The Primal Hunter

It had all started four days prior.

The house's construction was pretty much done, and Hank was considering making some simple pieces of furniture. They also had a sit-down to talk about plans to make a few more buildings elsewhere for themselves.

That is when Miranda got pinged by her skill that others had entered the Pylon of Civilization’s area of influence. Other humans. She was immediately filled with a paradoxical feeling of both concern and anticipation.

Concern about how many they were, their intentions, and their strength, and anticipation at the potential of having more citizens join the city. Maybe begin to actually to make it worthy of being called a city.

She notified Hank and the kids as they talked over what to do.

“Louise and Mark should go hide in the cellar of the house,” Hank started out with. At Miranda’s request, the cellar was rather well hidden, and you wouldn’t find its entrance without looking around for it. Which is to say they had put the pelt of an animal over the hatch.

“Not going to happen,” Louise said adamantly. “We both evolved too. If they want a fight, let’s give them one!”

“We should avoid fighting if we can. No matter how strong or how many there are,” Miranda sighed as she tried to calm down the fired-up Louise. The system clearly hadn't fixed the illogical mind of the young woman.

“I don’t want to hide either,” Mark said a bit meekly.

Hank chose to concede as they quite frankly didn’t have time for the discussion right now. “Fine, but no fighting unless absolutely necessary. And keep quiet.”

They spoke a bit more, all gathered around the house still, as they waited for the arrival of whoever was to come. The skill Miranda had that made her aware they were here did nothing more than that. It just gave her a vague feeling that someone had entered.

Not how many, not how strong, or where they were now. Miranda wasn’t even sure if she could feel it if they left the area again. So all they could do was to wait in trepidation.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, they didn’t have to wait long before someone arrived.

A hooded figure was hiding at the entrance to the valley and peeked out from behind a rock.

She saw the four people there, in front of a wooden lodge. The large bearded man with an axe over his shoulder, a woman, a young man, and a young woman all wearing robes. Two casters and a healer from what she could tell.

A quick Identify of all four showed that none of them were overly high leveled while they were all E-grade. The woman and the man being the highest leveled individuals at 33 and 34 respectively.

She quickly retreated to her group, waiting a few hundred meters away at a small clearing within the forest. As she walked out from behind a tree, exiting stealth, the group turned towards her, a young man in the lead.

“That was fast. Did you find anything?” he asked with a slight smile.

His face was pale, and his eyes seemed a bit listless despite his smile. He was wearing a robe with golden runes and a small chain around his neck, with the necklace itself hidden beneath his robes. But even with his weak appearance, she knew that he was by far the strongest in their party.

They were a group of five that had met and survived the tutorial together - from level 0 to where they were today without losing a single member.

The party consisted of herself, Eleanor, the archer of the group. Next was their defender, Christen, the only other woman on the team. She was currently sitting in a chainmail set resting against a log with their healer Silas tending to a large wound on her stomach - a particularly nasty one that was resisting his healing quite effectively.

their weird magic swordsman who didn’t quite fit into a role. He was initially a medium warrior but began picking up more magic

their leader Neil. The sole caster of their party and a weird one at that. He was specialized in kinetic magic, or more accurately recently, space magic. Displacement, teleportation, whatever the hell struck his fancy, he somehow figured out how to do, which is also how they had arrived where they

a lodge in the valley, and from the looks of it, know that we are here.

there any clue as to their classes or capabilities?” Neil

at 33 and 34, with the one at 34 wielding an axe, and the other wore the standard caster robe from the

looked a bit troubled at the answer. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would we be

encountered a single monster or beast since coming here?” Levi theorized. “Perhaps we are within a

it be easier just to ask those four? With their levels, they aren’t a threat,” the defender Christen asked,

Even if there is truly nothing here, we should have created

likely hundreds if not thousands of kilometers. This wasn’t the first

Eleanor said. She had her bow draped over her shoulder and her quiver on her

had gear at a level Jake hadn’t encountered on anyone except himself. Not a single one of

level 52. Followed by Christen at 48, Silas and Levi both at 47, and herself lowest at only 45. She said ‘only,’ but that was only in

and gals,” Christen smiled as she stood up. Silas just shook his head as he wasn’t entirely done healing the wound yet. Then again, perhaps it was best her natural regeneration did the rest of the work for

valley. The first sight meeting them was the idyllic lodge positioned right next to the pond with a waterfall - and

was in the lead, and the moment he saw them, he felt a sense of dread. He had identified the woman in front and seen her level at 48 - fourteen entire levels above his own. And a quick glance at the other

for a while before Neil stepped forth and broke and

“We come in peace. So no reason to be that tense, I would just like to

can help, we would be more than happy

you. First of all, what is up with this place? The absence of monsters is quite something. And did you build that lodge behind

here is quite the builder,” Miranda said, nudging at Hank. “As for the particularities of this place, while we have noticed them, I cannot tell

“Lie,” Silas interrupted.

a good start, lying in the second sentence,” Neil chuckled. “For transparency, my friend here happens to have a skill that can discern

was true, it threw off 90% of her plans for this interaction. That is already calculating in the fact that they were at a level

area is as it is. Only that it is related to the owner of this land. The lodge behind me is also built for him, and

might this

known to me,” she answered, praising the fact that she had forgotten to ask his name time and time again. “What I do know is that

you could tell? What makes you think this mysterious owner

also making me doubtful of his humanity, to begin

bit confused. “As

at all. It just returned a single question

had only encountered that phenomenon once. It was the entity that had rewarded him the object leading to their current precarious situation - the same entity that was the namesake of his

have to get to the bottom of this. “Where

the next three to four days due to

tried to make her answers fulfilling to avoid too many follow-up questions. She wanted to, at all cost, avoid any mention of the Pylon. Luckily, she was the

reckon this individual is?” Neil asked as he looked to be in

when he returns,”