The Primal Hunter

Everyone likes loot. It is the reason why people bother to defeat the same bosses and maps over and over again in videogames, just for the slight chance of getting an item with insignificantly bigger numbers on it to flex on your friends.

Jake, of course, was no different. With the items now no longer merely being pixels on a screen but tangible tools allowing him to become stronger, it turned that entire sentiment up to eleven.

But it also made the disappointment worse when he got something he didn’t want . And the first item, a shield, was one such disappointment.

[Bulwark of the Horde Leader (Rare)] – A shield made from the rock infused with the Records of the Horde Leader. The Horde Leader’s Bulwark is highly resistant to all physical attacks while only offering medium resistance to magical ones. Allows the user to channel mana into the shield, increasing its size and resistance accordingly. Enchantments: Self-Repair.

Requirements: lvl 60+ in any humanoid race.

Yeah, sure, he didn’t have a decent shield, but he didn’t plan on using a shield either. Any attack he would be forced to block would likely be better blocked by his Scales of the Malefic Viper anyway. Not that he planned on tanking many hits. He preferred not to get hit at all.

Trying it out, he injected mana into it and felt it bind to him. He already kind of knew he had some kind of earth-affinity as the Soilwater didn’t hurt him, but it was good to have it reaffirmed. After trying out the shield’s ability a bit by making it grow in size and shrink it back down, he got a bit bored.

He put the shield in his inventory as he turned to the second, smaller lockbox. The small box was no larger than his hand, making Jake predict jewelry of some kind. What he found instead, however, was a small bottle with red liquid within.

It looked a bit like a health potion, actually, but his Sense of the Malefic Viper informed him that it was so much more. His Identify further confirmed it.

[Stonescale Heart Elixir (Epic)] – An elixir created from the heart of a Stonescale Quillbeast, along with a myriad of other rare ingredients. Allows any who drink this elixir to receive some of the innate power of the Stonescale Quillbeast. Consuming this elixir will permanently strengthen the hunter’s toughness and vitality: +25 Toughness, +20 Vitality upon consumption.

Requirements: E-rank or higher.

He had to do a double-take as he read it over once more. Jackpot, he thought, as he picked up the small bottle to get a closer look. He had only ever come across one other item that permanently granted stats, and that was the Argentum Vitae Mushrooms in the Challenge Dungeon. The main ingredient he had used to pass said dungeon.

And now he had found another such item. But this time, it was not ingredients but a completed elixir.

Jake had read up on elixirs already. Elixirs are consumables that alchemists can make, that permanently increase the stats of the drinker. It was noted as very difficult to make, often requiring rare, expensive, and hard to find ingredients.

On top of that, one had to at a minimum be D-rank to make them. Something he could learn to make after his next evolution if he met all requirements to do so. But all of that was for later. For now, it was drinking time!

Opening the bottle, he got a quick whiff of it before he downed it. The taste was quite interesting. Weirdly sweet for something made from the heart of a beast.

A few seconds after he drank it, he felt the warm flow exit his stomach and enter the rest of his body.

You have assimilated intense energy of toughness and vitality.

+25 Toughness

+20 Vitality

Slowly the feeling subsided as the system message appeared. He didn’t feel much different from before, but his stats had indeed increased upon checking the status menu. Vitality and toughness were two stats that were hard to really ‘feel’, compared to perception or strength.

just cleared, he found it may be the best one so far. While he had only gotten the tusk and the elixir as useful loot, the elixir was terrific. An elixir was even better than gear as it even worked with his percentage amplifiers on stats. Gotta ask Villy about

class. Quite a bit for how fast he had managed to get through it. He wasn’t going to complain about his

down the final boss. A

[Tutorial Panel]

days &

him the expected increase of +4 all stats combined.

last one was an

The Beast

the forest from the shadows. The four Beast Lords each guard their dungeon as their King commanded, waiting for a suitable challenger to appear. With the death of his lords, the

taken notice but has yet to make a move. Continue with the

to become truly worthy of notice. The King of the Forest will not sit idle as you attempt to dismantle the careful balance his domain has attained. With only a single Beast Lord left standing, your

Lords now lay slain before you, with only

the

Current progress: 4/4

Quest Completed!

smiled, satisfied with his accomplishments. He had managed to singlehandedly clear the four dungeons containing all the Beast Lords and defeated all of them. A thought of

it as he exited the dungeon. His vision temporarily turned black. And then he felt it. Before his vision even returned and his body

returned, and he saw the source of the aura. On the barren ground inside the hollow mountain stood a figure unlike any he had

three meters tall, the creature resembled more a tree than a person - two thin arms that looked like branches and legs that ended in ivory claws. The hands, too, were more beastly,

Its face was… nothing. Like a wooden mask with only eyes showing, it had no expression

a web of entangled thorns, in a shape that very much resembled a crown. He

the Forest – lvl

at the King, unsure of what to do until a voice broke the

hunter comes before me. His hunt complete, his valor

in his mind and not his ears, sounding like it came from

commend you. You have gone beyond anything I expected. But alas, the journey ends here. I do not seek your death, but

words sounded out, the system

been granted the Tutorial Quest: To Choose

Forest, the undisputed lord of these woods. The tutorial’s end is nigh, and it is now up

now and retain all current Tutorial Points as well as any other rewards earned. Gain a one-time bonus

the end. Kill the King of the Forest or risk dying in the process. Gain a one-time 300.000.000 Tutorial Points as well as any other rewards associated with the completion of the tutorial if you succeed

at the conclusion

simple. Take the victory Jake had already earned and end the tutorial there and

that should be easy for the Ambitious Hunter, and yet he hesitated for a moment. His heart and will told him to fight, but his mind told him to run.

three question marks in the Identify message was

grow from 24 to 25 was immense. The next gap… even higher it appeared - an

the creature represented. His bloodline humming with fervor. He wanted to fight - a stupid decision