The Primal Hunter

The first thing that struck him was the smell - an all-encompassing stench that seemed to mask any other scent. Jake was happy that perception didn’t just straight-up make his sense of smell more potent, or he may have just fallen over and died there and then. At least he would have wished that he was dead.

The second thing he noticed was that the unnatural darkness persisted even within the dungeon. Jake couldn’t see a single thing, no matter what he tried or did. It was clearly magical, though he couldn’t find any immediate explanation.

The notification upon entering did help inform him why the smell was there, at least.

You have entered the dungeon: The Forgotten Sewers

Objective: Defeat the Nest Watcher

He didn’t even bother questioning how he had gone from a mountain to a sewer. Dungeons obviously didn’t exist physically in the world outside but were some kind of alternate space. A bit like his spatial storage, just on a far grander scale.

He had already gone to an old temple during the challenge dungeon, so a sewer wasn’t that far off. What did surprise him, however, was how modern the notion of a sewer like this was. It also didn’t seem to have much to do with beasts at all.

There wasn’t any noticeable movement in this sphere either. The only thing of note was the dripping water from the ceiling and small water streams running across the floor in places.

While Jake couldn’t see anything with his eyes, he could still see plenty through his Sphere of Perception. It was, however, affected. When it was at its max range at nearly 30 meters, everything felt murky. The air itself looked almost liquid, obscuring everything.

It was mana - extremely dense mana. And the mana wasn’t the pure kind Jake was used to, but altered in some way. If he had to make an educated guess, he would say that it was dark-affinity mana, or maybe shadow-affinity mana or something like that.

What mattered was the effect of it. It obscured sight completely, making anyone in it blind.

Jake decided to try creating some light as he took out some wood from his spatial storage. His Alchemical Flame didn’t produce much light but heat it made plenty of, allowing him to set fire to the wooden stick quickly.

The wood caught fire as a flame sprung forth. But that was where the expected stopped.

It clearly burned, and he could see the flame. The light, however, was as if contained within the flame itself. Like a dark barrier blocked any light from reaching beyond the flickering fire.

He tried putting his hand into the fire, and it only got eerier. It was like a vacuum of light appeared wherever his hand was. He didn’t see his hand, but merely a black hand-shaped object enter. It was as if the concept of light itself wasn’t allowed to exist.

Was that the gimmick of this dungeon? That one had to do it in absolute blindness?

While it wasn’t optimal, Jake would be able to manage with his sphere. But he had to do something about the murkiness. He closed his eyes, more out of habit than function, focusing on the sphere. He had done so many times before, either extending the range slightly or, as he did currently, limiting the range.

everything was now far clearer. Like putting on on prescription glasses, everything had turned from a blurry

inspect the details around him. While he couldn’t see them, he could easily guess from their shapes what everything was. He also became aware that it wasn’t because his sphere couldn’t see through the darkness, but because it could see too much of it. The mana was so dense it started flowing together, but with his sphere reduced in size, he could

made up of cracked and dirty tiles, while the ceiling above

new environment. Weirdly enough, he actually liked the darkness. It felt comfortable, like a warm summer breeze.

a crossroad. There was a hallway leading to both the right and to the left. He could also just continue onward, but this did make him stop and

he stood in the middle of the crossroad. Why

what any reasonable person would do

just always turning left and following the left wall until he found the exit. If the dungeon had an exit. While it wasn’t the fastest method, it was far safer

wasn’t like he had to slowly walk all the time. Picking up the pace, he started running through the sewer as he stuck to the left wall. It didn’t even take him a minute and a few hundred meters

some sorts. It was rather large, easily big enough for Jake to walk through if

a meter from the entrance. It was unfurred with two big front teeth sticking out of its mouth. The rest of its face was just two big holes for its nose.

inspected the unmoving beast in his sphere, he got the thought to try and Identify it. The skill didn’t specify that one needed to use one’s eyes to Identify something. It was just the most natural

the skill. It didn’t work at first, but it was like a switch flipped, and suddenly the skill

Creeper –

thing he was a bit taken aback by was the level. It was as high as the White

molerat was alone, and the level wasn’t everything to consider when determining how strong a

of the maze. Jake had no conceivable way to attack the beast from range - in front of the pipe was a wall only a few meters away, and there was

that it was sitting in ambush as the nose rose up and down slightly.

pulled out his bow. The beast didn’t have any ears from what he could see, but maybe it could still hear somehow. He raised his bow and, as silently as possible, nocked an arrow. He carefully pulled back the string as

making a very audible *clink* echo through the entire tunnel. Jake gritted his teeth at the noise while the

through smell. Of course, it was also entirely possible that they had some

he hadn’t noticed the rat. He walked at the wall opposite of the pipe as he got right in front of it. His

instant he did, the beast lunged forward. Of course, Jake was ready as he instantly stepped backward, making it smash into the wall. It clearly hadn’t expected him to do that as

room to maneuver as he attacked it with his dagger and sword. It didn’t even manage

as the beast was attacking him again. What surprised him was the precision of its attack

he also doubted it could smell anything. So how the hell did it see him? Was it magic? It hadn’t used any magical

as he was more interested in learning how it located him. He tried jumping back and to the side, but it followed him

summon a ball of strings in his hand but found it quite challenging to do for some reason. He eventually managed to do it anyway, but the mana consumption was way above average. Something for later, he noted

its frenzied assault. He tried a few other things until he tried summoning his Alchemical Flame. He instantly felt the beast focus on his hand as it attempted to bite

rushed forward, no longer wasting his time with the wounded beast. A solid stab to the heart later, and the rat stopped moving, followed

- the beast could see his body heat despite the dark-affinity mana. It was an evident strength, but also a massive weakness if exploited. Something he

while until he came across yet another pipe. This one had two Creeper’s within it, though. It didn’t matter much to him, as the things weren’t all that strong. Weaker than the White Does by far despite the similar