Elliot remained unfazed, continuing forward with his heavy, steady steps.
Kumoko could only swallow her nervousness and follow him.
Soon, they reached the spot where Kumoko had set up her webs. Sure enough, four or five frogs were tangled up, struggling desperately.
Looking at the trapped frogs, Elliot stood calmly, his expression unreadable. Kumoko's webs were incredibly sticky and tough; most ordinary monsters couldn't break free. This was one of the perks of teaming up with her. Soon, these frogs would just be EXP for him.
"Croak!"
"Croak!"
Sensing Elliot's presence, the frogs instinctively spat streams of dark purple saliva at him. This stuff was both poisonous and acidic, dealing poison damage over time and corroding whatever it hit.
"[Starfell Stone]!"
Without rushing, Elliot summoned three thick, rocky pillars that rose from the ground in front of him, blocking the frogs' spit attacks.
Okay, the spit probably wouldn't have hurt him much anyway, but getting spat on? Low damage, maybe, but super insulting!
"[Rock Burst]!"
Without hesitation, Elliot unleashed his second skill.
All the nearby rocks, infused with a strange power, suddenly became like lit barrels of dynamite. They all exploded violently. Even tiny pebbles erupted like dazzling fireworks under the skill's effect.
-173!
-196!
-203!
Seven or eight damage numbers popped up simultaneously way more damage than you'd expect from a Level 2 character.
The rocks varied in size, so the explosions had different strengths. The three constructs created by [Starfell Stone] dealt the most damage, hitting for triple digits each.
The overlapping explosions instantly engulfed all four frogs.
Keep in mind, at this level, most monsters only had around two or three hundred HP. Forget the frogs; even Elliot himself would probably lose a chunk of health if he were caught right in the middle of that [Rock Burst]! That's how scary powerful it was already.
After the explosions died down, the four frogs were... well, extremely dead. Couldn't get any deader.
"So strong!"
"Amazing!"
Behind Elliot, Kumoko was completely stunned.
A Level 2 Earth Dragon could already deal triple-digit damage? This Earth Dragon race was just too terrifying!
….
"So scary! So scary!"
"Good thing he's my teammate and not some bad guy."
Kumoko stared at the aftermath, utterly awestruck. Thinking that this powerhouse was her ally filled her with immense relief!
But suddenly, a wave of weakness washed over her. She collapsed onto the ground with a soft plop, landing flat on her back.
Oops, no, flat on her eight legs.
"Huh? Why do my legs feel kinda weak? I can't seem to muster any strength."
"Did... did that scene just scare me that badly? Wow, I'm such a scaredy-cat." Kumoko muttered to herself.
Actually, it wasn't fear making her weak. It was hunger.
In this game world, SP slowly decreased over time, acting like a hunger meter. Some games called it Stamina, but it meant the same thing. You could restore SP by eating or sleeping, but not through potions or leveling up.
Just then, Elliot walked over and dropped the four frog corpses in front of her.
The meaning was clear.
Eat up.
Mainly because Elliot looked at the frogs and, honestly, didn't really feel like eating them himself. Especially after they'd been blown to bits by [Rock Burst] they looked even grosser now. Thankfully, his own SP was still high enough, so he wasn't desperate for food.
"Aww~ Big Guy, you get me! Thanks so much!"
Kumoko happily pounced on the frog corpses and started biting into them, munching away eagerly. She hadn't eaten anything since hatching and was absolutely starving.
"They don't taste great, but they're definitely edible."
"Nom nom nom~ Nom nom~"
As Kumoko tore into the frog monsters, a series of system notifications chimed beside her ears (or wherever spider ears are).
Acquired Skill: [Poison Fang]!
Acquired Skill: [Acid Resistance]!
Acquired Skill: [Poison Resistance]...
Skill pop-ups filled her vision, echoing in her mind. If you'd seen 'That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime', you'd know Kumoko gained skills in a similar way to Rimuru (or maybe more like Maple from Bofuri). This was why Elliot knew she'd end up with tons of skills later she literally gained new abilities just by eating different things.
As for her Godspeed skill? That was a special gift from the mysterious system administrator known only as 'D'.
In the anime, D was this enigmatic being who managed the entire world with absolute authority, kind of like Kayaba Akihiko in Sword Art Online.
Almost every reincarnated person received one such gifted skill, giving them an inherent advantage over the native creatures.
After finishing all four frogs, Kumoko patted her now-full belly and let out a satisfied burp.
Eating the frogs refilled her SP completely, but she didn't gain any experience points. Even without [Appraisal], you could see the three basic stat bars (HP, MP, SP - red, blue, yellow) under any monster's name. The yellow bar was SP. Kumoko's SP bar now showed 100/100, full.
SP maximum couldn't be increased by leveling up, only through [Evolution]. That's why both Elliot, the Earth Dragon, and Kumoko, the spider, had a max SP of 100.
"Looks like only killing monsters gives EXP," Elliot noted mentally. Still, Kumoko eating those gross frogs without complaint was pretty impressive.
If he'd teamed up with some other picky girl, she might have whined about how disgusting frogs were and refused to eat. This spider seemed pretty easy to raise, huh?
"Big Guy, where are we going next?" Kumoko asked, now full and content. She didn't really have any grand plans; her main goal was just to survive.
But Elliot was different. He had a very specific goal in mind right now.
He directly wrote his thoughts on the ground again.
--HUNT AN EARTH DRAGON--
"Eh? Ehhh???"
"Kill... your own kind?"
Kumoko was shocked. She never expected Elliot's next target would be another Earth Dragon one of his own race!
Elliot nodded.
That's right. He needed to find another Earth Dragon monster, a member of his own species.
And then... kill it himself.
Because in this game world, killing a member of your own race granted two unique, extra skills:
[Taboo] and [Heresy Magic].
[Taboo] was straightforward it granted knowledge about some of the hidden secrets of this world.
For other reincarnators, this skill was incredibly important, as it could reveal the world's true nature, forbidden knowledge no one else knew.
But for Elliot? It was kind of useless. He'd already watched the anime; there wasn't much about this world he didn'talready know! So, while Taboo was vital for others, it was just fluff for him.
Unlike [Taboo], however, [Heresy Magic] was a major combat skill that could seriously boost his fighting power.
This skill had an incredibly powerful soul-damaging effect. It bypassed physical defenses and HP entirely, directly attacking the target's soul. It was almost impossible to defend against.
….
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