Chapter 24: [Arc 1] Chapter 18: Terrain Effects, Titles and Evolution Options

*thunk* *thunk* *thunk*

Ouch, those damn raptors. The first magic of my life almost got me killed. Since I put all my mental resources into the magic spell, I've got no leeway for keeping an eye for enemies. I need to fix that problem or else I'll not be able to use magic in battle.

Because of the unsuspected raptor attack, I'm turned so tattered I need to support myself with this monster bone I found in the tunnels. Wait, aren't I crawling on the ground anyway? Then I don't need this stupid bone cane!!

*SWISH* *Thunk* *Thunk* *splat!*

Ouch. Damn ricochet.

---

After using a health potion for good measure, I started to make a new home in a T-junction similar to the one I made my first home in. This setup is the most successful home that I have made since I want to be as safe as possible when I evolve. There is no guarantee that monsters could ambush me when I'm knocked out, so I make the security webs as sturdy as possible and as many that I can fit in the tunnels. 

Now, before I evolve, there is some stuff that I have to be sure of.

Since the raptor fight, two of my skills leveled up. [MP Reinforcement (Small)] reached LV50 and it's at level max. I only got 0.2 skill points, but now I can evolve the skill to [MP Reinforcement] without the (Small) part. I'll think about what I'll do with that after evolving. 

The second skill is [Appraisal]! All the new stuff I found in the camp must have beefed it up enough to level up with me appraising the raptors during the fight. It got some new functions as well: Terrain Appraisal and Title Appraisal!

You heard it, Title Appraisal! It's important, so I said it twice. When I checked out my status page, [Titles: 10] was added to it! Banzai, hurrah, gracias! But since I'm the type to save the best for last, I'm gonna check out Terrain Appraisal first.

From the name, I guess it can appraise the ground or something? Couldn't I do that already? The only result was [Tunnel wall], [Dungeon wall], [Dungeon floor], and so on. Does that mean it can show me more info now? I'm kinda curious now, so let's test it.

I got the name of the place and some 'terrain effects'? What're the effects then?

Heretic-attribute Terrain effect that disturbs the memory of those that the master of the field, area, or land, with mentioned effect, sees as enemies.

The Abnormal effect is designed to take away every memory of the area's location.

Wait for just a second! What's up with that effect?! Doesn't that mean that I've lived my life on Hard, no, Hell Mode?! The freaking dungeon has stolen my EXP! Damn it!

Then all those monsters I've killed had low EXP value then? If so, that explains why those humans were worth so much. They can't have been in the dungeon for too long. Then again, it could just be that humans are worth their weight in EXP from the beginning.

In any case, there's nothing that stops me from taking back all that EXP from those Glavras monsters, right?! They are the local monsters that are created by the dungeon, right?! They all have 'Glavras' in their name, so I'm pretty sure, no, certain that's the case! 

Just go and clean your necks, Glavras monsters! It's a level up blood festival!!

---

Phew, glad to have that out of my system. Now then, what about the titles then?

Gue-he-he-he. I can't keep my face straight looking at my stats now. Okay, focus. Title appraisal, please!

[Demon]  [Giant Killer]  [Daredevil]  [Poison User]  [Mysterious Serial Killer]  [Thread User]  [Monster Slayer]  [Beast Slayer]  [Pinch Breaker]  [New Hero]

Not bad, not bad. But what do they do? I got some skills from them, like Thread User and Poison User. But the other ones were complete duds. I'm able to appraise them now at least, so let's take a look. Hmm? Isn't there a title too much?

OOOIIIII! Why do I have this title?! I'm kindness itself! Just because I'm born a demon, that's discriminating! No to stereotypes!

Haaahhhh. If someone sees this, they'll think of me as some dangerous person. What's all this 'strayed off the path of humanity' nonsense. I'm as human as... well maybe not the body, but am I someone that would do some sort of horrible... guess I am. The bandits are the evidence.

Then there's no way for me to deny this title!?! Haaahhhh. That's a bummer. Then, the next title is... the one I got after killing my first spider.

Bonus attack and defense against those stronger than me, doesn't that mean this thing will work against anything in the whole dungeon?

Did I just diss myself now?

If I think about it, I'll lose, so let's check out the other titles. This one was from killing that turtle in the river area, and helped... some Adventurers? I can't remember their faces. Hmm, if they were any important I would remember then, so since I can't, then they must be some no-names! More importantly, the title.

Yup, Another bad-guy sounding one. Sure, I think that such guys are cool and such, but only in manga and anime! I hope there isn't a third one or else I'm out. That one will probably be it, but let's continue in the same order. The next one is from poisoning the rats right before leaving the rat area. Thinking about it, I got a jackpot of titles back then.

So, if I had weaker poison or the monsters in the dungeon were stronger to poison, I would have used more of it and obtained this title earlier? Nah, I would have just gotten killed by the first and best monster that came around if that was the case.

Back to the skill itself, isn't the effects kinda similar to the element skill? That means I got double the boost for poison! Not that I know how much [Small] is... let's not find out. I don't want to lose my last bastion of pride.

The next one is... the potential third evil-guy title. Let's get it over already.

Eh? 100 kills? Unnoticed from any living beings? Like, animals and bugs as well? And the creature killed needs to be a higher rank than your own? 

...how's that even possible? The human race is at rank E. So they need to personally kill rank D creatures without being seen. That means you can't have any help doing so, since those who help you would 'notice' you. And that includes animals and insects as well. And isn't D ranks the same as those turtle snakes?

...I lucked out. Lucked out big time. The combination of the area with only rats that lacks night vision in a dungeon and me being the bottom of the monster hierarchy created a miracle. Of course, the key factor is the [Stealth] skill that was necessary for staying hidden from the rat army. 

Doesn't that mean that the Assassin class that needs this title is equally impossible to obtain for humans? It is, isn't it? 

...won't I make a scene if someone gets to know about it? It's my main class and everything, so it will be known at some point. 

Nah, must be overthinking this. To be sure, please humanity! Produce Assassins as if they are going out of fashion! No wait, that's a kinda scary thought in itself. Forget I said anything!

Haaahh. And I who just picked up [Stealth] so that I could sneak away from trouble. I'm not good at being in the spotlight you know!

Let's just check the other skill, chose my evolution, and get knocked out due to that. I need a rest of any kind.

I like this title. It's not trying to make me a bad guy for once. And it even compliments me.

Threads as weapons, hmm. Then it must mean when I added [Cutting Thread] to my arsenal. That's a weapon like no other.

This is a simple one, in both effects and acquisition conditions. Then the next one will be...

Nailed it! Strange that I got Beast Slayer and not Rodent Slayer or Rat Slayer. Maybe I need some more for that. This title is better since it works on other types of beasts like wolfs and bears.

This is more of a reward than a title. And I have no use for [Battle Continuation] that works for a front liner. Guess it will be useful for occasions like the surprise raptor attack. And it will remember me to not do something as stupid as challenging someone head one like that again.

It's not describing me as a bad guy, but you don't need to make me a good guy either! I've got a reputation as a demon to maintain, or didn't I just say that I didn't want to be treated like a bad guy? This is getting complicated...

And I got a reward you know! The Treasure Hunter took all the items I couldn't carry with him so that other monsters couldn't get their hands on them. D-don't go and make me a good guy just because of that. But I'll keep the magic skill.

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This new [Appraisal] update has done me more mental harm than good. It's good to know what the effects are, even if I don't want all of them...

Gah! Forget it! Just focus on the more important stuff now. I'm talking about evolution!

How many evolution options did I have again? 7? Think so. Let's see them. [Appraisal], go!

10?! Where did the new guys come from? But as expected from a Grey Demon, the demon that can evolve into any demonic being. It's only weaklings from what I can see through. There are some that I recognize from manga and anime, but some again are unknown for me. Time to kick [Appraisal] into overdrive.

A low-class demon of the Heretic-attribute. A true pester that will play tricks on people even if it leads to the tricked party's death.

A bad one came up straight away! And why is it called Dark Pixie when it's a Heretic type? Is there some Light Pixie that needs a positive karma value? It's still no good. Even if it has another evolution it's bound to be something bad for humanity. Next!

A middle-class goblin subspecies that uses magic to support their allies. Unlike the Goblin Mage or the Goblin Priest, the Goblin Shaman uses [Shamanism] to disrupt enemy forces while giving commands through [Leadership], essentially making it a commander for goblin troops. 

A Goblin Shaman alone has the battle ability of a rank F+ monster, but while commanding a troupe of goblins the rank increases to E+ or more, depending on the number of goblins.

Another one with bad karma. And goblin, are you joking with me? Since it needs a magic skill for it to be unlocked, it must be one of those three new evolution options. This guy is at least better than the pixie.

Not so sure I can use the [Leadership] skill though. Not only because there's no one to command here, but also because I'm bad with people.

The magic skills are better. Both [Earth Magic] and [Fire Magic] sounds powerful, even if the latter is kinda weakened in this dungeon. But I would be able to shoot out fireballs as the human mage did. To top it off, there is the [Magic Talent] skill that I've searched so long for.

The [Shamanism] skill the description talked about is something gained from the Shaman class. It's kind of a mental-type magic skill with confuses or strengthens the mind.

But it's a goblin. Even if I get a new class just like that, is it worth it? I hope there is a better option amongst the rest.

A low-class demon that loves to fickle and create items. Gremlins are shy creatures, but will never harm someone unless they are attacked first. Due to this and their abilities as item makers, they are highly valued as assistants by crafters.

This one isn't so bad. Thinking about it, all the webs I've made should be counted as items. But, 300, when did it reach that many?

The skills aren't too shabby as well. [Item Creation] is a skill that can create any type of item, including webs, thief tools, even poison. [DEX Reinforcement] will give me a 10 points boost to my DEX, and it's multiplied by the skill level, so that skill alone is quite the reason for picking Gremlin! DEX is important for crafting after all. 

[Hiding] will just be a small boost to [Stealth], since weaker skills just get integrated into greater skills. [Lesser Earth Element] am I kinda unsure about, since I don't have any earth-attribute skills. Not gonna complain if I get it though. 

A slime monster that consists solely of poison. It will poison anything upon contact. When the prey has succumbed to the poison, the Poison Ooze will feast on the corpse, poisoned or not.

Pass. I'm tired of having a fluid body. 

A slime-like monster that consists solely of poison. It will search for living creatures that it will drag into its body and enjoy their screams while dissolving them.

OUT! JUST OUT! This guy is just an evilfied Poison Slime, isn't it?! This is even worse than the Dark Pixie! PASS! 

A demonic monster that takes the shape similar to a spider. A rare monster that is treated as an urban legend due to seldom showing itself to human beings. A master with threads and Shadow Magic.

Despite the threatening description, this demon is known for being helpful for humans. The is even a legend about a Reha Zera has saved an unfortunate soul that was killed by an accident by spinning a thread to Hell so that the unfortunate soul could have a second chance in life.

The legends are vague and have no proof to be true. Nevertheless, the Reha Zera is treated like a guardian deity in small villages where it's presence has been observed. Observed Reha Zera has stayed true to its name as a guardian deity, protecting lost villagers from monsters and even treating their wounds with self-made medicine and threads.

While it is protecting those who will not do it harm, it is merciless towards enemies, killing them with thread-based attacks and Shadow Magic.

This is a rare species alright. [Medicine Synthesis], isn't that similar to [Poison Synthesis]? The only difference is poison and medicine, and that can change depending on the use of it.

It's awesome with shadow magic, but it doesn't have [Magic Talent]. That's a bummer, but just the magic skill itself is worth it. And the dark element, how is it different from the shadow element? I've got no clue. 

There is some strange thread skill as well. What does it do?

It can grant several attributes to threads?! Isn't that like the combined skill from [Cutting Thread] and the two other thread skills I didn't take after I evolved into a Grey Demon?

This Reha Zera is definitely on my 'Possible evolution' list though, together with the shaman and Gremlin. What's next then?

A demon with a body made of shadows. Many researchers think that this demon is born when a still shadow is exposed to large amounts of raw aether over a long time. It is impregnable to physical attacks, but magic and holy weapons can kill it easily.

Out. A non-solid body is nothing for me. Did I say that before? Anyway, next.

An imp-type demon with the light-attribute. It can determine if someone wants to bring it harm. If it meets people with no intention to harm it, it will try to ask for food or shiny objects in exchange for helping them.

Cute. It's better than the Shade at least. Not so sure I want to evolve into it, but there is no reason not to.

A demon of luck. While having no battle abilities on its own, the Maneko is known for granting good luck to its owner and those who will not do it harm. It has the rare skill [Golden Rule] that increases the chance of obtaining money. It is told that the owner of a high-level Maneko will never have money problems in their lives.

Ooh! This one is a jackpot! In luck anyway. Virtue-type title must mean New Hero. I have nothing else that's even close to something like that. But no battle abilities? Does that mean I'll lose the skills I have when I evolve? Not gonna risk it, so next. No, it's the final one.

A hybrid monster between a demon and a spider. The Arachdemon is known for its cruelty where it will wrap up small animals and children so that it can torment them to death before eating them.

Despite its vicious tendencies, the Arachdemon is weak to both fire and the holy-attribute. Even without these, it is possible to kill an Arachdemon even for novice Adventurers as long as they work together and save anyone that gets trapped in the spider demons threads.

It's a weakling, bully, and have a nasty personality. Rejected!

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OK, that's all of my options. Sorting them out, the ones I'll not take are:

Dark Pixie, Poison Ooze, Living Bog, Shade, Maneko, and Arachdemon.

They have either a bad reputation, non-solid bodies that I'm damn tired of having, or simply weak as hell. I removed Maneko since it's a chance to become weaker in battle with that one. Just to be safe. 

The ones that are acceptable to evolve to are these guys:

The Goblin Shaman, since it's able to use magic and is the one who is the most human-looking.

The Gremlin, since it's a wizard in making items.

The Reha Zera, since it's the closest monster to my battle style and it can recover damage by creating medicine.

Finally, the Bright Imp, since it can use light magic, and it has a good reputation.

Now then, which one of these four shall I evolve to?

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