The Primal Hunter

Jake had long gotten used to not really having to eat or drink anything. Whatever he chugged down here and there appeared to be enough to keep him going. He could barely remember the feeling of hunger or thirst anymore.

However, what he had kept doing was breathing. It just felt far too natural to do. All living beings he had seen did it. Yet, he had now been submerged underwater for nearly an entire day, and he hadn’t even thought about having to breathe before mere moments ago.

Breathing still had to have some kind of benefit. Why else would anyone and everything do it? He doubted all the beasts had the same lingering instinct as he and other humans from before the system did.

Well… not having to breathe is nice, I guess, he thought as he decided to pop his head up above the surface of the lake.

As his head got above the water, he saw the sunlight hit the shimmering water of the lake, as he peeked towards the shores. He saw nothing.

It appeared the boars weren’t having a drinking-session right now. Jake had kind of hoped for them to be there as the poison made its way to the upper echelons of the lake to observe its effect. He would have to wait a bit for that, though.

Jake decided to spend the time productively as he kept an eye on the entrance to the gorge. He had gotten many still lingering inspirations concerning the use of mana, and he decided to test out a bit of it now.

Earth mana had a weirdly solid feel to it, and it had inspired him to try if he could use it to enhance his own use of mana.

His first test was to place both his palms on the water’s surface as he began channeling mana to them and tried to push them downwards. He felt himself getting lifted a little as his hands sunk into the water.

Despite the failure, he was elated as his theory had been proven immediately right. Placing his palms on the water once more, he continued as he tried lifting himself out of the water once more, using the water as support.

With zeal, he continued his practice for half an hour until he finally managed to stretch out his arms, lifting his entire upper body out of the water, with the only support being his hands on the water.

The next step was to extend the same concept to other parts of his body. It took him only another hour or so until he stood triumphant on top of the water. Finally, he had realized a long-held dream since childhood. Following in the footsteps of a certain orange-dressed ninja, he could now channel his energy to stand on water.

He tried taking a few steps back and forth and found great success. Even going into a light jog, he managed to keep himself from falling through. His next test was to take out his bow as he tried firing an arrow - great success once more as he pulled back the string.

Next, he tried the ultimate test. Taking an arrow this time, he began channeling Infused Powershot, and… he plopped straight down into the lake. He would have to work a bit more on that one.

An opportunity he didn’t get quite yet as he heard the sound of trotters hitting the ground in the distance.

Stopping his antics, he pulled up his hood and activated the camouflage feature. He kept himself submerged with only the top of his head sticking out.

He had already established that the eyesight of the boars sucked. By blending in with the colors of the lake, he had a feeling that he could remain undetected, especially with the mana-rich water around him shrouding him further.

entire lake had been well and truly contaminated as all the toxins

unmoving as he crossed his fingers. Like the last time he saw them, they all spread out in a huge semi-circle as they surrounded the lake

mix of anxiety and anticipation as he saw it lower its snout. It briefly

he thought as the damn thing hesitated. However, its neighbor boar didn’t have the same caution as it just slumped its head

at its comrade and seemed to do what Jake interpreted as a shrug as

draining the lake. Jake reveled as he started feeling the poison enter them through his Sense of the Malefic

if they could really ‘feel’ it or how exactly they manipulated it. All he knew was

be the sharpest of the bunch, but even it hadn’t noticed anything

of liters. It was honestly amazing how the lake didn’t appear to shrink at all. Jake hadn’t seen any signs of new

stray thought was interrupted by one of the boars that had now stopped drinking. It backed away from the pool and… stumbled over and

an angry squeal at its companion. It, however, seemed to notice something was

interaction caught the attention of all the other beasts, as they all abruptly stopped drinking. They all raised

if drunk, hitting each other, with some of them

he observed all this. The effects of the poison hadn’t been what he expected… he had hoped for it to deal significant damage, maybe even slowly kill them. From what he could feel, they didn’t appear

Instead, they were… blind?

dark mana was to limit perception, and now it appeared these boars were infected by just that. Their already absolutely terrible perception hampered even

bit of an area now clear of beasts, one he quickly reached as he

in the water, the others running around hitting each other in confusion,

quiver. He mentally smacked himself for not applying poison to

put a bit of his poisoned blood into the bottom of the quiver, making do with what he had and what he could apply most quickly. As he

middle of the mayhem. He channeled his Infused

meters away, easily breaking the sound barrier. Not that the expected sonic boom was heard. Another part of physics that was likely altered or

substantial barrel-sized hole in the side of the boar, blasting it away. It smashed

Not a single one of them seemed to notice

second from where he stood. The problem for the creatures was that they had consumed too damn much of the water. Even if their body slowly cleansed it, Jake reckoned he would have hours

curing itself far faster than the others. The Horde Leader. But even so, while it healed itself faster, it

This repeated four more times before the boars finally seemed to catch on. Even with their reduced senses, the smell of blood had begun entering their snouts, making it

helped them. In fact,

rumbled as shards of stone began flying all around. Spikes of earth shot up, one of them even hitting the side of the Horde Leader, bringing it out of its state of concentration. It appeared to think it was under attack as

They just attacked everything around them. And the only thing around them

same time, continued shooting. He had to make use of the time as efficiently as he could. Most boars died in a single shot through the heart or head, but some

were durable, they were all currently in a weakened state. Their vital energies were entangled in a struggle against the poison in their bodies, weakening them all significantly. An unexpected blow