124 Upper Layer, I have returned!

Eat.

Eat.

Eat.

Pull the thread as if drawing it in.

Slowly, carefully.

Chew as if sipping.

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

[Mastery level reached. Skill 'Divine Domain Expansion LV4' upgraded to 'Divine Domain Expansion LV5'.]

[Mastery level reached. Skill 'Taboo LV8' upgraded to 'Taboo LV9'.]

Continue advancing at an increased pace for several days.

Studying the auto-map drawn by Sage-sama, one realizes a considerable distance has been traversed.

Apparently, this middle layer snakes back and forth between the upper and lower layers, covering the whole area evenly.

Unlike the upper layer, it is not a single path—this is good—but the route stretches on to an absurd length.

Several vertical shafts resembling Mother's passages were spotted along the way, but of course, none were approached.

Just because the Fire Dragon was defeated doesn't mean one should grow overconfident.

I still don't feel capable of defeating the Mother.

More accurately, that mysterious attack seen in the middle layer—since then, I've begun to suspect it might be a breath of Dragon Power.

Pure speculation, but given what the Mother is, possessing Dragon Power would not be surprising.

If that's the case, then the Mother has already achieved Dragon Slaying.

Hahahaha.

There's no way I could win.

Would I really approach a place where something like that might be wandering?

The journey progressed without any particular danger emerging.

Not even a Fire Drake was present.

Perhaps as expected, the middle layer is significantly lower in monster level than the lower layer.

Perhaps that's why strong monsters fail to develop here.

Eel detected several fish-shaped presences, but none emerged from the magma.

Tried breath attacks and spells—only succeeded in driving them deeper.

Catfish behaved the same.

In fact, even the triggerfish that had been relentlessly charging at me earlier now fled the moment they saw my form.

A single strike could have killed them before they noticed the breath attack—but the SP cost was high, and corpses vanished entirely.

Even if they remained, they sank into the magma. No point.

Thus, I couldn't eat them.

They granted experience, but the cost-to-benefit ratio made it undesirable.

So I only killed monsters that happened to surface on land.

SP remained sufficient as long as I avoided unnecessary expenditure.

Experience points accumulated gradually. Compared to when fighting the fire dragon, remaining SP was roughly half.

Even so, half.

The path to evolution remained long.

Proceeding under this mindset, SP consumption was kept minimal. As a result, SP-related skills developed little.

No matter.

If one could eat without restraint, there would be no need for moderation. But to be prepared for encounters with strong enemies like the fire dragon, it was necessary to maintain a certain SP reserve.

Even without that, if no monsters appeared on land, starvation would be a real possibility.

SP consumption could not be managed recklessly.

In contrast, MP-related skills advanced significantly.

Various magic types, poison synthesis, magic combat techniques, various cursed eye skills.

Magic: Shadow Magic reached level ten.

As expected, derived skills were Dark Magic.

Shadow Magic reached its maximum level, yet the sensation remained subtly unchanged. I will focus on cultivating Dark Magic moving forward.

Spatial Magic has also advanced moderately, but teleportation remains unlearned.

Progress is steady. No need to rush. Yet compared to other magic types, growth is slow. Frustration lingers.

Poison Synthesis and Poison Magic have both reached their maximum levels.

Unexpected, perhaps. The derived skills are similar in nature—medicine synthesis and healing magic, respectively.

Is it this?

Poison can also serve as medicine.

Regardless, I now possess a recovery method of my own.

Previously, recovery relied solely on level-ups and automatic healing. The ability to heal injuries at will is significant.

Still, my level is low. I have not yet faced a situation severe enough to deplete HP. Confirmation of effectiveness remains unverified.

I plan to test it myself by deliberately reducing my HP when I have the spare capacity.

Heretic Magic has reached its cap.

But the derivative skill of this one was the real issue.

It was Taboo.

Fortunately, my level did not increase. I thought my heart would stop.

No, at that time it truly did not increase. But somehow, without noticing, it reached level nine.

One more point and it would have capped.

That might be problematic.

Several of my Eyeballs have also reached their cap.

The Curse Eyeball evolved into the Grievance Eyeball.

Interestingly, this Eyeball returns the HP lost due to curses back to me.

Its base attack power has also increased. The effect is significantly higher than before evolution.

I cannot absorb stats entirely, but the ability to absorb SP is substantial.

Absorbing through the Eyeball, and accelerating the effect through food intake!

The Paralysis Eyeball evolved into the Stasis Eyeball.

This one isn't just paralysis—it seems to be approaching stasis.

Monsters that would only tremble when paralyzed now freeze completely upon contact with this cursed eye.

Likely a fusion of paralysis and an attribute I don't recognize.

No such attribute appears in the skill list, so it's unconfirmed.

Still, victory is guaranteed once afflicted—unchanged as ever. Simply stronger now.

The Heavy Curse Eye increased in level, but did not reach maximum.

Instead, maintaining it continuously granted me a resistance to weight.

Though, I didn't anticipate this resistance would reduce my training efficiency.

Lastly, the telescopic view.

It evolved into the千里眼.

Effect: enhanced range, plus a透视 capability added.

She could now see the view beyond the wall, as though it had been pierced.

Yet the perception of千里眼 does not align precisely with the common image of being able to see anywhere across the world.

It felt purely like an extension of distant vision.

In the千里眼, something had been visible for a short while now.

A long slope ascending upward.

It had been long.

Endured countless humiliations.

That too has finally reached a conclusion.

Farewell even from this damned heat.

Just now, upper level.