Unto a good start

[The key is proud of you and wants to award you an additional reward. Are you willing to take it?]

— "Of course I do! Even though I'm a little sad for this poor creature... Anyway, what is it?" Suei moved like a child ready to receive a birthday gift.

[The key wants to offer you multiple rewards for achieving your first kill. The options are:

- Proficiency in curse magic lvl. 1

- Bloodbath lvl. 1

- 50 Exp

Which one do you want to pick?]

So, I have a choice between a skill or a boost of experience. If I keep going like this, experience will come without much thought. Since a terror wolf is worth 12 exp, it will be easy to gain this much experience.

I don't know anything about Bloodbath, but it doesn't sound good to me. I may have killed a creature, but I don't want to revel in it.

On the other hand, curse proficiency is similar to my skill that converts resistances into offensive abilities. Maybe I'll be able to upgrade both the more I use them!

— "That's it! Key, I choose proficiency in curse magic!" Suei yelled.

Instantly, particles of magic circled around Suei's body. They soon entered him, magically granting him the knowledge of curse magic.

[Congratulations, you have learned proficiency in curse magic lvl. 1. The key is proud of you.]

[The ability Slow Curse lvl. 1 acquired.]

[The ability Frailty Curse lvl. 1 acquired.]

[The ability Lesser Reflexes Curse lvl. 1 acquired.]

[The key has merged all three curses into the Advanced Curse of the Body lvl. 1.]

All the information provided by the key is embedded in Suei's mind as though it were a vivid memory he has always had.

— "So, if I understand correctly, the three curses fused into one. I can now use all three at once with this new skill!"

A loud rumble came from Suei's stomach. A handful of mushrooms wasn't enough. An idea popped into Suei's mind.

— "If I eat enough mushrooms, maybe my poison resistance will grow! It's disgusting, but who knows what stronger monsters lie ahead..." Suei thought aloud.

In the end, eating the mushrooms wasn't the worst part. Thanks to the key, he could consume and digest as many mushrooms as he wanted without getting sick or poisoned. The only thing that bothered him was the terrible taste after eating so many.

Thanks to this, Suei increased his resistance to poison, making him a more potent weapon.

[Poison Resistance lvl. 7 acquired.]

Despite the growing resistance, Suei had a hard time understanding why he was stacking resistances when the key could manifest the same effect with even more power. Still, it wasn't entirely useless, since accumulating resistances made him stronger in combat with his unique ability to convert them into attacks.

Suei turned to face the lifeless corpse of the terror wolf. It would be a waste to leave it there. Strangely, Suei didn't feel disgusted and even took a bite from the creature. His sharp teeth tore through the fur within seconds.

[The ability Bite lvl. 1 acquired.]

— "Everything I do becomes a skill. At this rate, I'll be strong enough to leave this place!" Suei exclaimed.

[Bite lvl. 3 acquired.]

[Parasite Resistance lvl. 2 acquired.]

After eating his fill, Suei lay on the ground, exhausted. He had no choice but to rest.

Nothing disturbed Suei as he slept, but the vivid dream of Charlie being murdered replayed again and again. Each time, Suei could do nothing to stop it.

— "I swear, I'll be strong enough to pay Kaom back." Suei clenched his fists.

Just the thought of Charlie and Kaom made Suei spring to his feet, ready for action. Fearless, he ventured deeper into the cave.

Suei left the corridor and entered a much larger room. Bigger mushrooms dotted the floor, with occasional puddles scattered around, undisturbed.

— "Sweet! Something to drink!" Suei rushed toward one of the puddles.

As he dipped his hand in to drink, a sudden burst of pain made him pull back. These weren't puddles of water—they were pure acid. The pain in his hands was so intense that he rolled on the ground.

[Acid Resistance lvl. 1 acquired.]

[Acid Resistance lvl. 2 acquired.]

The higher his resistance grew, the less the pain became. Suei realized his mistake—he had assumed the key made him invincible. But this painful lesson showed otherwise.

Though he had leveled up his resistances like this before, this time Suei wasn't brave enough to endure such agony again. After all, he wasn't a masochist.

Suddenly, Suei's senses tingled—something was descending toward him. He reacted just in time, dodging a spider twice his size.

— "This one looks much more dangerous."

— "Hiiiisss," the spider hissed, raising its legs menacingly, a strange purple liquid dripping from its fangs.

[The key has identified the monster as a Purple Poisonous Spider lvl. 3.]

— "Yep. Definitely dangerous."

Cornered between the spider and the acid puddles, Suei had nowhere to run. Since the spider was poisonous, Suei guessed it wouldn't affect him as much.

— "I guess it's time to try this new power... Curse of the Body!" Suei shouted, pointing at the spider.

A strange aura enveloped the spider's body, weakening its legs. It struggled to lift itself.

— "Now this is better," Suei said, a sly grin spreading across his face.

For the next step, Suei converted his acid resistance into an attack. Unlike before, the acid his body now produced didn't harm his own skin.

— "I'm getting the hang of this. Come at me, spider," Suei taunted, preparing for battle.