Now that I’ve decided to stay for an extra day, I can figure out some of my future enemies’ information.

A Monster’s skills are usually the higher level or version of that monster’s pre-evolution skills.

For example, the Poison Fangs skill on the small sea snakes indicates that the huge sea snake might have deadly poison.

The same goes for the crabs, they now have the Shell skill increasing their defense, which means higher-stage evolution crabs should have stupidly high defenses in the form of Hard Armor or Heavy Armor skills.

And although there are exceptions, like an Anogratch monkey losing the Revenge skill when evolving, they are rare.

Finding an abandoned snake burrow large enough to fit my body, I start looking around for a monster strong enough to test my evolved skillset.

The best options right now are either snakes or some of the fish swimming around.

Oh, there’s actually a Velox Kers fish there! I can check the information of my missed evolution option.

Manager-san, Appraisal!

 

{Volex Kers: A marine fish monster. Obtained a slimmer and longer body shape suitable for short bursts of speed and evasion after evolution.}

 

So, that it, huh... They gain increased speed ability, levels in the Swimming skill along with a new skill that consumes SP to grant temporary speed.

 

{Instant Movement: consume SP to temporarily double speed ability.}

 

I mean... It’s a great skill and all, but it’s a representation of throwing away all of your combat power and being content with just running away and surviving, right?

There’s also a fatal flaw to this skill negating its usefulness.

Chomp!

Not to mention the increase being negligible at lower levels, they can’t even detect me while I’m in Stealth, so there’s no time to activate it let alone run away.

Stealth is a very strong skill, especially at the current stage when monsters are still weak and lack detection skills.

I can launch a surprise attack on enemies at the same level and they wouldn’t expect it, I can also use it to hide from the stronger predators.

And I’ll be safe even if I encounter a monster strong enough to detect me, why would a big bad wolf care about the mosquito flying around it unless it stings him, y’know?

This is an example of skill advantage being the deciding factor in a fight between two evenly matched opponents in this world... no, it can even allow one to overcome the strength gap in a one-sided battle situation.

Well, I’m enjoying this advantage to the maximum while Sage lets me know if I should fight or not by scanning the enemy’s abilities.

It can be said that the possibility of me dying is close to zero, the only chance of that happening is either me being conceited or the occurrence of an unexpected situation.

Enough of that, the fishes can be marked as easy prey in the future, now I need to make the most out of the last day here.

Specifically, I’ll level up Poison Resistance with juvenile snake bites.

I go for snakes using the same ol’ strategy, but I aim for the neck instead of the head, allowing it to bite me once before dying.

Then I take the snake’s corpse back to my makeshift shelter and wait for the poison to wear off, and repeat.

Manager-san gives me a quick rundown on the snake’s venom.

Luckily, their poison only makes their prey feel extreme pain while killing off cells without inducing paralysis in the body.

Pain is the least of my concerns with Suffering Nullification, but I can only take a maximum of 3 bites before I die in my current situation.

Relying on this data, I make a brief plan to level up Poison Resistance.

Get bitten 3 times, kill some fishes, level up, restore stats, then repeat!

Exhaustion nullification takes comes in first when ranking skills useful for such harsh level grinding.

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. [Poison Resistance LV 1] has become [Poison Resistance LV 2].}

 

{Experience has reached the required level. Individual serratum saven has increased from LV 1 to LV 2}

{All basic attributes have increased.}

{Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Poison Resistance LV 2] has become [Poison Resistance LV 3].}

{Skill points acquired.}

 

{Experience has reached the required level. Individual serratum saven has increased from LV 2 to LV 3}

{All basic attributes have increased.}

{Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Poison Resistance LV 3] has become [Poison Resistance LV 4].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [HP Auto-Recovery LV 1].}

{Skill points acquired.}

 

{Condition satisfied. Acquired title [Foul Feeder].}

{Acquired skills [Poison Resistance LV 1] [Rot Resistance LV 1] as a result of Title [Foul Feeder].}

{Skill [Poison Resistance LV 1] has been integrated into Skill [Poison Resistance LV 4].}

 

Huh...? What a pleasant surprise.

An unexpected yet appreciated title gain, but I guess it was inevitable considering that eating poison or similar substances is the condition for that one.

How did I not expect it when poisonous monsters normally taste bad, you ask?

Well, I had Manager-san turn off my taste buds as soon as I got my first taste of these guys, I refuse to allow such a shitty taste to enter my pampered mouth and corrupt my sophisticated taste buds!

 

A day later,

With my resources replenished and an extra level in Overeating, I leave my temporary shelter and make my way to the cave’s exit at the end of my sight.

I couldn’t help but feel excited for my upcoming battles!

Turning off my sphere for this moment, I look at what lies beyond my birth location for the first time.

It was... breathtaking, and this isn’t enough to describe how amazing what I saw is.

Tens of different species of monsters swimming around, along with beautiful coral clusters and rock formations everywhere.

Bioluminescent algae illuminate the huge cavern with all sorts of colors, rainbow colored coral clusters act as shelter for a variety of fish species.

Huge monsters lying dormant, waiting for their stomachs to digest the previous meal, and then awakening to hunt for the next one.

Large carnivorous sea plants tricking prey with their hallucination inducing forms and devouring them for sustenance.

This place just shows how astonishing mother nature is when it isn’t interfered with.

If I ever become the ruler of some sorts, I’d give up on any technological advancements and only focus on magical ones just to protect such beauty from destruction.

Enough gawking, I need to scan my immediate surroundings and confirm my current situation.

My sphere can’t take in the entire width of the cavern like it did with the cave even though it’s range has recovered a lot more.

This means that I can’t be reckless while advancing anymore, sticking to the cavern walls and floor is safe.

I hope my movement doesn’t disturb your sleep, big guy...

 

 

Fancy meeting you here, old acquaintance!

Thank you for avenging me and swallowing crab boss back then.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’ll peacefully part ways and I’ll go to that shiny plant right there!

Subconsciously holding my breath, I slowly bypass the huge slumbering form and reach the closest coral cluster to the cave’s exit.

Fortunately, it was filled with blue and purple corals, allowing me to camouflage my body underneath.

Why do I feel that my dangerous monster-slaying adventure is slowly turning into an aquarium visit...?

Throwing those thoughts behind my back, I start preparing a hollow area underneath the corals as my new shelter.

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Concentration LV 3] has become [Concentration LV 4].}

 

Neat. Now that I have a safe place for resting, it’s time for exploration and hunting!

Hiding the entrance with a bunch of algae, I set out for my first hunt.

My new shelter’s surroundings are filled with nothing but poisonous fish and plants that aren’t threatening for me.

Thankfully, the Poison Resistance training I delayed myself with paid off right away!

A few minutes of swimming later, I find my first decent opponent.

 

 

In front of me is a navy-colored fish with sharp blades for side fins.

Judging by its stats and the Instant Movement skill, it should be speed focused like Volex Kers, but the blades all around its body transformed it from an swift escapee to a swift slasher.

The absence of a monster hunter series title also indicates that it's usual prey are non-monster marine life.

Since I’m in Stealth, I’m still undetected, but the blade-fish’s size and high resistance ability shown in Appraisal results means an injury free one-shot kill isn’t possible anymore.

Noting the blades’ positioning, I charge at it from above and tear a chunk out of its dorsal fin.

Speed advantage is irrelevant when you can’t swim. Right now, it’s struggling to swim normally with the agonizing pain radiating from my bite.

Despite that, it’s still following my movements with its eyes and preparing for a counterattack while awaiting my next move.

Oi, aren’t fish supposed to be the example of stupid small brains with bad memory...? Why does this guy seem like some sort of martial artist with a trained instinct?!

I guess monster fish are different from normal ones, huh? Looking at its status, I see pain resistance popping up in his skill column.

Damn! No time to waste, I quickly dive under the blade-fish, its eyes losing vision of me in the process allowing me to return into Stealth.

This time I go for its tail, let’s see how you can spin around defensively after this!

My jaws easily clamp on its tail, but its body swiftly and flexibly bends sideways, rewarding my carelessness with a long gash to my side using its fin.

The blood escaping from my wound makes it possible for blade-fish to ignore the Stealth effect and figure out my location by the blood trail.

Deciding to hastily end this fight before I bleed out, I circle around it, covering our immediate vicinity with my flowing blood, then go back into Stealth under the cover of the bloody waters.

Movement is pretty much impossible for a fish with such wounds, it’s like crippling a human’s arms and legs.

Guarding against a desperate animal is must, especially in such a world where leveling up could save your life, every creature should be treated with utmost caution.

I move to a blind spot right above its head, then rapidly descend and bite it off, ending the blade-fish’s life.

Hooh...

Hehehe, fufufu.

That was... exhilarating! I loved every part of it!!

Making my way home with the blade-fish’s corpse held in my mouth, I take the long route to throw off any predators that could follow my bloody trail.

Killing a few weak fish on the way nets me another level up, repairing my wounds and putting me back in peak condition, but I still return back home to rest and enjoy my well-deserved meal!

Ah, the taste of hard-earned victory spoils really hits differently.