Right then, skills, skills.
Properly checking your Skills is important.
Really important.
Why, you ask?
Because I never noticed the resistance-granting effect of the All-Purpose Thread until now!
Ugh, I know. It's just...
My own stupidity.
How could I miss something so important?
One of the All-Purpose Thread's effects, Resistance Granting, does exactly what it says — it can imbue the thread with the effects of any resistance-type Skill I possess.
In other words, I can grant Fire Resistance.
Granting status-ailment resistances like Poison Resistance wouldn't be all that useful, but if I granted something like Acid Resistance, it'd make me incredibly tough against frogs and the like.
I only discovered Resistance Granting by pure chance while re-checking my Skills the other day.
Yeah, I was pretty shocked.
Shocked that such an effect existed, and at my own carelessness for having overlooked it so completely.
Ah, if I'd found this effect a little sooner, the thread could've seen more use.
Well, even with Fire Resistance stacked on, it wouldn't have changed the fact that things still burn, so it probably wouldn't have made a dramatic difference anyway.
Silver lining, I guess.
Anyway — time to check the new Title and Skills I got this time.
So this is what defeating a dragon gets you.
Who'd have thought I'd earn a Title just from taking one down?
How do the effects look?
[Dragon Slayer: Acquired Skills "Destiny LV1," "Dragon Power LV1." Acquisition condition: Defeat a Dragon-class species. Effect: Increased damage dealt to dragons and Dragon-class species. Description: A Title bestowed upon those who have slain a Dragon-class species.]
Feels like an upgraded version of the previous one.
The Skills match the theme too.
[Destiny: Adds a bonus of Skill Level × 100 to HP. Additionally, upon leveling up, grants a growth bonus of Skill Level × 10.]
[Dragon Power: Temporarily grants the power of a dragon.]
Nice!
I got a Skill to patch up that pathetic HP of mine!
Thanks to Fortitude, my body wasn't as squishy as it used to be, but HP is still HP — you want it there.
MP, on the other hand, can get blown all at once in a fight like this one.
Ah, but the level-up determination came through before I got the Title, so I wasted a good chunk of four levels' worth of growth bonus.
If the Title acquisition had processed before the level-up, I'd have been swimming in even more bonuses with that growth modifier.
Mmm, well. Can't be helped.
Dragon Power is an evolution of Dragon Strength, I assume?
If so, it's basically a straightforward temporary stat-boost Skill, but I'll need to test how much of a difference it makes compared to Dragon Strength later.
Important. Very important.
I didn't get a chance to test Abyss Magic before, so I went in blind this time — but confirming your Skill effects really is crucial.
Ah.
Abyss Magic, huh.
I'd love to at least fire off some test shots at Level 2 and above, but the power on this thing is no joke.
I mean, even the Level 1 spell reshapes terrain.
What's it going to be like when it levels up?
The MP cost is nothing to scoff at either — this isn't something you can just casually toss around.
No matter how vast this place is, it's still a dungeon underground. If I go firing off Abyss Magic recklessly and cause a cave-in, it'd be an absolute disaster.
Right now, even Level 1 is absurdly powerful. Going above that is genuinely terrifying.
Unless some enemy shows up so strong that the Gate of Hell can't handle them, Abyss Magic Level 2 and beyond will stay sealed until I'm out of the Great Ello Dungeon.
Now then — my level-up also caused several Skills to evolve or branch.
From Evasion and Accuracy, Probability Adjustment branched off.
Three-Dimensional Movement evolved into Spatial Movement.
Probability Adjustment is the one Eels and the like had.
Well, that tracks — I'd seen the Skill loadouts of eels and such, so the branch was pretty much what I expected.
Since both Evasion and Accuracy are already maxed out, all I need to do now is level up Probability Adjustment.
That should give a nice boost to both Evasion and Accuracy in turn.
This Skill might even improve my Luck, huh.
Let me keep my fingers crossed.
I'd really like to live a slightly more peaceful life, please. Pretty please.
Alright.
Now the one I'm curious about is Spatial Movement — the evolution of Three-Dimensional Movement.
Let's see?
[Spatial Movement: Enables free movement through all forms of space.]
Hmm?
Sounds impressive on paper, but I'm not really sure what it means.
All forms of space?
Like, air?
Could I do double jumps or something?
This is another one I'll need to test later.
Skills tend to get a huge usability boost when they evolve.
Sometimes a previously underwhelming Skill transforms into something amazing — and Spatial Movement might be one of those.
If I could pull off double jumps, it'd open up a whole new range of tactics.
I think that covers it?
Yeah.
My Skills have gotten a pretty serious upgrade.
Still, man — if only I'd gained one more level.
Another leap forward would've been possible.
What a waste.
************************* "A dragon has been destroyed? Location — the Great Ello Dungeon. Was it that one's doing? No. There's an unspoken pact of non-aggression between us. It shouldn't have moved on its own. Then what was it? Administrator authority, activate. …What is this? A Ruler? Three of them? What's going on? I know nothing of any Wisdom? The only one capable of this would be D. But why? What is this Skill? …I need to investigate."