I ate that catfish up nice and good.
It was absolutely delicious.
My Taste Enhancement Skill leveled up to Level 7 as a result.
I want to facepalm and ask myself just how intensely focused on eating I was.
But can you really blame me?!
Up until now, I've done nothing but choke down disgusting things!
When something actually tastes good, of course I'm going to savor it!
On top of that, my Overeating Skill also climbed to Level 8.
My stock is still plenty sufficient, but leveling it up should increase the total amount I can store, so there's no downside.
I'm getting close to Level 10 now, too, so I'm curious about what the derivative—or maybe Evolution—Skill for Overeating might be.
It's already such a convenient Skill, so my expectations are pretty high.
Besides, there's something else I've been mulling over.
What's been on my mind is the Skill tied to Pride.
When you think of Pride, you think of the Seven Deadly Sins.
And among the Seven Deadly Sins, there's one called Gluttony.
Overeating and Gluttery.
The words sound similar, and their meanings overlap.
Could it be that the Evolution path of Overeating leads to Gluttony?
I can't shake that feeling.
Pride's effect is already outrageously broken, and if Overeating evolves into Gluttony, then as part of the same series, it might pack an effect rivaling Pride itself.
Of course, in that case, I'd have to deal with the same kind of anxiety that comes with Pride.
Well, I'm only at Level 8.
It's too early to worry about it.
Besides, Skills level up on their own anyway, so stressing over it won't change a thing.
Alright then, time to find another catfish and resume exploring.
Catfish, ho!
I wander through the Middle Layer in search of catfish.
But I can't spot a single one.
Hmph.
The problem is they hide inside the magma, so finding them is nearly impossible.
The very first time I encountered one, it popped right out of the magma without any warning.
If they're normally lurking inside the magma, detection is going to be tough.
Come to think of it, my raw searching ability—without relying on any Skills—is actually pretty high, isn't it?
I never really realized it, but looking back, "a pretty good sense of smell" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Since I was in the Upper Layer and Lower Layer, I've never once been ambushed. And whenever I feel a hint of danger, I'm almost always right.
I think this is probably something inherent to me as a spider.
I'm not consciously aware of it, but I must be picking up on the flow of air currents and reading cues from that.
If I think about it that way, it makes perfect sense that I didn't notice the catfish lurking in the magma right next to me.
If I'm sensing things through air currents, then anything submerged in magma would be completely outside my perception.
Surprise attacks from underwater, underground, or anywhere like that—I'd have no idea until it's too late.
That means the area around the magma is dangerous.
If something lunges at me out of nowhere and drags me straight into the magma, that's game over for sure.
Well, I was already keeping my distance from the magma to begin with, but from now on I need to stay on guard in case a Monster suddenly bursts out of it.
Just like this, for instance.
What leaped out of the magma and appeared before me could best be described as... an eel?
Yeah.
An eel-like Monster with scales and limbs.
『Ello Geneleave LV2 Status HP: 1001/1001 (Green) MP: 511/511 (Blue) SP: 899/899 (Yellow) : 971/971 (Red) +57 Average Attack: 893 Average Defense: 821 Average Magic: 454 Average Resistance: 433 Average Speed: 582 Skills 「Fire Dragon LV4」「Dragon Scale LV5」「Fire Enhancement LV1」「Accuracy LV10」「Evasion LV1」「Probability Correction LV1」「High-Speed Swimming LV2」「Overeating LV5」「Heat Immunity」「Life LV3」「Burst LV1」「Endurance LV3」「Strength LV1」「Durability LV1」』
This is bad.
This eel is insanely strong.
『Ello Geneleave: A mid-tier dragon-class Monster inhabiting the Middle Layer of the Great Ello Dungeon. Omnivorous, but prefers to prey on other Monsters.』
So this thing is only mid-tier with that kind of strength?
More importantly, looking at its Skill loadout, could this eel also be an evolved form of the catfish?
Focus, me—now's not the time to be dwelling on that.
The distance between me and the eel is roughly fifteen meters.
It's already noticed me and locked on.
I've got the advantage in speed, but my other stats are hopelessly outclassed.
The most critical issue is that my Red Stamina—including the Overeating bonus—is lower than the eel's.
Even if I run, there's a high chance it'll catch up once I run out of stamina.
I wish it would just give up and leave me alone, but...
On top of that, my Yellow Stamina is low, so I can't maintain top speed for very long.
In the worst case, the moment my Yellow gauge runs dry, I could get caught.
Can I even escape?
While I'm weighing that, the eel's image splits into two.
This is Foresight activating.
And the eel that appears blurred is making a motion like it's about to spit something out.
Sure enough, a moment later, just as the blurred image predicted, the eel launches a Fireball at me.
So the basic strategy is the same as always, huh?
But this Fireball is incomparably larger and faster than anything the seahorse or the catfish ever threw at me!
I scramble to dodge.
Thought Acceleration is kicking in, but the Fireball is flying at me so fast I can barely feel its benefit.
The Fireball slams into the spot where I'd been standing and detonates on impact.
Borrowing the power of both Foresight and Thought Acceleration, I managed to dodge by the skin of my teeth.
I thought I'd have a bit more breathing room than that—what's going on?
『Probability Correction: Applies a positive correction to the power of Skills that involve probability.』
Is it because of this Skill?
This Skill might be boosting the eel's Accuracy.
If that's the case, then even with my Evasion, it might be impossible to keep dodging forever.
This... this could actually be really bad.