The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion everThe other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis The other party was a [Reincarnated Person], just like her!
She got 100 skill points to learn a skill, and maybe he did too.
"I can't believe it... another reincarnated person like me! Looks like I'm not the only one who got sent to this world!"
Realizing this, Kumoko was utterly shocked.
But thinking about it... it made sense. If she could get transported here, why couldn't others? Besides, when it happened, the whole classroom cracked and fell apart. It was likely that everyone else in her class, maybe even the teacher, got transported here too.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Kumoko used [Appraisal] on Elliot again. And sure enough, right there under his stats, in the skill list, was a LV 1 skill.
Earth Core!
"Okay, yep, that settles it. He's definitely a reincarnated person," Kumoko thought, feeling a mix of excitement and worry.
She was happy because, finally, she wasn't completely alone.
But she was worried because... well, she was a total shut-in. Sure, she had rich inner monologues and talked a storm up in her head when she was alone. But in reality? She had serious social anxiety. Normally, people from the same hometown meeting in a strange place would be crying tears of joy. If she met someone from home? She'd probably just clam up and hide.
"What should I do? And what if he's not a nice person? That would make things even harder," Kumoko fretted, her brow furrowed (if spiders could furrow brows).
While she was stuck worrying, Elliot, on the other side, started his counterattack.
He had tanked that hit from the Mantis monster without losing a single drop of health.
Sure, part of that was because he'd activated the [Earth Core] skill and gained the [Jade Shield], which absorbed the damage. But at LV 1, the shield from [Earth Core] wasn't actually that thick yet.
This was where the Earth Dragon race's natural superiority really shone. If he were any other race, even with the Jade Shield active, the Mantis's racial penetration ability probably would have broken through his low defenses, shattering the shield and dealing significant damage.
But him? With his shield up, he didn't lose a single HP.
Why? Because, thinking in game terms, his own massive armor stat boosted the shield's effectiveness, basically giving him extra temporary HP. And Elliot's base armor was so high, the Mantis monster simply couldn't break through his defense at all, so naturally, it couldn't hurt him.
Not only that, the Mantis attacked several more times and still couldn't break the shield. And in that short time, his skill cooldown finished again.
This just showed how ridiculously good the [Earth Core] skill was.
The result? The Mantis just got angrier, wildly attacking Elliot's shield. The continuous ping-ping-pang sounds were like a hailstorm, grating on the nerves.
And Elliot? He began his attack.
He didn't have any fancy offensive skills yet. He simply raised one of his massive, pillar-like arms and slammed it down towards the Mantis's smooth head.
The Jade Shield also had the effect of lowering enemy resistances, which indirectly boosted Elliot's damage.
WHAM!
The heavy blow landed squarely on the Mantis's head.
-39!
-21!
"Kekeke!!!"
A screech of pain erupted. Two damage numbers popped up over the half-human-sized giant Mantis. The first was from Elliot's basic attack, after subtracting the damage reduced by the Mantis's defense. The second number was from the force of the blow slamming the Mantis's head into the ground.
That's right, this world had realistic environmental damage. Hard impacts and scraping could deal physical damage to monsters.
A total of 60 damage might not seem like much.
But Mantis-types, while strong attackers, were glass cannons themselves. At Level 3, its base HP was less than 200 lower than Elliot's HP at Level 1.
That single hit took out a huge chunk of the Mantis's health bar. Its head cracked open, and some white, paste-like goo oozed out. It looked incredibly gross.
Elliot didn't stop. He took a step forward, the ground trembling slightly under his weight, and swung again with another basic attack.
The Earth Dragon race had a much higher base attack than the Mantis.
He aimed right for the already cracked spot on the Mantis's head and brought his claw down.
CRITICAL HIT!
WEAK POINT CRITICAL HIT!
-176!
A massive damage number exploded over the Mantis, followed immediately by the visual effect indicating death.
Level one versus level three.
Instant kill.
Even Elliot was a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this world to have not just critical hits, but also weak point critical hits. Like in shooting games where headshots deal extra damage. Apparently, the Mantis's head was its weak spot. And even more surprising was that his tiny base critical hit chance actually triggered on that attack.
One hit finished it off.
Killing Mantis, EXP +750.
Because it was a higher-level kill, he got bonus experience.
After killing the Mantis, Elliot leveled up.
Name: Elliot
Race: Earth Dragon (Young) LV 2
HP: 489/489 (+181)
MP: 31/31 (+5)
SP: 100/100
Attack: 61 (+9) | Defense: 236 (+21) | Magic: 20 (+2) | Resistance: 150 (+20) | Speed: 10 (+1)
Skills: Earth Core LV 1 | Skill Points: 200 (+100 from level up, total 300)
(Note: Adjusted skill points based on previous text stating he started with 100 and used 100, leaving 0, then gaining 200 for level up)
Just one level up gave him a massive 181 extra HP! Keep in mind, the Level 3 Mantis probably only had around that much total base HP.
The gap! This was the difference between races!
Plus, leveling up gave him another 200 skill points. Now he could either level up [Earth Core] or learn a new skill.
His Speed stat, though... still painfully low. But hey, you couldn't have everything. A stat monster like him had to have some weakness, otherwise, how could anyone else even play?
"Hunt more monsters, level up faster, get stronger skills!" Elliot resolved silently.
As he turned, he noticed the little pink-and-white spider trembling in a dark corner.
That spider's level...
LV 1!
Too weak. Killing a monster like that wouldn't give much experience. And judging by its tiny size, its speed probably wasn't great either. (Self-correction: Wait, the spider might be fast?)
Elliot shook his head, losing interest in the spider. He started walking forward, deeper into the cave.
"Eh? Eh?! He's leaving! I gotta follow him, quick!"
Seeing Elliot move away, Kumoko frantically scrambled to follow.
….
Seeing Elliot leave, Kumoko felt a surge of panic.
She'd finally found another reincarnated person, and a super strong one at that! If she could just stick close to him, maybe latch onto his metaphorical thigh, she'd be much safer, right?
But she didn't dare get too close. He was just too powerful. The sheer aura he gave off made her want to keep her distance.
If the Spider race's main ability was [Thread Weaving], then the Earth Dragon's racial abilities were [Dragon Might] and [Heavy Rock Nirvana]!
That's right, Earth Dragons got two racial abilities.
One was [Dragon Might], something common to most dragon types. It was an aura skill. Within the dragon's range, any creature with a weaker bloodline would suffer a 'Deterrence' effect: a flat 5% reduction to all base stats.
5% might not sound like much, but a constant debuff like that was pretty painful for weaker monsters. It was one of the reasons dragons could often fight above their level.
As for the other one, [Heavy Rock Nirvana], that was unique to Earth Dragons. But it probably required reaching a certain level before it could be used.
The [Dragon Might] aura alone made Kumoko hesitate to approach. As soon as she got close enough, the effect would trigger automatically, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
(Flashback/Foreshadowing): In the original story, Kumoko encountered another Earth Dragon later on, a Level 30 one with terrifying four-digit stats. Its overwhelming Dragon Might left a deep impression on her, even causing some psychological trauma that influenced her greatly. In fact, a big part of her early motivation to level up was driven by the desire to surpass that Earth Dragon.
"Hmm?"
Elliot stopped walking and glanced back.
That spider... looked really familiar.
Wait a second... wasn't that the main character from the anime 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
So that's where he was! He'd been transported into the game-like world of that anime!
Elliot was surprised, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis monster, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
since he easily defeated that Mantis monster, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
since he easily defeated that Mantis monster, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.
, though he'd had a slight suspicion ever since he easily defeated that Mantis monster, recognizing the typical monster types and game mechanics.