Chapter 8: Leaving the Upper Stratum

So now I had my plan set. To get stronger as fast as possible, I need to leave the Upper Stratum. That, and it would mean I can avoid any more parties of adventurers coming to hunt me down. I don't know how long it'll take for them to find out that party isn't coming back, but at best I've got maybe like, a week. It's probably common to spend a few days in the labyrinth during hunts or just getting through it, so there's basically a buffer of time. So, in that time I need to find my way to the path that'll take me down to the Middle Stratum.

I sifted through the group's bags a bit more to see what else could be helpful for me besides the map. It wasn't much more than the rations and other care supplies they packed in. Since it was a pure hunting job, I honestly couldn't expect anything more than the bare necessities to be honest. At least I can keep the rations… is that much gonna be good enough to feed me for a while? Ever since I evolved while it hasn't been that crazy, I've had to eat a lot more to refill my red stamina. Eh, I'll see what the result ultimately is once I do need to eat. Plus, there's things I can test out as I work my way to the Middle Stratum too.

Chief among them is, of course, Greed. Considering it seems to just be a honking bunch of praying to RNGesus in the hopes I get a good steal of stat points or even a Skill out of a kill. And with Appraisal at level 10 (still mad about just having it handed to me like that) I can likely check a lot more than I could before. Meaning I can start using that huge stock of Skill Points I've got stocked away. But… well, I'll get to the Middle Stratum first before going ham on the point buying. For all I know it has a different environment, so I want to plan any Skill acquisitions around adjusting to that and fighting whatever the bloody hell resides there.

And in terms of prep, I'm quite glad my size change brought me up to around that of an average human. Means I can use one of the knapsacks I lifted from the adventurers to carry all the food and other useful supplies. Surprisingly my newfound claws, as sharp as they are, are also quite dexterous in terms of hands. Not quite on the same level as a human's hands - God I miss having thumbs - but it's enough I can usethings. And sometimes being able to do something simply is better than doing it perfectly.

Now as for the map itself!

I can set aside all the markings of the places where I set my nests down. Step one is to get myself oriented by finding out precisely where I am currently, and from there plan my route to the Middle Stratum entrance. I can deal with anything that decides to pop up while I'm working my way there. First off… aha! The first landmark I can use is the pit I found. It's further out from the entrance than I figured, but I know I was still in the general area of it when I fought those adventurers. So, I'll use that as my guidepost and then work from there.

I am thankful I've developed the habit of marking walls wherever I go.

Actually… that was definitely part of what likely got me noticed by the people keeping an eye out for odd monsters. By all accounts it'd be strange behavior for a monster to express at all. And while I'm certainly not a typical monster it's not like I can even tell anyone that… heck what sounds can I make? I've spent this entire time in my head without really knowing what kind of vocalizations I can make. Let's try that…

Skreeeeeee!

My best attempt at saying something produces what I can best call a banshee's shriek. That's freaking terrifying. God I can only imagine what it'd be like hearing something as big as me make a sound like that in someone's face. Might actually be useful for intimidation though. Could try it out while I'm working my way along. But anyway, for now I need to trace my steps back to the pit. Once I'm oriented, I can really get to work on making my way to the next floor.

So, here's a question to be asked. Why on earth have I found so many damn spider webs?!

I admit since I was running from the adventurers before I didn't bother to mark my path like I usually do, so I got a bit turned around while trying to find the pit. And somehow that brief stint of trying to reorient my path led me to a whole heap of spider webs. Again, coming across Taratects hasn't exactly been uncommon but holy crap, this passage I found is covered in the dang things! Wall to wall is almost entirely white threads and caught in some of them is everything from still cocoons to thrashing captures that had to be recent. I'm quite glad I don't have arachnophobia right about now.

My answer comes pretty much immediately. I see a couple Lesser Taratects scuttling across the webs, checking the cocoons and moving to the fresh prey. And standing out a good deal more was a single quite a lot bigger one. Looks wise it wasn't much different aside from the size though. So, would the big one just be a Taratect or something else? As much as I want to use Appraisal, I'm better off not using it willy nilly what with the fact monsters know I can use it. And having a whole cohort of spiders come at me isn't exactly on my list of things I desire to experience in a new world.

… though I could also go for the free EXP burning the ever-loving hell out of this nest would give me.

Screw it.

One fireball lob later, and I have my scaly butt parked on the ground watching the web turn into an inferno within seconds. Anything that's already dead is just gonna get charbroiled so whatever. And screaming monsters is a thing I've gotten perhaps a bit too used to. And the small Taratects go down like cheap kindling. I wonder if the spiders in this world are weak to fire as some joke. Do the gods of this world use the internet or something?

Though it's the larger Taratect that's smart enough to drop from the nest before the fire can reach it. Its mandibles are buzzing in what has to be rage because it's giving me a look that sure as hell feels like it. Yeah look, your nest is kinda in my way and I'm not in the position to waste time. So, feel free to become part of the EXP batch.

The Taratect lunges, and no sooner has it crossed the gap that my tail blade is swung and cut it clean in two… and splattered spider guts all over the wall. Gross.

What I also notice is the ebbs of blue light now moving from everything that was alive and now to me. Is this Greed kicking in? I don't feel anything though.

Experience has reached the required threshold. Individual Black Basilisk Riku Shiratori has risen from Level 7 to Level 8.

All Basic Attributes Have Increased.
Skill Proficiency Level Up Bonus acquired.
Skill [Flame Magic LV6] has become [Flame Magic LV7].
Skill [Strength LV9] has become [Strength LV10].
Skill [Strength LV10] has progressed to [Herculean Strength LV1].
Skill Points Acquired.

Skill Acquisition through [Greed] confirmed. Acquired Skill [Spider Thread LV1] from Taratect.

Huh? What? I mean I know it said I can steal Skills, but did I seriously just get a Skill I'm pretty sure is some species only thing? I'm a Basilisk! How on earth would I even use it? I don't have spinnerets!

Well… I might as well give it a try at least.

Raising one of my front legs up, I take aim at a portion of the wall that isn't burning. Just image it… image threads flying from my palm and to the wall. Magic should be able to substitute. A feeling I don't know how to describe springs from my hand, and a number of thin threads fly forward, hitting the wall and going slack. It was quick but it doesn't take a lot for me to guess a spider would be quicker. And considering I still have no idea what Skills can be bought, it's entirely possible to get Skills that would be abnormal to have as a Monster. But something tells me Monsters usually don't spend Skill Points. They're all so specialized it just seems unlikely for them to get anything aside from Title Skills and whatever they develop naturally.

Yet again I keep thinking this entire system just isn't right. I mean this is proof of it, isn't it? I'm a Monster totally incompatible with this Skill on a physical level, but this System just lets me get away with it anyway by bypassing my own biology. I mean maybe if I was a slime, I could buy it… But I'm not, so no convenient lack of much biology to handwave being able to do this kind of thing regardless of the existence of RPG mechanics. For now I just need to keep this in mind. If I meet someone who can give me answers… well, that's an eventually. Need to get to a form where I can actually talk first.

… well, I do have Telepathy. So the language barrier is my only real gap. Hmm, maybe if I find more written material, I can use Appraisal to translate it. That'll at least cover writing. But for spoken… I'll need to get around people and let the Skills do the work.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Prediction LV1] Acquired.

… of course there would be a skill for making guesses about things.

After that incident with the spider nest, a bit more wandering came before I finally found that pit again. I still couldn't guess what could be down there and I sure as hell wasn't about to jump down and find out. If it goes down far enough there's the chance I wouldn't survive the fall anyway. Well, if I use my newly acquired web spinning, I could maybe try it… nah. No way I'm proficient enough to even attempt to start pulling a reference like that.

So instead, back to the map.

From the looks of it, this pit is a deal closer to the center of this stratum. While scanning the map for routes, I'd also nabbed some rocks to eat. It's convenient that I can get away with this one. Makes the need to constantly hunt not so bad when I can pass monster chow downs with rocks to keep my stamina up. But anyway… by the looks of it the entrance to the Middle Stratum is still a way off. But now with an actual reference point to use, I can guide myself along. Thank you, people of this world, for making this Basilisk's life a little bit more convenient in getting around.

And now I've got it! All that's left to consider is what could get between me and that entrance… not that I probably can't handle it all just fine by this point. So, time for something close to a beeline. Anything that gets between me and the Middle Stratum path is going down. So watch out Upper Stratum, your monster population might get a little bit thinner in the next few hours.

And that's basically what the cycle became as I wandered my way to the Middle Stratum passage.

Run across other monsters, kill them, eat them, occasionally nab a new skill thanks to Greed. But since so many of the monsters here either share basic skills or lack anything really unique, all the small fry either aren't going to give me anything worthwhile or are just giving me things that get integrated. I've had [Deadly Poison Resistance] stay put while integrating [Poison Resistance] at least three times since I started this journey.

So, I guess we can label that as a drawback to Greed. Since the acquisition is random, you might end up getting a Skill you already have or have a superior version of. And I'm not sure of it but I'm pretty sure integration only gives a level if it's the same tier. Hmm… and if a Skill is a composite of other Skills that's likely an integration as well. So would something like a Detection skill just be an integration of all the specific detections?

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Prediction LV1] has become [Prediction LV2].

Ah wow thanks for that one System, totally helpful to know my ability to make guesses has gotten better. Sheesh. Well, maybe it has combat applications. Like at higher tiers it makes it easier for me to, well, predict what an enemy is going to do.

Sounds about right.

Considering I've got these other couple of mental skills, I wonder just how it'll actually effect my thought processes. [Parallel Thinking] is pretty clear in what it does… can't imagine what the heck that grows into if it has a more advanced version at all. Better not be split personalities or something. That'd be… odd. And maybe too complicated. Eh, if it is maybe I can just relegate them to being like a keyboard macro instead of a whole other persona. Don't want to start getting mixed up between myself and the other personalities.

I do also now feel even more thankful that at the very least I reincarnated as a monster that lets me be rather active in how I go about things. Even if I've still got no idea just how long it's been, I've had to have been making some pretty good progress since hatching. I'm not sure how far along I'd be if I'd come back as anything else that wasn't a human. Hmm… a goblin probably wouldn't have been bad, depending on how goblins are in this world. Heck I'd even take a kobold. Actually, that brings out a new question: Why haven't I run into either of those two yet?

I mean, c'mon, goblins and kobolds are classic dungeon monsters, especially caves. Or mountains. But you're tellin' me we've got the largest dungeon in this world and those things don't live here? I feel cheated! Make that a goal of mine once I escape, I suppose: Find a goblin or kobold, just so I can figure out what they're like.

But… my classmates are also on my mind. Whatever the heck happened that day couldn't have just gotten me, could it? That seemed way too unlikely. If chances go, then maybe they reincarnated too. Probably got a helluva lot luckier than I did in terms of what they came back as if I had to guess. Most of them likely got to come back as humans, so good on them. Maybe a few even got the luckiest draw and are now nobles or something. Sure freaking hope one of those isn't Nagitsuji. He's the type who would absolutely let that go to his head and then some. Well... there is that friend of his who keeps him in check. Maybe that could happen and he'd be fine.

… and then there was that taratect.

Whether it's alive or dead, I still wish I could have found out the deal with it. That Nameless tag stood out. None of my appraisals have ever pulled it up on other monsters, so there had to be something special about it. Maybe it really was another reincarnation, and something just went awry. But… I still have my name even now. Maybe it has something to do with the soul? Like… I still have my name because it's a part of my soul, so even as a Basilisk I still have it. So… if that spider is "Nameless", does that mean whoever they are, they had a name and lose it during the reincarnation?

Dammit, now I just really wish I could find it. But for all I know they died when those adventurers found their nest. And I've got no idea that, if they did survive, just where in this massive freaking place they could have ended up. But… if I did, maybe I'd at least learn a bit more.

And then at least it wouldn't be as lonely.

Explore, fight, eat, rest.

Explore, fight, eat, rest.

Explore, fight, eat, rest.

It kept up like this for, man I'm not sure how long now. I can only imagine what my stats look like now thanks to Greed's effects. I also hit level 10 so that's something. I kept following the map as it was, making sure I wasn't getting turned around at bends and intersections within the caves. I wish I could at least use Appraisal to scan it and use a dang minimap. But then maybe that would be too convenient for me to just straight up have a HUD like in an actual MMO. I question enough about this system already. As convenient as one would be that would be even more nonsensical to just have as an ability.

And I'm not really sure if it's just me, but the closer I get to the Middle Stratum entrance, it feels like the caves have been heating up a bit. Like, for real, it's just been progressively getting warmer. Not by much but maybe I'm more sensitive to heat since I'm cold-blooded now. Oh lord that absolutely means my Ice affinity has got to be shit. System, how much does Ice Magic cost?

Skill Points Currently in possession: 27,250.
Skill Points needed to purchase Skill [Ice Magic LV1]: 4,000.
Acquire Skill?

Note to self, make sure I avoid monsters who can use ice attacks. That has got to be one of the most expensive Skills I've looked at so far. Meaning affinity really does effect how much a Skill costs from the point shop. Meaning for whatever reason I have good affinity with Pride as a Skill… I feel like that's an assessment of me as a person decided by someone else. Not cool.

Still, I'm starting to wonder how big this stratum even IS. I've been going for a while now, but I just can't get a damn sense for how far I've gone. All of the walls just blend into each other if I let myself lose focus. I can imagine how easy it would be to get lost in here. Heck I basically was lost. I mark walls as I go for a reason. At least then I know if I get turned around. But, this changing heat could mean I'm headed in the right direction, however slight it might be. Time, huh… losing my sense of time is bothersome. How long has it actually been? It all just blurs together sometimes now.

And like that sense of time, it's also like my old self is slipping away too. I mean, come on, I've now definitively got six human kills under my belt, and at best it's my old societally ingrained sense of morality telling me that it's wrong. But now I have a mind, or rather exist in a way, that no longer cares. As much as some part of me wants to, I couldn't, or maybe even can't associate myself with humans. My survival must come first. And it isn't like I can communicate with them. To them… I'm just a monster. One that by this point is probably slapped onto some quest board with a reward for slaying.

Heck I'm leaving this damn stratum not just to get stronger, but to avoid the hassle of having to keep fighting adventurers! A hassle. I'm thinking of the species I used to be as a hassle to deal with now. If that's not a sign something in me is slipping away from how I used to be, I'm not sure what it is then. When I do get out of this place, if I somehow get to talk to whatever god or goddess did this, I'm getting some damn answers from them. I've got too many questions to drill into their ears. Like what the deal with this system is. It can't just be something this world has. That doesn't make any damn sense.

Skills, Titles, Skill Points, Evolution… was this world supposed to have these things? That question just keeps burning in my mind. And I can't just brush it off as convenient. I'm not gonna buy this being some light novel style convenience to make it easier for me to understand things… I wouldn't have been tossed into this damn cave if that were the case.

I wasn't just thinking it. It actually is getting hotter the closer I get to that passage. Now way it's just my cold blood getting to me, it's legitimately warmer in this part of the caves. Warm enough there's actually some plants growing along the stone. Mostly moss and some sparse looking weeds and herbs. But those sure as heck weren't there that often in the other parts of this stratum. Cold and damp seems to be out of order, now it's mild and humid. Not too bad of a change. Feels like summer back home whenever it would rain.

And now I can also hear that croaking I've become oh so accustomed to hearing. Alright, guess it's time for the regular encounter of frogs. How many is it gonna be this time? Except… it's not the ones I'm used to.

It's red.

This one is red.

Aren't you suckers supposed to be blue?! Why are you red?! Appraisal! I don't care if I pick a fight I need to know.

Elroe Geafrog LV3
Status: HP: 89 (green)
MP: 73 (blue)
SP: 70 (yellow) 70 (red)

Offense: 70
Defense: 59
Magic: 44
Resistance: 44
Speed: 43

Skills:
[Poison Synthesis LV3] [Acid Attack LV3] [Expel LV4] [Swim LV2] [Night Vision Lv8] [Poison Resistance LV3] [Acid Resistance LV3] [Heat Nullification]

Eh? So that means this is an evolved type isn't it? But it barely seems any different! My stats are more than double this thing's! But… Heat Nullification? Appraise the species next. Tell me what exactly it is.

Elroe Geafrog: Evolved species of the Elroe Frog. Adapted to live in the environment of the Middle Stratum. As a result however, it's abilities have not improved much.

… so a red frog with a heat nullifying skill, adapted to an environment. I think I'm starting to piece together what exactly the Middle Stratum might look like. Maybe I should try my luck with Greed and see if it won't nab me that heat skill. Just in case. Just one real quick dark spear and…

Nothing.

As that small ebb of blue goes into me, there isn't an alert that I managed to steal the skill. Dammit. But, if I'm right in assuming what I am, then I'll get more chances. Might as well make this my lunch before I keep going.

Snapping the frog down to the bones – getting really good at just ignoring how bad this stuff tastes, though there's no getting around the mild sting left even with my newfound level of poison resistance – I carry on as things were. I barely feel like I need to check the map now. I'm just following the heat, seeing where it gets warmer and following that path. There is no way I'm not right about what the area looks like at this point.

And then I finally find it. A passageway that leads down, very far down. And at the end of it, an outlet glowing orange in color. That's got to be it. Pulling out the map and checking my surroundings, I am absolutely correct. An intersection with an extra branch marked with the passage. This is it.

Well then, so long Upper Stratum. You've served me well up to now but a Basilisk has got to get onto other things sometimes! But man the heat is starting to get really intense at this point. I know what I'm expecting but… Oh… ohhhhhh.

As soon as I pass through the entrance, it hits immediately as the heat goes from kinda bothersome to downright uncomfortable. Everywhere I look, I see stone cliffs burned to black, and amid it all, endless amounts of lava spewing up and forth between the black stone. I see a few things leap out of the lava itself from one pool to another, a few monsters that are just red versions of ones I've seen scurrying around the rocks. Oh, and my freaking HP bar slowly dropping!

Alright, turn around and bolt! Get the heck out before I literally burn to death from sheer heat! Are you kidding me?! We go from a poison monster filled cave to the lethal lava land as stage 2? Who designed this dungeon! That is absolutely not an appropriate change of scenery even for a place like this! I call foul!

When I'm back at the intersection, feeling more than a little bit baked from the sheer heat of the floor, I lean up against the wall and sigh. Looks like I need to think things over before I continue. It's not just monsters I'm going to have to deal with, but the… wait a second. I can just buy the Skills I need to manage! Freaking idiot! I have tens of hundreds of Skill Points, I can afford to blow a few thousand or so on new skills to help me through the floor. System, cue it up! I can at least get some basic skills and then go from there. And Greed might net me better versions. Managing the heat comes first.

Skill Points Currently in possession: 27,250.
Skill Points needed to purchase Skill [Flame Resistance LV1], 500. Purchase Skill?

Do you even need to ask?

Skill [Flame Resistance LV1] acquired.
Remaining Skill Points: 26,750.

It's not much but it should be enough to let me manage until I can steal Nullification from one of these new monsters. I actually kind of like this now. A new place to explore, new monsters to fight, and new Skills to get from them all. It actually feels a bit like the old MMO days… except this time it's actually my life that's on the line if I screw up.

Let's get to grinding!