The Primal Hunter

*’DING!’ Profession: [Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 50 - Stat points allocated, +5 free points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (E)] has reached level 48 - Stat points allocated, +5 free points*

Briefly basking in the ever-satisfying feeling of level-ups for a while, he decided to get into the meat of things without unnecessary delays.

*Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper profession skills available*

It had sure been a while since he last unlocked any skills for his profession. Which did make him a bit excited to see what would present itself.

Skimming the list, he noticed all the usual ones, but also quite a few new ones. Four, to be exact. The first of which was a quite interesting common-rarity skill.

[Spectral Hand (Common)] – Sometimes, all you need is an extra hand. Summon a hand of mana able to interact with and hold physical objects. The hand is weak and lacking in dexterity, making it unsuitable for strenuous activities. Adds a minor bonus to the effect of wisdom when using Spectral Hand.

While he couldn’t be totally sure, he was ninety-nine percent sure he unlocked this one due to his practice with mana. He was already using his strings to add ingredients, effectively acting as hands, and Jake believed this was the system recognizing those efforts.

Not that he had any interest in picking it. He could already do what it did, albeit a lot worse. He was sure one of the other skills would prove far more valuable than a common-rarity third hand. Besides… he felt like he would eventually learn to conjure a hand of mana even without using a skill, but just through pure mana manipulation.

Moving on down the list, he got to the uncommon skills, of which only two new ones had appeared.

The first of which was a skill that he had seen mentioned in many of the alchemy books, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise.

[Distill Powder (Uncommon)] - Poison can come in many forms and is far from limited to a liquid. Allows the Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper to distill a concocted poison, making a powder that holds similar effects. If the powder is burned, release the poisonous product into the air. The effect and nature of the poison are dependent on the poison distilled. Adds a small bonus to the effect of wisdom when using Distill Powder.

This one was a bit tempting, mainly due to giving him a far more solid area of effect attack. It would be a way to do continual damage to more enemies at once. If he had been able to release a cloud of poisonous gas into the dungeon, it would have, without a doubt, done untold damage.

On the other hand,… the thought of the skill just rubbed him the wrong way on so many levels. He had gotten over using poisons on beasts, but he feared what the road could lead to if he started using more and more extreme means. He was pretty sure chemical warfare was outlawed for a reason.

Yet, he couldn’t deny how effective poison was. It would make him stronger if he could burn Necrotic Poison and just release a cloud of death upon others.

Skipping over the skill, for now, he moved on to the next one.

[Brew Flask (Uncommon)] – For when you need that little extra push to win the battle. Allows the Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper to craft flasks which provide temporary bonuses. The nature, magnitude, and duration of the flasks vary based on the material used. Adds a minor increase to the effectiveness of created flasks based on wisdom.

This skill was far more fitting for an alchemist- the kind that isn’t a walking war crime.

and flasks were one of the most common products along

bonuses, such as bonus health and mana, increased stats, or other buffs. It could be compared to equipping a new item for the duration

that long left in the tutorial, and he quite frankly didn’t feel like he had time left over to get into crafting something entirely new that very likely had

if they did, it wasn’t even a sure thing that he would manage to craft one before the tutorial ended. Not even if he focused all his time on it. It would also get in the way of his quest to kill the King of the Forest. It was also assuming he already had the required ingredients

Malefic Viper and not an Alchemist of Tasty

still a skill he would pick up later if he ever got the chance. It had many pros, but the lack of time and immediate usefulness eliminated it for now. The

skin into scales, vastly increasing the effect of toughness and adding a certain damage threshold. All damage below the threshold is nullified. The scales are exceptionally resistant to magic, allowing the alchemist to handle

description, he had to double-check it to make sure he hadn’t read it wrong. Especially the rarity of the skill. Ancient. Discounting Shroud of the

still wasn’t sure about the different rarities, but he was pretty sure Ancient was above Epic, but below

more than he had hoped for from a defensive skill. He had hoped for something like a mana barrier, maybe even

stats. His Big Game Hunter did give stats during actual combat with high-level

think…

provide him with 50 toughness. 55, in fact, if you counted his title giving an extra 10%. If the percentage bonus also worked, of course. It worked with stats gained from titles, so shouldn’t it work with stats

the skill anyway. He needed a defensive skill, and this one was just far too good ever to pass

warm flow go through his body - a quite intense

[Scales of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – The Malefic Viper’s scales are the first, and often the only required, line of defense. Allows the Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper to turn parts of his skin into scales, vastly increasing the effect of toughness and adding a certain damage threshold. All damage below

body was more significant than any level-up he had experienced so far. His skin itched all over as it strengthened,

discomfort disappeared, and everything returned to normal. Well, a new normal. Checking his stats, Jake saw that it had grown by not just

activated the skill. His skin’s texture was instantly replaced with dark green scales that seemed to reflect the false sun above.

poking them with his fingers and felt the tough surface. Weirdly enough, it didn’t feel much different than when he

out his Venomfang, he tried cutting himself. The blade managed to cut through the scales quite easily, leaving a small wound on his arm.

if the scales would regenerate, which they, to his disappointment, didn’t. Instead, they disappeared after only

Which, of course, led Jake to a realization. He finally had a skill that used mana that he could use actively in combat.

to a real test. The description

all his alchemist equipment into his storage, he

deer and a single stag. The

the first deer. The next two didn’t even make it to him

to do anything. Instead, it turned its attention to Jake as it

bit of the beam went through and hit his chest, causing burns, but the part of it that hit his scales did

after attack. The stag was level 54, and yet it was utterly unable to

stag decided to mix things up as it started charging its beam. The stag would have no time to do this in normal conditions, but its enemy was just standing there and taking

more intense than the others, and Jake panicked slightly when his sense of danger warned him. Instinctively he covered his entire upper body with scales as he was

Jake was surprised. Surprised by how little it had done. He felt a bit hot and a tingling sensation, but otherwise, he was completely uninjured. He had only lost a few