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Evangeline

After a considerable break spent contemplating what to do with the spider's dead body, despite her aversion to dealing with the XXL-sized embodiment of her worst phobia, she reluctantly went back outside to check on the remains.

The monster's blood pooled on the ground, some already absorbed into the earth. Suppressing her disgust, she forced herself to open its abdomen with short bursts of well-placed [Displace]. Why? Because she needed answers.

These spiders were definitely local to the forest, and she would likely encounter them regularly in the future. She was certain that even at full mana, fighting them individually as she did today would only result in three slain before the rest tore her apart. She needed a strategy.

She first burst of spell opened the abdomen and discovered a large muscle on its back, engorged with blood, she assumed it was its heart. The chitin protecting it was similar thin A well-placed poke of [Displace], the size of a finger, would bleed the monster to death since the muscle, surrounded by veins still gorged with blood, seemed to play a crucial role for the creature's survival.

Now that she found a slow but cost-effective way to deal with these arachnids, she needed a method to kill them in quick succession. A direct death, fast enough that they won’t alert their kin of her presence.

Approaching the chunk of the head, she slowly cut it in half the same way she did with the abdomen. The head, a complex structure with multiple eyes and bristling with sensory hairs, revealed a surprisingly intricate anatomy. `Looks like they have a similar structure to the human anatomy in some ways, their eyes are the shortest, most least resistance kind of opening for a direct access to the insides of its head` she observed.

However, a denser protective shell shielded the monster's brain beneath its eyes. In the midst of a dynamic combat scenario where everyone was in constant motion, such a precise attack would probably miss. She came up with a simple approach `Instead of ripping off its whole head, I could just [Displace] the eye area in a cone shape, taking them all in one swoop.`.

Testing her theories, she tried both approaches on the remains of the spider. The cost was notably cheaper, only 25 mana for the finger-sized [Displace] on the spider's back and 75 mana for the headshot. She had a feeling that the cost should be higher.

`Maybe a dead monster body is counted as an inanimate target? ` To test her guess, she did the same on the ground. The cost was the same, which meant she needed to practice on a live target to get a general idea. But before doing this, she needed to be ready.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Looking back at the mangled body, she had an idea. The cephalothorax of the wolf spider had the same size as her torso. Even if this spider's body was not salvageable, she could find another one, bleed it to death, then collect the chitin. With well-placed [Displace], she could remove the viscera, wait for the blood to dry up, and carve the shape of a chestplate on the remaining shell.

It would look bulky but would definitely be better protection than just some rags. She dug a hole a bit further from her camp and buried the remains of the spider, keeping only the two thickest arms with the intention of making vambraces later.

After burying the remains and emptying the spider's legs, she sat near the campfire for another session of mana gathering with the afternoon sun. During her meditation, she formulated her plan for tomorrow: find another lone wolf spider, discreetly bleed it to death, collect the remains, and treat them back at her shelter to make her armour.

Restoring a considerable amount of her energy, while dusk fell, she planned another project for her shelter. Taking inspiration from Roman camps she saw in a documentary; she traced plans with her finger infused with [Displace] onto a rock for potential additions to her base.

When her plan was finished, she started [Displace]ing considerable amounts of dirt around her base, creating small trenches and dirt walls.

By nightfall, she had completed a tenth of the digging and wall building. Even though the walls, accompanied by the trenches, only formed around a one-and-a-half-meter tall barrier, she felt safer having this around her home than nothing.

She returned to the shack's bed, marking the end of a productive day, and slept with a relaxed mind.

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After a restful night's sleep, Evangeline turned her attention to the now-dried shells of the spider legs. Placing her hand inside, she carefully cut them down to fit her forearm's size. When the vambrace was more or less ready, she eagerly tried it on.

You have crafted Common [Wolf Spider Vambrace!].

`Looks like the system recognized it as a gear piece`, wanting to know more about her DIY armour, she [Identify]'d it.

[Wolf Spider Vambrace] Common

+ 2 physical defense

Makesift piece of armour crafted from a spider's leg with little to no visible signs of crafting expertise.

Reading the diminutive description of her first-ever creation in this world, she could only mutter a sad "yay."

After drinking some water and warming herself up, she went on a light jog toward the forest. Today was the day for some spider hunting!

Six minutes were enough for her to see the forms of wolf spiders in the distance. It was a group of three. She immediately slowed down and gauged them. Two spiders were as big as the one yesterday, and the last one was taller, with a distinct difference: instead of the usual grey-brown of its comrades, this one was black with brown spots on its head and extremities.

The three had their backs turned and were feasting on something. To be sure that she could deal with them, she discreetly approached and, from behind a tree, cast three consecutive Identifies.

Identification successful

[Adult Wolf Spider] LVL 13

[Adult Wolf Spider] LVL 11

[Adult Lieuten-

Identification detected and countered by the target.

The larger arachnid suddenly halted its feast and slowly turned its back, its eyes immediately locking onto Eva's.

She could almost hear the "Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru..." before the leader of the small group shrieked and rallied the other two.