The Primal Hunter

Everything was buzzing as she acted almost on instinct. A transparent barrier instantly covered the entire lodge, followed by another bubble overlapping with hers only moments later.

Silas charged forward with his healing already on full display to keep Levi alive. Hank quickly came over to the screaming man and forced a healing potion down his throat, quickly flooding his body with vital energy.

“Well done, Neil, I wanted to rip him apart from mouth to asshole. Nice tilting of the axis there at the end,” they heard Abby’s voice say as she walked up to the barrier separating them.

The calmness in her voice stood out, as she didn’t appear phased at the barrier’s appearance at all. But as she examined it closer, she noticed something a bit off.

“One of space, and another of pure mana? Great, good job wasting my time more than necessary,” she said with a bit of annoyance. She could detect the two barriers blocking her from getting to her desired orb, and while the one of space mana was manageable, the one of mana was quite a bit more tricky.

On the inside of the barrier, the outlook in their situation was far from favorable. Abby had even hoped for a second that the annoying magic swordsman would die but was surprised to see his wounds close instantly.

It was a bit eerie to see the entrails on the steps slowly retract themselves as new skin covered the lower half of his body, making him look like a bilateral amputee. That is until small bumps slowly began growing out beneath him, clearly indicating the regrowth of his entire lower body.

Abby just stared at it in fascination as she wondered exactly how powerful the potion they used was. That or the healer had gotten significantly more competent compared to their last meeting.

What was perhaps even more annoying than the swordsman not dying was that she could clearly see the guy still scream and the others in there talking, but she couldn’t hear quack. But at least they could listen to her based on their reactions. It must be that damn barrier of mana.

They dragged Levi into the lodge, and all quickly collapsed on the ground. Only Miranda was staying outside, keeping an eye on Abby and her army of invaders.

An army that was quickly reorganizing. After the attempt to kill Levi failed, they didn’t have any clear plan of action. Hundreds of people just stood looking questioningly at Abby and her father.

The bearded man began yelling out instructions, and it went more or less as they had anticipated. Everyone backed off, Abby included, as ranged attacks started winding up. Soon after, a barrage of spells, arrows, and other attacks hit the barrier.

This was where the two barriers’ power became apparent, as every single attack was repelled, not leaving a single sign of damage on either. The two barriers were complementing each other just as much as Miranda and Neil had anticipated.

The barrier of mana made by Miranda blocked the magical attacks flawlessly. It could even take in a portion of the atmospheric mana to keep itself healthy for longer. And as the attackers were all relatively unskilled, they released a lot of extra mana into the air for the barrier to absorb.

Then there was the space barrier, which similarly blocked all physical attacks without any issue. It was a nearly impenetrable defense. Based on the furious look on Abby’s face, it even quickly became apparent that she was unable to break the space barrier.

There was one problem, however… time. The many attackers outside didn’t damage the barriers, but they were slowly whittling them down. It would disappear on its own after some time, but it wouldn’t last more than a day or so based on the current rate of attacks.

Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was more than a little bleak also.

“I thought you said you could keep her busy for a while,” Hank said to Neil as he also drank a healing potion.

“I thought I could… but she has gotten even stronger since last. At the end of the tutorial, she was only a bit stronger than me… if she had been this strong back then, we would have never escaped in the first place… damn it,” he said, cradling his head as blood dripped onto the floor from his eyes and nose.

Hank just sighed as he sat down on the floor. Thinking it a bit of a shame that they were spilling blood all over the newly constructed lodge. A whimsical thought, considering that more blood would likely soon flow within. The second those shields go down…

Everyone looked listlessly at the ground, only the two healers doing much of anything. Neil especially looked utterly lost.

“I got you all

stick by you, so

Hank shot back. “We didn’t need

response to that. They had dragged Miranda and

thought. All of them stared back

name?” she heard as she looked up to see the bearded -

her head, as she didn’t care

be rectified. My daughter is a bit wild, I confess, but she is not the monster you have in your mind. Neil is

but couldn’t help but look back towards

Perfect in nearly everything. This took quite a toll on Abby. She finally came to believe she was his equal only to lose in that final unfair test. It broke a small part of her to lose once more like that. We are only seeking to set

if you choose to join us,

much care for his name but wondered why the hell he bothered to include being a widower. Seemed like

days. I swear that you can find a place with me. Find

bit taken aback at his words more than anything. The wording was

sensation of his gaze going all over her

for anyone, no matter how oblivious. To call the

her facial expression had clearly revealed her thoughts. The look of absolute disdain and disgust showed only a moment, but it was enough for

a

a faux look of apology, and that seemed to be enough for the man to

he said, practically beaming. “As long as you serve me

as she could. Where the hell did he get this confidence from? Oh... right. The threat of being able to have her killed at any

another whore?” Abby asked, walking over. Her voice around a tenth as disdainful as the

it more noteworthy how he

lodge as she heard Abby yell behind her to ‘take down the damn barrier’

looked at the people there. Louise had poured all her mana into

we try to make a run for it?” Eleanor

exactly in a state to run. One of us even less than the others,” Christen sneered. Instantly feeling bad afterward for getting mad at her friend. “Sorry,

know…” Eleanor smiled

Mark with you. I will stay here and attempt to keep them occupied… I may be able to buy a

finally said, disrupting the sad atmosphere. “We all agree that getting killed by

yeah, but,” Christen said,

I am going

“What?” Hank asked, confused.

that will very likely anger the ‘owner.’ Not sure what his response will

her voice. “And will he even be able

if I know,” Miranda said, having already thrown caution to the wind. “So let’s give

her mind and saw the prompt appear

claim

claim ownership: Slay the current City Owner OR be uncontested in your claim for at least 30 days while maintaining