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.

different kinds of creations an alchemist could make, and flasks were one of the most

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

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

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

far better at making poisons anyway. He was an Alchemist of the Malefic Viper and not an Alchemist of Tasty Flasks, after all. Besides, his profession and all his skill-set were just more suited

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 final skill

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 the threshold is

he hadn’t read it wrong. Especially the rarity of the skill. Ancient. Discounting Shroud of the Primordial, this was the highest he had ever

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

itself was more than he had hoped for from a defensive skill. He had hoped for something like a mana barrier, maybe even a parry or blocking move or something from

Game Hunter did give stats during actual combat with high-level enemies, but it was

think… does it

him with 50 toughness. 55, in fact, if you counted his title giving an extra 10%. If

that it ultimately mattered, as he would pick the skill anyway. He needed a defensive skill, and this one

the skill, he instantly felt a warm flow go

turn parts of his skin into scales, vastly increasing the effect of toughness and adding a certain damage threshold. All damage below the

warm flow going through his body was more significant than any level-up he had experienced so far. His skin itched all over as it strengthened, and he had to hold himself

normal. Checking his stats, Jake saw that it had

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

Weirdly enough, it didn’t feel much different than when he touched his skin directly. It was an odd feeling, like if he just had a lot of

scales quite easily, leaving a small wound on his arm. Maybe testing with

they, to his disappointment, didn’t. Instead,

then again, he hadn’t transformed a huge area. Which, of course, led Jake to a realization. He finally had a skill that used mana that he could use actively in combat. Maybe his

test. The description said it

into his storage, he

long to encounter a small group with 3 deer and a single stag. The deer were not that exciting, as they mainly engaged in melee and acted as guards for

deer. The next two didn’t even make it to him before they were riddled through with Splitting Arrow. And a bit of necrotic poison, for

tried to heal its companions in vain, but they died too fast for it to do anything. Instead,

his chest, causing burns, but the part of it that hit his scales did absolutely nothing. It

at him as he blocked attack after attack. The stag was level 54, and yet it was utterly

after seven beams, the 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 its blows,

and Jake panicked slightly when his sense of danger warned him. Instinctively he covered his entire upper body with scales as he was somewhat pushed

a tingling sensation, but otherwise, he was completely