The Primal Hunter

Jake was two levels above the required one for choosing a new skill, but luckily, it didn’t seem to have any adverse effect. He had feared that delaying it for too long would lead to complications, but then again, the restrictions about skills-gain in combat were system-imposed, so it would be kind of bullshit if it punished him.

Before checking the skills available, he quickly made a small prayer to finally get some kind of area of effect skill. If he could shoot exploding arrows or maybe emit poisonous mist or something like the Den Mother, he could have easily dominated the Controller and the army of rats.

If he couldn't get that, he could maybe settle for another time-manipulating legendary skill. That wouldn’t be too much to ask, right?

*Ambitious Hunter class skills available*

Opening his system menu, he began going through the skills where five new entries had appeared, aka the maximum.

The first skill he started with was weirdly enough both exciting and boring at the same time

[Dark Bolt (Common)] – The starting point for many aspiring dark casters. Allows the hunter to summon bolts of dark mana to defeat your foes. Those hit suffer a penalty to perception and suffer damage over time as the dark mana ravages their very being. Adds a minor bonus to the effect of intelligence when using Dark Bolt.

Reading the skill, he found it interesting he even had it. It seemed like a caster spell and not a hunter one at all. But then again, he had learned how to condense bolts of dark mana and could do so without a skill, so maybe the system was just offering up a skill to do the same.

If it became an official skill, he could likely use it without any long wind-up. It would also undoubtedly be stronger, if not just for the effectiveness bonus from his intelligence the skill provided.

That was the exciting part, with the massive drawback of the skill itself being how little it appealed to him. Jake was an archer, a hunter, above anything else. He wasn’t going to start becoming a mage any time soon. If it was a skill that complimented his hunter skills like Shadow Vault, he could roll - or vault - with it, but this skill was clearly aiming towards an entirely different path than his own.

In other words, he would prefer to choose some other random skill he had unlocked prior. While throwing magic around seemed like a fun thing to do, it wasn’t really him. Maybe in the future, he would pick up some more mage-like skills.

Moving on, he read the next skill.

[Tendrils of Darkness (Uncommon)] – Of all the senses, perhaps the one of touch is the most universal. Summon invisible tendrils of darkness that allows you to feel the area around you. The Tendrils are weak to energy attacks, but their ethereal nature makes them immune to physical ones. Range of the tendrils scale with perception. Adds a small bonus to the effect of intelligence and perception when using Tendrils of Darkness.

This one was very similar to the Dark Bolt one. It was just a skill apparently mimicking what he had already done, albeit likely in a far more efficient and effective way. This was likely a skill stemming from his exploration method of placing strings everywhere.

But to Jake, this skill made even less sense than the Dark Bolt. The only reason he had used it was due to the unique circumstances he had found himself in.

out around oneself, it would be tough for anyone to sneak up on you. Of course, his sphere already had that part covered,

Bolt, though a bit less. While it did hold some uses for him, he believed that he could teach himself to do those things without a skill. With that in mind, he moved on to the next

is not necessarily meant to strike your foes, but simply to create an opportunity to do so. Shoot an arrow copying your mana signature and aura, distracting those of lower intelligence or those unaware of your current position. Adds a small bonus to the effect of

least quite a bit different - nothing about dark mana with this one. Jake didn’t know if this was related to him distracting rats earlier in

by just firing a regular arrow, and if the enemy were smart enough to know that was a diversion, it would likely not fall

worked on stupid things. Sure, it was way better than a burning arrow, and while it likely could be useful,

he continued down the

snake. Do a downward strike with a melee weapon, significantly increasing penetrative power and damage inflicted. Dark mana makes the wound harder to heal and drains energy until dispelled. Damage improved

description that this skill was an upgraded version of the Descending

had appealed to him quite a lot, and this upgraded skill even more so. All the benefits added by dark

would also make it easier to apply his affliction to ones with strong resilience. If he had met someone or something with a skill like Scales of the

melee combat option. He was already pretty competent in that department due to the massive benefits from his bloodline.

the skill even more due to being made of bone only

the last skill was a significant surprise, he had pretty much decided on this one already as he checked the final skill… which

easily. Permanently transform a part of your mana-pool to Dark Mana, empowering and reducing the cost of all dark-affinity skills. This mana innately limits the perception of those affected and consumes other types of mana-affinities. Also allows the user to absorb mana of the dark-affinity more easily. Beware

to read the skill over a couple of times. In fact, he wasn’t sure that calling it a skill was correct. It was something far

a genius to figure out that turning his mana into that of the dark affinity would have lasting

didn’t like it. It didn’t feel right. He wasn’t even sure if it would work properly with all of his skills. Or would it just upgrade things like his Infused Powershot? Would Touch of the Malefic Viper work the

The commitment to a path, one he could likely never reverse, and even if he

thought of being a hunter hidden in the dark, killing

off from the use of dark mana. The skill had confirmed that he held a great affinity for it, which had a lot of value in

Perhaps he would embrace an affinity at another time, but for now, he wanted to keep his paths open and his future an open book.

Gained*: [Descending Dark Fang

he continued his meditation. He hadn’t gotten the area of effect skill he had hoped for, but instead a strong single-target one. On the other hand, the gains from just the skill choices’ information carried a lot of value. Overall it had been a fruitful session of

drank a potion, and reentered meditation once more. As yet another hour passed, he awoke again, drank a potion, and meditated a bit more. Another hour passed as he drank another potion, but this time he didn’t reenter

high mana density environment coupled with his own affinity to said mana.

he decided to move on further into the dungeon. He did so at a relatively relaxed pace as he took his time. He still needed time for the

died, the barrier disappeared, opening the path forward. If he had to guess, then he would say the ratman was a mini-boss