The Primal Hunter

”It’s hard to believe,” Levi said as he stared at the blue bottle in his hand. “How do you even make something like this?”

“How do you shoot magical blades at people, and how does Neil teleport us thousands of kilometers at a time?” Christen scoffed before continuing. “And how does Silas heal wounds in seconds, or Eleanor’s arrows appear from thin air or-“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. No need to be a bitch,” Levi said, handing the potion back to Silas, who was keeping them for now.

“Sorry I hurt your feelings, me being a bitch has totally nothing to do with my stomach being constantly on fire,” she said sarcastically.

“Sorry…” Silas apologized meekly. He was still trying to heal it, but all he could do was to keep it in check as the power of the curse slowly ran itself out.

“It isn’t your fault,” Neil cut in. “We didn’t know they had made an alliance and got overconfident. Hopefully, this mysterious ‘owner’ can help us.”

“I still don’t like trusting some unknown person we don’t even know is human,” Christen sighed.

“We can’t keep running either,” Levi said. “And there is no way in hell we hand the orb to them. Not like they are going to let us live either way.”

“Won’t this ‘owner’ want the orb, though?” Eleanor asked. “I doubt we can keep it hidden if we actually need his assistance.”

“Let’s just hope he isn’t interested then,” Neil smiled. “In the meantime, we shouldn’t idle. They are for sure on our trail, so not preparing would be foolish.”

“So we are staying here?” Silas asked as he was channeling what little mana he had recovered into Christen’s wound.

Neil looked at the two and saw the wound that still appeared to have small embers burning in it. “Christen is not in any shape to travel like she is now, and I used the last remaining ingredients I had on the last teleportation circle. We may be able to outrun them still, but is that really a way to live? So, yes, we are staying. For better or worse.”

At the current time, they had created some distance from the lodge and the four other survivors. A discussion was in order on how to move forward. But in the end, decisions nearly always fell on Neil to make.

“Should we involve those four?” Eleanor inquired.

Neil nodded once more. “I think it would be wise. They must have some rapport with this ‘owner,’ so having a working relationship at the minimum would be preferable. They may also be able to provide further assistance and help with preparing for the inevitable arrival of my cousin’s group.”

“Speaking of assistance, why don’t you take a swig of one of these little wonder-bottles?” Levi asked Silas, who was clearly out of mana again.

They already used Identify on the potions, and it had returned the same message as back in the tutorial.

[Mana Potion (Inferior)] – Restores mana when consumed

[Mana Potion (Common)] – Restores mana when consumed

It didn’t show the values, and in their eyes looked identical to the ones they consumed back then. The only difference was the common-tag on some of them, so these were likely of higher quality.

Silas said a

them out,” Levi said with

took out the

the liquid enter his body as a flood of mana spread throughout. Far more mana than those shitty

for a while after drinking it as he

“Holy shit.”

anything wrong?” Levi asked, concerned about his earlier jokes becoming a

than 2200 mana,”

entire mana pool,” Levi exclaimed

didn’t really use mana, but if the mana potions were that good, chances are the stamina potions were too. Neil, on the other hand, began to see possibilities he

there are no

Works just like the tutorial ones. I can tell there is the same one-hour cooldown too. This is just crazy,” Silas calmly explained as he

those four is pretty much settled now. Especially if they got more of these potions,” Neil laughed.

the lodge, where Miranda and the others still sat. They agreed to

more like Jake’s than Miranda’s. A smaller number of people put in an archipelago of islands with bridges connecting each one. Each island had a general

of them knew each other before the integration. Christen and Silas were childhood friends, while Neil and Levi went

only in their early to mid-twenties, and Neil was the oldest of the

also been others. Neil’s cousin, a woman named Abby, had also entered. She had joined with a group of her own

front and tanked, Eleanor scouted and made ranged attacks, while Neil and Levi provided most of the damage, with Neil also learning supporting skills later on. Silas

with a large group of nearly two hundred people. There they found a unique challenge dungeon. All casters

was customary of a challenge dungeon, you either win or fail. It was designed for one to win it, but something unexpected happened. Two people managed to, against all odds, beat the challenge dungeon. After a month, Abby and Neil both walked

more potent version at 25 too. From that point onward, they came to dominate the tutorial. Both were higher level and more powerful than anyone else. Their parties benefitting from

split up. Each was going their own way to find and hunt more beasts. By some miracle, or perhaps by design, they reached the final island simultaneously, when only a single day of the

respective companions, encountered the ‘final boss.’ The disciple of the one who had given them the legacy in the challenge dungeon. The one who had given them

wasn’t there to fight

at this time, had come with a group of several hundred people. An entire army she had at her command. Of course, she protested at the limitation of only five people, but the disciple insisted, and even the headstrong Abby didn't dare

was when the disparity between the two became apparent. Not in their personal skill, but

his party of five. Be it luck or fate that they had decided on that from the start, which meant

the other hand, Abby had put herself and her father before everyone else. In personal power, she was above Neil. Her father was also slightly stronger than any of Neil’s party

the Orb of Kallox. Named after the one they had inherited their class from. The item that would come to be the reason for their current predicament. And

is nigh-indestructible by any being below B-tier. Due to the

Inheritance Class of

enough to show Abby too. I was naïve and excited at having gotten it and believed she would share in my excitement as we would move forward into this new world together,” Neil said with regret. “Outwardly, she did appear to

were family…” Louise said as she had also gotten

offered that we could both study and use the orb together. This wasn’t good enough for her.

did you manage to escape when surrounded by hundreds of people?” Hank

half a day, being pursued all the time. We managed to shake them off for the better part of