Chapter 9: Chapter 8: [Mystical Threads] & Giant Killing

Log in!

It's the second day after I found that hidden room with the zombies and the first time that I've logged in after that.

I mean, that event was too scary...

I didn't just laze around though. I looked up the bulletin boards regarding "skill books" and "Emergency Quests", but to no luck. Either people are keeping them a secret, or they simply haven't been discovered yet.

No matter the case, today's the day to test out my new skill! Wo-hoo! First, its system-based info:

Oh? A magic skill, you say? Those are pretty rare. At least, a magic that doesn't come with a set of spells in it.

Magic skills can be divided into two categories: the library-type, and the action-type. This skill is of the latter type, which is a single "spell" whose effect improves with its skill level and my stats. The library-type is something like that [Earth Magic] skill Al Azif from the demon thread boasted about. It obtains a new "spell" each time the skill's level goes up, but the effect of the spells already learned won't be changed. You need different moves for that.

So, I have finally gotten myself something to use my MP on. The question is, is it gonna be any good?

Well, it's a thread, so maybe I can use them to climb around stuff? Speaking of threads, the spiders I've fought until now never used webs or such. Rather, the single spiderweb-ish thing I've seen in the entire Dungeon is the stuff in that room..., *brr*. Sorta explain why the skill book was hidden there, but the memory's still giving me the shivers.

The description did mention it could be used for an attack, so let's try it out on the ever-present Angry Spider at the T-junction.

I exited my Room and remembered something. I still don't know how the skill is used. As in, not the info about it, but its practical knowledge. 

Deciding to test a shot before facing the spider, I aimed at one of the torches, and...how do I shoot the web?

Ah, a manual-like window appeared. I just need to either click on the mental icon or set a trigger word/action to fire the skill when I give my consent. The former is the same method [Identification] uses, but the latter must be for skills aimed for active use in battle when you don't have the luxury to fiddle with the mental controls. 

Not that I can come up with a good word right away, and my body's too user-unfriendly for any fancy actions. Heck, the skill's supposed to be able to select where the thread could come out from specific parts of the body, but no dice for the Grey Demon. Or threads. All I get is the magic circle-variant that appears in the air right above me.

Having gotten through the "tutorial", I fired my first thread at the torch just as I first planned. A dark-purple magic circle appeared and released a single white beam toward the torch I was targeting. No, maybe calling it a thread of magic power is better?

Anyway, the thread missed the torch itself and got stuck right in the middle of the purple flames. But it's not burning? ...nevermind! After the magic circle disappeared, signalizing that the "magecraft" job had been done, the thread stopped glowing and ignited from the fire. 

I hurriedly scurried away from the burning thread, but this is a nice discovery. If restricted only as a magic attack, I may be able to ignore the defense of fire-type opponents? Not that I think there are any fire spiders in here, but you never know.

Moving on, I walked toward the top of the T-junction, sneakingly so that the Angry Spider wouldn't hear me. I peeked at it from behind the corner, and while its back was turned towards, I released the [Mystical Thead]. The magecraft hit the spider straight in the back, and...huh? HUUUUUUH?!

IT DIED! IT DIED FROM JUST ONE HIT!

Okay, calm down, me. There's have to be an explanation for why that berserker-like Angry Spider died from a newbie attack..., that's it! The spider's too berserk-like! More precisely, its stat build must be leaning too heavily on the physical side for it to have anything to spare toward its magical defense. 

On the other hand, the magic-specialized Greedy Spider must be more difficult to defeat with just this skill. I should keep using rocks on them. As for the Hungry Spider that occupied the kitchen before, if they're HP-focused as I believe, then it'll likely that it won't matter which method I'm using. The green spider close to the Chest Mimic and the Lazy Spiders are unknown. Got no clue there.

Hmm, MP isn't on auto-recovery unless you rest in safe areas or use some alternative methods, so I have a max total of 18, no, 17 shots when fully "loaded". Having one's MP at 0 makes you faint after all. Which is ironically one of those "methods" from before. 

Then, at the very least, I have 10 shots available..., maybe I can do it?

---

I reached the dust-free area after a little while. Then I started to look for a nice target. I ignored the yellow- and blue groups of spiders that patrolled and waited until they went past me. 

Aha! There they are! A big group of red spiders! No, it's not that big. They're down to just 2 smaller spiders and one of the in-official F-rank. Did they lose some suckers in a group brawl before? That fits me just fine. Just hope that there is enough...

I jumped out from behind the rubble I used as cover and activated [Mystical Threads] through the mental command. Six magic circles appeared from above me and fired the magical threads toward the leader-spider. The big guy didn't react in time and got all three magic strings right into its face. 

That got it..., or not. The spider got hit in a bad spot, as NFO reproduces the body's weak points to a T. If your neck goes bye-bye, then even someone with a million HP left would die, for example. And some of those threads hit the spider right in the eye. I'd hoped that some may have hit its brain for a critical hit, but no such luck.

And while the boss spider was throwing itself around in pain, the two remaining subordinates ran towards me in blind anger. Yeah, yeah. Here, take some threads.

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Each spider got 2 threads to the face and died instantly. I doubled the amount needed for the "lab rat" spider that I tested the skill on in fear of these guys' levels, and by extension, their magical defenses would be higher than the lab rat.

And then, that delightful jingle appeared~.

YES! All according to plan! I was hoping that these "veteran" Angry Spiders would give more EXP than the weaklings in the dust area, and I was right! That there were fewer spiders than I expected scared me for a sec, but things turned out alright anyway!

And why am I so happy for a level-up right now? Because they give a full recovery when you get one!

The boss spider must have shaken off its pain, as it's glaring at me with real rage in its eyes. Is it angry for me beating its subordinates, or simply because of that sneak attack? Whatever the case, my hat is off for the developers if they added even such details to a random monster.

But sorry, punk~. My MP has recovered up to 19 (16 + 3 from my equipped title) points! So taste these 15 [Mystical Threads]!! It's on the house!!

The spider didn't even try to dodge as its mind was clouded by its rage and got hit by all the threads before it could reach me. With a last scream, the spider collapsed on the floor with red special effects coming out of the many new holes on its face.

Wait, did spiders bleed red blood? Eh, whatever. A game should have some artistic freedom.

I got a whole three levels from that ordeal. This is one heck of a tasty farming method..., but I won't be doing it so often. I had luck with that full recovery just now, but now that I only need 1 more level before reaching the cap...

ONE MORE LEVEL!? That's one more before evolving! Wo-hoo! But man, just one more? C'mon, mister spider. Couldn't you give me a little more?

I looked at the remains of the big spider with a slight, childish grudge as I saw it evaporating into nothing. And I'm still not getting any drops, huh. And even when it cheated me for the remaining EXP...

Having confirmed the spider's death, I hid behind the rubble again. I wanna look at the new title...hmm? Is the ground shaking? That's a first. 

......oh, boy. Not good. NOT GOOD! That damn boss spider! That last scream it gave, it wasn't a pre-scripted event! No, maybe it was, but that's not the point!

That stupid spider called on a stampede of spider groups with its dying cry! H-h-h-HEEEELP!!

---

...I died. 

Looking at the clockwork-sque roof of my Player Room, I couldn't do anything but sigh over my overconfidence. Sure, the spiders may be in opposing groups, but there's nothing that ever said they won't band together against a common enemy, right? Like, say, an outsider who killed one of the patrolling spider groups. Meaning: me.

This makes the whole EXP-farming a little more difficult than before. The patrols are off-limits for now. And it's too boring to grind against the weaklings in the dust area. Not sure if the Chest Mimic has a weakness against magical attacks either, so that's a no-go. 

Still got some playtime for today, so let's check out the new title before doing anything else.

Whoa. That's plain good. The stat increase alone is worthy of having it equipped, so I'm gonna do that. It's also the first title I've gotten with a real effect, [Mini] or not.

All titles with real effects have the "quality" of the effect determined by a ranking system specially made for titles. [Mini] is the lowest possible, not that anyone is sure how much that is, but it's at least lower than [Small], which is the highest possible ranking a title-effect can have, as far as we players know.

Damn, now I wanna hunt down some more monsters! But the ones lurking in the dust area are too weak for my taste by now, the Chest Mimic being an obvious exception. Isn't there some other area I can go to?

I opened the map over this Dungeon and started to look for clues. The map over the patrolled corridors looks like an unfinished square, while the dust area is like a branch that sticks out of the square. Lots of areas are still not discovered yet, but that's its current appearance, at least.

The place where the skill book was hidden was somewhere closer to the middle of the square. The group of spiders I defeated today was wandering around closer to the square's inner parts than its outer rim as well. Most of the spider groups do that, which is why I ventured there to look for a red group...

Maybe there's a boss in the middle of the map? That would explain why a Quest related to a skill book was hidden there, and why there are so many more monster groups in that area. 

If that's the case, I should leave the middle section of the map alone and travel around the square's outer rim. If I'm lucky, I may discover a new "branch" like the dust area. Hopefully, with more Quests that I can take. My AP is exactly 3 now, but I wanna obtain some more. I'm getting close to my evolution, after all. 

Okay! Time to explore!!

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