-----???/Our MC-----

The next few days pass in a relative blur. After calling an end to our first "training session", Ariel took me back to the Demon Lord's Castle where she continued my training. Most of the Demons in the castle believed that I was possibly a Tamed Monster or something that Ariel took in on a whim and didn't pay me much mind... minus the rumors of my extravagant eating habits.

I absolutely took full advantage of being the Demon Lord's "Pet" to pig out at meal time, but I wasn't doing it just to throw shade on Kumoko, I was trying to unlock a certain Skill.

Ugh, finally! I'm extremely glad for [Immortality] and [HP Auto-Recovery]; those two Skills are the only reason I didn't die from a ruptured stomach in the last couple of days.

Yes, I've literally been forcibly gorging myself to the point of literally bursting at the seams not only to try and get [Overeating], but also to help train [HP Auto-Recovery], which has been pulling me back together.

Of course, treating myself to such an extravagant meal is only natural after my choice of "appetizer", a nice helping of Elroe Gastruch... aka the fucking Rot-Slugs. You know? The little bastards that seem to have [Rot Attack Level 5] as a Racial Skill from the Lower Layer of the Labyrinth?

Upon informing Ariel of my desire to consum the fuckers to power-level [Rot Resistance], she looked at me as if I'd actually lost my fucking mind. But hey, it's totally worth it in my opinion since I know that Kumoko's likely still going to more or less start leaning into [Rot Attack]. With [Perseverance] unavailable to her, she'll be looking for other ways to up her DPS and Spider Thread simply isn't going to cut it against Fire Dragon Rend.

Who knows? Maybe she'll do like what I would've considered doing if I didn't have [Heresy Nullification] and try spamming [Detection] on and off to try and grind [Heresy Resistance] that way?

-----Kumoko (Information-In-Charge)-----

-----Middle Layer-----

So there's literally a Fire Dragon sort of camping the exit tunnel connecting this hellscape to the Upper Layer. Poison isn't going to do jack shit against that beast and no matter how much I level up my threads, they just burn too quickly to be of any real use in drawn out fights down here.

So what's a girl to do? Try harder. With that in mind, I've been looking over some Skills that I've been neglecting. Namely [Rot Attack]. I really don't like that Skill since it disintegrates everything I kill with it, meaning there's no food to eat, but seeing as how my normal attack methods are useless against a full on Fire Dragon and Magic remains unavailable to me without sufficient levels of [Heresy Resistance], then [Rot Attack] is my best option.

"You know, you could just try flicking [Detection] on and off every once in a while to steadily grind [Heresy Resistance], right?" Body-In-Charge asks me.

"I know that, but it's still annoying." I reply.

"I know, right? Damn snake." BIC grumbles.

"Well, there's nothing else for it. Time to grind!" I activate [Detection].

""FFFFUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""

-----???/Our MC-----

Of course, I remember some of her strategies to try and counter the side-effects of [Detection], namely the [Parallel Thinking] and [Arithmetic Processing] Skills. Naturally I also managed to train myself to gain them through more or less the same method she used. I also earned [Concentration] since it leads to [Thought Acceleration] which is super useful.

And the best part is since I've got [Heresy Nullification], then [Detection], [Parallel Thinking], [Arithmetic Processing], [Concentration], and [Appraisal] have all been leveling up like crazy. Honestly? It's pretty damned trippy experiencing all of these extra senses that got packaged together into [Detection] and I can see why Kumoko liked it so much once she could actually use it.

Once my stomach finally finishes pulling itself back together, I proceed towards the training yard to continue working on unlocking the [Throw] Skill since that leads to [Expel], which should let me spray my venom as a "breath weapon". It's also one of the requirements for my possible future evolutions.

I've been trying to lay out a road map for my development through [Genetic Recall] and some of the late game requirements are kind of ridiculous. For example:

So yeah, the requirements for Hydra alone are ridiculous but that makes sense really considering it's normally a "Final Evolution" such as the Queen Taratect or Arachne.

The thing is that apparently the Serpent Evolution Tree is a bit... odd... when compared to how I remember the Taratect Evolution Tree looking/working.

I have a feeling I know why, but there's a pretty easy way to confirm it.

"Hello S-Sensei. I had a question about the Serpent Evolution Tree. Namely 'why can a basic Serpent like me possibly skip straight to a 'Final Evolution' such as a Hydra and not have to do the multi-evolution dance that Taratects go through?'"

"I see. Thanks for explaining that."

Hmm... oh what the hell?! "So is that why there's seemingly a little tab that shows that if a Lamia attempts to evolve into a Hydra, they become a Naga instead?"

"I see. That makes sense."

Should I call her out on the Lamia requirements? They're kinda fucked up considering that you're more or less encouraged to reenact the Greek myth. In short, you need to have [Crude], [Snatch], or [Spite] along with the [Kin Eater] Title and [Egg-Laying] Skill. Yes, you must become a seductive, greedy, spiteful snake that eats its own children to become a Lamia. No wonder no Serpent Monsters ever achieved that particular Evolution since you need at least one of three Sinful Skills and the [Kin Eater] Title.

But since that's pretty much the only real path towards gaining a humanoid evolution for Serpents outside of just going for Gorgon, then that's what I have to work with. Thankfully, I already qualify for it as long as I level up. Getting [Crude] was easy since it's a precursor to [Lust] and I'm a massive pervert. All I had to do was keep fantasizing about Kumoko's human form and Sophia once she's grown up and imagine having my wicked ways with them.

Truth be told, I apparently qualify for just buying [Lust] for 100 Skill Points, but there's no real rush on that front. My only competition for [Ruler of Lust] is Hugo after he gets depowered by Oka-chan-sensei several years from now. I've also been considering how best to go about acquiring the remaining precursor Sin and Virtue Skills and I've been struggling on that front. Especially the Virtue front.

I might have to bite the bullet and just buy some of the precursor Skills for my long-term plans. But before any of that, I continue my conversation with Administrator S.

"So, I guess you've been monitoring my progress?"

"He he he. Kumoko would rage so fucking hard if she heard that. But speaking of my perseverance in my training, there's something else I'd like to get started on."

Given her tone, she knows full well. "Putting that Conjuring 101 Perk to work. Time to learn 'how to God'."