The Primal Hunter

Many different organizations exist in the multiverse. Even if one took only the ones spanning across multiple universes, there were many. These organizations’ structures and goals all varied widely - their ideology and vision were all their own.

Those with gods at the helm often had the beliefs of their god placed front and center. Some were more akin to churches and religions, while others were closer to companies. Yet even in those, the members held a deep respect and even faith for their godly leader. It all came down to respecting the powerful, and none were more powerful than the gods.

For anyone to join these organizations, they had to offer something - the most basic, of course, being a place to belong, comrades to rely on, and protection from the myriad dangers of the multiverse. On top of that, they also provided status and social standing, making the high-ranking members respected, even if it wasn’t for their own personal power. In other words, it allowed the weak to become strong through association.

Other than that, it gave those less suited to combat a place to pursue their passions and talents. It gave those who fought a backdrop of support for all their needs, allowing them to focus on fighting and improving their own personal strength - a purely symbiotic relationship, allowing strong synergy between the two.

One such organization that mainly had craftsmen was the Order of the Malefic Viper. Primarily an organization comprised of alchemists, one would generally believe it to be weaker on the combat side of things. But to the contrary, it was quite the opposite.

Despite its derelict condition upon initiation of the 93rd universe, none would dare look down on it. Even ignoring the possibility of the Viper himself appearing to defend it, it had a lot of power in itself. Even to the day before the Primordial's reappearance, it still easily recruited powerful experts.

Because what the order offered was one of the other significant benefits of an organization. Classes, and especially with the order, professions. Alchemist of the Malefic Viper was, without a doubt, one of the most sought-after professions in the entirety of the multiverse due to the potent and influential skills it possessed, as well as its endless potential.

Of course, being a member of an order with some of the most talented alchemists to help you also didn’t hurt. The association with a Primordial even less so.

Of the desired skills, Palate of the Malefic Viper was front and center. A skill that was rare by default and only grew from there. Its growth path was also well-documented and, once gained, presented a clear way to progress it.

Some skills came with clear paths of progression. Most didn’t, but a minority did. For those with a clear path, it is often enough just to reach some kind of threshold of improvement or to familiarize yourself enough with the skill for its rarity to improve.

Those without a clear path require some kind of qualitative change. Needless to say, this was far harder. This isn’t to say you cannot change a skill with a clear path, making it diverge, but it is far rarer due to the difficulty.

The skills with a clear path also naturally had an end to that clear path. A point when reached would require a fundamental, qualitative change to upgrade it further. This is where the exact endpoint of the skills’ natural progression comes into play.

Gods powerful enough to have skills named after them were precisely that: Powerful. In turn, so were their skills, making them carry strong potential inherently. But even then, it varies a lot. So, few aren’t tempted when represented with a vast array of skills associated with the Malefic Viper.

Jake, in his well-justified ignorance, of course, didn’t know any of this. He didn’t understand many things, and in some ways, that lack of understanding had strength in itself. He wasn’t aware of what he could do. Nor what he couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to.

This leads back to the current Trial of Myriad Poisons.

The first hour was deemed the most crucial for all those who attempted the trial. Except for a few hiccups right at the beginning, Jake passed that stage with flying colors.

the same time, however, Duskleaf

what did you

just added a little something extra,” the Viper answered, a deep smile on his lips. His eyes were fixated on the internal movements of the energies within Jake, and

the barrel for a bit before he realized.

“I sure did.”

was made, he had only made one minor change. A single small ingredient was added on top of everything else - a single drop of blood.

but the Soulstrain alone will kill him. Even in the best-case scenario, it will do

I would agree with you. But I have a feeling it won’t be so. Jake’s soul is

even the tiniest mistake

thing I have come to learn, it’s that he isn’t one to back down from a

it wouldn’t matter yet. It was far too early for him to reach the stage of the trial where the blood would be activated. He

simply get a free ride. If one tried to go above their means and forcefully increase their strength, one would more often than not suffer from

the metaphor Jacob had read, it was like pouring in insane amounts of contaminated water into the pond, hoping for it not to completely ruin the existing water but be absorbed by the pond itself,

this going wrong was death. It was to have one’s soul shatter, leaving only the

simply crack, resulting in lost stats, resources, skills, or even levels. Repairing a damaged soul was insanely

that the plan was to increase the rarity of Jake’s skill all the way to epic-rarity or maybe even ancient-rarity if all went well. To pour in a decent amount of water, but not too much. This wouldn’t be a problem at all. It would barely matter compared to the titles the human possessed. But what the Viper attempted meant way more. He was forcefully injecting

into the pond but also tossing in a dirty bomb. If his pond weren’t currently large and stable enough to absorb the impact,

to absorb it into his body, Duskleaf couldn’t see it ending well. Yet his Master didn’t appear to have the faintest doubt in his mind that the mortal could handle

a Divine skill to obscure him was enough to prove that. But could that secret really be enough for him to survive? What

human already had a skill related to time made the old man believe it was maybe related to that concept. Had he somehow managed to attain a deep comprehension of the concept of

Jake within the barrel hadn’t noticed any of this as he simply focused internally. Every shred of focus was on consuming the energy, to the point where he didn’t even register anything from his passive

and more of the poison in the concoction would become active. Every time it did so, Jake would temporarily be attacked from all sides until he managed to stabilize once more. At the same time, he felt both his knowledge and general resistance to all the

that his Palate of the Malefic Viper had undergone an evolution becoming Epic-rarity. With it also came a big leap in the skills capabilities, and he felt many of the poisons in

was quickly outdone by a wave of assault stronger than any before. Jake’s growth didn’t mean it would get easier, just that the trial’s speed increased to match it. It was a nearly unwinnable trial by design - a fact Jake didn’t know, as he only saw it as a difficulty spike

Jake still immersed. Duskleaf was astonished by the young man’s fast adaptability and nodded in approval every time he quickly managed to overcome a new wave. His speed was impressive, to say the least -

eighth day, something happened that surprised both the Viper and Duskleaf. The unmoving mortal appeared to smirk slightly as his closed lips parted somewhat, inhaling some

eyes in fright while the Viper just began laughing hysterically. It appeared that Jake found the speed of

day, he was already assimilating the toxins faster than the difficulty increased. It was starting to get boring. Less challenging. He was a maestro in his internal realm,

his mouth slightly, at least. He