The Primal Hunter

It took another day to once more reconfigure the magic circle for Jake’s new addition. Both hawks were more than happy with doing the extra work required to use the Beastorb.

Their egg had been slowly fed mana for the last one and a half months as it slowly grew, but here towards the end, they had slowed it down to do a final push. A final infusion of energy and Records to kickstart the growth and boost their chick’s future potential.

Jake had inadvertently become a part of it all as he spent most of his time observing the birds redraw the formation while trying to understand how it worked. Quite honestly, he wasn’t doing well, but he did get a few ideas.

He also helped speed the entire thing up a bit by liberally giving out mana potions, allowing Mystie to work even faster.

After the entire thing was done, they all went to their positions. Three focal points were created inside the formation, each corresponding to an item. Of course, Jake was aware of the Beastorb and the Storm Elemental Orb, but he wasn’t aware of the final item before now.

[Mystbone (Unique)] – A Mystbone granted by the system to the newly integrated 93rd Universe. Contains a vast amount of energy and Records that will allow any beast that consumes it to grow far faster and gain magical skills and abilities related to the path of mysticism.

That… actually answers a lot.

Jake had wondered how there even were so many D-grade beasts on Earth, especially in an area like the Cloud Continent with only two of them. They clearly didn’t have anything to hunt, so they must have evolved by consuming special items like this or through some kind of natural talent.

He knew that beasts could grow in level without fighting in several ways. Consuming special items, simply through time, or being in select areas and absorbing the energy in their surroundings. But it appears that the system – quite literally – threw them a bone.

From the looks of it, the bone had clearly already been partly consumed. It was doubtlessly what had allowed the Mystsong Hawk to evolve, and now it wanted to use the remaining energy within for its chick.

In his position in the magic circle, Jake was at the Beastorb, Hawkie was at the Storm Elemental Orb, and Mystie was at the bone. While the hawks couldn’t talk to him, he understood what he had to do. He just had to feed mana into the circle and help power it. Mystie would be in charge of everything else.

At this point, he was just taking this all as a learning experience. He got insights into the birth and evolution of beasts, magic circles of a mystical nature, and all while helping out a friend.

Slowly, the formation hummed to life as Mystie began the ritual. All of the Cloud Elemental Orbs began shining as the mana within them were drained. In moments the interior was entirely covered with extremely dense wind-affinity mana.

Jake felt as if small blades were continually trying to cut his skin. It didn’t cause him any harm, but he could imagine an average human would be cut into little pieces in seconds. All of this incredibly dense energy was slowly being poured into the small egg in the center.

He saw it being filtered before entering the egg, allowing only the densest and most profound energy to affect it.

Around ten minutes later, the second part began. Hawkie lifted its wings as it began channeling mana into the circle, instantly awakening the Storm Elemental Orb.

It erupted with energy as the dense wind-affinity mana was soaked in the potent storm-affinity mana. Small bolts of lightning began jumping back and forth but were quickly eliminated by the formation. Hawkie fell tired to the ground after fifteen minutes or so as the last bit of lightning disappeared, and now only pure mana and wind-affinity mana remained.

Hawkie quickly downed a mana potion – naturally provided by their resident alchemist – as it prepared to help support the circle.

Next up was the Mystsong Hawk, Mystie. It activated the formation with the Mystbone in it. This part was, without a doubt, the simplest for a variety of reasons.

any other. The energy within it was

this formation had been to infuse the egg with the Mystbone and mana from as many Cloud Elementals as possible, meaning the formation

air, lightly coloring all the wind-affinity mana a teal color. It slowly began being filtered into the egg as Mystie also consumed its own mana potion. This part hadn’t taken as

on two small magic circles on the ground as he began channeling in mana. It didn’t feel that much different from doing alchemy; the main difference

just like opening the faucet; the only thing he had

Storm Elemental had before. Dense lightning ascended, looking very similar to what the Storm Elemental gave off too. It was pretty clear that their source of power was the same, likely

only grew. But the mana from the Beastorb was not mainly that of wind or lightning, but pure mana. He had managed to transform all the vital energies within it

the only thing that could make one notice it was the mana density increasing. Yet

Tiny purple sparks that refused to be culled. None of them noticed this, not even Jake with his immense perception or Mystie controlling the formation. They were like pure mana, but… somehow

go unnoticed as they were slowly channeled into the egg together with the wind-affinity and pure mana. They were flawlessly integrated with

ritual continued for hours as the three channeled mana into it and consumed a mana potion whenever possible. The small egg in the middle of it all looking no different than before

the flow as he fed his mana into it and mentally gave his well-wishes

a dragon to death, Jake thought, going all-in with the positive vibes. Or his version of positive vibes

a day later, the ritual completed as the barrier surrounding the magic circle dispersed, revealing Jake, two hawks, and

than a fingernail, but it went

woman in meditation as she focused on absorbing the nearby death-affinity mana. The entire area was already slowly getting soaked in it

claim a Pylon, which quite honestly was a lot slower than anticipated. To slay a D-grade this shortly after the integration was nearly unheard of, especially for a relatively small planet like theirs.

managed to claim the first and associated rewards. They mainly reached that

knew it was Jake. It had to

managed to slay the D-grade during the tutorial and thus

the only humans in the 93rd Universe and that their population of less than 10 billion

into an epicenter of action. Influenced by many outside sources with far more resources poured in than usual for a world their size. All of it started by

through a ritual and challenge dungeon - Lyra, his ghostly

he Identified her and noticed

[Blightwraith – lvl 73]

quickly. In this case, the word monster was not used in any derogatory way but simply as a means of classification. Because Lyra truly wasn’t like the others

truly died during their tutorial. Casper had made a deal to preserve her soul, and that promise had been fulfilled.

an entity was in itself weird and had made him respected by the other undead, but what happened next was

and even, with a casual gesture, created

found out it was due to Jake being so outstanding that the Primordial even bothered with him. Casper was thankful for that, even if it had placed a lot of undue stress on

before, it sure as hell got worse when the Blightfather blessed him. Amplified

with human intelligence from their inception, they would often lead hordes of specters. They could also only be found

Blight. It was conceptual energy that only a select few could use as it was a concept created by the Blightfather himself, hence his name. And

Lyra respect… but it all went to him. Because she was bound to Casper through his locket, she was by most just considered an extension of his powers. A… servant of sorts, as much as Casper hated that