The Middle Stratum environment was brutal. Lava flowed everywhere. In this world, falling into lava dealt massive damage, potentially hundreds of points per tick. Without strong heat resistance, even an Earth Dragon would be cooked alive if they fell in.
The ground here was scorching hot, and the further in they went, the higher the temperature climbed. Even Elliot, whose feet were covered in thick rock, could feel the heat radiating upwards.
Imagine poor Kumoko with no protection at all! Right now, she felt like she was standing barefoot on sunbaked asphalt in the middle of summer, hopping around in pain.
"Hot, hot, hot! How come the Earth Dragon doesn't seem bothered by the heat?"
"..." Probably because dragons don't have sweat glands, Elliot thought. Creatures born of the earth and elements, like Sun Wukong from Journey to the West... If even Lao Tzu's eight-trigram furnace couldn't melt the Monkey King, why would mere lava bother a dragon?
"My feet are getting blisters! It's so hot! Hey Earth Dragon, can I stand on your back?"
"..." Elliot gave Kumoko a weary look. Ever since they entered the Middle Stratum, her mouth hadn't stopped moving, firing off complaints like a Gatling gun.
The harsh environment was clearly making her anxious. Being constantly surrounded by fiery red, bubbling lava, breathing scorching air Elliotit would make anyone restless and irritable.
Just then, Elliot slowed his pace. Something was moving beneath the surface of the lava nearby. Some kind of monster! They could actually live in lava, unharmed by the extreme heat.
"Wait here a sec. I'll go get you a delicious meal."
Splash! After casting [Earth Core] to shield himself, Elliot jumped straight into the lava sea.
The lava damage was high, but his shield skill was now a high LV 8. The shield itself was incredibly thick. Combined with his own resistances, the shield alone could last over ten seconds in the lava.
The cooldown for [Earth Core] was 20 seconds, leaving only a short gap without protection. Elliot figured his own HP pool could easily tank the damage during that brief window.
"Phew~ That scared me." Seeing Elliot jump into the lava without his health dropping much, Kumoko finally relaxed.
A delicious meal? In a hellhole like this? Where would you find good food? Everything here is some weird monster. Just finding something not disgusting would be a miracle.
Wait, are monsters that live in lava actually tasty? Kumoko wondered.
While she pondered, Elliot had already reached the bottom of the shallow lava pool. Even with the Jade Shield mitigating most of the damage, he needed to be quick.
Sure enough, two catfish-like monsters were lurking below. They were deep red and moved through the lava effortlessly.
Elroe Firebreather LV 8
HP: 490/490
Average Attack: 324
Info: Lesser dragon-kin monster inhabiting the Middle Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Omnivorous, capable of swallowing anything.
Yep, this was the Firebreather. Don't let its catfish appearance fool you; it possessed dragon blood. However, as lesser dragon-kin, their bloodline was even weaker than the Earth Drakes'. If Drakes were close relatives of Earth Dragons, then Firebreathers were like the dumb cousin of a distant relative.
In the original story, Kumoko killed one of these only after it ran out of mana and crawled onto land, where she could finally poison it to death.
Seeing Elliot drop into the lava, the two Firebreathers seemed stunned, as if they couldn't process what was happening.
Elliot didn't waste time. Ignoring the hundreds of points of damage per second from the lava, he shot forward like an arrow and, with a seemingly casual basic attack, smacked one of the Firebreathers dead on the spot.
The other Firebreather saw its companion get instantly killed and panicked, turning tail and diving deeper into the lava, escaping Elliot's reach.
"Only caught one, but it should be enough." Elliot grabbed the dead Firebreather and tossed it out of the lava onto the nearby bank.
Seeing the Firebreather corpse flop onto the ground, Kumoko looked extremely skeptical. "Isn't that just a normal catfish?" She circled it a few times but didn't see anything special.
This catfish likes swimming in lava... Does that mean lava flows through its veins? Is a catfish like that really edible? She had serious doubts about how it would taste.
Before she could think further, Elliot's MP suddenly dropped. He cast a skill.
"Sword light like me, slicing through all offal!" (A food-related quote, maybe from Genshin?)
Don't ask what kind of skill this was. All you need to know is... it was some kind of cooking skill! Several beams of bright purple sword energy flashed like lightning. It was hard to imagine a massive Earth Dragon moving with such agility!
The catfish was instantly diced into perfectly uniform chunks, neatly stacked together like meticulously folded blankets from boot camp.
Kumoko gasped, clearly stunned by Elliot's skill.
The shock didn't last long. She tentatively poked a piece of the catfish meat with one of her spider legs.
It was surprisingly springy, almost as if it were still alive.
When she popped a piece of the meat into her mouth, her expression instantly melted into pure bliss, like she was experiencing the greatest pleasure imaginable.
If she were wearing clothes right now, they probably would have exploded off her! Too bad she was a spider!
The meat was soft and tender, with an incredibly pleasant sweetness, a fruity aroma, and a smooth texture that melted in her mouth.
No girl could resist food this much like a perfect dessert. It was soft like cotton candy, and the subtle sweetness spread throughout her entire body.
Eating sweets often improves one's mood when feeling anxious or sad; it's a deep-seated human memory. Kumoko felt transported back in time, finding herself wandering through a playground made entirely of cake, the sole visitor...
Ahhh, catfish is delicious! Tears streamed down Kumoko's face instantly.
So good! Soooo good! Since reincarnating, this was the first time she'd eaten something truly delicious.
[Taste Enhancement LV 10]
[Smell Enhancement LV 10]
To maximize her enjoyment of this amazing food, Kumoko immediately spent skill points to max out these two previously "useless" sensory skills!
Ommm~ It was just too delicious! This catfish was definitely a rare delicacy in the labyrinth. No, even in the human world, this would be considered top-tier gourmet food, like dragon liver or phoenix marrow!
Before she knew it, Kumoko had devoured the entire catfish, leaving only a clean skeleton. She still looked unsatisfied, clearly wanting more.
"Earth Dragon, let's go catch some more catfish!"
"...Uh, okay, sure."
….
By continuously hunting catfish and other monsters in the Middle Stratum, Kumoko gained several more levels.
Elliot wasn't in a hurry to challenge the Lord of the Lava Sea just yet.
That thing was the big boss of the Middle Stratum, exceptionally strong. With Kumoko's current stats, facing the boss would mean certain death or immediate retreat.
When grinding with a friend (especially a girl), you couldn't just focus on your own fun; you had to make sure they felt involved too.
That was the true art of carrying someone! So, Elliot didn't push deeper into the Middle Stratum yet.
Instead, they focused on hunting various monsters around the lava sea, allowing Kumoko to get used to the environment.
If she couldn't even handle the environmental damage, how could she possibly fight the boss?
Soon, Kumoko's heat resistance and base health regeneration reached levels high enough to completely negate the burning environment.
Plus, she could finally use her webs here! Previously, her threads would instantly catch fire upon being shot.
But after some skill improvements, her webs gained fire resistance, allowing them to withstand the high temperatures and flames.
And now, she had reached the threshold for her second evolution. This evolution would mark a significant transformation.
"Evolution options: [Poison Taratect] and [Zoa Ele]... Huh? Poison Taratect makes sense, but what the heck is Zoa Ele?" Kumoko looked at her evolution choices, surprised. Why is there such a weird evolution path?
Hearing Kumoko muttering to herself, Elliot's eyes lit up. That evolution option... it finally appeared.
[Zoa Ele] (Death Scythe)
….
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