First things first, let me finish off that mouse I left unattended while I was obsessed with Appraisal.
Ssss.
Flap!
Gulp, gulp!
Chomp!
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Poison Fang LV6" has become "Poison Fang LV7"》 Nice.
Looks like my fever wasn't over after all.
How wonderful.
Given how pathetic the Status I revealed was, if they took Poison Fang away from me, I'd basically have no way to attack at all. I don't think that's an exaggeration.
Since Poison Fang is my one and only offensive tool — the first and last — its level is extremely important.
Well then, time to call it quits on today's exploration.
The red Stamina gauge still has plenty of room, but pushing too hard is a no-go.
I'll set up a simple home right here.
Now that safety's secured, I'll eat the mouse… or not.
Makes sense, given how much I already ate. My stomach's not that hungry.
I probably could force it down, but rather than eating now, it'd be better to save it and have it when I wake up.
So today, all that's left is to sleep.
Wait — there's something I need to do before that.
Wriggle.
Wriggle, wriggle.
Squirm.
I'm not doing anything perverted, okay?
It's Thread Manipulation practice.
So here's what I learned from practicing Thread Manipulation: I can control one thread at a time.
The speed it moves at is about as sluggish as a worm writhing around.
The range is pretty wide, as long as my body is touching the thread.
The MP cost is negligible.
That's what I've figured out.
At this stage, it's completely useless in combat.
So while I'm at it, I'll burn through some MP and practice before bed, grinding up the Skill level the old-fashioned way.
Once the level goes up, everything I just mentioned should improve too.
Appraisal was a useless skill at first too, but look where it is now. Thread Manipulation will probably become practical once it hits LV6 or so.
The road to get there might be a bit long, though.
When the level goes up, there are all sorts of things I want to try.
The protective clothing made of thread that I gave up on before, some kind of assassin-style usage, and since Detection didn't work out so well, I'd like to redevelop the Detection Thread too.
So many dreams to dream.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Thread Manipulation LV1" has become "Thread Manipulation LV2"》 Talk about leveling up the moment you mention it!
Wriggle wriggle wriggle.
Squiiirm.
Oh ho.
Not bad.
Really quite something.
The level went up and my movement got noticeably smoother.
It's still nowhere near useful in combat, but the improvement is visible, so it might become practical sooner than I expected.
My MP still has plenty left, so let me push it to the limit and keep grinding Proficiency.
Yaaawn.
Ahhh, I slept well.
In the end, I pushed my MP almost to zero last night and got Thread Manipulation up to LV3.
I originally planned to go until my MP was completely drained, but as my MP got lower and lower, something felt off.
I couldn't quite articulate what was wrong, but instinctively I knew it would be dangerous to run out of MP, so I stopped just in time.
After a full night's sleep, my MP is completely recovered.
Yeah.
Practicing Thread Manipulation before bed works out fine.
Wait, hold on?
If my MP is fully recovered, shouldn't I do it right after I wake up too?
I barely ever use MP during the day anyway. If it recovers over time, wouldn't it also recover while I'm out hunting?
Yeah.
That sounds more efficient.
If there's a problem, I can always switch back to just before bedtime starting tomorrow. Worth a shot.
So, I did my Thread Manipulation practice.
Just as my MP was about to run dry — 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Thread Manipulation LV3" has become "Thread Manipulation LV4"》 I heard what I'll call the Voice of Heaven (provisional).
Great, great.
Smooth sailing.
I couldn't check how much my movement improved since my MP was almost gone, but once I hit around LV4, I should be able to manipulate it reasonably well.
It's probably still too weak for actual combat, but inside my little home, I might be able to experiment with making protective clothing.
I'm getting excited for tonight.
Now then, let's have breakfast.
On the menu: yesterday's mouse.
Time to dig in.
Mm.
Tastes awful.
MP remains unchanged after eating.
I suppose this is to be expected — MP doesn't recover from food.
There might be MP recovery potions out there, and maybe there are certain foods that restore MP too.
Meat from a magic-heavy monster might do the trick.
Then again, I've never actually run into a monster that used anything resembling magic.
But anyway, I've been in great shape since I evolved.
Skills are leveling up left and right, I picked up a new Title — I'm on a roll.
It's like the universe is telling me to shine.
Heh heh heh.
Nothing can stop me now!
Heh heh.
I'll keep getting stronger at full speed and push deeper into the dungeon.
Now that I know just how absurdly vast this dungeon is, I'll have to find the exit by keeping my eyes on the long game.
Come on — a glorious new day awaits me!
Heh heh.