The Primal Hunter

Jake concentrated as he flew with Miranda and Lillian in tow. It took quite the toll to keep himself moving fluidly and make sure that the two women weren’t tossed around by any sudden pulling. He couldn’t do the tactic where he just touched them with mana as it wouldn’t work on living beings, so he had to use the mana ropes.

Mystie had just used her mana to directly affect the outer layer of the nine people’s bodies; it was an application of mana far above Jake’s own. He wasn’t even sure if it was a skill. But hey, the bird was D-grade; it only made sense.

He already knew that the Mystsong Bird had a larger mana pool than himself by quite a margin from the ritual. Once more, not surprising, considering it was a D-grade beast focused solely on magic. He did take a bit of inspiration and visibly improved while flying, making the ride for Miranda and Lillian a bit smoother.

Miranda looked like she was using every sliver of her willpower to remain calm, while Lillian looked relaxed, like being carried after a winged human wasn’t that far-fetched. Jake couldn’t help but think about what kind of shit Abby had dragged that entire group through…

Neil and his party also all looked relatively calm. They were more experienced and had spent plenty of time doing teleportation and what-not. Of course, it also helped that Mystie was a pretty damn smooth flyer and mana-controller.

As for Miquel and his goons… they looked like they were contemplating the life choices that led to them being carried through the air by a bird that could kill them at any point if it got annoyed. At least they had the decency to remain still to not make it harder on Mystie.

The trip that should have taken hours was completed in thirty-five minutes. Fifteen minutes of that spent walking when they first began, and the rest finished soaring through the air.

They landed a few kilometers from the forest but still a fair distance from the fort. The area was the same plains that Jake had traveled initially to reach the woods, but another section. This part had many more hills, and the grass was rather tall in most places.

It actually reminded him a bit of the Lucenti Plains… though no stags or deer anywhere. Well, he did spot a few from above when flying over the forest, but none of the Lucenti variant.

Touching down, Jake – pretty elegantly if he had to say so himself – put down Lillian and Miranda. Mystie landed together with him, depositing all nine human packages on the ground too. A bit harder than Jake, as one of Miquel’s men fell on his butt.

“Alright, that was awesome,” Christen said as she didn’t mind her ruffled hair. “I want wings now.”

“I am sure there are ways to fly or at least levitate without wings,” Levi said. “Heck, I can nearly fly with my wind-armor.”

“Who cares,” Neil jokingly said while trying to get his hair under control. “Teleportation is way better.”

Eleanor and Silas both just shook their heads. Silas did go over and check if Miquel and his two followers needed any help, but they were clearly okay, just a bit shocked at the entire situation.

Why did we even bring them along? Jake wondered. Well, it was Miranda who had decided who would go, so it was on her.

Bringing Neil and his party Jake understood. They were all useful to some degree and relatively strong. They worked well as a team, and there was something to say in power in numbers. Also, it would allow Jake to not bother with weaker things and just let them handle it.

Their band of 11 people and one bird walked the rest of the way at a more than steady pace. It didn’t make sense to just casually stroll when they all had rather high stats, so it didn’t take long for the fort to enter their view after passing over a small hilltop.

allowing him to practically zoom in on it; he quickly got a grasp of

the world changed. It didn’t look damaged in the least but looked like an old fort from the 1600s transported

the past with functionality prioritized over aesthetics. The walls were thick,

who had taken refuge there. The old cities were dangerous as they had many nooks and crannies for monsters to lurk in. Powerful beasts didn’t

only structure for many kilometers. Jake guessed it had wells for water as the ground was well-moisturized, and hunting beasts were, of course, an option when it

humans needed way less food or water. Jake practically didn’t need either after becoming E-grade, and whatever he did need, he got through eating

amount by drawing in some of the atmospheric mana. Jake

of course, in the

there were bound to be many F-grades to feed. The environment, such as the wind and weather, wasn’t

thought as he stood there considering all these things. Oh, but fungi does… oh shit, I can already imagine someone getting a

the distance. The fort little more than a small blob in the distance, even with her relatively

his stupor. But not forgetting… the mushroom would soon meet its maker.

a nod as the bird summoned several runes that swirled around her. First, he felt her aura disappear, and then she vanished from sight,

in his sphere. He had long realized that all those magical techniques didn’t work against it. Like back in the sewer dungeon, his sphere was just too damn

had decided to have Mystie remain hidden, at least in the beginning. This was mainly due to the encounter with Miquel, who somehow got the idea that the bird was controlling them or that they were willingly serving it. Actually, considering the magic bird, that

invisible – bird made quick progress towards the fort in the distance. As they had passed the hill and were now within line of sight from the fort, Jake felt it. A gaze had landed upon them from a distance, and he

fort’s wall in the distance and looked through something that resembled binoculars. Jake made eye-contact with the man through the device, and he saw the man quickly turn away in fright as he turned

few seconds later. Jake had already seen a few more people

group, and Jake purposefully walked so that he was all the way in the back. Miranda and Lillian took the front with the party of five, and Miquel and his

though they didn’t rush,

net hanging beneath it. Jake could see the small net held what looked like a walkie-talkie. Well, this

in fact, he had encountered none. Back when he made his way out of the

the others. Yet

drone was clearly remote-controlled as it floated down. It was a quadcopter-type, but Jake did notice something when it got closer. He felt mana coming off it. A

wonder if it was a profession or class or maybe someone with great synergy between the

glance back at the masked man before the drone landed, hovering with the net holding the walkie-talkie right in front of her.

the voice said in a rather

just picked up the walkie-talkie and inspected it for a while. Her face was stoic as she said. “I must admit, I believed all technology to be gone, but then again, it was only a matter of time before human ingenuity allowed them to

craftsman made it. Now identify yourself and your intentions for coming here,” the voice answered, sounding a bit surprised

that they genuinely did hold all the cards. The question was never if the forest was a better settlement than out here or if it was worth it for the fort’s

eyes to how little that mattered now. No matter what happened, he would be in charge. No leader would be appointed without his say-so. She could be

he had also spoken of D-grades and how they were all absolute monstrous existences. They knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against one. He told her that the disciple of Kallox in the tutorial he was in also served as the