The Primal Hunter

Waking up, Jake found himself covered in sweat as he abruptly sat up. The damp cave and the high humidity of the forest just outside not doing him any favors either. He could still remember parts of the dream, but what mostly remained was a feeling.

Loneliness.

He had spent so long without any real interaction with others, the only reprieve being his meeting with the Malefic Viper. He couldn’t exactly count the meetings with William and the group he had fought earlier. The first meeting was with someone clearly plotting, and the other ‘conversation’ had few words that weren’t curses tossed at him.

Perhaps he was rushing into things, but he felt a need to clear up the misunderstanding. To at least have the possibility of reuniting with his colleagues. While they hadn’t been super-close, they were still the closest thing to friends he had.

Especially Jacob, Casper, and Caroline. Mainly the first two, though. More than a month had allowed him to rethink the silly crush he had on her in the past. He realized now that it was only a pipedream, that he had idealized and romanticized the thought of having a relationship once more. While she was physically attractive, he didn’t even know her that well, actually.

He just hoped they had all managed to survive. Based on the importance Richard seemed to place on healers, Caroline should be fine. With Caroline having feelings for Jacob, chances are she would do everything in her power to also keep him safe.

If he had to go by competency, his bet on survivors would be that Ahmed and Bertram were also still kicking, with Casper also having a good shot. As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but realize how lightly he took life… how he was ‘fine’ with expecting people he had called colleagues a month ago to be dead.

Then again, did he truly have the right to mourn the deaths of friends? He had taken many friends from others himself already… his number of kills being firmly in the double digits by now.

Shaking his head, he got off the bed and depositing it in his spatial necklace once more. After that, he took out a barrel of water to quickly clean his sweaty body. While it was a bit of a waste of purified water, it wasn’t like he couldn’t just purify some normal water later.

Feeling clean, he threw everything useful into his storage and exited the cave. The artificial sun was up, and beasts were once more roaming about, making sounds he could faintly hear in the distance.

Having decided to attempt to make contact with his former colleagues, he started heading inwards towards the tutorial area center.

It took him only a short while with his speed to head inwards. He was aiming for the area with the least amount of animal cries.

Continuing, he spotted something in the distance between the trees. It looked like a curtain of water extending towards the sky. Behind the curtain, he couldn’t see anything correctly, yet at the same time, it appeared utterly transparent.

Getting closer, he soon found himself standing right in front of the barrier. The first thing he noted was how his Sphere of Perception got completely thrown off by the barrier. It wasn’t that it blocked him per se; everything just felt… distorted. It was a weird feeling he honestly couldn’t quite describe.

Extending his hand towards it, he felt nothing from his danger sense. Identify also yielded no result. Deciding to risk it, he attempted to place his hand on the barrier, only for it to pass right through.

Quickly retracting his hand, he backed away from the barrier once more. If his guess was accurate, this barrier was some kind of entrance to an inner area of sorts. While he certainly wanted to go, for now, he had already decided to contact his friends.

Not knowing if the barrier was a one-way thing, he thus decided to postpone it.

Instead, he started walking around the edge of the barrier in search of Richard's camp. If his friends were anywhere, it had to be with him.

Luckily it didn’t take him long to discover a camp. Or a small village would be more accurate. It was a few kilometers away from the barrier, but it wasn’t that hard to locate due to all the smoke it emitted.

It looked relatively simple, with a small wall and quite a few wooden cabins encompassed within. Climbing a tree, Jake got a better vantage point as he started scouting the place.

at a small makeshift smithy, including a huge bearded man who seemed to be in charge. Others worked surrounded by tens of strung-up beasts as they were skinning their hides and transforming the

and a few men sitting together, working with what seemed like

the woman in the middle. Joanna. Jake could only smile happily as he saw a familiar face after such a long time. She

of his former colleagues had to be there. It took him a while, but finally, he saw two people walk out of one of the cabins. One of them, a blonde-haired man that even at this distance, Jake could identify as Jacob. The other was a woman wearing quite an

he observed the

and a pen from his spatial storage; Items he had brought along from the challenge dungeon. He decided to write a note, as walking into the base didn’t seem like the brightest idea considering them all believing him to

and some string he had made from the stalks

arrow, he took out his bow and waited. After only a few minutes, Jacob and Caroline entered a clear area as Jake aimed at the ground in front of them. The distance was hundreds of meters, but Jake had absolute confidence in the shot

in front of Jacob and Caroline, who both jumped back in fright, with Caroline even summoning a magic shield of some kind. Jake, however, didn’t stick around as he jumped back, letting gravity do its work as he fell

30-meter drop, he started sneaking away in case anyone was coming to investigate where the arrow came from. The ball was in their court now, and he dearly hoped that they would be open

they were under attack. Jacob quickly managed to calm

it. Picking it

here?” Richard said as he walked up to see Jacob holding the arrow and paper in his

a message by an arrow; it

“Who?”

scanned it and saw the name at the bottom as he became

answered. “He wants to meet.

looked at the paper. “Give it

message was indeed just a short request for a meeting. Few words, just saying that Jake wanted to meet and explain himself with a promise that he wasn’t looking for a

first thing Richard asked had nothing to do with this request

paper? And this is clearly written

Caroline as well as all the onlookers. Where exactly had he gotten

grayer and coarser version. The pen used

matter to everyone. Had Jake somehow made the things himself? If so,

pen taken from the challenge dungeon would cause this much debate and confusion in Richard’s camp. No one in both Richard’s and Hayden’s camp had ever done a dungeon. At least no one had

it. The dungeons were hidden, and if they were found, many

skills or pure human ingenuity. The diverse collection of people had allowed them to get access to many more modern items of comfort, albeit in rather rudimentary

capture Jake to learn of his secrets. Especially the crafters got involved in the discussion. Heavily pushed by Joanna, who had been brought up to speed by Jacob. She didn’t

his own cabin for a sit-down. While the mystery of the paper and pen were intriguing, Richard already

need him, he acts like a stray, Richard cursed inwardly. William had talked with Richard earlier,

identified as a certain

open a channel of communication. This can still be solved diplomatically,” Jacob said, as he got a bit heated at Richard insisting not

get you and your friends alone for easy pickings. Our best healer included,

can meet him

“No.”

it is best