Meanwhile...
Kumoko was trying to decide how to spend her own skill points. She felt torn. There were so many skills she wanted to learn, but she had a limited number of points.
With 2600 skill points, Kumoko didn't know how best to spend them.
While she was struggling with the decision, Elliot, having already picked his skill, glanced over and offered some advice.
"If you don't know what to learn, start with [Poison Synthesis]."
"Poison Synthesis?" Kumoko tilted her head, confused. She was a spider; she already had poison. Wouldn't learning [Poison Synthesis] be redundant?
Elliot guessed what she was thinking and explained, "Poison Synthesis isn't just for making poisons. As the saying goes, 'all medicine has some toxicity.' Once this skill reaches a high level, you can also synthesize healing potions. As long as you have mana, you won't have to worry too much about low health."
"Oh, I see!" Kumoko's eyes lit up.
She remembered the humans they fought carried potions to restore health and stamina. If the Earth Dragon's damage hadn't been so high, instantly killing them, the humans could have dragged out the fight and potentially won with their healing potions.
Plus, using this skill to create stronger poisons could become one of her signature moves. Most monsters might have resistance to heat or pain, but poison resistance wasn't as common.
Especially against heavily armored monsters with defenses that made your scalp tingle normal attacks couldn't hurt them. Poisoning them might be the only way!
"Alright, learning Poison Synthesis it is!" Following Elliot's advice, Kumoko learned the skill. It seemed really practical. Being able to make potions later would help them in long fights.
And in the Elroe Labyrinth, unexpected dangers could pop up anytime. Keeping their health topped off was crucial. If they got caught off guard while weakened, even the strongest monster could be defeated.
For the next while, Elliot and Kumoko fell into a routine of grinding monsters and leveling up.
The Elroe Labyrinth was divided into four main sections: Upper Stratum, Middle Stratum, Lower Stratum, and Bottom Stratum.
Right now, they were in the Upper Stratum, which was mostly home to weaker monsters and occasionally humans. The deeper they went, the tougher the monsters would become.
After clearing out numerous monsters in the Upper Stratum, Kumoko reached Level 10 before Elliot and evolved into a [Small Taratect]. After shedding her old skin, Kumoko's stats improved across the board.
That's when Elliot noticed his own experience bar seemed much longer than Kumoko's. Meaning, he needed significantly more EXP to level up than she did. Of course, the stat gains he got per level were also much higher than hers.
Soon enough, though, he also reached Level 9, his experience bar nearly full, on the verge of hitting Level 10.
Reaching the first major level milestone, Level 10, meant it was time for his first Evolution. For any monster, the first evolution brought a massive boost in stats and often unlocked new skills!
….
After evolving, Kumoko's speed and attack power increased. She also learned the skill [Pride]. This was one of the Seven Deadly Sins skills.
In this world, the skills representing the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, Greed) and the Seven Heavenly Virtues were all incredibly powerful.
Greed: Could copy opponent's skills.
Wrath: Boosted attack power tenfold.
Lust: Could control others' minds.
And so on...
Neither the Sins nor the Virtues were skills ordinary beings could learn; only reincarnators had a chance.
For example, the main character of the human storyline, Schlain, had the Virtue skill [Mercy], which could resurrect teammates unconditionally.
However, because these skills were so broken, they had limitations. Schlain's [Mercy] could only be used ten times, and each use increased his [Taboo] skill level. After the tenth use, activating it again would cost his own life. Still, undeniably powerful skills.
The [Pride] skill Kumoko obtained was the foundation of her rapid growth. Its effect was to drastically increase the EXP and skill proficiency she gained, allowing her to level up incredibly fast this included leveling up her skills too.
Of course, [Pride] had a side effect: it tended to make the user arrogant and overconfident.
If I could learn that skill, Elliot thought, I wouldn't care about getting a big head. His [Butcher] title gave a 20% EXP boost, but only against humans. Kumoko's [Pride] at just LV 1 gave a whopping 50% boost against any monster. That showed how powerful [Pride] really was.
Unfortunately, he couldn't learn it. It was a special skill prepared just for Kumoko by the system administrator D. Elliot couldn't even find it in his list of learnable skills. And even crazier, [Pride] only cost Kumoko 100 skill points! After getting [Pride], she also gained other amazing skills like [Abyss Magic LV 10] and [Hades], giving her a massive power spike.
Well, Elliot thought, Kumoko can't learn my crazy skills like Tendo Bansho or True Man's Slash either. Gotta stay positive.
Over the next few days of constant monster hunting, Kumoko's strength grew rapidly. She became much more skilled at hunting. She webbed up a dozen various monsters and dragged them back to their makeshift nest.
"Earth Dragon! I brought back some EXP for you!"
Elliot had helped her get kills before; now it was her turn to help him. As the saying went in his old world, repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring! So, after evolving, Kumoko dragged back all the monsters she'd hunted outside.
Seeing this, Elliot smiled. "Nice work. Thanks for the effort."
Although hunting these low-level monsters was effortless for him now, he appreciated that his teammate wasn't just someone who only took without giving back. Back in his gamer days, Elliot occasionally carried newbie players, and he hated the ones who contributed nothing and just whined constantly. That wasn't teamwork; it was being a simp.
Hearing Elliot's praise, Kumoko rubbed her head happily. "Quick, finish them off! The poison on my webs will kill them soon if you don't."
"Alright."
Elliot quickly dispatched the monsters, which were already near death. The influx of experience points filled up the remainder of his EXP bar.
He leveled up!
[Experience Reached. Level Increased.]
[You have reached Level 10. Initiate First Evolution?]
"Yes." Elliot confirmed without hesitation.
After evolving, he'd reset to Level 1, but the evolved Level 1 form would be vastly stronger in base stats and skills than his previous Level 10 form.
Soon, three evolution options appeared on the system interface.
[Intermediate Earth Dragon]
Description: Standard first evolution path for Earth Dragons.
Traits: Beast Form, Fortitude, Unyielding
[Azhdaha, Dragon King]
Description: Special Earth Dragon evolution path. Max HP +100%, Attack Power +100%, Size increased by 100x. Gains [Elemental Absorption] effect, allowing consumption of Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire elements for power!
Traits: Vengeance, Raging Flames, Tidal Wave
[Rex Lapis Dragon Emperor]
Description: Special Earth Dragon evolution path. Max HP +50%, Size reduced, Weight remains unchanged. Gains all Constellation effects of Rex Lapis.
Traits: Deification, Primordius, Sovereign
Looking at the three choices, Elliot fell silent. Realistically, there were only two options, because no one in their right mind would pick the first one.
Compared to the other two, the standard [Intermediate Earth Dragon] path was pathetically weak. Anyone would eliminate it first.
The next two paths were interesting. The [Azhdaha, Dragon King] path offered massive, direct boosts to HP and Attack. It was the most straightforwardly powerful option. But, the downside was a 100x size increase.
That huge size would make him a giant target in this labyrinth. A hundred times bigger... he'd probably be as large as the Spider Queen! There'd be nowhere to hide.
The buffs were great, but completely impractical for his current situation.
So, that left the [Rex Lapis Dragon Emperor] path. The listed stat boost (+50% HP) wasn't as immediately impressive as Azhdaha's, but the description mentioned gaining all of Rex Lapis's constellation effects.
That sounded potentially much more powerful in the long run, just not as simple and direct. Plus, reduced size while keeping his weight? That sounded useful.
"Choose the third evolution path." Elliot didn't hesitate long and confirmed his choice.
Instantly, rocks swirled around him, completely encasing his body. His consciousness grew fuzzy, and he drifted into a deep sleep.
Kumoko watched from the side as Elliot began his evolution.
….
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