The Primal Hunter

The King of the Forest lifted its ivory hand and pointed one of its sharp claw-like fingers at him. Jake’s sense of danger exploded as he dodged to the side. Where he had stood only a moment earlier exploded as if a colossal hammer had just struck. The blast didn’t hit him directly but was still enough to blast him away as he was pelted with rock and dust.

He barely managed to stabilize himself, as the King suddenly was within his sphere - right in front of him. He tried dodging backward, but it was too late. In a movement faster than he could in any way dodge, the creature lifted its finger once more and simply poked his shoulder. Imbedding its claw to its root.

Jake felt the pain as it entered him and then exited out his back as he tumbled backward. The King simply looked down at him, blood pouring out of the hole in the human’s shoulder.

“Where did all the fight go?”

The creature appeared to slide forward as it lifted its foot, kicking the hunter as he was already lying down. Jake flew tens of meters away, hitting the volcano’s inner wall more than sixty meters away.

“Show me. Show me the power of the one who has dared to come before me.”

Jake didn’t respond as he was still reeling from the kick. His ribs hurt like hell after only one half-arsed attack, and his health had dropped by far more than he found reasonable. But he didn’t give up; he refused to.

He quickly jumped up as he activated Badger Jump to get some height. He took out his bow and an arrow as he fired a Splitting Arrow towards the figure below in an attempt t-

“Weak.”

The arrows were blasted away midair, as Jake too was hit by a wave of force sending him into the wall once more, this time far harder than before. Coughing out a mouthful of blood, he tried to put the bow back in his inventory but failed as it flew away from him, straight into the claws of the King.

Lifting the bow and observing it for a bit with the emotionless glowing eyes, the King tossed the bow up into the air.

“An archer without his bow.”

The creature then lifted its palm and fired a wave of force at the weapon. It was blasted off out of the hole at the top of the volcano-like mountain, to who-knows-where.

“How shameful.”

The hunter who had just lost his bow had at this point just fallen down unto the hard stone once more, as he tried to stand up. His entire body was aching from the blast, and he felt like he had just been hit by a truck.

It was looking bad. Really bad.

The King of the Forest lifted its hand once more in Jake’s direction, as the human felt like a hand grabbed him. Unable to resist, he was pulled towards the creature - right into its open claw that closed around his neck.

Jake had both his eyes open wide as his danger sense kept telling him to just fucking run. Something it had done from the very first attack.

Claws closed around his neck, and he felt them slightly penetrate his skin. He stared directly into the two wisps of lights that were in its eyes as it regarded the human. Even without a face, Jake could easily feel the disdain, arrogance, and… playfulness in its eyes.

“I could kill you here and now. But the ‘fight’ is not over yet, now is it? But you appear to have lost your weapon, little archer… “

It lifted its palm and pointed it towards the side of the volcano. Power gathered for but a moment before a blast was released, shearing off the entire side of the mountain. A blast that would have ripped Jake apart if it had ever hit him… making it clear exactly how unserious the King was.

help

into the air just like it had done with the bow. And just like his weapon, it blasted him with

Scales of the Malefic Viper just before the blast hit him, lessening the damage significantly as he also crossed his

forcing him downwards once more. He fell towards one of the valleys as he braced himself

was nothing to feel happy about, however. His health was down to less than half, and to

lost HP. His wounds also visibly healed, and he felt his full range of movement return. Now the

from where he had landed. A direct confrontation with that monster that was the King of the Forest was out of the question. He needed a plan if he

Infused

the tutorial panel still showed the countdown for the end of the tutorial. He only needed to survive for a few days, and he

his thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he got a powerful premonition of danger. He quickly hid behind a tree as he tried to make himself as small as possible. Advanced Stealth was working

his sphere. It was still twenty meters

voice sounded out in his mind

the inevitable? Have you finally given up all hope? Seen the futility in your actions?” Jake heard its voice echo out, as he felt the childish

the predator that hunts it. A defenseless prey waiting

The King was able to speak in his mind

that… but it did give him an idea. Suppressing his nervousness and fear, he opened his eyes once more as he stepped out

little one

only interpret as a smirk in the eyes of the creature, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he welcomed it. If it wanted him dead, he would die… the fact that his Moment of the

usual shortsword or dagger, but merely a regular dagger. One, he swung down towards the

was met with a barrier that stopped the dagger less than a

you hoping to accomplish with this?” it

stuck in the barrier, and the King simply flicked it to the side. However, Jake wasn’t done as he took out yet another weapon and attacked, this time a random axe from when he did a

down and met the invisible barrier again, with the King of the Forest, this time just sending Jake tumbling back with a shockwave. In the process, he lost the axe’s grip, after which the King caught it out of the air with his

thing repeated, with Jake being tossed away and the weapon disposed of. He could feel the enjoyment in the eyes of his foe, as he clearly had a lot of fun

used every single weapon except for his Venomfang and the rare items he had. All

face full of fear. He heard the creature’s chuckle in his mind as it merely allowed it to hit its barrier, the bottle shattering, and

a few more bottles, his look of fear and despair increasing with every bottle. Finally, he took out one of the more notable items he had gotten during

(Uncommon)] – A seed filled with the dense power of life and nature. Infuse mana and throw it to the ground for roots to sprout and entangle your chosen foe. The

once more met with disdain. It hit the ground just in front of the King of the Forest

“What a fun toy.”

body, the roots shredded in the process, not a single root left unbroken. Yet

look of despair deepened further as he started shaking. He took out several more items and threw them at the King.

“How pathetic.”

throw another bottle, followed by a piece of wood, a metal

the Forest was enjoying himself immensely as he kept laughing. The items hit his barrier, as he swatted away the larger ones. He didn’t notice, or perhaps didn’t care, about the small black marble that

…darkness descended.

dark mana sprung forth from the marble, all of it drilling its way into the body of the King. Jake could feel the resentment and bloodlust in the