Eating.
Eating.
Eating.
Like pulling silk.
Slowly and carefully.
Chewing with slurps.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Gluttony LV2』has become『Gluttony LV3』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Divinity Expansion LV4』has become『Divinity Expansion LV5』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Taboo LV8』has become『Taboo LV9』》 I kept pushing forward at a faster pace for several days.
Looking at the auto-map that the Goddess of Wisdom draws for me, I can tell I've traveled a considerable distance.
It seems the Middle Layer meanders in a snake-like fashion between the Upper Layer and Lower Layer, blanketing everything evenly.
Unlike the Upper Layer, it's nice that it's basically a single road, but the journey is absurdly long.
Along the way, I found a few vertical shafts that looked like passages meant for the Mother, but of course I didn't go near them.
Just because I beat the Fire Dragon doesn't mean I should get cocky.
I still don't feel like I can beat the Mother.
Actually, thinking back to that mysterious attack she launched when I spotted her in the Middle Layer—I'm starting to think that might've been a Dragon Force breath attack.
It's just speculation, but it wouldn't be surprising if the Mother had Dragon Force.
If that's the case, then the Mother has already achieved Dragon Slaying.
Ha ha ha.
There's no way I can win.
Like I'd approach somewhere that thing might be lurking.
I continued without any particularly dangerous encounters along the way.
No Fire Dragons, and not even Fire Lizards.
As expected, the overall Monster level in the Middle Layer is significantly lower than in the Lower Layer.
Maybe that's why stronger Monsters don't develop here.
The Eel—I did detect a few fish-like shadows that might've been one, but none emerged from the magma.
I tried firing breaths and magic at it, but that only made it hide deeper.
The Catfish was the same.
Actually, even the Sea Dragons that were annoyingly aggressive at first now flee the moment they see me.
I can one-shot them if I slam a breath in before they notice, but the cost is steep and no corpse remains.
Even if one did remain, it'd just sink into the magma, so what's the point?
Then I can't get any food.
It adds to Experience Points, but considering the cost-to-benefit ratio, I'd rather not bother.
So I just painstakingly took out the ones that happened to be on the surface.
That way, I don't burn through SP needlessly and can sustain myself just fine.
Experience Points have been accumulating little by little too—I've got about half what I had before fighting the Fire Dragon.
But still, only half.
The road to Evolution is long.
Anyway, since I was keeping SP consumption low, the related skills didn't grow much.
Well, it can't be helped.
I wouldn't need to exercise restraint if I could eat to my heart's content, but I wanted to keep a decent SP reserve in case I ran into a tough enemy like the Fire Dragon at any time.
Besides, if there were no Monsters on the surface, I could easily starve.
I couldn't just spend SP without a care.
On the flip side, MP-related skills grew quite a bit.
Various magics, plus Poison Synthesis, Mana Combat, various Evil Eyes.
For magic, Shadow Magic hit level 10.
As predicted, the derivative skill was Dark Magic.
Shadow Magic still felt underwhelming even at max level, so I think I'll focus on training Dark Magic going forward.
Space Magic also leveled up decently, but I still haven't learned Teleport.
My level is steadily rising so there's no need to rush, but its growth is slower compared to other magics and it's nerve-wracking.
Poison Synthesis and Poison Magic both hit max level too.
Surprisingly—or rather, what can you say—the derivative skills turned out to be similar in nature: Medicine Synthesis and Healing Magic respectively.
Maybe that's how it works?
Poison can become medicine, and all that?
Either way, I've finally acquired a means of recovery.
Up until now, recovery relied entirely on level-ups and auto-regen, so being able to actively heal injuries is a big deal.
Well, my level is still low and I haven't had my HP reduced yet, so I can't confirm the effect.
Once I have some room, I plan to intentionally lower my HP and test it out.
Heterodox Magic hit max level too.
And the derivative skill it produced was a major problem.
It was Taboo.
Thankfully, the level didn't go up—I thought my heart was going to stop.
Actually, it didn't go up at that point, but somewhere along the way it became level 9.
One more and it's maxed.
That might be a little dangerous.
Several Evil Eyes maxed out too.
The Curse Evil Eye evolved into the Curse Resentment Evil Eye.
This Evil Eye is something else—the HP reduced by the curse gets restored to me.
Its raw attack power has also increased, so the effect is vastly superior to its pre-evolution version.
I can't absorb Status effects, naturally, but being able to absorb SP is huge.
Suck it up with the Evil Eye, and eating on top of that accelerates the effect even further!
The Paralyze Evil Eye also evolved, becoming the Stillness Evil Eye.
This one seems to have an attribute close to time-stop layered on top of paralysis.
Monsters that would only tremble a bit when paralyzed now freeze completely still with this Evil Eye.
I think it's a blend of paralysis and an attribute I'm not familiar with.
I checked the skill list and there's no attribute that matches, so I can't say for sure.
Well, once it lands, victory is still guaranteed as always, so it's simply stronger now.
The Gravity Evil Eye leveled up but didn't quite reach max.
In exchange, thanks to having it constantly active on myself for so long, I gained a resistance called Gravity Resistance.
Though, getting that resistance backfired by reducing my weight training efficiency.
And finally—Telescopic Sight.
This evolved into Clairvoyance.
The effect is an enhanced version of Telescopic Sight, with the addition of X-ray Vision.
I can now see through walls to the scenery on the other side.
However, it's not quite what you'd imagine when you hear "Clairvoyance"—the ability to see anywhere in the world.
It feels more like an extension of Telescopic Sight.
And reflected in that Clairvoyance for a little while now has been something.
A long slope leading upward.
It's been long.
I've been through hell to get here.
And that's finally coming to a close.
Goodbye to this godforsaken inferno of a place.
I'm home, Upper Layer.