Kumodesu

Alright...

A faucet, huh.

This one's easy.

I can do it.

A faucet... a faucet...

I can't do it!

Whenever I try to think about the faucet, all I can imagine are other random things. I think I first need to clearly understand what parts a faucet has, and then try visualizing each part one by one.

Let's see...

First, a pipe that connects to the hole I already made. Then a water shut-off system inside to block water when it's turned off. And finally, a rotating knob for turning it on...

Yep, that sounds right.

Next is just hooking it up—though should I connect it first or open the water path first?

If I open the path first, water will gush out immediately and I won't be able to stop it in time, so it's better to attach it beforehand.

I carefully attached the faucet I had just created, then gently opened the path for the water to flow in...

Ah!

Wait, that didn't hurt...?

That's odd.

Maybe it doesn't hurt yet because the water hasn't started flowing out?

I tried turning the faucet slightly to let the water begin flowing. The pain rushed in, but since I opened it just a bit and only a few drops came out, the feeling was just a mild itch inside my body.

Looks like it worked.

Wonderful!

I really am a genius.

Muhahahaha...!!!

The next step is to transfer the extracted energy into that artifact.

But how much do I need to transfer to make it work??

Well, if I don't know, I can just ask Loyral.

And so, I summoned him again.

"If you pour in more energy, the pulling force will be stronger. But if the pull fails, you'll lose all the energy you used, so once you commit, make sure you succeed."

Seriously?

Sounds like gambling...

So troublesome.

According to Loyral, I'll need to adjust the amount myself. Each creature requires a different amount of energy, and if the target has resistance skills, I'll need even more.

Just thinking about it is already giving me a headache, but thankfully, I have the [Memory] skill, so once I try something, I'll never forget it. From what I remember, its level is pretty high too, so I can trust it.

Alright then, time to go test this out.

I returned to the fourth floor and went looking for the same mouse as before. It's the smallest creature I can find here, which makes it perfect for both safety and testing purposes.

Okay...

Focus... aim...

Throw.

Missed!

Because I missed, the mouse noticed me and started charging in for an attack.

I could've taken it out easily, but since I wanted to test soul extraction, I had to run away first and wait for it to calm down.

This throwing thing is really hard!

Since I'm a spider, I can't control the soul chain like a human hand. I have to fix it in place with spider silk, then carefully aim and throw it using force.

If I miss, I waste a lot of time preparing it again.

And so began a game of tag between me and the mouse.

It wasn't until the fourteenth try that I finally landed a clean hit, embedding the soul chain into its body.

Next step...

I had already created the water tank and faucet in my mind, and now I just had to flip the switch to send the energy into the chain.

Agh... ouch!

Since this was my first time and I didn't know how much energy the mouse could take, I ended up pouring in a bit too much. The result? Dizziness and shaky legs—but that's not important!

The moment of truth had come.

I began pulling the chain back.

The mouse resisted with all its might, but no way it could beat me in a contest of strength. And then, before my overwhelming power, something was yanked out of its body.

It looked just like the mouse, only much more translucent and still struggling.

I instantly knew—it was the mouse's soul.

Success!

But... what now??

I had overexerted myself a bit, so if possible, I wanted to absorb its soul to replenish my energy.

But just gobbling down a foreign soul like this felt kind of risky... who knows what side effects it might have?

So I decided to stick to my motto: "Leave the hard stuff to Loyral."

"Mr. Loyral!"

"Here I am."

"What should I do with this?"

"Normally, you can't absorb the soul of another creature directly. They contain all sorts of impurities and aren't suitable. Absorbing too many will damage and deform your soul, and eventually, you'll start getting assimilated into a formless mishmash of creatures."

Oeeewww...

Good thing I didn't rush into it.

"So... I'm just supposed to leave it?"

"Haha, not quite. There's another way—using the skill [Gluttony]."

My eyes lit up.

"Tell me more! How?"

"[Gluttony] will remove all the harmful parts from whatever you eat and convert the rest into usable energy for your body. The harmful parts will be absorbed and stored by the skill [Ravenous Devour]."

"[Ravenous Devour] is not a damage skill but a type of skill that attaches negative effects to the enemy, which is also the bad parts. When activated, an explosion will occur and creatures within that range will be affected"

Knew it!

No way he'd give me something I couldn't use!

"Got it."

Having received Loyral's explanation, I no longer hesitated.

I pulled the mouse's soul over and devoured it in one gulp.

My first time eating a soul—it felt a bit weird...

Actually, more like... it had no taste at all.

There wasn't even anything to chew. I just stuffed it into myself, simple as that.

I waited for a bit, and then a sudden wave of pleasure washed over me, nearly knocking me to the ground.

If extracting soul energy hurts like hell, then replenishing it feels like heaven.

I think I might be getting addicted to this feeling.

After doing a bit of math, I realized: as long as I fine-tune the extraction amount, I'll always come out ahead. I only spend a bit of energy, and in return, get a full soul.

And this was just the soul of a small mouse, yet it fully replenished me. I wonder what happens with bigger ones...

After that, I set out again to find my next target.

Right now, I had two goals—calculate the exact energy needed for each species, and practice throwing accurately.

And so, my monster hunting journey resumed.

It had been a while since I last hunted like this, so I was a bit excited.

That day, the monsters of the fourth floor whispered among themselves about a white spider roaming the dungeon with a soul chain, killing everything in its path.

Sounds pretty badass, honestly.

Another pack of mice.

First, I used [Paralyzing Evil Eye] to freeze them, then bound them up with spider silk.

One by one, I added them to my meal queue.

First one...

Second... third...

By the time I reached the fifteenth, the last one—

<>

<>

<>

<>

<>

Nice.

Let's check my status.

<>

HP: 145/145

MP: 95/95 (+200)

SP: 175/175 (+100)

Huh?

Where did that extra 100 SP come from? And the 200 MP too?

It's all too confusing. I figured I'd better level up [Appraisal] so I could check on these things, but no matter how many times I used it, it hasn't leveled up in ages.

I don't even know why.

Maybe appraising living creatures grants more proficiency than appraising random objects?

Oh well, I'll just keep trying.

Besides leveling up, I also managed to determine the exact energy amount needed for the mice—just set the faucet to level two for two seconds.

To make things easier, I rebuilt the faucet with five adjustable levels, and that's worked pretty well.

Absorbing so many souls made my own soul feel much more lively.

Is that even a good thing?

"Mr. Loyral?"

"I'm here."

"So... I've been absorbing a lot of souls lately, and the leftover energy I haven't used yet—is that a problem?"

"You have the [Big Eater] skill, don't you?"

"Uhh... I think so?"

"Then there's nothing to worry about. The surplus energy is stored in [Big Eater], and it's added to your SP."

Oh!

I didn't know that!!!

So that extra 100 SP came from my [Big Eater] skill?!

It gave me a whole 100 points???

Meaning from now on, I can keep eating without worrying about running out of SP?

With this, I won't have to fear running out of power during battle anymore!

Learning this extra benefit fired me up again. I resumed hunting with new vigor.

My current targets remained mice and other small creatures, since I was still struggling with throwing the chain accurately.

As I moved into the next area, I found a herd of deer sleeping.

I used [Appraisal] on them.

<>

HP: 160/160

MP: 40/40

SP: 150/150

Their stats were even higher than mine, so I stood no chance in a direct fight—

But lucky me, they were all asleep.

Though... they don't really look like deer.

I mean, what kind of deer has wings?

This looks more like Santa's reindeer.

Still, [Appraisal] says they're deer, so I guess I have to go with that.

Whatever it is—I'm eating it.

So I managed to catch eight of these big deer without lifting a finger. They put up fierce resistance, but when it comes to restraint, I'm extremely confident.

[Paralyzing Evil Eye] combined with [Heaven's Net], [Venomous Fangs], and [Poison Mist] rendered them completely helpless.

Now for testing.

Hmm... hmm... seems a bit low...

This time... too much.

One more second...

Perfect!

After two deer, I found the ideal setting: level two for four seconds.

I then leisurely enjoyed my entire meal.

<>

<>

Both skills leveled up!

Having them level up together like that really made me happy, you know?

Afterward, I dragged the corpses back to save them for later.

You have to make the most of everything you can!