So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 2 Page 9

  Catfiiiish! Catfiiish! Where aaare youuu, catfiiiiish?

  I wander through the labyrinth, looking for catfish.

  There aren’t any.

  They’re all over me when I don’t want to see them, but now that I do, they’re nowhere to be found?

  Hurry up and come out. Come out so I can eat you.

  Ugh. Of course something else turns up at a time like this.

 
  Status: HP: 170/170 (green) MP: 161/161 (blue)

  SP: 158/158 (yellow) : 156/167 (red)

  Average Offensive Ability: 87 Average Defensive Ability: 84

  Average Magical Ability: 84 Average Resistance Ability: 81

  Average Speed Ability: 91

  Skills:

  [Fire Wyrm LV 1] [Hit LV 4] [Swim LV 4] [Heat Nullification]

  >

  There are three sea horses in total.

  And something new happened when I Appraised one of them.

  Ooh, nice!

  Since my Appraisal skill went up, now I can see my opponents’ skills, too!

  Whoa! Finally, it’s starting to work like a real cheat skill!

  Man, though, sea horse, where are all your skills at? You’ve only got four?

  That’s way too few. So that’s why you seem weaker than your stats.

  Plus, they’re all low-level except for Heat Nullification, which is clearly a maxed-out version of Fire Resistance.

  I should probably Appraise the skills I haven’t seen before.

 

 

  Hmm. So Fire Wyrm is a species-specific skill that only fire wyrms have.

  Just like my Spider Thread.

  I guess all it can do at level 1 is shoot those fireballs, though.

  Actually, why is its Fire Wyrm skill at level 1 when the sea horse itself is level 8?

  Is it that difficult to raise its skill level, or is this guy just slacking on earning proficiency?

  And Swim is just a skill that makes you better at swimming.

  Hmph. Now that I’ve seen this thing’s skills, I’m even more confident. There’s no way I can lose to this guy.

  So let’s just finish this off…not very smoothly, I guess.

  I mean, these guys are still in the magma.

  All I can do is chuck little rocks at them for the moment.

  Hmm. Maybe I can try poisoning the stones?

  I give it a shot, but it doesn’t really do much more damage than before.

  My Deadly Spider Poison causes two different kinds of damage: contact damage and ingestion damage.

  Contact damage occurs when the poison makes contact with skin and such, while ingestion damage is when the poison penetrates into the opponent’s body.

  Between the two, ingestion damage is way, way higher.

  Contact damage isn’t very effective at first, but if the poison stays there long enough, the amount of damage increases explosively.

  That’s because poison seeps into the body after a while.

  In other words, contact damage eventually becomes ingestion damage.

  Unless it gets rinsed or rubbed off beforehand, of course.

  So when I’m fighting a monster that can’t wash away the poison, I don’t need to bother aiming for the mouth. I just have to smear poison somewhere on its body.

  If I want to be quick about it, it’s best to aim for the mouth or the eyes, but for safety’s sake, it’s better to apply it as many places as possible. Everything depends on the situation, of course.

  Once the sea horses run out of MP and come ashore, I douse them all with poison. Their mouths are so small, they’re hard to target. It’s easier just to slosh it all over them.

  Catfiiiish! I’ve been looking for you everywhere, catfiiish! I finally found you, catfiiish!

  Now then, gimme that meat of yours! Give it here right now!

  I have no choice but to kill you and eat your flesh! Reunited with my beloved catfish at last!

  The catfish is blithely swimming through the magma.

  First, I have to drag it out.

  Incidentally, I was able to Appraise the catfish’s skills, too.

  Its stats aren’t that different from the last one.

  This catfish’s skills are [Fire Wyrm LV 2], [Dragon Scales LV 1], [Hit LV 7], [Swim LV 6], [Heat Nullification], and [Overeating LV 2].

  The ability it can use with Fire Wyrm level 2 is called Heat Wrap. As the name implies, the catfish wraps its body in heat.

  I assumed it was a defensive thing, but according to Appraisal’s explanation, it mostly serves to increase movement speed when used.

  However, since it heats up your body, it’ll actually cause damage if the user doesn’t have Fire Resistance. Not that it matters in this case, since the catfish has Heat Nullification.

  Dragon Scales is a skill that makes special scales grow all over the creature’s body.

  They’re special because, on top of having high defense, they negate magic to a certain degree.

  Like, instead of just blocking it, apparently, it interferes with the composition of magic itself and lowers its potency or something.

  Well, I can’t use magic anyway, so they’re just a bunch of hard scales to me.

  And we all know what the rest of those skills do by now.

  Something just occurred to me, though. Is it possible that the catfish is an evolution of the sea horse?

  They’re both fire wyrms, and the catfish has skills that are advanced versions of the sea horse’s.

  It just has higher levels—and the additions of Dragon Scales and Overeating.

  Between that and their respective species names, it does seem possible.

  But if that’s true, that means it evolves from that form into this one?

  Biologically speaking, isn’t a sea horse technically more evolved than a catfish?

  I mean, I don’t really know enough about the subject to argue either way, but still.

  They look pretty different, but I suppose…if you stretched a sea horse’s mouth reeeal wide and made its body big and heavy, maybe it’d look like a catfish?

  Hmm. I dunno.

  Well, that doesn’t really matter anyway.

  My only concern right now is gnawing on that catfish’s flesh.

  So let’s get things started with a poisonous stone throw!

  The rock bounces off the catfish’s back.

  Yep. It didn’t do much damage. No surprises there.

  Guess I’ll have to stick with the strategy of nailing it with Poison Synthesis when it charges again.

  Or so I thought. Now the stupid catfish is launching a fireball at me from the magma.

  For real? This is way bigger and faster than the sea horses’ fireballs.

  It’s still not gonna hit me, though. I hop lightly to avoid the shot.

  For the most part, Thought Acceleration just stretches out my sense of time by a tiny bit, but it does make everything else seem a bit slower than normal.

  Thanks to my insanely high speed stat, I can still move pretty quickly compared with the rest of the world even in this inhibited state.

  I assume, though, that when Thought Acceleration levels up, time will get even slower, so I’m not sure what’ll happen then.

  For now, it seems like 1 second is stretched to 1.1 seconds, maybe?

  I don’t know the specifics, but that’s what it feels like to me.

  The catfish fires a second volley.

  I can’t believe this guy. Same tactics as those sea horses.

  I guess maybe the catfish really is the evolved form of the sea horse.

  Was the one that decided to jump on land earlier just an outlier? Do they normally use the same strategy as the sea horses?

  Ah, but now they have the Heat Wrap ability and stuff, so maybe they change things up depending on the circumsta
nce.

  Maybe the one before reacted like, “Oh, I popped my face out, and now there’s something right in front of me. Guess I’ll attack it,” or something.

  I dodge the catfish’s next fireball.

  It should run out of MP soon. What’ll it do then?

  The sea horses crawl ashore when they run out of MP, but what about catfish?

  I really want it to beach itself, but judging by what happened last time, it seems like they run if they sense danger.

  I won’t allow that, okay? I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth, got it?

  Oblivious to my concerns, the catfish stops attacking.

  Hmm? But it still has a little MP left…

  Ah, it went under. Did it use Heat Wrap?

  It’s pretty cool that I know this stuff about my opponents now. Appraisal really is a wonderful cheat.

  Eh? The catfish is opening its mouth?

  What’s it gonna do?

  Once its mouth is completely open, I hear a sound effect from its belly that can only be described as a rumble.

  Huh? What’s it doing?

  I don’t remember seeing any skill like this?

  As I stand momentarily dumbfounded, I feel something like wind on my body.

  Wait, am I getting sucked into the thing’s mouth?

  What are you, that round pink character from the stars?!

  Is this some new use of the Overeating skill or something?!

  Crap, I’m gonna get sucked in and dragged away through the magma…or not.

  Oh. The sound is really loud, and there’s wind and all, but it’s not actually strong enough to budge me.

  The catfish stops hoovering. Guess it noticed.

  Then our eyes meet.

  Well, this is awkward…

  Maybe it’s a little nervous—or it could be the sort of vacant expression catfish always seem to have, but is this guy, like, the friendly mascot character of the Middle Stratum or something?

  Next, the catfish comes wriggling out of the magma. It’s actually kind of cute, I have to admit.

  Then it opens its huge mouth and lunges toward me.

  Oh, well, that’s not cute at all. But it’s exactly what I was waiting for!

  Once it gets close enough, I use Poison Synthesis.

  At the same time, I quickly jump out of the way.

  The catfish swallows the deadly poison as it moves straight ahead.

  I stand off to the side and watch. Oh, it fell over.

  Now it’s flopping around.

  Deadly Spider Poison sure is strong.

  I don’t think any ordinary venom would have this big of an effect. When you combine Poison Synthesis with the spider poison I’ve had all my life, seems like it makes something way potent.

  Really, this skill is just perfect for me.

  Anyway, I’ll spray more poison on the suffering catfish.

  The big lug gives one last shudder and dies.

  Now I just have to wait for the effects of the magma, Heat Wrap, and such to wear off so it cools.

  Then it’s dinnertime!

  Up to now, I’ve been eating monsters strictly for survival, but this time it’s different!

  I can actually enjoy the delicious taste.

  Ah, what a time to be alive!

  I hope it cools down soon.

  I can’t wait to eat it!

  MAGIC LESSON

  Today’s class is magic practice.

  After learning the fundamentals, we were permitted to take practical lessons to actually use magic.

  “We will now distribute staffs for magic training. For safety’s sake, we’ve chosen water-magic-imbued staffs for today.”

  Our instructor, Professor Oriza, speaks in a slightly disinterested voice as he hands out staffs.

  The students scramble to be the first to receive them.

  “You all have Magic Power Perception and Magic Power Operation, correct? Because students without those skills can’t take this lesson. If anyone doesn’t have them, please come forward now.”

  All the students in the class have Magic Power Perception and Magic Power Operation, of course.

  In fact, Professor Oriza taught them to us himself last time.

  “Now, please concentrate your magic power.”

  Obeying his instructions, I focus on gathering my magic.

  “Once that is done, try to let it flow into your staff. Then the magic in the staff will activate on its own.”

  Huh? That’s it?

  “These staffs are enchanted with the level-1 Water Magic spell Water Ball. It is a simple spell that projects spheres of water, but please be sure not to point it at anyone. There are targets for that purpose.”

  Professor Oriza points at an area where several targets have been set up.

  Without further ado, the students begin casting magic.

  Most of them don’t have enough magic power, or their spells are incompletely formed, or some other issue occurs, and their spells dissipate before reaching the target.

  “You can use as much magic as you’d like during this period. If you use it enough, you may even gain the Water Magic skill. However, please do pay attention to the amount of magic power you have remaining and stop as soon as it reaches a dangerous level. Otherwise, don’t come crying to me if you overdo it and pass out.”

  How irresponsible.

  But I guess there are probably people who collapse every year.

  A lot of the students are using magic for the first time, and some of them are extremely excited about it.

  It’s no surprise that one or two might get too hyped up and push past their limits.

  “Water Magic, huh? I would’ve preferred Earth Magic, myself.”

  Fei complains from her position on my shoulder.

  Fei is an earth wyrm, so she probably has a higher aptitude for Earth Magic than Water.

  I know my own aptitudes, too, having seen them during the Appraisal ceremony.

  Light Magic is the highest, followed by Water.

  In that respect, you could say this lesson is worthwhile for me.

  However, there are only a handful of Appraisal Stones in existence powerful enough to show one’s compatibility with different attributes.

  Instead, people who don’t have access to such high-quality items use enchanted tools to invoke magic and acquire skills that way, like we’re doing now.

  You can figure out whether you have a knack for that kind of magic based on how quickly you acquire the skills.

  However, that isn’t an option unless you have access to magic tools with multiple attributes. In many cases, impoverished magic-user families only have one kind of magic tool to their names.

  In that situation, you’d have no choice but to use that attribute whether you have an aptitude for it or not.

  But at this school, there are magic tools with every kind of attribute, so no such problem exists.

  “I simply don’t have a knack for Water. On the contrary, I seem to be inclined toward Fire.”

  “That’s funny. I’m bad with Water and good at Fire, too.”

  I overhear a conversation between Katia and Hugo.

  Despite her claims, Katia’s conjured balls of water are striking the targets perfectly.

  Considering that most of the students haven’t even gotten their spells to reach their marks yet, I’d say that solid strikes are pretty good already.

  Looking around, the only people I’ve seen successfully hit are Katia, Hugo, and Yuri, formerly Hasebe.

  Yuri is focusing intently on blasting water balls at the targets.

  I have to wonder if it’s safe to shoot that much, but I suspect that even if I speak to Yuri now, she won’t hear me.

  She’s probably planning to stick with it until she gets the skill, even if her MP runs out.

  By the way, Ms. Oka isn’t around.

  She shows for class or doesn’t as she pleases.

  And she won’t tell us what she’s doing when she isn’t around. />
  Anyway, I feel like Sue would be able to do it if she tried, but she’s just hanging out behind me, making no attempt to use magic at all.

  “Sue, don’t you want to practice?”

  “Oh, I mustn’t go ahead of my older brother. Instead, I shall wait until you demonstrate your incredible magical prowess, then sneak in my own practice while everyone fawns over you admiringly.”

  Hoo, boy. Way to raise the bar.

  I did always want to be an older brother who my sister could be proud of, but lately, that’s translated into a crazy amount of pressure.

  In the meantime, some of the students have run out of magic power and started taking breaks.

  That means that some targets have opened up, so I guess I’ll try, too.

  Now that I think about it, this will be my first time experimenting with magic.

  Until now, Anna always stopped me from practicing anything but controlling magical power, so I’ve never actually used it.

  Now I’m getting a little excited.

  Though at the same time, the pressure from my sister makes me a little nervous.

  “Hmph, I don’t see the point of practicing magic I know I’m gonna suck at.” As if to deflate my excitement, Hugo tosses away his staff. “It’s way more efficient to improve what you’re already good at than practice on your weaknesses.”

  Hugo gathers his magical power. What’s he planning?

  The next moment, he casts. Without a staff.

  The result is a fire spell. So he already had Fire Magic as a skill?!

  The flames engulf the entire row of targets.

  What incredible destructive power.

  For the students who couldn’t even reach the targets, this must be a clear display of how strong he is.

  In fact, it was perfect timing for showing off. Hugo must have realized that and pulled his stunt on purpose as a demonstration of his ability.

  Still, this is way too much!

  Flames swirl around the spot where the targets once stood.

  If no one does anything, the fire might spread and engulf the entire class.

  I pour all my magical power into the staff in my hand and unleash it toward the flames.

  The staff absorbs my magic, activates the Water Magic spell enchanted into it, and launches a water ball.

  The projectile lands directly in the flames and bursts open with a huge splash.

  …Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.