After everything was over, I wanted to continue our journey, but Kumoko refused to go on because she was starving.
I seriously considered leaving her behind.
But even though I'm a bit irritated, I'll find food for her. I used teleportation to get to a high point and look around. That's when I saw many trees in the distance.
'I think I saw a forest. I'll go there to look for food for you.'
'I'm coming too!'
'Then let's go quickly.' I started running, but soon Kumoko called out to me. She couldn't keep up with my speed, so I had to run slower to go together to the nearby forest.
Even at a slower pace, we reached the forest quickly.
When we arrived, the first thing we encountered were birds. Without thinking twice, I shot my web towards a tree and trapped one of the birds, killing it by suffocation.
'Hey, what are you doing?!!!' Kumoko yelled at me. 'No need to kill the birds. Let's go after bigger animals. There should be animals with more meat around here.'
'What? You don't feel like eating chicken?'
'They're not chickens! They're birds!'
'It's the same thing. They probably taste like chicken.'
I stored the bodies of all the birds I had killed, and we continued our search. After almost half an hour, we returned with two wild boars and three rabbits to eat.
Kumoko said it wasn't enough, but I told her I wouldn't eat anything, so she didn't need to worry.
Besides, the humans with us didn't need to eat.
As soon as we got back, I made a fire with some wood I had gathered in the forest and used my knife to clean the insides of all the animals we had killed. Cleaning the birds was challenging, but I managed.
After that, I created spits and skewered the dead birds, placing them over the fire.
I asked Ferdinand to watch the birds while I used my magic to prepare the boars for Kumoko. We moved to another location since I needed a bigger flame to roast this meat.
After a while, Kumoko ate and was ready to continue our journey.
'I didn't even have time to test the system,' I sighed and sat next to Kumoko. 'Hey, Hiiro, I'll look at my system now. We can continue the journey soon, okay?'
'Yes, yes. But remember, I'm curious about your system. Tell me what changed.'
'Sure, don't worry.'
I opened my system to take a look. I selected the [Editing LV7] ability to see what had changed. The changes were:
Now, I can edit seven statuses simultaneously, and the limit of the edits I can make to my MP and SP has increased significantly. Also, I can now edit Kumoko's stats even more. I can now increase her stats by 6,000.
I can allocate 3,000 to attack and 3,000 to defense. Or I can distribute it more evenly.
'I'll think about it later.'
But thinking about it, can't I do this with my familiars?
The first time I tried to edit a status with this new feature, it was on my familiar, but I couldn't get its permission. It was a spider, right? Will anything change if I ask my human familiars for permission?
I remember not having telepathy back then, so I couldn't talk to my familiar.
'But my familiars should understand me even without telepathy, shouldn't they? Damn system.'
'Hey, Liu, come here,' I called out to Liu.
"Yes, master?" Liu seemed a bit nervous. Maybe he thought he did something wrong?
'Don't worry, you did nothing wrong. I want you to permit me to edit your status.'
"Of course, I give you permission."
'!?'
Then, I tried to use the [Editing] ability to edit his status. But to my disappointment:
[You can't do this.]
A system message I had never seen before appeared. The limit is still 2,000 for my familiars. I can only edit up to 6,000 statuses of people/monsters who are not my familiars.
But this sucks. I thought I could make my familiars even stronger.
'What's wrong? You seem disappointed.'
'I thought I could make my familiars stronger, but I couldn't. This sucks.'
'Stronger? But isn't Ferdinand already powerful? All his stats are at 2,000.'
'Well, you're right.'
I can increase non-familiars' stats by 6,000, but that's 6,000 divided among the stats. The edits I can make in my familiars... I can put 2,000 in all their stats.
'It's better this way.'
'Shall we continue the journey now?' Kumoko asked.
'Before that, I'll change your stats a bit.'
'You're going to edit again?'
'Yes. What do you want? More attack or defense?'
'Hmmm... I want attack!'
'Alright.'
So I edited Kumoko's stats, putting 4,000 into her attack and 2,000 into her defense. The stat difference was a bit big, but it wasn't a problem.
'Done.'
'Wowwww!!! Yaaaahhh!! I have more than 4,000 attacks now! I don't even need to level up to get stronger! Hehehehehe!!'
Kumoko started jumping with joy while laughing.
'You're strange.'
'Hey, that was offensive!!!'
'Okay, okay. Let's continue the journey while I "work". Hey, Liu, red-haired girl, come here.'
"Yes, Master."
"Master?"
Finally, I edited their stats, putting practically all of them at 2,000.
"Thank you, Master! I feel much stronger now!"
"Thank you."
'Alright, alright, no need to thank me.'
Now I have to edit the stats of the rest of the familiars... This will take a while.
'Okay, come one at a time. I'll edit everyone's stats while we walk! When your stats are edited, step aside and tell your friends to come here!'
I told the nearby monsters.
This should work.
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I wonder how many people still want to read this fanfic. Please comment.
I confess that I've forgotten a lot about this fanfic, but if I get a lot of comments I might read it and get back to writing. Or maybe rewrite it.
Please let me know what you think.