I got Cursed Evil Eye Level 1!
Yay!
Since I went through the trouble of getting it, I need to find a Monster to use as my test subject.
So let me dig through Detection's info and find something that fits.
Hmm.
Hmm hmm hmm.
Looks like there's something over there.
It's still too far away to get precise info, but it seems to have made its way onto land.
Perfect — I'll use this one as my test subject.
『Elro Gaea Frog — Level 4 Status HP: 85/85 (Green) MP: 75/75 (Blue) SP: 68/68 (Yellow) SP: 68/68 (Red) Average Attack: 67 Average Defense: 59 Average Magic: 46 Average Resistance: 46 Average Speed: 43 Skills "Poison Synthesis Level 3" "Acid Attack Level 3" "Ejection Level 4" "Swimming Level 2" "Dark Vision Level 7" "Poison Resistance Level 2" "Acid Resistance Level 2" "Heat Nullification"』
Oh, it's an evolved frog.
This must be what my familiar little frog looks like after Evolution.
Doesn't feel like it got that much stronger, but I guess it Evolved to adapt to the Middle Layer's environment.
It does have Heat Nullification, after all.
Also, anyone who has Dark Vision in an area where magma lights everything up is probably an Evolution from the Upper Layer, I'd bet.
Both the Upper and Lower Layers are pitch black, so that makes sense.
Maybe it wandered in from the Upper Layer and Evolved out of necessity or something.
I really hope nothing from the Lower Layer is working its way up to the Middle Layer.
If something down there Evolved to adapt to the Middle Layer's environment, that'd be terrifying.
Also, looking at this frog's Skills, I just realized — the attack I thought was saliva? Apparently it's the same Poison Synthesis I have.
And then it launches the stuff with Ejection.
That's a nice Skill.
I want that one too.
With that, I could make poison pellets way more potent than anything this frog could manage.
Would I gain Proficiency if I kept firing silk out of my butt really fast?
While Information Duty's over there daydreaming about dumb stuff, let's just get this done.
First, I'll use Poison Synthesis to set all the damage-type effects of weak poison to minimum.
And paralysis to maximum.
The frog has Poison Resistance, so it shouldn't die from weak poison.
I slip behind the frog and synthesize weak poison.
And done — frog test subject acquired!
Oh, Body Duty, nice work.
Now I can test the Cursed Evil Eye with a clear conscience.
Alright, activating Evil Eye!
Okay.
Activation went smoothly enough.
How's it look?
Ooh, ooh.
The frog's HP, MP, and SP are slowly decreasing.
At Level 1, the damage really does trickle in slowly.
The yellow SP and red SP are both going down, but the yellow one recovers faster than the drain, so it's basically a wash.
If I level up, could the damage outpace recovery?
If so, I could put it in a permanent state of breathlessness.
That's brutal.
Oh, but it'd probably die from HP loss first.
HP and SP are roughly in the same range, after all.
Oh, the Status values are going down too.
There's a "decreasing" label added next to the numbers.
And now the maximum values are shown in parentheses next to the current numbers.
Ohhh.
So when you take an attack that lowers Status, the display changes to this?
Seeing this, you'd instantly know something hit you.
As expected of Appraisal — thorough in every regard.
That said, this Evil Eye is definitely not a cost-free passive Skill.
MP is going down.
But the drain isn't that fast.
Roughly one MP every ten seconds or so.
The frog's HP drains about once every five seconds, so efficiency-wise it's not bad?
Considering my current MP pool, I could keep it active for over fifty minutes. Cost-benefit-wise, that seems pretty efficient.
The damage speed will increase as I level up too.
Oh, the frog's paralysis is about to wear off.
And just as I thought that, Body Duty applied another round of Poison Synthesis.
That's my girl.
Quick response.
Hmm.
HP and the other values are still steadily decreasing, but the Status drain has slowed way down.
Each Status was dropping at about the same speed as HP until it hit roughly half, but after that it barely moves at all.
So there's a floor to how far Status can drop?
Thinking about it, that makes sense.
If it kept dropping indefinitely, the frog's Defense could hit zero and then what?
What kind of flimsy tissue-paper body would that be?
But being able to cut Stats in half is already a huge deal.
Against a weakling like this frog it doesn't matter much, but if you cut the Stats of something powerful like an Eel in half…
Monsters rely on Stats more than Skills in most fights, so debuffing their Stats is a direct and massive nerf.
Even the Eel would be roughly catfish-tier if its Stats were halved.
This could be a trump card against powerful Monsters.
I should prioritize leveling up the Skill going forward.
Hm?
Wait?
The frog is dead!?
Huh?
It still had HP left, though?
Its HP was dropping and then suddenly plummeted, but why?
Oh — before the HP dropped, the red SP hit zero.
Ah, right.
When red SP hits zero, HP starts draining rapidly.
That's scary!
Whoa.
Right after Evolution, that would've been super dangerous.
Thank goodness I ate. Thanks to Overeating, red SP doesn't run out easily, but I should be careful going forward.
Anyway, Cursed Evil Eye seems like it'll be quite useful.
I'll activate it when I have MP to spare and farm some Proficiency.
Yeah.
I'll keep a minimum of half my MP in reserve for emergencies and dedicate the rest to the Evil Eye.
The Evil Eye can be active even while I'm on the move, after all.