66 Skill Rush

Ah.

The sense of having messed up is overwhelming.

What kind of trap could possibly be hidden behind such an absurd skill?

Gaining a title just for picking it up? That makes no sense at all.

And it's clearly a dangerous title.

Taboo—this one seems even worse as it levels up.

Hmm.

The fact that there's no immediately obvious downside is what's actually frightening.

Taboo has no effect so far. Pride also has no effect so far.

Please, just don't let me be slowly strangled by silk threads without realizing it.

Still, on the flip side, it means nothing immediate will happen.

There's nothing I can do right now. I'll just wait until the time comes.

If I have the luxury to panic then, that'll be fine...

For now, I'll hold onto the remaining skill points.

I’ve learned an impressive spell, and I’d certainly like to use it—yet I can’t advance without resolving the detection issue.

Likely I’ll need a skill in mana manipulation as well. That means two skills required: one to resolve detection, one for mana manipulation.

Only 100 points remain. I can only acquire one.

For now, I’ll hold onto them. I’ll wait until I reach 200 points.

The monkey has been consumed. No further reason to stay here.

Time to move on.

Begin movement along the wall again.

Yet… it’s quiet.

Normally, I’d hear monster voices from afar, or see signs of them nearby. Not now.

No monsters visible. Unusually silent.

Could this be due to the monkey?

After all, a mass migration of that scale would drive others away.

That’s probably what happened.

Mastery level reached. Skill 'Prediction LV1' acquired.

Hm?

Skill acquired?

Hmm.

Prediction: When making a prediction, a bonus is applied to thought capacity.

Hmph.

Not something one would struggle without, but certainly not essential either.

The point is that you can't know the outcome or the answer in advance.

Nothing more than a slight increase in mental processing speed. Limited in effect, only functional under constrained conditions.

It was on the list of skills available for 100 points, you know.

Is this the same point as Pride...?

Something’s off, though.

Yet not a single monster remains, truly.

No sense of danger. Not necessarily safe just because a dangerous entity is staggering about—other monsters may still be present.

Stared hard, swept eyes around—nothing there.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Visual Enhancement LV1' acquired.]

Huh?

Another skill acquired?

Let me see.

[Visual Enhancement: Enhances visual perception]

Exactly what it says.

Well, that’s to be expected.

Still, this one isn’t exactly necessary either.

The spider’s eyes are already quite effective.

In my previous life, I needed glasses to see at all—now I can see far ahead.

Actually, this skill also required 100 points.

Come to think of it, there was a similar skill that enhanced the other five senses.

If the condition for acquiring Visual Enhancement was focusing the eyes, then perhaps consciously focusing on the other senses would also accumulate proficiency?

In that case, let’s try it now.

First, the ears.

How do spider ears work, anyway?

Even I don’t know. That’s strange.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Enhanced Hearing LV1' acquired.]

O— target skill obtained as planned.

Then, let's try the others.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Enhanced Smell LV1' acquired.]

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Enhanced Touch LV1' acquired.]

Taste will wait until I eat something later.

But can skills really be obtained this easily?

Indeed, spider senses are evidently superior—never paid attention to them before, that's why.

Perhaps proficiency only increases when consciously focused?

Otherwise, I’d have acquired them long ago.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Prediction LV1' upgraded to 'Prediction LV2'.]

Fast!

Just acquired it a moment ago!?

Level up already?

No, well, it's fine, I guess.

I don't mind the upgrade at all.

[Proficiency has reached threshold. Skill 'Parallel Thinking LV1' acquired.]

Huh, again!?

And this one—wasn't this the skill I was thinking might help with detection?

'Parallel Thinking: Ability to process multiple matters simultaneously.'

I suspect my detection ability is inefficient because the information overload overwhelms my cognitive capacity.

So I devised a skill to assist my thinking.

This is one such skill.

Got it!

But why did I get this one?

I wasn’t actively thinking about multiple things, was I?

Ah, the鉴定.

I keep the鉴定 active at all times.

The鉴定 results of everything around me constantly flow into my mind.

Usually I'd overlook this, so it no longer registers much. But I suppose one could say I'm thinking of multiple things at once.

There's no other explanation. That's how it is.

But still... this is getting ridiculous, isn't it?

Too many skills acquired.

It's unnatural for skills to unlock this rapidly, no matter how you look at it.

Well, I know the cause, though.

Pride.

Mastery gain rate increases significantly.

Yeah.

That's it.

I mean, isn't the mastery gain skyrocketing?

Can't say for sure without exact numbers, but it's definitely increasing substantially.

[Mastery level reached. Skill 'Prediction LV2' upgraded to 'Prediction LV3']

See?