Inherently speaking, I was a rather boring person.
Most people who were really ambitious were, at the end of the day. Sure, they created fascinating anecdotes, but their lives up until the point where they realized that ambition were mostly just grinding and not much else.
Any amazing musician, doctor, or athlete back on earth needed to practice seven hours a day, day in and day out, for years to become world-class. And I needed to kill and eat monsters over and over again.
Such was life, and there was no use in complaining about it.
There was always a need for War Shadows to get that sweet Black Blood trait, after all. More frogs, more ants, more poison moths, and blue butterflies.
Goblins, kobolds, and rabbits weren't included in the list because the first two hit the 100-kill threshold, and besides granting me stronger spermatozoa and low-level night vision, nothing extraordinary happened—except for the new threshold: 1000.
This change was both interesting and annoying since it implied there was more to gain from a single species than the three traits I acquired. But the continued exponential increase told me that if I wanted a worthwhile investment of time, I was barking up the wrong tree.
The last trait of the horned rabbits was also crap, so I didn't bother hunting them after the tenth one.
And so, three more days passed in relative silence.
My improved sense of smell and hearing allowed me to steer clear of any adventurers wandering through the 7th to 9th floors, and during the few hours I slept, there was my trusty Goblin Alarm Clock to wake me up if needed.
There really was nothing to fear from being seen by others, but as the Ishtar Familia kindly taught me, catching too much attention could lead to... unexpected results.
In between my monster-eating, I made sure to use willing monsters to train my hand-to-hand combat (which was shaping up well, in my opinion) and stealth, to the best of my abilities.
A chunk of time was also dedicated to meditation and soul manipulation since I was more than 100% sure the gods in this world could mess with it on some level. I didn't want to be caught lacking.
My attempts to grasp the intricacies of Developmental Abilities were going smoothly, though me and Dr. W. Moth agreed that more tests needed to be conducted.
I also understood that my magic was consumed every time I activated or deactivated a monster trait. The bigger the change, the more it consumed, which I felt would be relevant in the future but not all that important right now.
Nothing more really needed to be said, as all avenues forward had already been established.
It was time to choose my next course of action.
I took a look at my stats.
Power - 493 (E)
Endurance - 543 (D)
Dexterity - 501 (D)
Agility - 457 (E)
Magic - 702 (B)
After seeing them so many times, my rate of growth didn't surprise me anymore. If it worked, it worked. I wasn't about to slow down just to observe potential differences.
Power and Endurance, despite growing quickly, hadn't exploded upwards as my new Dwarven racial trait promised. This implied there were factors in my growth unaffected by the trait.
Even so, my strength was far above what my stats claimed. If 1000 (S rank) was equivalent to Level 2, the only thing I really lacked was damage output since defense, survivability, and mobility were more than covered.
"Things are looking good..." I muttered, taking another whiff of poison. The purple moth in my hand didn't even screech anymore, which I knew from experience meant it would die soon.
I sighed and kept walking through the 9th floor, looking for prey.
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Purple Moth traits (choose 2)
1-Poison Powder - "Jesse, we don't have to cook anymore"
One's hair follicles can generate a type of aerosolized powder which cause mild inflammation in most other species. Comes with a mild immunity to similar substances.
2-Flight coordination - "Like a butterfly but not quite'
One's control over individual muscle fibers becomes more exquisite. (30% Dexterity boost)
3-Compound eyes - "Why limit yourself to two eyes when you can have thousands"
-Duplicate-
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Blue Papilio traits (choose 1)
1-Healing powder "Jesus would be proud)
One's hair follicles can generate a type of aerosolized powder which cause increased cell proliferation by activating the #&$&#@## in most other species. Works on one's own self.
2-Flight coordination - "Exactly like a butterfly"
One's control over individual muscle fibers becomes more exquisite. (30% Dexterity boost)
3-Compound eyes - "Why limit yourself to two eyes when you can have thousands"
-Duplicate-