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

He didn’t know if some of her skills required proximity to the Pylon or something like that, but the fact there weren’t many signs of activity meant they didn’t have to take refuge in

outside tried to follow but were unable

at him, but he just

explanation that even the birds

see that he was mistaken about one thing… there had been people there. Several pieces of wooden furniture were placed around the lodge, such as a table and chairs. They had even

and reckoned 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

him. They looked around curiously, Mystie going over to one of the walls and leaning in real close. Jake was pretty sure the bird was looking at whatever magic Hank had used to reinforce the

It’s meant to be my private area, so there shouldn’t be others coming in here that often,” Jake explained. “Make a nest somewhere, and… please take back

the egg cupped in both hands. He hated feeling like he was carrying precious porcelain, but he couldn’t

before they jumped out of the house, completely ignoring Jake. You

the bed, carefully bundling up the blanket and making a nest-like shape

birds land on top of his lodge in his sphere. They appeared to

his hand, feeling how warm it was and the dense energy within it. It

get a general feeling that the

the woman had just arrived at the entrance to the valley. He didn’t know if she knew he was there, so he did

of 15 or so survivors who had stumbled on their city by accident. Well, not entirely by accident, as they had a caster with a mana-sensing skill like her own, and he

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 owner was there… so this was

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

trying to take it

all her goons, this felt far more dangerous. Yet her intuition skill didn’t react at

a worried look from Hank, who had clearly noticed something was

her way to the valley. She felt

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 they stay occupied till then,

line of sight and she saw the owner sitting on the steps leading up to the lodge’s small veranda. He was cuddling a blanket with a small egg in it,

of the lodge, their combined aura bearing down on her. She couldn’t help but use

Hawk – lvl

up when she saw

– lvl

That… D-grade?

the hell

the woman who stood frozen, just staring at him and his feathered friends. “Come on over; these two aren’t going to

at the female human. They did the bird-version of shrugging before continuing to assemble a nest in one of the

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

on here?” she asked, confusion clear on

is their egg,” he said, showing off the small egg in his bundle of blankets. “I helped them do some things,

there, trying to process all of it. She took a few moments before finally asking. “Is the Mystsong

was the question rhetorical… it