The Primal Hunter

A few hours earlier, while it was still early in the morning, the base was in full motion. The smiths worked overtime, the tailors doing the last work, and all the warriors readied their weapons and prepared themselves to make sure all their resources were fully replenished.

The order given was to march towards the now deceased Hayden’s base only minutes from now. They had all expected the command to come sooner or later, but it nevertheless came a bit earlier than most would have predicted.

As for Richard himself, he was currently in the large cabin functioning as the headquarter of his base. With him were Caroline and three other influential members of his team. Notably absent from the regular group of leaders was Jacob, who had yet to soften up after the whole Jake debacle.

Richard didn’t sweat it much. They still had more than three weeks remaining, and despite his anger, Jacob had always done his job. Not happily, but he did it. His sense of responsibility seemingly trumping his anger.

Looking around at the other leaders in the camp, he was quite satisfied with himself. He had chosen to have a leader from each starting class present as if to represent their faction. Caroline naturally was the representative of the smallest group, the healers. Warriors had been bundled into one, Richard taking charge of all of them, while the three others were an archer in the Scout, a caster who had recently been replaced by William, and Joanna representing the craftsmen and craftswomen.

His desire to conquer the base of Hayden was still being questioned even now. Especially by the middle-aged woman who saw it all as utterly unnecessary bloodshed.

Richard believed that the light-caster, and former second-in-command, of the enemy faction’s remnants still wanted to fight. The caster likely thought that Richard wouldn’t risk storming their somewhat fortified base, even with their advantage in numbers. It was illogical and unnecessary, just like the craftswoman said.

He would agree, if not for small detail.

Tutorial Quest: A Leader is born

Objective: Become the sole leader of at least 90% of the other humans during the tutorial.

Current progress: 57%

Eliminate other leaders: 1/1

The quest had been obtained on the second day of the tutorial. Before he had even properly established his camp. He had been surprised at the notification, but at the same time excited.

There is no way such a quest wouldn’t reward something worthwhile. Of course, the only obstacle in his way had been Hayden. A man who, as the quest objective showed, also had the same quest as himself. Or at least the man had also been recognized by the system as a faction leader.

His aim was naturally not a measly 90%. He wanted to complete the quest with a 100% completion rate. The quest clearly said “at least 90%” which indicated rewards for having more. A bonus he would gladly claim.

All he needed now was to wipe out what remained of Hayden’s goons and then hunt down that troublesome archer Jake, along with any other stragglers. Striking down any dissidents within his own faction shouldn’t prove much of an issue, either.

Looking about, he saw all of the people as his skill made him aware of their loyalty. Many of the recent defects from Hayden’s camp weren’t considered loyal quite yet, but that was kind of expected.

Richard was also annoyed to see that William, that moron, was no longer considered loyal. He was joining their assault, however, so all was good. He would make use of the teenager to wipe out his enemies and then put him down.

Having concluded their meeting, and William confirmed his tactic, the five people exited the cabin as everyone except the craftswoman went towards the gate.

“Listen up, people!” he yelled as he made his way to the middle of the camp and stopped. “Hayden is dead, but his people remain, and I fear they thirst for revenge. We have given them the chance to step down, but they refused! Tell me, are we going to let them truly start another war again!?”

“NO!” he heard several yells from the group - his own planted people, along with a few others.

“Exactly!” he continued. “We should crush them before they gather themselves and attack! Show them that we aren’t afraid!”

to himself in satisfaction. It was only a stupid act, but it

people stood in front of him. Some of them weren’t combatants but had simply come to send

in the front, the warrior smiled to himself

you join us,” he said as

be foolhardy or overly stupid; he should know that Richard would only bring him benefits. He couldn’t imagine the caster turning on him any time soon.

also?” Richard asked as he looked

isn’t a fan of stuff like this,” William answered, as he cheerfully laughed.

The Smith would have been a great asset, but then again, perhaps it was good to leave him

young man on his shoulder.

the fuck does he think he is to call me a friend?

do, he followed the rest of the merry band as they made their way towards Hayden’s old camp. William learned on the way that the light caster's name was Desmond. A soldier who was working under Hayden, who

information they could. While no one knew it for a fact, chances were that some of these people were the

other leaders as fast as possible in the good graces of himself, which was also why practically all of them had joined this attack. Besides, it gave him an excellent excuse to

would be a slaughter, with William happily taking on the role of the butcher. And he wasn’t picky on what to put

of the wall erected by Hayden and his comrades. Walking closer, they stopped only 20 meters or so from the gate, as they heard yelling and confusion from

THE FUCK OUT HERE!” Richard yelled as the sound boomed out. The volume far above what a human could ever do before the

response came from the base, but a few people were peeking over the wall in shock and horror. After only ten seconds or so, Richards slim patience was spent

he said as he walked towards the wooden gate, “then I am coming

it forward as a shockwave shot out of

met him was a beam of light, followed by a string of other spells as they bombarded Richard along with the

their shields. Blue barriers appeared and enlarged in front of their shields, making an impenetrable wall, easily blocking all the spells and

as they all started marching

side struggled as they slowly backed off and kept firing spells

other side kept retreating as they clearly focused on

was a bit confused at the response. It seemed chaotic and sporadic… yet planned. But he didn’t worry much as he spotted the unique robe of Desmond among the retreating people. The caster was also clearly firing

was slow but steady, as Richard happily let the other side waste their mana. The shields currently deployed by him and the other heavy warriors were skills they had all learned at level 20. The shield barely consumed any stamina

as expected, though Richard was surprised at the lack of people. There were perhaps 40 people in front of him, even though Desmond should have more than a hundred. Did that many people desert or flee into the forest?

explosion from behind, followed by screams

he turned back. What the

the man he was

been the brain of their operation, especially not after his son died. He had been overly emotional and spontaneous, which was why Desmond had taken charge of

more easily united the remaining survivors of

forest shimmered as dozens of people were revealed. Ironically, Richard had been

that Richard had thought to be deserters turned towards the weaker casters as

between the two forces, and with Richard having pushed together with a group of other warriors and elites, the mediocre fighters started a desperate struggle

underestimated the enemy, Richard wasn’t a total slouch, however, as he quickly remobilized his men as they charged backward once more to

back towards Desmond as he had a mix of allies and enemies between the two of them,

barely fillers, people who had barely managed to get their first class evolution, with even a few not having them at all. Most only had the basic

the truly powerful individuals who

one by one. However, he soon met his end as a glowing red arrow fired with a

cleaved in two by a two-handed blade as it descended from a warrior surrounded by weird energy giving off a deadly feeling. A warrior who soon