Alright, let me take stock of the situation first.
I'm currently right in the thick of it—surrounded on all sides by bubbling magma.
The ratio of solid ground to magma is roughly fifty-fifty, I'd say.
I got here on momentum, but is this even the right path?
Well, whether it's right or wrong, there's no way to tell, so I'll just have to keep pushing forward.
On top of that, between the aftershocks of the Earth Dragon's attack and running beyond my limits, my HP has dropped a bit.
It's not a huge loss, but in this scorching zone where I'm constantly taking damage, it cancels out my natural regeneration—so no recovery in sight.
For recovery, I'd need either a full heal from leveling up, my HP auto-regen to kick in, or my Fire Resistance skill to level up enough that the balance between recovery and damage tips in my favor.
That said, with magma flowing this close, things could get worse—damage could easily outpace my recovery.
I'd rather avoid even hotter spots if I can, but who knows what's ahead.
Judging by how the Upper and Lower Layers were, I should assume the Middle Layer is ridiculously spacious too.
After all, this is the world's largest labyrinth.
It stretches across the entire continent, so I need to be prepared for the possibility that getting through the Middle Layer could take days.
The road ahead is long, and I've already stumbled right at the start.
Great start, really.
Okay, let's do this.
Mmph.
It is *hot*.
Ever since I was reincarnated as a spider, I've been living in perfectly comfortable temperatures—neither too hot nor too cold.
Having the environment change this drastically is brutal.
I have been popping in here and there to grind my Fire Resistance skill, so it's not like I can't endure it.
Still, the thought that this state will persist the whole time I'm crossing the Middle Layer is exhausting.
Especially my feet.
I mean, I'm in a place where magma flows right next to me.
Obviously the ground is scorching hot.
Forget comparing it to asphalt baked under the summer sun—it's beyond that.
If I cracked an egg down there, it wouldn't just fry—it'd char to a crisp.
And I have to walk on it barefoot.
It's not just hot—it straight-up hurts.
Without Pain Reduction and HP auto-regen, I wouldn't last a minute.
Oh—Monsters spotted.
"Erlo Generash, LV5 Status HP: 159/159 (Green) MP: 145/148 (Blue) SP: 145/145 (Yellow) : 116/145 (Red) Appraisal of status failed."
That's the first Monster I've seen since arriving in the Middle Layer.
Looks like some kind of seahorse.
Just like on the first day, it's swimming leisurely through the magma.
No thanks.
It hasn't noticed me, and I'd love to just pass by, but it's right in my path.
What should I do?
Hmm.
I think I'll take a fight here.
I want to test how well my threads work in the Middle Layer, and given that Monster's status from before, I'm pretty sure I could win in a straight-up fight with my current strength.
It's a reasonable opponent, and there are no other Monsters in sight.
Let's go.
Since it hasn't noticed me yet, I might as well get a clean first strike.
Right then—Slashing Thread, let's go!
I extend the thread and swing it in a horizontal slash.
The thread sliced toward the unsuspecting seahorse's neck, cut through, and burned up over the magma.
Panicked about catching fire myself, I quickly severed the rest of the thread from my body.
Ugh.
That's no good.
It burned up even without direct contact with the magma.
Does this mean threads are completely useless in the Middle Layer?
You've got to be kidding me.
My strongest weapon—sealed.
I expected this, but it still stings.
Wait—something's incoming.
A fireball.
If that hits, it's going to hurt—no, at this size, wouldn't it just burn me to ash?
Whoa—!
Dodge.
Of course I'm dodging.
Oh, there's a second one.
Whoa—!
The seahorse is firing fireballs from inside the magma.
Yup.
At that speed, there's no way they're hitting me.
Back in the day, I couldn't even dodge a frog's spit attack, but now with my ever-increasing speed, my Evasion skill, and all the rest, I'm leagues beyond what I was.
Now I possess god-tier evasion that wouldn't be out of place on a game character!
One direct hit would reduce my papery armor to cinders, but as long as I don't get hit, it doesn't matter!
Still, this isn't working.
Neither of us has a trump card.
Its fireballs can't hit me.
But since I can't use my threads either, I have no way to attack it.
We're at a stalemate.
Oh wait—its MP is almost depleted.
Those fireballs must be costing MP.
Which means once it runs out of MP, no more fireballs.
Appraisal really is cheating.
Getting real-time intel on your opponent mid-fight is incredible.
Alright—dodge the last fireball.
Now it's out of MP.
What it does next will determine how this fight ends. Let's see— Oh—it's climbing out of the magma.
Charging straight at me.
Dummy.
If I were it, I'd make a strategic retreat the moment my MP ran dry.
From my perspective, its sluggish charge is laughably easy to dodge.
I slip to its back, drive my claws into it with a Poison Attack loaded on.
Also—this thing's body is *hot*!
I just lost a bit of HP!
My precious HP!
Anyway, the seahorse, ravaged by deadly poison, dropped dead on the spot.
Mm.
First battle—narrowly won.
But still.
The biggest enemy in this Middle Layer might just be the terrain.