[Arc 1] Chapter 4: First Prey and Level Up!
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*clack**rattle, rattle*

*clack**rattle, rattle*

No one is coming.

I’m darn bored. After finishing the first web in the east corridor, I made a web in the west and south corridors as well.

But, this place is too deserted. I’ve not gotten anything in any of them. It’s so peaceful that I’m thinking about going back to the water pillar area.

Then I thought, why not try to gain proficiency in all of my skills while I wait?

I then started to throw rocks at the wall to try to level up my [Throw] skill. 

When that became boring, I changed to looking around with my mystery sight skill as much as I could stomach, earning proficiency in that one and in [Concentration] at the same time.

[Stealth] is on 24/7, but there has been no change in that. I probably won’t gain any proficiency unless I used it to hide from someone instead of living like a shut-in.

[Hidden Strike] is a no go for obvious reasons. Since it’s a skill that gives bonus damage to sneak attacks, I won’t get any proficiency without an opponent.

I started to train the spider thread skill by making new webs in the corridors, doubling the web-count in each passage, as well as a simple alarm system made by threads and rocks for each corridor.

However, when I was finished with the alarm, I noticed that the spider threads were draining my stamina. That should be obvious now that I think back at it. If something doesn't happen, I will starve to death before any monsters are caught in the webs.

I felt real fear back then. In half-desperation, I tried to quench the hunger with some more water from the wall cracks. To my surprise, the water managed to sate me to some extent.

I was confused at first, but then I remembered that all the water in the dungeon is strengthened by aether. I don’t know how much, but now I know that it’s good enough to replace regular food for now.

Since I’m the weakest of the weak, so even the measliest amount of aether will work as a nutrient replacement. It does piss me off a little, but since I would starve to death if that wasn’t true, I should just swallow my pride here.

However, even with the food-problem somewhat solved, I’m still starving. Not for food, not for entertainment, but for the EXP.

There is a limit to how much I could grow by just training my skills, which still haven’t reached an important level yet. Even if I do get them to level max, I would still be stuck as slime-thrash.

I want to evolve! I can’t even sleep with this body! Do you know how stressful it is to not be able to sleep!? My body doesn’t need to sleep, but that’s not true for my mind! I’m originally a human. Humans can’t go for 24 hours a day without rest!

I can compensate for the sleep deprivation by just zoning out while waiting, but that’s more like losing consciousness than sleeping. That won’t be good for my health in the length.

There have been like days since I first made those webs! I don’t have a way to be sure, but it feels like it. Heck, maybe even weeks! Maybe even months! I’m so bored…

*clatter, clatter*

What’s that? The alarm is-! THE ALARM!! Something’s been caught in the webs! This alarm is for… the first web in the east corridor! The one with the escape route-less web.

Oh boy, my tension’s rising! I would not believe there would be a time when I would want to fight a monster this much before I created my base. Who is our customer nr.1?

After passing through the second web of the passage and reached the first web, I found a… a huge, bluish spider?

WHAT!? WHY!? Of all the things that could be trapped in my web, my SPIDER web, the first one had to be a spider!? Don’t you have any sense of pride as a spider, mister customer nr.1!?

*hah, hah* Crap, I reacted too strong at the spider. Nevertheless, to be trapped in the same type of trap that’s your species' specialty, there has to be something wrong here!

Wait, can this spider make webs in the first place? From the looks of it, no. This spider’s body is different from the ones I knew from Earth. Its abdomen is much smaller than the usual ones, and there doesn’t look like it could create threads from there.

Of course, this is a fantasy world. It’s all likely that it could just create threads from its feet like I spit mine out from my hands. Still, my intuition is telling me that this spider is incapable of creating threads at all.

Could this spider actually be a crab? Some crabs are classified as arachnid if I’m not wrong. It’s also possible that this spider is a lesser species like me.

Hmm? Why do the spider's cheeks inflate like that? Is it a frog instead of a spider?

*Spit**CRASH*

Whoa! That was close! The spider just shot a blast of water from its mouth.

You can use the Wa**r *un attack!? Are you true identity one of those pocket-sized creatures you have to capture all of them? No way that’s true!

While doing a manzai skit with myself, the spider continued to spit water from its mouth.

It continued to shoot at everything in sight. None of the shots hit me though. Must be [Stealth] that’s working overtime.

The spider must be trying to break the web. A good plan, considering the force of that water blast is strong enough to break off small parts of the walls it hits. Good thing for me that it’s too stupid to aim at the web's foundation on the walls.

Still, this is a stalemate. The spider can’t break free from the web, but I can’t finish off the spider either. It’s struggling so hard there is no room for me to make an attack. Or is it?

Let’s try out that idea. Silently, I threw a thin, almost invisible thread at the web, connecting then. Now, I just reduce the stickiness on the upper threads that hold the web to the ceiling.

Okay, now the spider’s managed to break the upper part of my web. Time to move over to phase 2.

Taste my certain kill attack: ‘Full Power [Throw]’!

Let me explain: certain kill attack, ‘Full Power [Throw]’ is me throwing a rock with all my might, supported with the [Throw] skill. Huh, it’s plain, you say? Well if you have some better idea, tell me! Seriously, tell me if you got anything.

The effective though. Half of the spiders face gets crushed by the rock.

“Khhhyyyaaaaahhhh!”

The spider writhed in pain due to getting its face caved in. But I won’t stop with just this.

At the same time as I threw the rock, I started to run, I mean crawl, as fast as I could, towards the spider. Just one rock would not be enough to kill this guy, that was my thoughts when I initiated the attack.

So, what other ways of attacking did I have you say? Simple, bite it to death.

Just like I could use some parts of my body as my hands, I discovered that I could create a mouth. This happened when I tried to drink some of the water leaking from the cracks in the wall.

Unlike when moving my body, making a mouth was pretty easy. This must be natural for slimes. But even if I say ‘mouth’, it’s more that I added water directly into my belly. Kinda like how a slime would do it.

After reaching the spider, I jumped on top of its body and bit into it’s back.

“Skyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh”

Now it’s making an even funnier noise. Not that I have the time to laugh. The part of my body that I’m using to I bite it hurts. It’s like my illusionary teeth are burning. “Khyaaahhh…”

Along with the system announcement and its own death cry, the spider stops moving. Maybe I should give it another bite-

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Nameless individual, [Lesser Grey Demon], has reached LV2.

Nameless individual, [Lesser Grey Demon], has reached LV3. 

A total of 0.2 Skill Points obtained.

 

Acquired title: [Giant Killer]

 

for good…, huh? Some hologram-like windows popped up before me. There’s lots of stuff coming up… With just one fight? Then the spider’s dead now?

*poke, poke*

No reaction. It’s like poking a corpse. Just kidding.

Should I be glad for the quick development, or should I be angry for being treated like a weak mob that levels up fast?

Anyway, I need to take this spider corpse with me and replace the used web. This time with the escape hole included.

---

After I finished the new web, with an escape hole this time, I dragged the spider corpse with me back to the cave.

Time for a review: my first battle went pretty well.

The bad part is that I hurt my ‘teeth’ for some reason, and my body is sore from pulling the spider with me.

The good part is that I leveled up, twice in fact. I also got a title. Yeah? Finally, I got some solid food after a long diet of just aether water. Even if it’s a spider!

Overall, I’m earned some real profit from my first fight. But what was that pain to my teeth?

It could be another spider skill. Spiders are injecting venom into the victims with their fangs. Maybe I’ve got a skill like that?

Looks like I also take some damage from that one. Isn’t it bad if that one levels up then? Wouldn’t the poison become more potent with each level?

Geez, I seriously need a skill list.

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