After exiling the monster that had trampled all over my hard work and my feelings, I dove face-first into the bed.
Straight into the cushions.
“WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”
I screamed all my stress into the pillow.
No sound escaped into the mansion.
But inside my soul?
Different story.
...
Then—
? Notification.
The status window flickered to life, running something in the background.
Apparently… the Cleanse upgrade wasn’t useless after all.
I gave it a quick check and:
[Cleanse ?] greatly exceeds the utility of [Poison Resistance].
Evolution initiated.
[Poison Resistance] → [Poison Immunity]
Evolution successful.
“…Huh? Wha—”
? Anomaly detected.
Overlapping purification effects identified.
Resolving redundancy…
"What is it doing?"
[Cleanse ?] has assimilated [Poison Immunity].
Cleanse will attempt further evolution.
[Cleanse ?] → [Purity ?]
I slowly lifted my head from the pillow and gazed upon a new skill.
Type: Toggleable Ability
Sustain Cost: 0 Mana / min
Effects
Toxic Immunity: Foreign elements that pose as threat to the user, such as toxins and venoms, are automatically neutralized upon detection.
Biological Purification: The body is continuously maintained free of harmful contaminants at a molecular level.
I stared at it for a long moment.
“…Hah.”
Would you look at that, it was actually useful.
"Cat, I apologize for doubting your wisdom."
( ??? )
Automatic hygiene alone was cool. Immunity to threats? Awesome, but the real treasure?
The toggle.
Meaning…
“…I can still drink alcohol? Now that's what I'm talking about!"
After my spirits were lifted I could continue looking into the nine remaining system points. Which meant decisions, and decisions meant suffering.
For a good ten minutes, I stared at Fireball, wondering if upgrading it was worth anything.
During the fight with the spider, it had done almost nothing. Every shot aimed at its head had simply bounced off its armor like sparks against stone. The only time it mattered was when I stopped aiming for damage… and started aiming for information, aka I missed.
I tried shooting for the eye, but it ricocheted and scraped the fur. The spider jerked to avoid that specific hit, because armor doesn't burn — hair does.
Meaning the problem wasn’t power, the problem was me and my aim. A little too realistic for an isekai, if you asked me.
But honestly?
Not unwelcome.
Instead of dumping points into raw damage, I found myself considering something far less exciting.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Accuracy.
I stared at the stat for a long time.
Then longer.
Then long enough that I stopped thinking entirely and began scrolling through the bestiary out of curiosity — what even was that spider anyways?
【 Dark Spider 】
A pitiful creature born from desperation.
An ordinary, harmless, household spider survives by spinning webs and waiting patiently for prey.
When its web encounters famine, the spider is forced into developing an anti-starvation skill: Mana-Eater.
By consuming ambient mana instead of food, the spider avoids death.
Mana forces continuous growth, enlarging the creature far beyond natural limits.
New organs develop to ensure proper function.
Limbs are reinforced with dense musculature.
Some individuals may also evolve hardened exoskeletons.
Unable to survive indoors anymore, Dark Spiders abandon their birthplace and migrate toward forests rich in mana.
Aggression Level: Unknown/Territorial.
I stared at the screen for a while...
"What the hell is Mana-Eater!?"
???? ??.???.?????? ???
Sadly, no matter how many times I interrogated the status window, it never explained what Mana-Eater actually was.
Rude.
So… back to thinking.
I decided to skip Fireball and Accuracy for now. My aim was clearly the real problem, and that was something I could train instead of brute-forcing with points. Besides, gambling later for some kind of homing-shot skill sounded infinitely more appealing.
My mana had already improved a lot too. No need to overkill it with points. I prefer a more balanced build.
Some self-control here some strategy there.
…Look at me making responsible decisions.
Now then.
Speed was tempting, but I’d already noticed something important: it tracked my physical condition. After I hunted the four rabbits it rose naturally. When I was half-dead, it dropped to N/A. As I recovered, it slowly climbed back.
Meaning?
Trainable stat.
No shortcut needed.
Which left only one option.
Torch.
I smiled faintly.
Honestly? Yes.
This spell had been there from the very beginning, the first light I saw after reincarnating. Upgrading it felt… right.
“Let’s do that.”
════════════════════
Torch Ⅰ 「5 MP / Min」→ Torch Ⅱ 「3 MP / Min」
Mana Cost: 5/min → 3/min
Illumination Radius: Doubled
════════════════════
“Ohhh, that’s actually good! Will Level 3 make it one mana per minute?”
I tapped upgrade again.
Torch Ⅱ 「3 MP / Min」→ …
“…Huh?”
The window froze.
Then new text appeared.
Torch skill has reached maximum threshold for evolution.
Evolution in progress…
"Oh? I wonder what will become of it."
Evolution successful.
? Torch has evolved into: ? Satellite Lv.1
? Arcana Discovered!
【 Satellite 】
Lv.1
Mana Cost: 10%MP/min
A fire sphere orbits the user, illuminating the surroundings.
The Satellite may be commanded to scout and illuminate designated areas.
The Satellite will automatically cast Fireball on nearby enemies.
Priority may be manually assigned.
Without orders, the Satellite prioritizes threats outside the user’s field of view.
I stared at the screen.
“…HOLY.”
“…FUCKING.”
“…SHIT.”
I sat upright so fast the blankets nearly launched off the bed.
“THAT’S SO OVERPOWERED!”
══════════════════
? STATUS WINDOW ?
══════════════════
Name: Zephyr Diana Von Gaahr*
Race: H?um??aN?
Sex: Female
Age: 17
══════════════════
Level: 5
XP: 7 / 16
══════════════════
System Points: 7 ??
Dice: 0 ??
Currency: 0B; 0S; 0G; 0P ?
══════════════════
══════════════════
? VITALS ?
══════════════════
HP: Don’t Die ?
MP: 50 / 50
MP?: 10 / Min
SPD: N / A
══════════════════
══════════════════
? TITLES & SKILLS ?
══════════════════
? Reincarnator ?≡
══════════════════
? Extra Skills ?≡
══════════════════
? Unlocked Naturally ?≡
├ Carpenter
├ Blacksmithing
├ Accuracy Ⅰ
├ Poison Resistance
└ Purity ? 「0 MP / Min」
══════════════════
══════════════════
? KNOWLEDGE ?
══════════════════
? Arcana ?≡
├ Satellite Ⅰ 「10% MP / Min」
├ Fireball Ⅰ 「3 MP / Cast」
├ Sleep ? 「6 MP / Cast」
└ Surge ? 「25% MP / Cast」
══════════════════
? Weaponry ?≡
══════════════════
? Bestiary ?≡
══════════════════
? Culinary Grimoire ?≡
══════════════════
? Lexica Botanica (Plants) ?≡
══════════════════
? Lexica Botanica (Biomes) ?≡
══════════════════
══════════════════
?? MORPH ?≡
══════════════════
? Demonic Rabbit ?≡
══════════════════
? Salmon ?≡
══════════════════
? Slime ?≡
══════════════════
