*Chomp*

Ugh... I hate doing this. The EXP helps though...

I'm currently on Floor 3 of the Dungeon. Having made a base on a ledge on the Dungeon walls, and checking that there aren't any buggers or other creatures that could bother me up here, I made a temporary base and had a little vacation. And why shouldn't I? This place's too beautiful not to stop for a break!

Floor 3 is an open-area floor like Floor 9 and 7, but most of the space is taken by the large rivers here. There are also large pools of calmer waters with some underwater connections to the rivers. In these pools grew massive trees, mangroves, was it? They granted the dull grey caverns a refreshing, tropical look, not to mention some well-needed lighting, as the trees' leaves were glowing all on their own. There went my [Night Vision] proficiency.

All I need is a fancy drink with a parasol and pineapple slice, and you got a real resort. The monsters here are those Greycave Rats, Glavras dinos, and Pond Frogs. Like the one I just killed.

After seeing the weak-ass stats of the rats, I decided to earn some EXP and real experience. The only times I've killed monsters were either by dropping a rock on them or several tons of water. I needed a battle plan to cover up my weakness in stats, so why not try it on someone even weaker than me?

Therefore, I made the name of Vermin Bane no shame and went on some real rat extermination. Not that these rats have Vermin traits.

Still... rats are too scrawny to be used as meals... and the EXP's in the same category...

Also, there were some strange readings that [Magic Sight] picked up from the corpses. Turns out, the rats had parasites in them...

For the above-mentioned reasons, I quit my job as an exterminator. Now I'm a frog hunter!

The plan of hunting is the same for both species though: set up a net between two large objects, the walls or boulders, then wait for an idiot to get caught. You can say I'm going spider-style with this operation.

After the monsters are trapped, I'm finishing them off with a close and personal bite. And not just any bite. Not at all. It's [Poison Bite]!!

I got 2 Skill Points for free for my little stunt with the pests at Floor 4, so I used them to award myself with the skill. I also got [Poison Resistance] for 1 Point to counteract any recoil from the Bite, but to be honest, I was going to need that one sooner or later. It's [Poison Resistance], you hear me! Now I just need something to paralyze and stun, then I'm gonna be unstoppable!! Okay, maybe not that much. 

Back to the point, I used my newly acquired venomous fangs to put rats and frogs outta their misery of being trapped. Hmm? Isn't being bitten and poisoned to death more of a misery than being trapped in a web? Nah, I'm gotta be imagining it. The rats and frogs are sure to thank me in the next world.

I had to stay clear of the frogs though when I did all this. Unlike the rats, which had no means of escape or to strike back, the frogs had that stupid-long tongue of theirs! Do they use some kinda whip-skill with those things!?

No matter, thanks to the successful hunts of 7 rats and 3 frogs, I've obtained enough EXP to get to Lv.8. Were they any tasty? It's unprocessed monster meat! Did you think it would taste anything related to real food!!?

No matter, I've gotten a good idea to make up for all those gross meals... not the plants though. They're way too tasteless.

What I'm talking about, is these fruits on those mangroves! Fruits are sweet! And the other monsters eat the fruit with no hesitation and smiles on their faces when they eat them, so it has to be some super-duper nice fruits! Heck, I saw a rat that drowned when it was trying to get to the trees!

Me, on the other hand, have spider threads of the finest silk. And, I've got the perfect excuse to brave the constant monsters that walk around the trees at every hour of the day, but hey, I've got a lasso of the finest spider silk. 

Top that. Now, I'm gonna get some good food!!

---

WAAAAAH!! NO WAAAAY!! WAAAAAAAAHHH!!

I can't taste it! The-, the sweetness-! It's, it's, it's not there!!

The fruit's fleshy and juicy and all that, but the taste ain't there! But why!? It should taste something, or else the other guys wouldn't be so crazy about it! And no, they aren't mind-controlling mangrove fruits. I've checked the Note. Then what's the cause?

*Gasp*! Is it me? Is it that Grey Demons can't taste stuff except for bad meat? NOOOOOO!!!

There's no proof, but I'm sick of this body even without that! Urgh, why didn't such a piece of information written in the Kigal-Note? Or the selection screen at that limbo office? I've been swindled!!

Alright, calm down Garami. You only need to get two more levels, then you can evolve into something with real taste buds. But before that, there's something I need to get.

Good thing that [Darkness Reinforcement] and [Threadsmanship] reached Lv.10 during the hunting season.

There. That should prevent any more misleading information...  when I get those two levels, I'll get to read the fine print. Mwa-ha-ha-ha!!

... Alright. This whole no-delicious-food thing is tearing on my sanity. Maybe there is something with this fruit.

Wonder what I can evolve to. I'm equally excited about it, but also a little scared. I mean, you turn into a completely new type of creature... maybe not "completely new", but you get the point. 

Still... what I can evolve to... I thought that having Darkness- and Heretic skills, plus the Assassin class, would help me getting the Kur Kigal evolution, but what about the other evolutions?

... That's it. I'm getting those initial skills right now! At least, enough to put me on the rails to Kur Kigal. Turning into races with abilities similar to Kur Kigal will increase my odds after all.

Let's see... if my memory's right here, then I've got four more free skills for the taking. What should I pick? Something related to traps? I've got a good share of stealth skills, and more is to come with the class... I wanted to take those Evil Eyes skills that I read about in the Kigal-Note, but I'm not bad enough for them... yet.

Maybe some weapon skills? But I don't have any weapons. Then should I just go for a Heretic attribute skill? But even if I divided my mana usage between it and [Aura of Darkness], I still don't know WHICH skill I should take. And asking for skills with the Heretic attribute is gonna give me a damn long list. Too long to figure out what's good or not in there. 

This is gonna be more difficult than I first thought. Too bad that I can't pick Monster Skills as... ugh! I overlooked the possibility to simply search for Monster Skills instead of getting [Discern]! I could have taken the skill as an initials skill! 

Oh well. Done's done. That Quest on the first floor is gonna give me 6 Skill Points. The whole Champion-double thing's included.

Then, should I aim for something that's gonna help me with that Quest? I've got a mapping skill, [Magic Sight] that lets me see Power Spots... but I don't have anything to carry those "tracking devices" with. Why didn't I think of it before? An item box skill's an obligatory trope for an otherworld adventure! I just gotta express myself well enough here...

[Spatial Storage] is the only possible choice here! The shadow- and mirror ones may sound cool, but that's all. Spatial sounds way better, so no hesitation here! Boop.

Oh, yeah! Who's got the number one item box in town? Me! Let's see, to use it I need to... that was easy. A wavy opening appeared right in front of me. Can I store this stone... I could! And it doesn't use any SP or MP! 

Speaking of which, I need something to help me with this constant lack of usable MP.

Ooh. Give me them all!! If I had unlimited skill slots... Better pick the guy that looks the most helpful and take the others with Skill Points. In that case, Auto-Recovery sounds like a winner. [Mana Drain] sounds tempting, but it doesn't mention how much MP is needed for the skill, nor how much you can drain. But I'm keeping an eye on you, [Mana Drain].

Now I'll save the two last slots for a Heretic attribute skill, and in case I need a specific skill later on with that Quest.

Ha-ha-ha! Nothing can stop me now! Except maybe for the king cobra. And the all-stars on Floor 7. And much more... anyway! I'm better than ever! 

Maybe I should take my time traveling to Floor 1? I mean, there's no way that there is someone else that can complete the Quest before me, right? Ha! Good one. 

---

"Hello, gang. I've got our new assignment ready. We are going to search for the Forgotten Mountain." - Swordsman

"The Forgotten Mountain? As in the one where people expect to find the cause of the drought?" - Hobgoblin

"...... Impossible to find..." - Orc

"Terd is right. The Forgotten Mountain is a place that keeps itself hidden with a mirage-like barrier created by the Genesis God's vestiges. Not even the gods can find that place." - Priestess

"Actually, the Mountain was easy to locate, but the mirage-like abnormality suddenly appeared 20 years ago, so it may be something different. Though, the theories that say that this incident and the sudden drought are related, are not to be laughed at. At least, that is my thoughts." - Elf

"You're all right, but there are no worries even if we don't get turned into the heroes that stopped the drought. We will only be searching for treasures that have been unearthed due to the drought in that area. No need to look for a Mountain that's not possible to reach." - Swordsman

"If you say so. But, will it be enough with just the five of us?" - Hobgoblin

"That is why I've gotten a supporter to help us this time. And believe me, she's a godsend." - Swordsman

"How 'godly' then?" - Priestess

"Just the best Sprite swordswoman that hails from Solomar! Now, pack your stuff. We've got a long journey ahead of us." - Swordsman

"Relax, we've got lots of time. What's the worst thing that could happen? Would some monster steal all the good Quests located there? Ha! Good one." - Hobgoblin

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Skills: Magic Eyes

Magic Eyes:

Magic Eyes are a type of skill that is centered around the skill holder's sight.

These types of skills are divided into two types:

• Perception Skill Magic Eyes,
  • Drastically improves one's perception abilities and one of the strongest types of Perception Skills.
• Attack- or Active Skill Magic Eyes. 
  • Inflicts certain effects on anything in the skill holder's view.

Truth Eyes and Evil Eyes:

Among the Magic Eye skills, there exist two sub-categories that are only attainable once one has 100 positive or negative Karma Values.

These skills are more efficient than regular Magic Eyes, as well as having rarer and stronger effects.

These are the Truth Eye skills (for positive Karma Value) and Evil Eye skills (for negative Karma Value).

Alvatria's comment: In hindsight, it was good that Chaos proposed these skills.