Sneak sneak.
Right — clear!
Left — clear!
Ahead — target, clear!
『Elro Kohokoro Lv7 HP: 67/89 (Green) MP: 21/21 (Blue) SP: 79/79 (Yellow) Stamina: 54/85 (Red) Appraisal of Status failed』
Up ahead, there's a huge pillbug-type Monster.
Its body is a pillbug, but its head looks kinda mouse-like.
I'd really appreciate it if you could commit to being either a mammal or an insect. Pick a lane.
So, it's a pillbug — that means if it curls up, its defense probably shoots up.
When I fought that turtle Monster before, it tucked into its shell and I had a real rough time.
But hey, as long as it gets caught in my threads, I'll have it bound up before it can even curl.
So, Casting Net — standby!
Here we go!
Hit!
Now I just use Thread Manipulation to handle the rest, easy peasy.
『Conditions met. You have acquired the Title "Thread User"』
『Due to the Title "Thread User," you have acquired the Skills "Thread Manipulation Lv1" and "Slashing Thread Lv1"』
『"Thread Manipulation Lv1" has been integrated into "Thread Manipulation Lv5"』
『Proficiency has reached a threshold. The Skill "Thread Manipulation Lv5" has become "Thread Manipulation Lv6"』
Oh?
Ooh?
I got a Title!
Thread User, huh?
That kinda edgy-adolescent-dream "Thread User" title?
Sorry, Mr. Pillbug, I don't have time to deal with you anymore, so let's wrap this up quick, okay?
Yeah? No? Too bad — it's a yes.
Poison Fang, Poison Fang.
Drag it behind the rock and… done.
Now then, let's examine the new Title we just picked up.
Thread User — the acquisition condition was probably just using threads a whole lot, right?
Hmm?
If that's the case, it seems like I should've gotten this Title a little sooner, though.
There might be some other condition I'm not seeing.
Well, there's no point agonizing over the acquisition conditions of a Title I already have.
What matters is whether the Title is actually useful or not.
And I'm confident about this one.
This Title? It's useful.
I mean, the system already bumped my Thread Manipulation level up, so the results speak for themselves.
Thread Manipulation grows more important by the day, so having its level go up is a huge deal.
Just that alone makes this Title worth it.
But what I'm really fixated on is the other Skill.
Slashing Thread.
Does that name not tickle your chuunibyou fancy or what?
This is basically that thing, right?
The one where you slice enemies apart with threads?
W-Wait no way!
An invisible cutting attack?!
What the heck?!
What's cutting me?!
T-This is made of threads!?!
You're telling me I can pull off that kind of scenario too?
Heh.
This is great.
This is really great.
Okay, putting aside my inner chuunibyou for a second — this looks like a serious boost to my combat capabilities.
Up until now, my only real attack was Poison Fang.
And now, I finally have a second offensive option.
And on top of that, my main weapon — my threads — are the very thing becoming that weapon. I mean, come on.
Oh wait, I shouldn't get ahead of myself without Appraising it first or running any experiments.
Appraisal first.
『Slashing Thread: Imbues threads with a cutting attribute』
Mm.
Exactly what it says on the tin.
I was half-worried it'd do something completely out of left field. One concern down.
The remaining questions are: does it work on Spider Silk, can I actually activate it, and how effective is it at Level 1?
And wouldn't you know it, the pillbug I just took out is perfect for testing!
Step right up and be my guinea pig.
First, produce Spider Silk.
Set strength to maximum, stickiness to zero.
I swing the thread toward the pillbug's corpse and mentally command — Slashing Thread.
Oh, I can feel it activating properly.
The thread bounces off the pillbug's body.
Hmm.
Yeah, Level 1 isn't gonna do much against that kind of defense.
Ah, but there is a little mark on it.
For Level 1, isn't that decent enough?
Previous Skills at Level 1 were practically useless, so the fact that I can leave a scratch on something as hard as a pillbug at just Level 1 tells me this has solid performance.
Come to think of it, what about the cost?
Did my MP drop at all?
MP — nope, hasn't decreased.
SP is hard to gauge since Overeating keeps it from going down anyway.
But thinking about how Poison Synthesis works, there's probably some cost involved.
So the red gauge doesn't budge at all, but I'm guessing there's a hidden internal cost.
I can't tell what the normal consumption would be without testing, but the efficiency seems pretty good.
Besides, Overeating will keep that red Stamina gauge topped up going forward, so this works out nicely.
Next, let me try adding stickiness to the thread.
Same thing as before — attack the pillbug.
Hmm?
Mmm.
It activated properly, but no scratch this time.
Well, that's roughly what I expected.
Through all my experiments with Spider Silk, I've learned there's a limit to how many customizations I can apply at once.
For example, maxing out stickiness makes it really hard to maintain elasticity.
It's not impossible, but the effectiveness drops.
There's a cap on how many properties I can imbue in a thread at once, and I have to allocate that budget across different attributes.
So this time, making the thread sticky meant the cutting attribute couldn't reach its full potential.
Balancing stickiness and cutting at the same time — it's not completely impossible, but it probably isn't practical.
Still, Slashing Thread is an incredibly good Skill.
It synergizes with me perfectly.
I should be leveling this up ASAP.
So, Mr. Pillbug.
I know you're already dead, but bear with me while I beat on you a little more to grind up my Skill level.
I proceeded to hammer Slashing Thread into the pillbug over and over.