The Primal Hunter

The inside of the cabin was far too hot for William, and yet he couldn’t make himself look away. With every swing that brought the hammer down and every spark released upon impact, he got more and more entranced.

The Smith had been planning all of this for a long time. He was currently doing the finishing touches on his magnum opus with vigor and skill that William could only sigh in admiration at.

He was making what looked like a breastplate at first sight, but if one looked closer, it could be seen that the shape was slightly off. This piece was only part of the final product, after all. A single layer of the armor that would be combined with the rest upon completion.

William’s greatest weakness was, without a doubt, his defensive capabilities. While he could kill almost anything in moments, the same was true for himself, being killed in return. The fight with Jake was a great example. A single cut and he had nearly croaked.

The Smith was aware of this weakness. Or he at least had assumed it was so. What he was making was not just a chestplate, but an entire set of armor. The metal looked like silver but based on how hard the man was hitting it, and how little it gave away, it clearly was something else.

He wanted to ask but based on the man’s facial expression; he seemed to be in deep concentration. William had quite a bit of insight into metals due to his class’s nature, and he could nearly see the mana and stamina oozing out of the man as it entered the armor. But what was even more impressive was how easily the armor absorbed everything.

When he injected mana into metals to attune them to his use with his manipulation skills, it usually came with a lot of waste. Especially if he had to take control of metal, he had not used before. But this armor greedily took in everything like a famished man at a feast.

He briefly considered it worth killing the man just for the metal alone, but for some reason, the thought just felt… wrong.

Wiping the sweat off his brows, the Smith smiled at William as he summoned another piece of the final armor as he started attaching them together. With his hammer raised once more, he continued the work. It looked simple, almost comically so, but William could see the intricate patterns in which the mana moved through the hammer as it entered the armor with every hit.

Hours passed, and even though it had been so long, neither of them felt the passage of time. William was too engrossed in the creation process while the Smith was wholly absorbed in his work.

Nobody came to disturb them during this time. Everyone was busy preparing for the final fight with the now-dead Hayden’s faction. With the isolation barrier in place, the cabin’s intense creation process didn’t make any disturbances to outsiders either.

Finally, the Smith breathed a sigh of relief as he put the hammer down. Taking the completed piece off the anvil, he smiled in satisfaction as he started cleaning it. William wanted to jump forward and grab the armor but decided against it. It was his, to begin with… but it felt wrong to take it before the Smith gave him permission to.

With a nod, the man finished cleaning the now shining silver armor. It looked like only a piece of plate mail that only covered the chest. It was solid but looked easy enough to move around in. But of course, William knew it wasn’t so simple. The Smith had attached several pieces of armor to it. Parts now seemingly integrated into the plate mail - a complete set of armor covering one from head to toe. Helmet, leg-guards, bracers, gloves, all of it had been melted into this final piece of armor.

This clearly showed how prepared the Smith had been. All of these were made from the beginning. He only had to do the final part. And for some reason, he had wanted William to bear witness to this last part of the armor’s creation.

Placing the now finished armor on a table, he called over the young man waiting in the room with him.

“Come over here, kid,” The bearded smith laughed. “Check out the armor. Not bad, eh?”

Not hesitating, William went forward as he identified the armor.

[Expanding Blessed Mithril Armor (Rare)] - An expertly crafted full suit of armor created by a skilled smith pouring in all their talent. Reaching a high rarity, if barely, this achievement has been achieved not through intricate enchantments but through pure strength of the materials used and the craftsmanship required for its creation. Extremely high ability to absorb and store mana. Enchantments: Expanding Armor. Kinetic Force Diffusion.

25+ in

the same time. He had hoped for stats

the smith, who, in turn, was

hits you with a big hammer or something like that. It disperses the force throughout the armor’s surface instead of a single point, effectively allowing the armor to

it does so even someone like you can take some hits,”

damn overpowered. Of course, he didn’t know precisely how effective it was, but it sure as hell made the

are you satisfied?” The Smith asked as he smiled at the young

fake smile he was used to but a genuine one. This armor was well worth the wait. He felt…

to someone. He felt like he owed the bearded man something. For him to

of metal covered in cloth. “I have left some information on this for you… it’s about

in his eye for a

human as he sprinted up the mountainous path. Despite his speed, however, what

than up to his waist, the small beasts zoomed up the path as they crossed several meters with every

with acidic spit, making sizzling sounds whenever it hit the ground during their

ahead as he turned into a shadowy form and flew forward, avoiding their assault. The second he landed, he turned

started festering and rotting as the beast thrashed in pain and confusion. The other creatures simply ignored

relentless.

promptly

of the silliest things Jake had ever

and only ended after he managed to mount

won the fight, but it had made quite the spectacle - a spectacle that had attracted a few of these pests.

they were incredibly fast and agile while also having highly toxic bites. Jake could handle being bitten as the poison didn’t really affect him due to his Palate of

ten of them, and yet five still chased him. The buggers were nothing but determined,

to slip away from the two that had gotten closer as he landed another poisoned arrow on one of the beasts, making

Jake to avoid as he simply covered his head and let it rain down on

matched against Jake. Their power focused on the use of acid and poison, two things Jake had significant resistance to. At the same time, they didn’t really have any particularly strong poison resistance of

had dodged a majority of Jake’s attempts to strike back, but in the end,

in one shot, while they could barely harm him. Their damage came through the venom excreted through their bites, which in the end only helped Jake recover a

last beast was dead on the ground. When it was down to two of them, Jake didn’t bother dodging anymore

down on the ground as he stared up at the sky. Another reason he had switched from using his bow

two quivers, his starting one, and one taken from the archer who was with the nature warrior, he had used all the arrows in both of them.

token, he, without a doubt, would want to upgrade the quiver. It should also help make his arrows