Dodge the fireballs flying toward me.
Two of them.
Well, with two, dodging is easy enough for me now.
A quick glance reveals two seahorse dragons.
Looks like there's a bunch of them around here — they're crawling all over the place.
They're not swarming or anything. They just wander around doing their own thing. But when they happen to be in the same spot like this, they'll sometimes attack together.
Well, at least they don't mob you like the monkeys do. That's something.
Dodge another fireball.
Maybe it's because they each live separately, but their coordination isn't great.
It's more like each one independently fires off fireballs however it pleases.
Not that coordination would help them hit me, but still.
Ugh. Annoying.
Hiding in magma is basically cheating, right?
Taking advantage of the fact that I can't reach them, they just spam ranged attacks at me.
Can't you fight fair and square?
Don't you feel even a little bit ashamed?
Don't you have any pride?
Huh?
Boomerang?
No idea what you're talking about.
I don't knooow.
I've never done anything cowardly!
I've never holed up in my nest and launched one-sided attacks!
See, I'm a virtuous, innocent maiden, after all.
Right?
Go on, say I'm right, you bunch.
But well — these guys aren't as completely holed up as I am in my nest.
Looks like one of them is about to run out of MP.
There we go.
Seahorse dragons, for whatever reason, never retreat.
They come at you no matter what.
They say emperors never flee — are these guys descended from emperors too?
Come to think of it, they are technically dragons.
Anyway, when their MP runs dry, they climb out of the magma.
After that, they're mine.
Finish them off quick with venom-coated claws.
The second one crawled out of the magma at a perfect timing, so I put it down the same way.
[Your Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual: Small Poison Taratect has increased from LV5 to LV6] [All base stats have increased] [You have obtained a Skill Proficiency level-up bonus] [Your Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Venom Enhancement LV2" has become "Venom Enhancement LV3"] [Your Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Evasion LV3" has become "Evasion LV4"] [You have obtained Skill Points] Oh!
Level up!
My HP had dropped a bit too, so that's welcome.
Shed my skin and the lost HP is restored.
Seahorse dragons are relatively easy to beat, but touching their bodies damages me.
One isn't too bad, but when it stacks up from several, the damage becomes nothing to scoff at.
Given that my only recovery method is the full heal from leveling up, I'd like to take as little damage as possible.
For the record, when I eat them, I wait a while for them to cool down first.
Ideally, this level up would've pushed either Fire Resistance or HP Auto-Regen higher, but the world isn't that kind.
Fire Resistance is still stuck at LV1, and HP Auto-Regen hasn't budged either.
Can't help the Fire Resistance.
I'm apparently just weak to fire by nature, and overcoming that isn't something you do overnight.
HP Auto-Regen, being a convenient Skill, is also slow to level up.
Well, in games, auto-recovery is usually a late-game Skill anyway.
The fact that I got it naturally without spending any Skill Points is already plenty. Expecting it to grow even faster from there would just be greedy.
You've got to appreciate what you have.
Realistically, without HP Auto-Regen, I wouldn't even be thinking about pushing through this Middle Layer.
Because it's impossible.
Charging into an area that constantly deals damage with no recovery? That's basically suicide.
Not my kind of hobby. Otherwise I'd probably be wandering the Lower Layer looking for a shaft.
The Lower Layer where that Earth Dragon lives.
Oh, there's another seahorse dragon.
If I keep going this way, I'll keep running into them.
I could avoid them if I tried, but that feels like…
Maybe try hurling stones like the monkeys?
Has to be better than doing nothing.
I can't hold stones with a spider's body, but if I tie them to silk and launch them…
Time to experiment.
First, find a decent stone.
Yep, there are all sorts of nice-sized rocks scattered around.
Grab one with silk.
Whoooosh.
Take that!
Oh, hit it!
Must be thanks to my Throwing and Accuracy Skills?
But HP barely dropped.
Ah, counterattack fireball incoming.
After trading stones and fireballs for a while, the seahorse dragon's MP eventually ran dry and it became a land battle.
Hmm.
Better than doing nothing, maybe, but it doesn't make much difference.
Well, when it's just one, hurling stones might actually be worth it.
My Throwing and Accuracy Skills should level up, so it's not a waste.
That said, when there are two or more, I should probably focus purely on dodging.
Getting hit by a fireball because I was distracted would be no joke.