The Primal Hunter

Truly disappointing, Jake thought as he looked at the now-dead Alpha Mantis Scyther. A level 89 beast that was the lord of this biodome reduced to a headless corpse in what couldn’t even be called a real fight.

If he had to compare it to something, it would be the Den Mother. And not in a favorable way for the mantis. Despite it being seven levels higher, the Den Mother had been stronger. More importantly, it had a much higher level of intelligence and many more skills in its toolbox.

Focusing on physical stats, the mantis likely had the Den Mother beaten. Without a doubt, himself too. It was also surprising that there even was such a high-level creature down in these caverns. This biodome in itself was a pleasant surprise.

With their leader dead, the mantises were no longer a threat either. Not that they ever had been. Jake made his way towards the center of this biodome. His Sense of the Malefic Viper telling him that something containing a lot of mana was there.

Little was in his way as he ran there, encountering only a few mantises that he quickly cut apart. Soon he found himself before the source of it all - a glowing blue crystal embedded in the ground, surrounded by wild plant life.

Using Identify on it, he got… nothing. No response at all. A phenomenon he had run into many times before. If he wanted to identify a piece of metal, wood, or crystal, it usually didn’t work. He didn’t have the required skill to do so from what he gathered.

Like how others couldn’t use Identify on plants and toxic things. It was why Jake had the skills Herbology and Toxicology from his profession that allowed him such knowledge; the only outliers he had encountered so far were things in dungeons and special items during the tutorial. Those he had been able to identify without a problem.

Now the question was… should, and could, he take the big shiny crystal with him? He could clearly feel it pumping out vast amounts of pure mana to the surrounding area, and it was likely the source of life in this entire biodome. Taking it would possibly result in the whole cavern no longer being the sprawling place of life it was now.

Of course, all of this was dependent on his ability to even move the crystal, to begin with. It was rather large, sticking out of the ground around three meters up, with another three meters under the ground. It reminded him a bit of the Pylon at first, but there were also clear differences.

The Pylon was clearly a creation of the system, while this in front of him was just a somewhat standard giant mana crystal. Also… he was pretty damn sure he had run into this kind of crystal before. He just couldn’t quite remember where.

Raising his hand, he lay it upon the crystal and felt that it felt just like a big piece of glass. Or a regular crystal. There was nothing incredible about it except for the mana it so clearly emanated into the biodome.

Activating his necklace, he tried to store the crystal, but he felt like there was some kind of resistance. He kept trying for a while but ended up admitting to himself that moving it wasn’t possible. At least not in his storage. His sphere of perception revealing the reason.

Beneath the ground, hundreds of small vines and roots extended into the crystal. Following them, he could see that they belonged to all the plants around him. Most surprising, however, was the fungi. Or perhaps fungus would be more accurate.

Every single one of the giant blue mushrooms was a part of this one plant - all just one entity that spread beneath the ground. From a mycology standpoint, this was very interesting; sadly, Jake didn’t care that much for mushrooms to begin with. In fact, he had quite the distaste for the damn things.

And for these to even dare to be blue… it was an offense he couldn’t let slide lightly. And he really wanted to bring the big shining mana crystal with him. If not, just to figure out exactly what it was and test things with it.

So he took out his Omnitool and once more turned it into a shovel. Plunging it into the ground, he hit the roots of the mushrooms, and-

OoOOoOOOOooO

A loud booming sound was heard throughout the entire biodome. The ground shook, and Jake was momentarily dumbstruck by what the hell was happening. All he had done was to sever a few roots of the damn fungus.

It had awakened something. An aura spread throughout the entire biodome, suppressing every living mantis still scouring about, making them freeze up in fear. It was the type of aura Jake had only felt once before - the one that came from the suppression of a higher grade.

the crystal, stabilizing himself quickly. The crystal itself rose into the air as countless vines spun around it, shielding it from sight. But it was not only the

strength and agility both being empowered. Meaning whatever he now faced was a higher level than him, and not

open, he used Identify on a random tree-like plant and got a

Mycorrhiza –

lord of this area; the true ruler had been the area itself. And now,

mushrooms had invaded every single plant here. Made them a part of it. It was all one

tubes he had found interesting earlier penetrate the corpse of

did wonder why he

him exploded once more, but he had seen it coming in his sphere long ago. He considered his options as he jumped

like the mantis before. Logically the best plan would be to retreat, as he doubted the entire

couldn’t stop smiling. Finally. He had

at every step. The King possessed intelligence rivaling that of a human. Stats far above one. His only weakness was the tools given by the

Indigo Fungus, however… he just didn’t feel the same pressure. He had gotten stronger, and this… thing, was weaker than the King.

vines came for him from all sides. Often, he was forced to avoid being enclosed by vines with Shadow Vault or One Step Mile. His Sense of the

of the mushrooms and other plants were poisonous and now released all their fumes into the air. He heard the shrieks of all the still-living mantises from all around

almost pleasant. And

first problem: where the hell do you begin your attack?

second problem: how to get to whatever weak point it

outlast such a creature, with its

single answer. Poison. Because the fungus had one fatal flaw. It

with his sword and dagger. The attacks were endless. A spear-like root was attacking him to try and pierce

time, he knelt to avoid a blow as he began channeling Touch of the Malefic Viper. He saw his hands radiate a dark green color as dark-green veins began spreading down the root and into

the first time, he got a

OoOOoOOOOooOoOOOooOO!

to himself at first, but soon it turned to a frown. He felt his poison quickly being purified by the overwhelming vitality of the fungus. Another sharp tendril also emerged and cut off the root he was currently grasping, effectively ending his

done little more than anger the fungus. Anger which materialized in the shape of more than a hundred roots shooting out

at all, its attention split between himself and all the other living creatures still roaming about

right away. The attacks were both stronger and more numerous than before. Even while boosted, he failed to dodge all the attacks as several cuts began emerging

to counterattack was impossible, and he was forced to admit that he had been too arrogant in his approach. While his

for the next few minutes, he kept trying. And while he did clearly cause some damage here and there, the only thing he achieved was to make the fungus more determined in killing the beast that

a skill. He saw hundreds of

grasp its intention, he felt his danger sense explode. His near-precognizant senses activated as he quickly covered his entire body in scales. And just in time as a blue

hundreds of meters. The beam seared into his body as his armor was quickly burned through,

But that did not mean it could in any way negate it. The scales all chipped and cracked on his chest, while the ones on