil rapidly increased their activity.

With so much happening, my father had no time to spare for his two young children. He cared deeply for his family, but above all, he was the king. He had no choice but to put his kingdom first.

My father was very concerned about this.

“You had no choice. There was so much going on back then, you didn’t have time to do anything differently.”

“But they still won’t embrace me. I suspect that’s their response, a very clear one…”

“It’s all right. I’m sure they’ll understand your position in time.”

“I certainly hope so.”

My father stirred his drink morosely.

“If I may speak honestly, there are times when I resent my position as king. I don’t just mean with those two children, either. Julius, I feel I should have done more for you, too. I never wanted you to have to bear the burden of being the Hero. But as king, I have no choice but to send you forth to do a Hero’s duty. It may be the right choice as a king, but it makes me a failure as a father.”

After admitting his pent-up feelings, my father breathed a truly heavy sigh.

“Father. I am proud to be a Hero. So please, don’t say such things. From my point of view, if the title of Hero were taken from me, I would be nothing.”

“That’s not true at all.”

“That’s how I feel. I’m not educated in political matters like my older brother, confident in myself like Leston, or able to form a connection to another kingdom through marriage like my older sister. The only thing I can do is wield my sword on behalf of our people, and all people, as a Hero. So don’t worry about me, Father. I am only doing everything I can for my own sake as well as others’.”

“Are you sure you don’t mean ‘willing to do whatever you want’ Leston?”

Part 6 of 8

« Previous Table of Contents Next »