The Primal Hunter

The warm flow went through his body as it quietly circulated through his system. The stream of inner energy was the natural cycle that was ever-present in any living being who possessed the energy and subsequently required it to function.

This was also why there was a passive drain of stamina whenever awake. Whenever the body was moved, a minuscule amount of this energy would get used. Of course, skills took far more energy as they easily drained hundreds of times the typical stamina consumption in mere moments.

Which was likely where the name stamina came from. It was the resource that allowed physical actions and skills.

It was very similar to mana in many ways. Except stamina was the ‘mana’ of the body. Much like a caster without mana would be unable to cast a single spell, a human without stamina would be unable to even move a finger.

The two energies were so similar in so many ways. Which made sense as there were ways to change one to the other. But if Jake could do so much with mana… why couldn’t he do it with stamina? But instead of injecting it into an item, why not inject more of it into some regions of his body?

He could already kind of do that currently. Whenever he used Powershot, he infused his arms, shoulder, and upper body with incredible energy. Enough so that if he channeled for too long, his body started taking damage from it.

Whenever he used Hunter’s Sight and Archer’s Eye prior, he also did so with stamina.

With these skills, no conscious effort to move the energy was made by him. It was the skill and, subsequently, the system doing all the guidance. He simply had to think he wanted to use Powershot and focus on doing it. Yet he remembered the feeling he got while doing so.

Which was what he was currently trying to do. At first, he couldn’t find this flow of energy coursing through his body, but eventually, he managed to feel the slight wisp of energy.

He focused on the feeling as he followed the flow. It was an odd sensation feeling the energy travel through channels in his body he was never aware of. Or perhaps they hadn’t been there before the system reforged his body upon entering the tutorial for the first time.

If one were into eastern martial arts and medicine, one would call these channels meridians. Jake had no way to further learn about these channels’ details, but he was nevertheless determined to discover the basics.

He did discover that these ‘meridians’ weren’t actually physically present. They were more metaphysical channels within his body that could change and weave to deliver energy as they pleased. He also discovered that the core of it was around his heart… the same place he felt his vital energy exit from.

Time slowly passed as Jake sat deep in meditation. Every single shred of his consciousness was solely focused on the stamina traveling through him. Slowly he started to try and nudge it a little here and there. Speed it up, slow it down, even perhaps try and change the way it traveled slightly.

While he did find minor success in the first two, he got nothing when he tried to change the direction.

The energy was his own, to begin with, a part of his body. It was energy just like mana was. So he tried experimenting with treating it more like it was mana.

Attempting some of the methods he used when making potions, more specifically stamina potions, he started to find rapid progress.

The artificial sun had already come up once more at this point, as Jake finally opened his eyes.

Standing up, he started punching the air. Or shadowboxing if one wanted to get fancy with the wording. Partway through, he started speeding up slightly as he focused on enhancing himself. It was a small difference, but it worked.

He tried increasing it as he got faster and faster. His fists started whistling through the air as the power got higher and higher. As his movements began to look like a blur, he suddenly felt something was very wrong. He felt numb in his arms, followed by pain, not unlike when he used Powershot for too long. But this was far worse.

He tried to stop the flow and the influx of stamina but found himself unable to. The speed stopped increasing, and he kept boxing, needing some kind of outlet for the energy.

The veins on his arms started bulging and turning red, his fists moving despite Jake trying to stop them. By now, he was entirely out of his stupor and discovered how utterly stupid he had been. He had focused so much on being able to do it and not at all on how to stop.

open like they were overinflated balloons. Blood spewed everywhere as he screamed out in pain, falling backward

had stopped, no longer having a medium to

his spatial storage, as he somehow managed to uncork it

And while he kind of had, it at the same time was perilous

an arm would be a lifelong disability. Now, he just found it a minor inconvenience as it took

losing both his arms. An amount that was nearly instantly regenerated upon drinking

energy a bit better, it should help his use of skills. Say, what if he tried to speed up the charging of Powershot by forcefully increasing the flow

of the benefits of Powershot was the immediate release of energy whenever he let go of the string. All the inner energy stored in his

shadowboxing earlier, where the energy just kept building up without any sign of stopping or outlet. He could let out a bit of energy with every punch, but far

was technically drawing power from a source able to deliver far more energy

hammer two nails into a power outlet and attach two cables directly to his graphics card, frying it real good. Sadly for him, the body didn’t

at least it only targeted his arms. He could only dread what would have happened if he tried to speed up the flow in his entire body. While it would likely grant

spun in his head, his arms were slowly regrowing. At the same time, the system popped up in front of

progress. Postponing or delaying your choice may lead to adverse

reminded of what he

once more, he subconsciously checked the list and was surprised

(Inferior)] – A reckless strike may lead to an expected victory. Punch an enemy with extreme strength, dealing the same amount of damage to the enemy as well as yourself. Adds a small bonus

rather insulted. Yet it also helped confirm

hadn’t seen anything related to his bloodline,

Perception as he called it, which of course, allowed him to ‘see’ everything in a sphere around him and the danger sense, which gave him a supernatural sense of how

more tangible benefits. The everyday help from his instincts, along with his intuition, both also did

it didn’t provide anything but the bloodline ability. Jake opened the window to see it to

Unique)] – Dormant power lies in the very essence of your being. A unique, innate ability awakened in the

it had changed nevertheless. Looking at the log, he couldn’t see the old version of it. But he could remember the wording quite well. It had merely said that it enhanced innate instincts, enhanced perception of his surroundings, and enhanced his perception of

thoughts? he pondered as he kept reading the ability. The function of the ability hadn’t changed, and he didn’t feel any difference either. It was just the wording. The wording used was the same terms he had made up on a whim to describe the ability more

Even those that alluded to his name did so by addressing him. But this one clearly said

or

thought as he dispelled the message that popped up once more to warn him of

the end, he settled on the Splitting Arrow

death. Fire an arrow that splits into several copies while in flight. Each arrow

practical approach to handle crowds of enemies and provide an additional attack he could

told him the same, and as he had just gone through, that one was

out the skill. Remembering his current lack of limbs,

all around him, and his sphere didn’t pick

much full, his stamina was reduced to less than 30% after his battling and experimentation earlier. So calling his reckless

the body. Except for touch, that is, which

it in any way. Perhaps he could have tried to speed up the healing process, but he decided just to let it do its work. He had done enough experimentation with the

move through any set channels but inhabited every single piece of Jake’s body

as they