*Multiple evolution candidates available. Please select from the following.* *Poison Taratect* *Zoa-Ele* Ah, evolution, huh.
Evolution!?
Already!?
I thought the same thing back when I was a monkey, but isn't this way too fast!?
Well, evolution can wait for now.
Right now, I just want to savor this moment.
I won!!
Whoo-hoo!
I won, I won!
I beat that incredibly powerful eel!
Isn't that insane!?
Aren't I super strong!?
Uhe, uhehe.
I barely even used thread — I beat it head-on!
No one's calling me weak now, that's for sure!
I'm stroooong!
Woo-hoo!
The eel was a formidable opponent.
It truly was a tough enemy.
It was a life-or-death battle.
But the one who won was yours truly!
I'm number one!
Hehehehe.
Ah, damn.
I can't calm down yet.
Uhehe.
I mean, it was a dragon, right?
Not some half-hearted dragon like a dragon seahorse or a catfish — a proper, genuine dragon!
And I took it on one-on-one, fair and square, face to face, and defeated it!
Me!
Ah, the excitement's coming back.
Whoo-haay!
*Please wait a moment.
Hah... hah...
I'm out of breath from all the excitement.
Phew.
Alright, that's enough celebrating — let me think about what to do next.
First off, my Level shot up in one go.
As expected of an eel.
Being a dragon type is no joke.
Looking at my Stats alone, it was overwhelmingly superior, plus the effects of Pride, so it makes sense that I leveled up so dramatically.
My Skills also went up considerably from that fight, and the Experience Points were really satisfying.
That said, honestly, whether I could win or not really came down to luck.
In truth, if I'd made even one wrong move, I'd be nothing but ash right now.
That's how strong the eel was.
More than that, if you only looked at raw Stats, there didn't seem to be any way I could win.
Between this and the monkey fight, am I pushing my luck too much with these close battles?
The Skills I'm happiest about are HP Auto-Recovery and Fire Resistance going up.
Until now, my auto-recovery was being offset by the heat terrain damage, but with the level-up, it should now slightly outpace the damage.
I can't verify it right now since the level-up fully restored me, but still.
Now, even a bit of damage should heal over time.
I'd been under a pretty strict condition of minimizing damage as much as possible, but from here on, it should get a little easier.
Well, even so, a direct hit would still send me straight to the afterlife.
So, I've reached Level 10.
Level 10 means I can evolve.
But should I, though?
Is it really okay to evolve here?
That's because evolution comes with its own set of dangers.
First, during evolution, I completely lose consciousness.
During that time, I'm completely defenseless — if other Monsters attacked, I'd be helpless.
Last time and the time before, I spun a web nest and evolved safely inside it, but that's not an option this time.
For one, I can't use thread.
If I tried to build a nest in this magma-filled place, it'd catch fire while I was still building it.
Evolve in the middle of a fire? No way.
And that's not all.
Since evolution consumes energy, both my MP and SP will be completely drained.
MP isn't so bad, but if my SP hits zero, the hunger could prevent me from functioning at all.
In the worst case, I could starve to death.
In previous evolutions, there happened to be large amounts of food available, so I could gorge myself right after evolving and barely manage. But this time, there are no such reserves.
Well, the eel is there, but even with that massive body, I doubt it would fully restore my SP.
I probably won't starve, but I'll need to actively hunt for prey for a while.
Oh, but what about my Overeating stock?
Every time I've evolved before, my Overeating stock was empty.
The fight with the eel depleted a fair amount, but there's still quite a bit left.
If I could use that stock as energy for evolution, maybe I wouldn't be completely drained.
Hmm.
But I shouldn't operate on wishful thinking.
Part of me wants to evolve, but considering safety and everything else, maybe it'd be better not to?
Then again, I worried about this before too — I'm not sure if my Level will keep going up at this rate.
For Small types, Level 10 might be the cap.
If that's the case, I'd still be grinding through the Middle Layer, and all those Experience Points would go to waste.
That really can't happen.
When I think about it that way, maybe I should evolve after all?
Hmm.
Well, there seem to be multiple evolution candidates again, so let me use Appraisal to investigate.
So, Appraisal, please do your thing.
『Evolvable: Poison Taratect or Zoa-Ele』
Huh?
Poison Taratect, sure, but what's this Zoa-Ele thing?
It's not even a Taratect!
『Zoa-Ele — Evolution Requirements: A small spider-type Monster with Stats above a certain threshold, and the "Assassin" Title — Description: Said to be an omen of misfortune and feared by many, this small spider-type Monster possesses high combat ability and stealth.』
Oh, Appraisal!
It even has added conditions for evolution!
As expected of Appraisal!
Thorough in every respect!
Hmm.
So basically, my Stats have surpassed the required threshold, which is why I can now evolve.
That means before this, I was below the requirement.
Come to think of it, does having a Title factor into evolution too?
Maybe the reason I was able to evolve into a Poison Taratect was because I had the Poison Master Title?
That does seem possible.