Chapter 15: [Arc 1] Chapter 9: Grey Demon and Skill Shopping

Mmph. What happened?

I remember feeling dizzy, or was it sleepy? Anyway, I tried to evolve-! Evolve! Have I evolved now?! 

I guess I evolved. Huh, that was anticlimactic.

And I got another skill point? I just got one from reaching the max level as a Lesser Grey Demon. 

Did the number of skill points I get when level up myself or my skill also increase? 0.2 isn't that much, but it's still double of what I had.

Two skills? Isn't that too good to be true? Both of them sound kinda sketchy. Anything with 'demonic' in its name will not be the kind of skill a hero of the world would pick up. And [Shape Change], what's that supposed to be?

Guess I'll find out when I appraise them. I want to see how strong I am as a Grey Demon sans the Lesser part.

Hey, I got a lot stro- wait a minute! My MP and SP! There almost zero! Food, food! Monsters or whatever! Give me something to eat!

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*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch* *Gulp*

Damn, that was close. Evolution is some scary stuff. It almost made me die from starvation. *Shiver*. I finished the whole frog in no time.

My level decreased. But with my stats this high, I don't care so much about that.

Of my life stats, HP is the lowest, while SP is the higher one. Must be because I had just 2 HP as a Lesser. Why my MP is higher than the HP when it was just 1 pre-evolution is a mystery to me.

The rest of the basic stats are following the same build as before I evolved. DEX and SPD are at the top, followed by RES, then STR. VIT and MAG are the lowest ones. Maybe because I don't have any skills that are related to those two stats? That would explain why the other ones are that big, since my skill-list is leaning at an assassin-build, with [Stealth], [Hidden Strike], poison and thread-based skills.

*growl*

Ah, I'm still hungry. I guess I should start on the rat.

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*Chomp* *gulp*

Delish! I've finished the rat, then 1.5 of the three raptors before my stomach was satisfied. Now I'm enjoying some fruits from the Berry box. It was called Ralal fruits? For me, it looks like raisins. They are not that sweet or juice since they're dried, but it is a king's meal for me who have lived all their second life with just monsters on the menu.

Where was I before that dinner-break? Oh yeah, I was just finished with checking my stats. What about my skills? Double-appraise, aaand, not that different. The only change to the skill list is the two new skills. Time for some research.

Stop right there! Isn't this an Item Box skill?! I take back what I said earlier. This is a skill worthy of a protagonist hero! The whole 'access through shadow' thing makes it even cooler! What can I place inside? Ah, the Berry Box, is probably not the best idea. What if I can't take it out afterward.

Then, what about some of these pebbles..., where is my shadow? I forgot since I have [Magic Sense], but almost the whole dungeon is without lights. How can I place something in my shadow, when the shadow is blended into the darkness? Let's just try. Uhm, [Demonic Storage], activate? 

*Drop*

... Where did the *clack* sound go? Better yet, where did the pebble go? It disappeared into the ground.

It went in! So, my shadow does not need to be visible if I'm inside the darkness. They weren't kidding when they said this skill is 'demonic'. Let's throw some more stuff inside.

---

Okay, the results are this: [Demonic Storage] can stock up to 10 of the same type of item while counting it as one storage slot. If I take the eleventh item inside, it will take up a new storage entry. When I tried with the pebbles, I managed to stock up pebbles (10), but with the next one, I got pebbles (10) and pebbles (1) and used 2 slots.

Oh yeah, different items take more slots. Pebbles are so worthless that they only use one slot, while the remains of the raptors and the rat that I haven't eaten yet costs 4 and 2 slots each. The half-eaten raptor was treated as 'Half corpse of Glavras Slipraus' and took 3 slots by the way. 

The Berry Box with all it's contents used just 3 points, but when I tried to add the Ralal fruits without the box, they used up 2 slots for then of them, and 2 more slots for the remaining one. Yes, I've been eating some of them, they are my snacks you know.

Back to the Box. Even without contents or filled with it, the Berry Box would always take up 3 slots. One Box can take up two 20 pieces of fruits, in the case of Ralal fruits, that would be 4 slots worth. Maybe that hobgoblin's Potion Belt would work in the same way. Not that I have more of those storage items, or whatever they are called.

My current inventory at the moment is:

I decided to eat up the half-eaten raptor and saved the rest inside the storage. Since time does not affect the items inside the storage then I can be sure that the corpses will not be spoiled. I'm gonna use the rocks as ammunition for my [Throw] skill. The Berry Box is a no-brainer. Why would I leave behind the greatest treasure of mine behind so that any monster can come and plunder it?

Well, that's enough for [Demonic Storage]. What about the other skill?

Too bad that I'm already doing it. Then what's the point in this skill? Even with it, I'll still... not be nauseous when I'm moving around?!

What gives?! The feeling of stretching my flesh is gone! Is it that the way of transforming my body was the wrong way of doing it? Did I need the skill to freely move my body from the beginning?

The appraisal result did say that [Shape change] was a racial skill for formless and demonic creatures. When you're talking about formless creatures, you would think of slimes, right? Then this skill must be an inborn skill that slimes have. 

Wow. Both of the skills I gained now is way better than I first thought. Guess it is my age from now on! Mwa-hahaha!

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These are my skills at the moment. [Shape change] has even leveled up already. This one is gonna be fun to grind. And you gotta love how [Appraisal] tells whenever there's been a change to the skill list.

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But, looking over the skills, my only real way of attacking is [Poison Bite] and [Throw], and the latter lacks the power for a finisher. Sure, [Spider Thread] does help me as well, but only in making traps. It's not an attack skill per se. [Hidden Strike] is just increasing the attack power, so you can't call it a way of attack either. [Stealth] is more of a support skill than a battle skill. The new [Shape change] can give me more options of attacking, but yeah, not a real attack in itself.

If I want to be active in the hunting, I need to start taking the fights to the monsters and not just sit on my butt(?) and wait for them in my home. 

That, and if I stay in one place too long, it won't take a long time before the monsters to make a subjugation squad against me, despite how surreal that sounds. When I was exploring the dungeon, a lot of monsters had been trapped by my home. Since none of them had died due to starvation, they must have arrived shortly before I returned home.

There was no trace of the webs been broken before the trapped monsters had arrived, so something must have happened to make that many monsters arrive in this secluded part of the dungeon. I don't know what, but it's clear that this T-junction is no longer safe. I need to become strong enough to travel and fighting in the dungeon without my home or lucky shots like with the turtle snake. At least till I can make a new home in a less populated area.

I currently have 3.5 skill points, good enough to gain some new skills. My only ways of attacks are poison, rocks, and to some extent, threads. I need to upgrade my arsenal. A bazooka or a Gatling gun would be preferable, but let's not get too greedy.

Hence, my options are either to gain skills that strengthen my current skills or take up a new skill that expands my options of attack. 

However, that's easier said than done. I have no clue what kind of skills that will help me. I could try aiming for magic, but that will be somewhat difficult. First off, I don't have a clue how to use magic from the start. Picking it up now, when I'm busy trying to survive is not a good idea. And B, magic takes a lot of skills to be usable. That is what Skvalv said, and I have almost no clue what kind of skills I need. They would cost more than my current skill point savings would allow.

Hmm, what do other monsters have these problems? Do they even use their skill points? I just ignore their skill points when I appraise them, but it looks like they don't even touch them. Of course, I've not appraised that many monster skill lists yet, but from the few I've seen, they're going with their inborn skills only. 

Damn, if I knew this was gonna be that much of a problem, I should have appraised those Adventurers' skills when I had the chance. That hobgoblin thief would probably have some skills that would fit me. 

Should I take an element skill? The frog, raptors, and the turtle snake all had [Lesser Water Element]. Should I look for some [Poison Element] skill then?

Wait. The turtle snake, didn't it have some other skills? What was it, the water dependency skill, [Withdraw], and [Snap]? The first one isn't anything for me, and to use [Withdraw] you need to be born with a shell. [Snap] sounds a little interesting, but not that much. I don't have a real jaw, so that's a no go.

There were some other skills as well, hmm. [Camouflage]! That's it! But, that's just a skill to disguise yourself into something else. Not sure I need that. I mean, I got [Stealth] and all.

Eh, whatever. There was one more skill, what was it, what was it... [VIT Reinforcement]! A stat increasing skill. That could be useful, even if it's just some points. I've only got a handful of points to my stats from the beginning, so even scarps are welcome here.

In that case, 'skill shop' please!

Wow, that's a lot of small reinforcements. And my source of inspiration, the [VIT Reinforcement], isn't even on the list. Looking on how much each skill costs, I guess that [VIT Reinforcement (Small)] needs more than 3 skill points, since it's my worst stat. The value of the enhancement skills is proportional to my own stats. And all of them only give 1 point times the skill level.

Guess if I should take any, I should pick the SP, SPD, or DEX enhancements, since they are my most used stats. Therefore, they would be the easiest skills to level up, but that will not solve my current problem. I guess I should look at them when I got more points to use.

In that case, what about some more poison?

A MAGIC SKILL CAME UP! And it takes all my skill points to learn. Damn it!

Well, even with a magic skill I would still need the [Magic Talent] to use it. So what are we waiting for?

What. I can't learn the [Talent] skill? Am I that talentless? 

That was a downer. Magic's no good, therefor, poison is no good either. The talent skill is needed to use magic, right?

What about threads then?

A lot came up! Okay, time for some appraising...

[Thread Control]! I need that [Thread Control]! Just look!

The explanation is kinda short, but manipulating threads, doesn't that mean that I can move threads around on the floor and in the air? This skill is perfect for me! If I'm using this to bind monsters from a distance, then I can go for the kill with [Poison Bite]! 

Let's take it. By the way, the remaining thread skills are also good. Check 'em out!

[Cutting Thread] allows me to cut stuff up with my threads like it was a sword. [Piercing Thread] allows me to use my threads as a spear. [Impact Thread] makes them a blunt-weapon, like a mace.

They are all good skills, but I think I'll take the [Cutting Thread] first. It gives me the shivers to cut up people, eh, monsters with just a thread, like an anime character.

Even so, I'll not take the skill just yet. [Thread Control] takes 1 skill point to learn, and [Cutting Thread] takes 2. I'll be broke on skill points if I take them both, so I'll take [MP Reinforcement (Small)] first. [Thread Control] needs MP to be used, and there is no guarantee that [Cutting Thread] won't. Hence, I want to beef up my MP stat before I take both skills.

Luckily for me, three of my skills, [Spider Thread], [Magic Sense], and [Throw] are all at LV9 now. Just a little more, then they'll reach LV10, and I will gain 0.2 skill points for each of them, for a total of 0.6 points. Then I'll have 4.1 points total, so even if I take [Thread Control] and [MP Reinforcement (Small)] now, I'll have enough points for [Cutting Thread] soon enough.

Then why not take [Cutting Thread] and [Thread Control] first? Because the higher the [MP Reinforcement] skill is, the more MP I have to train [Thread Control]. Now that that's out of the way:

You got it.

Sweet! Now, let's train [Thread Control] before I grind the remaining skills to LV10.

*Boing* *Sproing* *Thug*

Okay, not that much change. I can barely make the thread rise from the ground. I guess I should have expected that from an LV1 skill. My MP is now at...

It really did increase. With just one point, but still... And [Thread Control] does not use that much MP. With just this, it won't even take one MP even.

Time for some grinding! I'll start with [Spider Thread] and train [Thread Control] at the same time. Maybe I should throw the threads around to get some proficiency for [Throw]? [Magic Sense] is always one, so I don't need to do anything special there.

ALRIGHT! I'll do it now! Watch your backs, dungeon monsters!

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