Well, I've at least secured food for now.
Given the size of these bees, I should be able to stave off hunger for several days on what I've got.
That takes care of stamina worries.
Which means my options have expanded.
The most realistic one is to keep hunting bees the same way and wait for my Level to go up.
No reckless adventures, steady and safe farming.
Another option is to expand the nest further.
Upward.
Exploring the bottom area here?
No thanks.
It's not a question of whether I can or can't.
I just don't want to.
The Earth Dragon is terrifying.
Absolutely not.
So ideally, I want to climb up somehow and get back to the original passage I fell down from.
To do that, I'll have to find a way to dodge the bees.
Just scrambling up the wall plain and simple would make me nothing but bee fodder, so I need some kind of countermeasure.
What I came up with was extending the nest itself upward.
"Plan" is generous — more like brute force.
Yeah, even I have to admit this is an absurdly crude approach.
But it's the only way back up I can think of.
Of course, there are plenty of downsides.
First off, building nest consumes stamina. The more I build, the more I burn through.
And this time is different from usual — I'd be building upward along the wall surface.
Since the method's totally different, I have no idea how much extra stamina it'll cost.
It's going to be a pretty large-scale construction project, and with only the bees I have on hand right now, there's no way I'll have enough stamina. I'll need to replenish somehow.
And beyond just resupply, I might end up fighting bees along the way.
Right now they're leaving me alone, but if I keep extending the nest upward, eventually I'll encroach into the bees' main territory.
Airspace violation.
Whether they'll let that slide or not...
Worst case, hundreds — or even thousands — of bees patrolling overhead could all swoop down on me at once. An absolute nightmare scenario.
Against those kinds of numbers, not even the nest could protect me.
And bees aren't the only threat to worry about.
So far, nothing besides bees has entered this vertical shaft. Just the snake and the Earth Dragon from the very beginning.
But what if that Earth Dragon shows up again...?
Last time I managed to hide behind a rock and wait it out, but if I'm expanding the nest, I'm bound to attract attention whether I like it or not.
If it takes any interest in me, it's game over.
I'm already on edge about the Earth Dragon showing up as it is.
So this plan, if successful, would let me escape this super-dangerous zone once and for all — but the risks are just as enormous.
Still, I don't have any other choice.
Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I can't think of it.
Alright, resolve set — time to build!
First, the foundation.
You need a solid foundation before you can build a house.
It's no exaggeration to say the quality of the foundation determines the quality of the building.
And there's a perfect rock right here for it!
The very first rock I hid behind when I got here.
Perched right against the wall, it's about seven meters tall and roughly five meters wide — quite a hefty thing.
I'll use this rock as the foundation and expand the nest from there.
The current nest is built in the gap between this rock and the wall, plus a bit that juts out to the side.
First, I'll seal off the gap between the opposite rock and the wall with silk.
Then, running from the rock's peak to the wall, I'll attach diagonal strands upward.
Using those as the backbone, I'll connect everything between the rock and the wall.
Foundation complete.
After that, I just need to extend the nest upward bit by bit.
I'll eat bees to recover stamina while I work.
Along the way, a few bee squads came and stared in my direction, but sure enough, they didn't attack.
I guess at this level, I'm still within the "tolerable" range.
I called it a day once I'd finished eating all the bees and went to sleep.
Day five.
The pain seems to have eased up a bit.
HP still at 6, same as before.
Since it hasn't recovered, maybe my Pain Reduction skill leveled up while I was sleeping.
Probably did.
Having less pain is wonderful.
I could get around fine before thanks to Pain Nullification, but there's still a world of difference between having pain and not having it.
Well, the pain hasn't vanished completely, and the wound certainly hasn't healed.
But it's way more bearable.
I never had any serious injuries like this back when I was human.
The worst pain I remember as a human was stubbing my pinky toe on a door corner.
That hurt like hell.
But it doesn't compare to having a gaping hole blown through my back.
With my spirits so much higher, the work progresses smoothly.
Partway through, I spotted a straggler nearby.
But the squad is pretty close too.
Hmm.
Let me use this as a chance to experiment — I'll poke the straggler and see what happens.
If the squad reacts, I'll immediately retreat deep into the nest.
If they don't, I'll press on.
I swing the Spider Morningstar.
Oh right, last time I picked up a skill that seemed related to Focus. I wonder if it just boosts concentration?
Well, at Level 1 the effect is probably negligible anyway, and if it's something else, there's no practical use for it yet, so I'll just leave it alone for now.
Focus, focus.
Getting distracted thinking about Focus — now that's ironic.
Carefully take aim, and — there!
Oh, I hit it.
Huh, wait.
Isn't that amazing?
I fully expected to miss, but I nailed two in a row.
And this is coming from the person who dead-last in her grade during the physical fitness softball throw back in school...
Oh shoot, I was so stunned I forgot to watch the squad's reaction.
The squad is... ah, there they are.
Hm.
No movement.
So attacking a straggler doesn't provoke them into retaliation.
Does that mean they're not malicious? Or is it more that... in the wild, you have to be this ruthless to survive?
Well, whichever it is, not getting attacked works for me.
Now I can hunt stragglers to my heart's content.
I collect the captured bee with a satisfied grin.
And finish it off with a Poison Fang.