The Primal Hunter

Chapter 90

The tunnel opened up once more as Jake found himself in a small circular cistern. Water was stored below and a cross-shaped bridge allowed one to get across without getting wet. The road straight ahead led to another hallway while the path to either side led into pipes.

Jake had just entered the area when a rat appeared directly opposite him. He was prepared to take it down when it took the path to the left and entered the pipe. And that was when something truly interesting happened.

The pipe disappeared for just a few seconds before a new, perfectly identical one appeared. Jake couldn’t be sure if it was the same pipe; all he knew was that some dungeon-fuckery was going on. Was this perhaps where all the rats in the dungeon came from?

He knew that he was looking for a nest of some sort. His objective was to kill the Nest Watcher after all and to watch a nest, there needed to be one. And for the nest to be where the rats came from also seemed rather logical. I’m a genius, he joked to himself.

Checking his stamina and health one final time, he proceeded forward. The trap-filled tunnel had given him time to down a few more potions, topping him up entirely.

Walking at a brisk pace, he crossed the bridge and entered the tunnel, headed towards what he presumed to be the nest. A prediction that proved correct as he soon found himself on yet another platform overlooking a reservoir. But unlike the last, this one didn’t appear to be filled with thousands of weak rats.

The darkness still obstructed his vision, making him unable to get a good look, but he could feel something down there. Four strong presences, none of the auras weaker than the Den Mother had been. Unless the dungeon had decided to up the bullshit even further, this had to be the end.

He prepared his arrows and sword and dagger with poison as he waited the last twenty minutes for his potion cooldown to be over. Good to go, he began his assault.

Jake jumped down into the basin, his bow already out and an arrow nocked, ready to be drawn.

Advanced Stealth on full display, he advanced as sneakily as he could. He could feel the auras of the four powerful beasts, but none others. Perhaps they were hidden by a stealth skill like most rats possessed in the dungeon, or there were indeed only four of them.

Soon the situation became clear to him, and it wasn’t what he had expected. Four giant rats were lying on the ground together, surrounded by a massive number of smaller rats. The big rats were quite frankly far too big for it to make any sense. They looked like they couldn’t even move…

They were hairless like most of the other rats in the sewer, but their proportions were just all off. Their bellies were inflated to ridiculous sizes, and their external limbs looked like they could barely carry the beast. It didn’t even have any claws.

He identified one of the enormous rats and got at least a partial answer through it as to what the hell these things were.

[MoleRat Incubator – lvl ??]

The name made it quite clear what the function of these rats was, and it also explained the many tiny rats around them, one of which he also identified.

[Molerat – lvl 10]

They were indeed just pups. Far too small to pose any threat, yet Jake knew that leaving them alone would be unwise.

This was a dungeon and not the actual world. The death of these pups would mean nothing. They were never going to mature; they were just background noise added to the real challenge.

Jake looked around a bit further but didn’t spot the so-called Nest Watcher.

If it doesn’t want to show itself, then I will make it, Jake thought as he covertly marked the first Incubator with Mark of the Ambitious Hunter while he made tendrils of shadows attach to the three others. None of them even reacting to his actions.

he retreated to the entrance of the reservoir once more. There were no obstacles between him and the Incubators, meaning he had a free

him and his target, giving him ample time to bombard them before giving them the chance to retaliate. He was unsure of the Incubators’

of mana pushed back the dark mana around him for a brief moment and shattered the stones directly below him as a

power that soon tore into the

Incubator– lvl 86] – Bonus experience earned for killing an

his tether attached to the second Incubator, he managed to focus

he prepared another shot right away and released the string once more towards the next

slain [Molerat Incubator– lvl 85] – Bonus experience earned for killing an

level 63 -

reached level 57 - Stat points allocated, +5

second attack hadn’t even been close to as powerful as the first, yet it had proved lethal. But the momentary surprise didn’t slow down his movements at all as he marked his

this arrow didn’t hit at all. The Incubator still lay unmoving where it had always been so something had blocked his

a powerful Infused Powershot once more before shooting. He guessed that the last two had erected a barrier or something, and the best way to break that would be

sense explode, followed by something

the incubators as he ducked. Where his chest had been only milliseconds prior, a crescent wave of dark mana passed. The wave continued as it cut deep

kill notification on yet another Incubator as he was forced to once more jump to safety from another dark wave of destructive mana. And just as he was starting to

legs, easily towering over two Jakes put together. It had hair all over its body and looked almost human except for its head. It was another ratman -

lot like the Swarm Controller, but this one was far bigger in every aspect. It wore heavy armor that looked to be made of some kind of black exoskeleton, and over its shoulder, it carried a huge crude black sword that looked to be made of stone. He could see the muscles hidden

Jake observed it, it observed him back, and to his surprise,

“Human! Why kill!?”

the enemies he met in dungeons just to be common beasts. While some, like the White Stag, had shown signs of intelligence, it

however,

he took too long to answer, the

“King send? Why come?”

he answered honestly, seeing no reason to

on my way

be taken aback for a moment before it started laughing with

pup! King's

pup,” Jake answered as he once more lifted his bow. He didn’t bother chatting with the ratman any more than this. They would have to fight no matter,

–

was inevitable, why delay it? It was doubtful that he could learn anything useful from the ratman. On the other hand, it would give the Nest Watcher time to maybe call for reinforcements or have the one remaining Incubator to do something. He also wasn’t sure

of black mana. The arrows still in mid-flight were annihilated by the wave as it continued onwards straight in the direction of

wave of mana released by the now charging ratman. The ratman didn’t look like it had any intention to

he charged an Infused

as it continued its charge. Jake continued firing a few more arrows, but they were either blocked or

aura as it brought down its sword upon him. He dodged to the side as the ground where he had once stood exploded in a flurry of dust and

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