The Primal Hunter

Jake had asked a straightforward question before leaving to fight the Storm Elemental: “What’s in it for me?”

Now, in all honesty, Jake had kind of forgotten this after fighting the Storm Elemental and getting emotionally invested in helping with the egg and all that stuff. He had even gained an upgrade to his Archery skill and a few levels, so he’d already gained plenty.

This is why he was surprised when the two hawks offered him their payment…

Jake was currently flying rather slowly back towards his small city, carefully holding the small egg with both hands close to his chest as if afraid of dropping it. He was pretty sure it was more durable than a rock, but he didn’t dare risk anything.

He had a hawk on each side, following him nonchalantly while keeping an eye on him.

It turns out his payment was twofold, though Jake was unsure if either of them even qualified as payment. The first thing was the egg itself. The mother and father bird had pushed for him to pick it up and carry it. They would clearly still follow, but he felt like they were trying to push a parental role on him.

The second reward was the birds themselves, according to what he could gather. They clearly weren’t that attached to their nest as they both just motioned for Jake to lead the way once they were done with everything.

Jake wasn’t quite sure what to do with all of this. A peak E-grade bird and an early D-grade were both willingly following him back to his small base of humans. A base where the strongest was Neil… and in all honesty, Jake had a strong feeling that Hawkie could give him and his entire team a run for their money… with Mystie naturally able to beat the living shit out of them.

The entire egg-situation was also a lot to handle. What did the two hawks expect of him? He couldn’t just carry around the egg like this forever, and he couldn’t put it in his spatial storage either as it counted as a living thing.

It was very close to hatching after the ritual, so… maybe they just wanted to relocate their nest to his city? Yeah, that makes sense. And as Jake was the only one of them with hands, he would surely be the best to carry the egg. Yeah, let’s go with that, Jake thought, trying to delude himself.

The journey back was very relaxed. The two birds and one human had already spent a few hours resting after the ritual to regenerate some resources before heading off, so it wasn’t that they were tired.

They all just enjoyed a relaxing flight, Hawkie still giving small pointers here and there but clearly not daring to peck Jake anymore. Not because it was afraid of his mighty power, mind you, but because he was carrying the egg.

Jake wondered how the small city had developed while he was gone. They had around 60 people when he left, and he doubted they had gained many more. It was located in a very remote location, and it wasn’t like they were actually recruiting. Well, he didn’t actually know if they were… he was a bit hands-off.

It had been more than two weeks since he left last time, leaving Miranda, Neil, and Hank to deal with everything. He wasn’t afraid of some disaster happening with Neil and his party around… besides, his guts told him things were fine.

The entire city thing was very paradoxical. On the one hand, he was aware that having a bustling city under his ownership could earn him countless rewards, but on the other hand… it did sound like a lot of ‘stuff’ to deal with.

Well, a lot for Miranda to deal with… he chuckled, getting a glance from both hawks, who didn’t even bother questioning the human’s weirdness anymore.

He should probably be a bit less of a shitty boss and at least hear her concerns. Go the whole visionary/guru leadership style? Well, with less pretentiousness.

Jake already had his next plan made, and this one included staying put for a while, so he should have time to deal with some making-a-magical-city-in-the-middle-of-a-forest-stuff.

Jake spotted the familiar trees and the small hole in the canopies that marked his valley in the distance. He felt them enter the Pylon range soon after, both birds clearly also noticing the peculiarity of the area.

“Relax, this is my area,” he explained.

without further questions as they followed him down to the valley below. Jake saw that the barrier around the lodge was still active, and from the looks of it, no one had

had, but that was fine. He didn’t know if some of her skills required proximity to the Pylon or something like that, but the fact there

outside tried to follow but were unable to get through. Yet, just as

them looked confused at

even the birds

Several pieces of wooden furniture were placed around the

it was Miranda that had come there to read and check out the books. She likely didn’t dare take the books out of the lodge as it was his property… not that he would have

and leaning in real close. Jake was pretty sure the bird was looking at whatever

place. It’s meant to be my private area, so there shouldn’t be

stood awkwardly, holding the egg cupped in both hands. He hated feeling like he was carrying precious porcelain, but

playful look before they jumped out of the house, completely ignoring Jake. You better make a nest, or I will make an omelet…

carefully bundling up the blanket and making a nest-like shape to place it into. Does it need heat like a

birds land on top of his lodge in his

Jake patted the egg with his hand, feeling how warm it was and the dense energy within it. It had changed slightly after the ritual but still looked like a normal

affected by the Pylon. He could only get a general feeling that the area affected had expanded and not much more. He reckoned Miranda had better skills to manage

entrance to the valley. He didn’t know if she knew he was there, so he did the polite thing

been meeting with Hank about the newly finished longhouse and who to assign to it. They had gained a small group of 15 or so survivors who had stumbled on their city by accident. Well, not entirely by accident,

when she sensed a presence enter the area affected by the Pylon. The massive presence made her shiver internally as she tried to keep her calm. She already knew from experience that she couldn’t detect when the

two… but she had to somehow not panic. The issue was... they were making their

to take

anything before. Even compared to the combined aura of Abby and all her goons, this felt far more dangerous. Yet her intuition skill didn’t react at all. Of course, it was entirely possible that whatever

meeting, getting a

of the building as she made her way to the valley. She

invaders were searching the area. At this point, she was sure there were more than one. All she wanted to do was confirm that the barrier was still there… Neil and his party were out currently, but they should return in only a few hours. If

the lodge entered her line of sight and she saw the owner sitting on the steps leading up to the

birds land on the roof of the lodge, their combined aura bearing down on her. She couldn’t

–

up when she

– lvl

That… D-grade?

hell was

staring at him and his feathered friends.

the last part to the two birds, who looked curiously down at the female human. They did the bird-version of shrugging before continuing to assemble a nest in

saw the not-D-grade-bird summon wind magic to cut the tree into their desired shape as

on here?” she asked,

said, showing off the small egg in his bundle of blankets. “I helped them do some things, and now they decided to

process all of it. She took a

a bit confused. Wait, was the question rhetorical… it