The Primal Hunter

The once-great city that Jake had called home for the last few years was nearly unrecognizable. The grand buildings were broken and in tatters, the streets dominated by the reclamation of mother nature.

Jake simply walked down the street at an average pace. Not asphalt but grass and weeds beneath his feet. On the way, he saw several other groups of humans. Some tried to approach him, some observed him warily, while some hid and believed their gazes undetected.

For those who tried to talk, a quick glance was usually enough for them to leave him be. Their inability to Identify him without a doubt also playing a role in their decision to avoid him, which was exactly what Jake wanted right now. To be alone.

He was actually quite overwhelmed by the number of people he saw. One often forgets precisely how many people lived in big cities. In the end, it got so bad that Jake had to get off the streets. A quick leap using Badger Jump took him up to the roof of a still-standing four-story apartment building. That also earned him quite a few glances.

Jake needed time to think. His mind was a mess, only exacerbated by getting into a conflict first thing upon returning to Earth. He couldn’t even blame Mike. He, too, hurt just as much as Jake, and lashing out was to be expected. They were both assholes. Himself appropriately more so as he had hurt the man for no good reason.

Looking towards the pretty blue sky, he thought of his next steps. What he usually did whenever he felt overwhelmed by something was to drown himself in work or studying. An approach he decided to replicate once again.

He wanted to find somewhere to settle down for a while. To do alchemy and practice and familiarize himself with all his upgraded and new skills. Without any clear direction, he, in the end, settled on just following the advice of the Malefic Viper. To find the territory that the King of the Forest was supposed to occupy.

Glancing about, he located the tallest building still standing. It even still had the radio tower on top.

A quick climb later, mainly consisting of him just penetrating stone with his fingers while climbing, he found himself on top of the tower. From there, he had quite the vantage point and could see the city in all of its decrepit glory.

But more importantly, he could see beyond it. And what he saw wasn’t what he expected. The city itself was as he remembered it, save for the destruction, but what lay beyond certainly wasn’t.

On one side, he saw a giant lake. Or maybe even an entire ocean. It had to be noted that there wasn’t even a beach within a hundred miles before. Besides the lake, on all other sides, there were now only vast plains. Looking about, he could actually see where the roads just suddenly cut off. It was like someone had just plopped down landmasses all around.

Only one side looked somewhat normal. Jake could see the highway still continue outwards, and he could see it all looking relatively normal. There were quite a few things that stumped him, though.

He didn’t see a single car anywhere. The radio tower he was on didn’t have any of the electronic components either. He still saw plenty of bicycles scattered about but no cars, scooters, busses, or anything like that.

Another thing he noticed was the vast distance he could see - his insanely high perception, coupled with the lack of air pollution, giving him quite the view. However, there was one more thing contributing… the curvature of the Earth. Or more accurately, the lack thereof.

Oh, it was still there. Somewhere. But from where Jake was, it was barely noticeable, if at all. He had to guess that he was a bit more than a hundred meters up currently. And he could easily see hundreds up to perhaps a thousand kilometers away.

In the distance, he even saw a huge mountain range. One that certainly hadn’t been there before. It all did begin to get a bit blurry at that distance, but the fact that he could see them was crazy enough.

Of course, he was looking for something rather specific…

Quest: Claim the Pylon of Civilization

to claim your Pylon of Civilization. As long as this quest is active, no one

Pylon

Duration: 71:02:21

grasp its size, but it appeared huge at first glance. It was around fifty kilometers outside of

He didn’t bother with the frightened glances as he landed on the ground and began sprinting

claiming. The Viper had said that the Nobility: Lord title allowed him to take control of it. Jake didn’t have the faintest

the outskirts of the city. On the journey, he was only attacked once. By humans even. A stupid accident where a bunch of arguing idiots got scared

enough to deter them and make

by. It wasn’t his job to be a mediator. Life would no longer be safe, and laws didn’t really matter anymore. No way he was going to begin playing judge, jury, and executioner towards random people. Oh, but there were three

finally felt free. Enemies had been scarce within the city. If you ignored all the humans, that is. Only a few roamed about, most of them weak. On these plains, however, he saw far more action. The first thing he encountered was a group

some, he discovered that

– lvl

himself as he found the silliness of cows being the first true challengers he would meet upon his return to Earth. He

the things. It would be pointless. None of them would give him any experience worth noting, and from

in front of him with the rare creature

the ground between where he wanted his foot to land and where he was shrunk. The moment

name One Step Mile, but to Jake, it was more than enough

the kind of thing that he found inconceivable despite just doing it himself. He didn’t understand how the skill worked at all behind the scenes. He could feel

He knew this had to be him somehow manipulating or perhaps being assisted by the concept of space. A type of force or phenomenon

like how he could bend time with Moment of the Primal Hunter or directly attack the soul with Gaze of the Apex Hunter. He knew how to do it, but not how he did it. In other words, system-stuff. Despite him not currently getting shit, he was nevertheless confident. He had time

a single point of mana either. Of course, he needed

himself. He had engaged a few beasts to try the skill out in combat. Which was an excellent thing as it was hard as hell to use. Currently, he had

that it did work in combat.

focus on where to go, and then put said

dodged a lot, resulting in him being airborne a lot of the time. The second problem was that he had to make the stepping motion, which he couldn’t do while crouching. The third being the fact that the step had to be forward and not

well, as he could ‘see’ 360 degrees around himself with his sphere, he could use that as a guide. Admittedly, it did look quite funny when

sum it up, the skill was fantastic but hard to use at maximum efficiency. It would take a long time to practice to use it well in

end, it only took him a few hours to travel through the plains. Far slower than if he just ran normally, but the practice was worthwhile. It also helped him get a better

lizard was actually quite strong compared to everything else he saw. Most weren’t even level 25 yet, and those that were often led their flock of fellow beasts. He had kind of expected them all to be a lot stronger. It was like he had returned to

in some ways. The other humans he met were all pathetically weak. Only Jacob and Bertram were worth mentioning. He

an outlier. Perhaps it was a good idea to lay low for a while. Besides, he still had one comfort. A bit weird to think of it as a comfort, he confessed internally. He had feared for a second that he couldn’t get any proper challenges.

many late-stage E-grades within - locked areas that were just ripe for the taking. Fish in a barrel waiting for him to grow in power and strike. Of course, he didn’t have infinite time… but unless the system planned for all humans

Jake couldn’t help but imagine what could be found in the deepest oceans,