Spider 60:
I never expected to be doing good deeds long before becoming Human again.
I mean, good deeds besides looking after a fellow classmate.
And I most certainly didn't expect any reward for it, much less such an excellent one!
Karada: A surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one for once.
We are now back at home with the snake and more importantly, the mystery fruit we got for saving the adventurers.
Karada: Technically, we stole it from them.
Majikku 1: But considering we saved their stupid asses, I say it's only fair.
Majikku 2-9: Yeah, exactly!
Anyway, Wisdom-sama, please tell us what this is.
Wisdom-sama: < Dried ?????? Fruit >
So it is a fruit, now I wonder if we can get more info on however you pronounce it.
Wisdom-sama: < ?????? Fruit: A plant that grows extensively across the continent of ??????????. It flowers regularly and produces fruit. The fruit has a sweet taste and restores a small amount of MP. >
Karada: Oh, so it is not just a snack, it is a consumable item for restoring MP.
Fei: <Was it a good idea to take it from those Adventurers? They might have needed it.>
Majikku 1: We did heal them with our own MP, so I say it's a fair trade.
I just hope they make it out alive, it would be a waste of our effort if they die afterwards.
<I am sure they will be fine. And before we eat it there is something we must do.>
So we have Fei put down the fruit for now and we Fast Travel deep into the Middle Stratum.
Fei: <Huh? What are we doing here?>
This is the first time Fei has actually ventured into the Middle Stratum beyond the entrance to it at our homebase.
She is strong enough by now to endure the heat, and we are now hunting for a catfish to go with the fruit.
<That right over there.>
We rushdown a nearby landbound catfish before it could even register our arrival here via Fast Travel, wrapping it up in threads that can withstand the heat here thanks to the recently acquired [Flame Resistance], all the while the other Monsters make a break for it to get away from overpower spider that popped up out of nowhere.
Fei: <Oh, is this the catfish you were always banging on about?>
<Yep! Finally caught one after so long, now we can have a delicious dinner with the fruit as dessert.>
Fei: <Finally! Some good food for once!>
We killed the catfish by stabbing it with our scythes, without any Poison to avoid affecting the taste as much as possible.
Sure, it burns, but any recoil damage helps to further build [Flame Resistance].
After finishing it off, and getting no Experience from it since we hit the level cap, we Fast Travel back home again to wait for the catfish to cool off.
<By the way Feirune, I am going to evolve, which means I am going to be out of action for a while. You won't be able to wake me up in an emergency until I am done.>
Fei: <Wait! Seriously!?>
<Don't panic, you are plenty strong now, I doubt anything in the Upper Stratum can pose a real threat to you. And besides, I am planning to up the defences of our homebase before evolving.>
Ever since we took Fei under our protection, we have been sleeping less and less to keep watch, building our [Exhaustion Resistance] quite a bit.
The only time we do sleep is when she is fully awake and ready to wake us to help her in an emergency, and those naps are light and short.
We are normally the defence, but we won't be able to wake up mid Evolution, which is why we will have to rely on our home security to protect us in the meantime.
We have been brainstorming some ideas for a while, in particular we are the most concerned about fire safety here.
But we can focus on that after dinner.
Karada: Catfish, catfish, catfish.
Majikku 1: It has been too long since we have eaten one.
Majikku 2-9: Catfish is life.
Fei: <Um, whoa, you are actually drooling.>
<Well duh, catfish is the best!>
Fei: <Heh, looking forward to it then.>
After the catfish cooled down, we cut a piece of it and handed it to Fei.
As soon as she bit down on it, we can see tears welling up in her eyes and begin leaking out.
Fei: <It's so good!>
<Told'ya.>
I 'spoke' as we ate a piece ourselves and began cutting up the entire catfish into serviceable portions.
As much as it hurts to do so, we let her eat most of the catfish. Nai wa.
Well, we can always catch another, so it's no big deal really.
Anyway, with dinner done, it's time for dessert.
We cut the fruit in half to share between us and Fei.
Karada: Bon appetit! Num...It's sweet! It's actually sweet!
Fei: <Now this is the stuff I have been craving for.>
Majikku 1: This is so sweet!
Majikku 2-9: I love it!
Even though it's dried and not very juicy, it is still so good.
Maybe not compared to the fruits we have eaten in our past life, but definitely leagues better than most things we have eaten so far in this life.
It might be worth risking going outside now without a Human form just so we can forage better food.
Actually, we should.
I am getting sick of this damn labyrinth anyway.
And I am sure we can at least run away from anyone who can pose a threat to us.
Alright then, let's set up the defences, then train to max out the last of our Stat Growth Skills, [Stronghold], and finally evolve.
Once we are done, we will head on out.
Looks like Fei is getting sleepy after such a satisfying meal.
We tucked her to bed as we got to work upgrading the homebase.
First, we converted Fei's bedroom into a bunker, with a hidden entrance that blends into the surroundings with a rock cover.
Then on the ceiling, we rig a manually activated sprinkler system in case of a fire, using our [Medicine Synthesis] to put out any flames and heal at the same time.
Then at the entrances to the homebase, we set up a layered trap system.
There is the cobweb to catch anything trying to get in.
Then there is the loose ceiling of stones laced with Poison that will collapse on anyone who manages to break the cobweb as it is held up by it.
And finally, some alarm bells to warn us when any of the cobwebs are destroyed.
We took the ores we found digging around to the Middle Stratum, used the magma to soften them up before reshaping them into bells with [Telekinesis].
That should do it, onto [Stronghold].
Karada and I made a bunch of thread whips and began whipping our body at increasing speed while the Majikkus focused on healing.
After what felt like a couple of hours, with a few other Skills levelling up along the way...
Divine Voice: "Proficiency has reached the required level.
Skill [Stronghold LV9] has become [Stronghold LV10]."
Karada: Fucking finally!
Majikku 2-9: Language!
Karada slumps down as the thread whips stop moving and the Majikkus and I heal her.
Majikku 1: Alright then, it's finally time to evolve again.
Right, we have been stockpiling bones on the side specifically for eating after evolving, so we don't need to worry about food.
Besides, we could always just eat the terrain itself if we are desperate for EP.
Now let's see here...
Wisdom-sama: < Available Evolutions:
Greater ????????
?????????????
??? ????? >
I have no idea how to pronounce most of these, but I do remember seeing a Greater ???????? in the Lower Stratum.
It was big, and since we need to stay small for Arachne, that one is out.
As for the other two...
Wisdom-sama: < ?????????????:
Evolution requirements: Spider type Monster with Stats above a certain amount, Magic type Skills
Description: A spider type Monster that specialises in Magic. Has high intelligence and is capable of advanced strategies such as setting traps.
??? ?????:
Evolution requirements: ??? ??? LV20
Description: A small spider type Monster feared as an omen of death. Has incredibly high combat and stealth capabilities. >
Majikku 1: The former sounds like trash, ngl.
Karada: And here I thought you would like the Magic one.
Majikku 1 is right, we don't really need high intelligence when we already have it, and continuing down our current line to increase combat and stealth capabilities are more important.
Still, unlike ??? ?????, ????????????? is an endpoint on the Evolution tree, meaning it doesn't have a Level cap to stop us from reaching LV50 to evolve into Arachne.
Karada: So we can get to Arachne faster by picking a crappy option then?
Majikku 1: I don't know about you, but I would rather be at my strongest when I reach Arachne.
Agreed, let's go with ??? ?????, there is no need to rush.
We can always come back with Fast Travel to grind for Experience at the Lower Stratum after we evolve and leave the labyrinth.
At the same time, we will explore the world, raise Fei to be independent, try out all the delicious cuisine, find a nice place to settle down, fall in love, get married, and be an anonymous superhero too.
Karada: Is the last part necessary?
I mean, why not?
We have a sufficiently, if not unnecessarily tragic backstory and all, power beyond what the average person has and our name Hiiro sounds like the English word for hero for crying aloud.
We are meant for this! We even got that [Hero] Skill to prove it!
We will be...the Spiderpool...No wait I am pretty sure that's a shipping name um...Ghost Spider? No, that's taken um...
Majikku 1: Easy there, Interu. We still have a long way before that. Save the superhero name for later. Right now, we should focus on our Evolution.
Right right, sorry about getting overexcited.
Everyone ready?
Karada & Majikku 1-9: Yeah!
Here goes nothing then.
Divine Voice: "Individual ??? ??? will now evolve into ??? ?????."
Eh? It is taking longer for us to fall asleep.
Is it thanks to [Exhaustion Resistance] I wonder?
Divine Voice: " Proficiency has reached the required Level.
[Taboo LV9] has become [Taboo LV10]."
Oh shit! I completely forgot about [Taboo]!
Karada: Did we all seriously forget that evolving raises [Taboo]?!
Majikku 1: More importantly, what happens now?!
Majikku 2-9: We are not going to suffer a fate worse than death now, are we?!
Okay, everybody chill! D wants entertainment, remember? And our lives are apparently funny to her so I don't think we will die at the very least, hopefully.
Divine Voice: " Installing information."
Say what...now?...
Zzzzzzzz...