Chapter 15: [Arc 1] Chapter 9: Steaming Hot Titles, Coming Up!

HOOOOOT! And many! Too many tortoises!!

I kept on running from my pursuers while feeling half-cooked to death. "Why did this happen"? Well, let's go back three days or so, back to when I decided to enter Floor 2...

---

Three days ago (estimated).

Hoooot. Damn hot. Steaming hot. The second floor's too humid. 

Floor 2 of the Water-Knot of Glavras. It's more like a long corridor, with open channels that rivers of water run through. Underneath these channels are a blazing hell of fire. The rivers are boiled, and the steam gets taken away by what appears to be natural-formed ventilation shafts if that's possible to be made naturally. Probably a Dungeon thing.

Anyhow, due to the boiling of the water, the floor's not only hot, but it's also humid as heck! So hot I'm almost having trouble breathing! Maybe this floor's the distillation floor of the Dungeon? Why couldn't it also include an ice cream factory?

I walked through the floor and thought about the potency of my threads. They'll probably catch fire the moment it gets too close to the fires. And all the moisture in the air ain't helping either. If I wanna use them, I have to think of tactics here.

And here I thought that I could do this since I had already passed through this place. No way, Jose. I looked for [Fire Resistance], but I can't buy it at the moment. Don't have enough Skill Points.

I've got 6.8 of them now by the way. I bought two mental-support skills before entering the floor. [Concentration] and [Parallel Thinking], to be exact. [Concentration] helps you concentrating on stuff, while [Parallel Thinking] does the same with thinking about several things at the same time.

They may be not that flashy, but I've come to accept it. Besides, passive skills are the best when it comes to grinding. Active skills such as magic and special moves may get more proficiency each time you use them, but the passives are used all the time, so you only need to farm skills that help you with what you're already doing, then you get proficiency without even trying.

And yes, I know it's the lazy man's way of doing things, but it's an efficient one. Having to remember to use your skills all the time's tedious and energy-consuming, if the skills need energy. 

Hmm, should I get some more skills then? Getting two of them for 1 Point each should be doable. Some of them have reached the point of getting me another 0.4 Skill Points, so I'll have enough for when I get the requirements for Rogue done. 

Yeah, let's do that. Then, the two skills I want are...

---

*smack!*

Whoa, too close! The frog's whip-like tongue smacked at the ground where I was one moment ago. I kept on moving backward, provoking the frog to follow me. Which it did... right into my birdlime trap! 

Splat! Got ya, sucker! Aww, I love my threads. They stay sticky even with all this humidity in the air. But it won't last for long. I circled behind the frog, watching out for any potential whip-tongues while doing so. Kukuku. Say your prayers. [Poison Bite]!!

*Chomp!* *Chomp!* *Chompity, chompitiy chomp-chomp-chomp!*

One frog down, [Poison Bite] reached Lv.10, and I got three new skills. This must be the most efficient face-to-face fight I've ever done. 

But sheesh. What's with the naming of the second one? Merciless, are you trying to make me sound like some dangerous person, World System?

I did a quick [Discern] on the skills found out that [Intimidation] inflicts the Fear status ailment on others when used. It's attribute-less, so it won't be helping me receive some Heretic Technique User title.

[Vital Point Knowledge] is a passive skill that makes it easier to see weak points... or vital points, if you wanna be technical about it. In other words, I'll have it easier to know where to strike for a critical hit. 

Did I get the title 'cause of the chomp-festival just now? Or is it that I used the Shredder on Floor 1? It must be both.

As for Monster Slayer, have I ever killed anything that wasn't a monster? [Health Increase (Small)] is easy to get. I gain more HP points for each skill level. Didn't even need to [Discern] that one. 

Speaking of [Discern], I used it on the frog just now before I bit him, in case you wanna know.

Weak. And it doesn't even use its Skill Points. All these skills are either initial and inborn skills. The inborn skills are [Jump], [Lesser Water Element], and [Tongue Whip], since all the other frogs have the same skills.

[Fire Resistance] and [Whipsmanship] are those it learned on its own. The former must be from living on this floor, while the latter must come from his fighting style. Many other frogs also learn this skill. Hmm...

Ah, I almost forgot the reason why I butchered the frog. I just gotta store him inside my Storage and then take out the device. 

*Swish!* *Click*

Thanks to the slingshot thread, I attached the tracking device to the big machine-like thing that the frog had obstructed for me. If he only moved, then I wouldn't have needed to take care of him... not that I'm that annoyed at the frog. The return was more than a little worthwhile.

My new strategy of limiting the use of threads worked well against an opponent that wasn't one of those Hosprave Rats, a variant of the normal Greycave Rats. Even so, I won't be challenging any rank E monsters like this. Too risky. Eh, I'm rank F anyway. Going against my seniors like that is like asking to be killed.

Only using threads right before you need it is more difficult than you would first believe. Or, that's how it feels for me, as I'm used to having the traps already made. But using the threads for too long, and they get too soggy for even [Thread Control] to work.

And using the threads too close to a fire will make them ignite. I had to dispose of the slingshot thread the moment the device was attached to the machine. The slingshot's already turned to ashes.

Now then, three machines down, just two more. It's a good thing I had marked the suspicious places I saw on the mental map of this floor the first time I came through. It saves me the time for searching after them. The next gizmo is... not too far from here. Two devices in one day. Score!

---

Back to the present.

And well, I found the machine and all... but it was trapped! And the trap called on the three tortoises to hunt me down! 

I've been fleeing for so long that I regret not taking some skill related to it. The tortoises are luckily bulky and slow, so I could slip through them without any trouble. But they're persistent!

They may have some "pursuit"-skill or something, 'cause they're just as fast as me despite not having even 20 points in SPD! To make things worse, [Discern] can't be used on the status of creatures at certain ranks unless the level's high enough. To get info about the rank E tortoises, I need the skill to reach Lv.15. I'm close to it, but not yet!

There's also the "Empowered" status ailment that looks fishy, but [Discern] can't be used on that either! The stamina of the tortoises is greater than mine, so they'll catch up if this continues.

What is this? A replay of the Dread Spirit battle? Do I always have to run away from monsters here!? Grrr... I hate this! Fine, if that's how you wanna play, I'll play with ya real good! 

---

The three tortoise guardians kept on chasing Garami with murder in their eyes. After a little while of Garami started to decelerate, just enough to make the tortoises catch up to her little by little.

One of the tortoises, the one in the lead, wanted to finish Garami off as soon as possible. That was the reason why the three of them were spawned after all.

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The leading tortoise tapped into its reserves and ran up to Garami. When it was close enough, it tried to bite off half of the spider's body with its [Bite] skill. Tried, is the keyword here.

Garami noticed the leading tortoise's attempts of an attack from the moment it started to accelerate. Not to mention the nature of the attack. She had already witnessed the power of the jaws that the tortoises had on Floor 9, on the very day she was reborn. And she was no longer any newborn either.

Right before the leading tortoise could close its mouth on Garami, the latter produces massive amounts of dark aura. So much that the tortoise had to withdraw its head away from it. 

True to its status as a guardian spawned by a Dungeon, the tortoise's instinct regarding danger was excellent. The dark aura would have decreased its stats by quite the amount if it had touched the tortoise, not to mention any potential status ailments. However, that was also the leading tortoise's downfall.

Garami was never counting on the [Aura of Darkness] to affect the tortoise. Instead, she withdrew a certain something from her [Spatial Storage]. By using [Thread Control] and [Throwing], Garami launched her secret weapon towards the leading tortoise's face.

*Splat!*

A wet sound was heard when the secret weapon landed... glued itself, on the tortoise's face. It was a ginormous mass of sticky webs. So many and so sticky webs, that it had turned into a single clump of glue-like substance. A failure work of Garami's when she practiced her birdlime traps.

The webs were stuck in the tortoise's mouth, suffocating it as Garami used [Thread Control] to spread the thread clump to cover the tortoise's eyes and mouth, efficiently blindfolding and gagging it. It would be a matter of time before it would die from asphyxiation.

Moving her attention away from the gagged tortoise, Garami started to think of her next move regarding the remaining two tortoises.

One of the two didn't waste any time in trying to take over for its fallen brethren, but Garami used [Thread Control] through the thread she still held to drag the head of the first tortoise towards the attacking one, making the two of them collide into each other.

Not wasting any time, Garami withdrew more sticky web mass to glue the two tortoises onto each other and to the ground. Garami then made some distance from the two tortoises, efficiently neutralizing both of them for the moment. Then, all that remained was-

*Bang!*

Suddenly, Garami was sent flying in the air. The landing accounted, Garami's HP had been reduced by three quarters. A few of her spider legs were also crushed from the landing. It is safe to say that the little demon was facing the direst situation of her life till now.

Not understanding what had happened, Garami looked over the corridor after the source of the surprise attack. Then she saw the third tortoise, who hadn't come any closer after seeing the first one being gagged. 

The third tortoise had used its head and picked up massive rocks with its mouth. Then, mimicking a catapult, the tortoise threw the rock towards Garami.

The plan was good, but the aim was horrible. Even when tortoise nr.3 had attempted to squash Garami with the rock, it had only managed to nick it instead after it had trapped both of the tortoise's allies. Still, a nick was all the tortoise needed to send Garami to the brink of death.

The tortoise threw another rock, but Garami threw a new thread and used [Thread Control] to drag her battered body to safety behind one of the boulders at her side. 

The tortoise understood its stones wouldn't reach Garami behind the boulder. However, it also knew that the demon was seriously wounded. Wounded to the point that the tortoise was thinking it had overestimated it. But then it saw the literal mess its two companions were in and decided to take some caution.

The tortoise didn't even consider saving its two companions. After all, if those two couldn't do anything with the web-mass, what could it do? A sound, but heartless, decision. Especially when considering that the first tortoise was soon to die from the lack of oxygen.

Ignoring the pleas of help from the other tortoises, the third one closed in on the boulder that Garami was hiding behind. In its mouth, the tortoise held a large rock, both to be used as an attack in case Garami was going to escape with its threads again, or as a guard, in case she was going to gag the tortoise as she did with the first one. 

The turtle rounded the corner and found... nothing? Bewildered, the tortoise started to look around for Garami, thinking it may have managed to escape somehow. It was right then that the first tortoise finally succumbed to the lack of oxygen, giving Garami the EXP needed for an increase in her level... which also came with a full recovery of her Life Stats, included with a repair of her broken legs.

Garami jumped out of the shadows of the boulder where she had hidden with her skills and landed on top of the tortoise's shell. The tortoise noticed Garami, but not before the latter had started to wrap the former with newly produced threads.

The tortoise's mouth holding the rock was sealed off, removing the tortoise's greatest weapon. The tortoise retaliated by using its flexible neck to smash its head towards Garami, who barely escaped this time as well. However, the tortoise's head was now stuck to its shell, courtesies from the web mass that Garami had left behind on top of the shell.

Not missing this chance, Garami glued the legs of the tortoise before using a thread and [Thread Control] to reach the unguarded neck of the tortoise and bit down with her [Poison Fang] while also using the [Aura of Darkness].

It took a little while, but in the end, the tortoise was finally killed. And the only creature left standing, and not glued down, was Garami. 

---

Booyah! Another tortoise goes down! 

After winning the fight with that rock-thrower, I finished off the last tortoise that was trapped with the gagged one from the start. Good thing it died when it did, or else I wouldn't have gotten two level-ups then. To think that you can recover lost limbs just by increasing your level... or is it a demon thing? 

I got titles to boot! What do I have right now? I've gotten so much in such a short time, I don't know myself.

Woohoo! Now, this is a status page! But damn, still 3 points short on the DEX. Just one more racial level, Garami. Just one measly level more. Don't fall for the temptation of buying [Dexterity Increase (Small)] when it's probably possible to earn it with some easy title like the rest of them.

But man, am I glad that most of these are passives. I would never remember to use them all the time. And don't point out that [Parallel Thinking] has a higher level than [Concentration] despite me getting them at the same time, and [Concentration]'s an easier skill to level-up...

And yes, I was looking for a skill related to weaving to help my threads, but I found nothing! Must be some requirements I've yet to fulfill...

Now then, what about these tortoises? I've already stored the last guy, but these two are stuck in my failed birdlime web. Even [Spider Thread] can't remove this stickiness! Maybe I should make a fuse with a new thread to lead the fire to the goop? But then I would have charred tortoise for my next dinner. I'll rather stick to rats if that's the case.

Hmm? I picked up on something down the corridor. The path leading to Floor 1. And these guys... are bad news. [Magic Sight]'s going bananas.

I gave up on the glued tortoises and went into hiding. Then I saw the new guys that came... knights?

Description:

The heavyweight among the rank-and-file monster of the Water-Knot of Glavras Dungeon. The Glavras Bunkurtle is a solid guardian, both in ability and in mindset. They will guard the domain they are set to protect with their lives, or others' life, depending on the situation.

Appearance:

The Glavras Bunkurtle is a massive tortoise monster with a body of varying marine colors. Their heads are that of a snake, along with an elongated neck.

Abilities:

The Glavras Bunkurtle is focused on one thing: defense. However, their necks and jaws are respectively fast and strong enough to chew up any intruders, no matter how armored they are. Unless the "armor" is their shells.

The Bunkurtle also has a special pursuit ability of some kind, where they can catch up to almost any creature, despite their lacking speed.

Garami's comment: Wow. This thing's covered on almost all fronts.

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