Oh, there they are.
Two seahorse-like creatures swimming peacefully in the magma before my eyes.
Well, that’s what I see, but according to the Detection skill, there’s also a catfish lurking beneath the magma.
The catfish isn’t attacking the seahorses; it’s just swimming leisurely through the magma.
Hmm.
They’re probably from the same evolutionary line of Monsters, so it’s not strange for them to be together.
Two seahorses and one catfish.
It’s a lineup I’d hesitate against before evolution, but now I want to test this evolved body’s performance in real combat.
Besides, even before evolution, I managed to take down an eel, so now, these devolved Monsters are nothing but small fry.
I don’t feel like I’m going to lose.
Hehehe.
So, with that said, would you two be my guinea pigs to test this body and my new Skill’s capabilities?
First, a preemptive strike.
My usual rock throw.
I’ll skip the poison this time.
I want to see how much damage my pure throwing has increased.
It used to reduce HP by about 5 or 6 points, so maybe 10 now?
Anyway, take this, Konahazuhā!
...I wonder if anyone gets this reference?
Alright, I hit! I hit... did I?
There was a really loud sound and the rock shattered.
It went 'pakaan'?
Pakaan.
The seahorse sank into the magma from the impact, but did it die?
Ah, it’s floating back up.
Whoa!?
It lost nearly a third of its HP.
Seriously?
Oh, a fireball is flying towards me.
Slow!
Wait, are you serious?
Is this your serious pitch?
Not a curveball or slider?
It’s way too slow compared to the eel.
I could dodge this while humming a tune.
Well, not that I can actually hum, though.
Seriously...
I’m surprised at my own growth beyond my expectations.
What should I do?
At this rate, it looks like I could win with just throwing rocks.
But if I die in the magma, I can’t recover the bodies.
Thanks to Overeating, I have stamina to spare, but I’d like to stock up if possible.
Ah, the catfish has surfaced.
Huh?
Is it going to back up the seahorses?
As expected, they share the same evolutionary line, so they must have some sense of camaraderie.
Even the seahorses usually act separately and don’t seem that buddy-buddy, but they’ll cooperate if they’re close.
So, that means the eel might join forces with them as a worst-case scenario.
I’d really rather not deal with that.
I dodge the catfish’s fireball.
Yep.
Slow.
It’s a bit faster and bigger than the seahorse’s, but the difference from the eel’s is glaringly obvious.
I can dodge it easily even while thinking about pointless things like their sense of fellowship.
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill 'Parallel Thinking LV8' has become 'Parallel Thinking LV9'》 Ah, right.
I was thinking about trivial stuff during battle again.
Anyway, I’ll keep dodging like this and wait for their MP to run out.
I could sink them with rocks, but I want to retrieve the bodies after all.
To do that, I need them to come up on land first.
Ah, attacking the seahorse carelessly might kill it, but the catfish should be fine?
Honestly, even if all three fire at once, they wouldn’t even graze me.
But since I have time to just dodge, and it would raise my Throwing and Accuracy Proficiency, that’s probably better.
So, let’s go again with another Konahazuhā!
Alright, I hit, I hit.
Yep.
As expected from the catfish.
It barely lost any HP.
Its defense is high.
If it’s just physical defense, it might rival mine.
Wait.
Now that I think about it, is my defense higher than the catfish’s!
Thinking about it seriously, that’s amazing!
This spider body that looks so squishy outperforms that catfish body that looks rock-hard and covered in scales...
What a mystery of this world.
While I was pondering useless things, one of the seahorses ran out of MP.
It’s now clumsily climbing onto land.
If your attacks are dodged this easily, you should be able to tell the difference in skill, right?
Ah, wait a second.
I just realized something dangerous.
That catfish – it’s going to flee when it sees there’s no chance of winning, right?
I absolutely cannot allow that.
If a seahorse flees, I can just go ‘whatever,’ but catfish, you’re different.
I won’t let you escape.
Absolutely, without a doubt.
Hey, you!
Why do you look scared already?
It’s not scary, it’s not scary!
So hurry up and get on land!
It’s fine, I swear.
It’s not scary, so...
Wait!
Don’t run, you idiot!
You’re in my way, seahorse!
I swing my front leg’s scythe at the seahorse that got in my way.
It felt like there should be a ‘spaan’ sound effect as the seahorse’s body was split cleanly in two.
Huh?
Whaaaat?
Did I do that?
My scythe is amazing.
Wait, could this be the first Monster I’ve killed directly with my hands?
Up until now, it’s all been poison kills.
The monkeys were killed by falling or being crushed, but this is the first direct kill.
It feels too quick for a ‘first,’ so I don’t really have a sense of accomplishment.
Anyway, the catfish!
Oh, ah...
It got away...
My catfish...
My delicious dinner for today...
The other seahorse has just climbed out of the magma at the perfect time.
I’ll take my anger out on you.
First, let’s try a weak poison with paralytic effect.
So, I move swiftly to the side of the seahorse that’s preparing to charge.
Without a word, I activate Poison Synthesis on the stunned creature.
Oh?
Ohhh!
It’s paralyzed, it’s paralyzed.
So this is paralysis.
Wait, its HP is dropping pretty fast, too.
It’s taking about as much damage as the rock throw.
Why?
Ah, weak poison is still poison, so of course it does damage.
No, but I set the damage low for weak poison just to confirm the paralytic effect.
Why is it taking this much damage?
Could it be that poison damage also scales with my Status?
If that’s true, then weak poison does this much?
What would happen to the eel if it were hit with my spider’s deadly poison?
...Just thinking about it is terrifying.
My combat ability has increased even beyond what I imagined.