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.

someone without his Sphere of Perception. If one spreads the tendrils out around oneself, it would be tough for anyone to sneak up on you. Of course, his sphere already had that part covered, and quite honestly, he believed his

kind of carried the same caster-like sentiments of the Dark 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.

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

dark mana with this one. Jake didn’t know if this was related to him distracting rats earlier in the dungeon, though. Back then, he had just shot some burning arrows after all. And

Jake wanted to distract something, he could do it by just firing a regular arrow, and if the enemy were smart enough to know that

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

he continued

fang coated in dark mana descending like the clamping mouth of a 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.

It was pretty clear from the name and description that this skill was an upgraded version of the Descending Fang skill he had skipped when he reached level 50. Interestingly enough, he could also still pick the normal Descending Fang

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

someone or something

skill seemed like a great addition to his arsenal, finally giving him an excellent melee combat option. He was already pretty competent in that department due to

had by far, benefitted from the skill even more due to being made of bone only made it all the better. Besides, using Descending Dark FANG with VenomFANG just seemed

much decided on this one

more 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 that while Attunement opens

skill was correct. It was something far more than that. It was to choose a path - a decision that would matter far more

would have lasting consequences as well as perks. He

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?

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

the thought of being a hunter hidden in the dark, killing all before they even knew of his presence. It was a great

didn’t mean he would cut himself off from the use of dark mana. The skill had confirmed that he held a great affinity

an affinity at another time, but for now, he wanted to keep his

Gained*: [Descending

influx of instinctive knowledge on how to use the skill as 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 meditation and skill

or so before opening his eyes, 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

on his feet, he felt rather good. His health and stamina were still not full, but his mana pool had been topped up due to the high mana density environment coupled with his own affinity to said mana. He still had some questions about affinities,

dungeon. He did so at a relatively relaxed pace as he took his time. He still needed time for the potion

Controller died, the barrier disappeared, opening