The Primal Hunter

The otherwise peaceful pond was now disturbed by blood and dead beasts - a situation that seemed to not sit well with the Great White Stag as it slowly walked in.

Jake was a bit more than a hundred meters away at this point, as he observed from a small hill. His head barely popped up to the top of the grass, leaving it still partly covered. He was unsure if this distance was safe, but he guessed it was. If it weren’t… well, he would handle that problem if it presented itself.

The Great White Stag slowly walked around the clearing for a bit, sniffing the ground here and there and inspecting every single one of the corpses. The three does following it did so silently, though Jake could clearly feel that they were very alert and ready to spring into action at any moment.

He couldn’t help considering attacking now. The stag was alone with only its three usual followers with it. In the center, it was always surrounded by close to a hundred other beasts… but he didn’t attack.

His mind told him ‘yes’, but his instincts and intuition gave him a resounding ‘no’. Something felt off about the entire situation. Why would the big boss come here only with three followers? It seemed far too convenient.

So he waited.

The clearing’s perimeter was scoured carefully by both the Great White Stag and its followers, forcing Jake to duck down a little lower. At one point, he felt his danger sense vaguely warn him that they got close. Too close.

The white stag kept sniffing around the area for a few minutes before it suddenly seemed to get bored. It bellowed at the does around it, as they all sprung into action. Jake momentarily thought he was discovered, but quickly calmed down when he saw what they were doing.

They bit into the dead deer that he had killed and started dragging them across the soil. The stag merely watched them work as they gathered up the corpses and put them all in a big pile. When they were all gathered up, the stag finally made its intentions clear as its antlers started giving off light.

Jake instantly felt it in the air. The very atmosphere seemed to change as the fake sun above darkened. The sky turned black as a bright white orb appeared - a moon.

Or, more accurately, a representation of a moon. It wasn’t the moon from earth, but an entirely unblemished marble. There were no craters on it, nothing at all. It looked like a perfectly round pearl floating above. What happened next, however, made him aware that this was not merely an illusion.

The antlers of the Great White Stag pulsed with mana and light as the moon above came alive. A beam descended on the pile of corpses less than a second later, enveloping it entirely. It had to have a radius of at least 3 or 4 meters, with a mana intensity far above anything Jake had ever seen before. Discounting whatever the Malefic Viper had done, of course.

A few seconds later, the light stopped just as abruptly as it came. What was left was… nothing. Not a single piece of the beasts remained, not even a single drop of blood on the grass. Which lead to the second point… the grass was completely untouched. In fact, it seemed to have more vitality than before the light descended.

With its work done, the stag’s antlers stopped glowing as the sky returned to normal. With its does in tow, it sauntered back towards the center pond once more.

Jake was left astonished by the display. The power behind it was above what he had imagined. But what was even more incredible was how the hell the beast had done it. He had a pretty good sense for mana by now, but whatever the hell it did, it didn’t do entirely with its own power. It was like it had pulled pure unadulterated power out of nothing.

phenomenon. Like how a single spark could lead to

the sum of its parts. The system amplified it, but whatever the Great White Stag did was on an entirely different level. There was

all. Its display of power was noticeable, yes, but it wasn’t above and beyond what he could face. It was

fact, the display only made him more excited to face it eventually. To discover what more it would have in store for him. For him to overcome it. But first, he still had a

at the Great White Stag. Based on the

motivation, he dove into the tall grass, already looking forward to

experienced memory after memory. Of the things he had done in the past and how he had dealt with it. Countless visions of his behavior and rationalization superimposed on each other, forcing him to reflect on his

and all those he had hurt through his actions. The nurse who got fired and sued, the people he had manipulated to

scenarios, they could lead you astray or to make the wrong decision at the wrong time. Get emotional and do something

had only two memories, where the emotions felt truly real. One was when Herrmann died, and the other was during the final battle. Where he had, for

chaotic. Uncontrolled. Too close to the weakness that led to the escalated war. The

transcend above that because the dreams made something absolutely clear to him. This tutorial was his to claim, his foundation to build his power upon. He felt the whispers in the back of his

he could reach beyond perfection because that

square, surrounded by all the other survivors of their camp. He was

survivors were middle-aged office workers who never had any desire to fight. They were understandably distraught after the

that had changed. The hopeless had turned to an optimistic view of the future. Jacob spoke of the wonders of the system, the existence of gods, and how he had even met one. He spoke

thing, it led many to the natural conclusion of an afterlife

himself a guide of sorts. To prove his claims, he had enlisted Bertram’s help to teach

- a class level. The survivor was only at level 14 before he leveled, but it did prove the possibility of leveling a class without fighting. Which was, of course, another source of

Jacob himself, well, his progress was on

of Hope] has reached level 36 - Stat points

was ecstatic at the new possibilities opened up before him,

is far better than a bored one. And Jacob

30, he had also earned another skill that only

fulfill your role, you must know what to teach. Grants knowledge of the teachings of the Holy

and of course also of the Holy Mother herself. It was only surface-information about the specific members, but he did discover that the Pantheon consisted

Teachings of compassion and working together. Of the importance of cohesion and in guiding others towards a greater path. Teachings against the chaos