I have no idea why did I get a skill like that. It definitely didn’t have anything in common with the now dead duke, so why did it drop from it? Wait, but when I hit his projectiles with my thread it became black in seconds, so maybe it had something to do with it?

I checked the place where I left the blackened thread and saw only ash laying there. Maybe this has something to do with darkness actually swallowing it? Maybe this is why I got the [Devour] skill? Well, it still didn’t fit the image of a skeleton though, they shouldn’t exactly be gluttonous devourers, just look at their fit waistline.

What is this skill anyway?

[Devour]
{ Allows the user to turn any ingested object into a pure energy. Devouring a strong enough source can result in gaining skills related to it. }

That’s short.

That’s overpowered.

I think.

If I guess correctly, the pure energy appraisal talks about is the same one from which skills and levels are made. So, most likely I can get levels and skill proficiency just from eating thanks to it. Moreover, if I eat something with a lot energy, a strong monster for example, I would have a chance to gain its skills.

Is this the [Luck of the heaven’s] having the effect? Because I don’t think anyone could get a skill like that with something other than luck. Wait, didn’t the caped guy said that it was thanks to him I was getting skills from crystals? Did he set up that one too? But why would he want me to get that skill?

Why does he want me to get stronger anyway? Apart from the fact that he is a creepy stalker, I don’t really know anything about him, so there is no way that I will be able to understand what he’s thinking.

[“Where are we going now?]

I was surprised with the question. I thought now that I defeated the boss, an entrance to the next floor would appear, but for some reason, on the other side of the room were two glowing portals. There was no label where they lead, but after appraising them I knew which was going where.

The left one apparently was linked to the outside of the dungeon, making it an easy exit had we wanted to leave, and the right one was the one that lead to the next floor. Well, going outside was an option, since I became reasonably strong, and had a cat to take care of but there was still an issue.

If I came out now, humans would most certainly come after me, and while I’m confident I’m stronger than most of them, their weird protection that strips me off the system boosts would surely place me in an inconvenient position, if not outright kill me.

If I got killed by humans, the catkin would most likely end up as a slave again. That was one thing I had to avoid at all cost, even if that meant having both of us die. This might sound cruel, but for some reason, a single thought of her suffering under someone’s rule is painful for me. My feelings for her go beyond just friendship, and while I’m sure this isn’t plain love, I can’t really place a finger on what I feel.

Well, I love her, but only as my little girl to take care for. Maybe I’ll get her to call me mom one day? At the moment I realized what was I thinking about, I felt urge to slap myself. For a long time, I had thoughts haunting me, that didn’t really feel like coming from me, but this one was a bit different. I knew that I solely wouldn’t want her to call me like that, but somewhere deep inside I know I would be pleased.

Ahh, enough of it. Someday I’ll find a way to unite my thoughts and stop getting these memories and urges from other places. They were annoying, and made me feel like a different person… spider that I really was. Sometimes I even wondered if I’m even a spider, judging from all these human-like thoughts in my head.

Shaking of the trance I fell in, I finally decided to just go and enter the next portal. I picked up the girl and sat her on my back, I didn’t like having her outside of my limited sight, a thing that I was starting to realize recently which was a result of me not really being able to turn my head, so having her sitting on me made me feel safer.

I stepped inside, and immediately felt that something wasn’t right. It’s wasn’t like anything happened, it was just me having a bad feeling about the place we were travelling to. My spider senses were telling me, even if this, which was supposed to be a teleportation, that we were going much higher than I anticipated.

When we finally arrived my bad feeling was confirmed. Thankfully we landed in a safe zone that looked like a stone cave, seemingly natural one with rocks scattered everywhere. It’s effect were obvious, blocking monsters from entering and giving a slight buff to all regenerations.

But that wasn’t important, I wasn’t interested in what the scenery looked like. The thing that made me actually worried, was the announcement we received when we arrived here.

[You’ve entered the 50^th floor safe zone]