The Primal Hunter

If anyone asked Jake how confident he was in their current strategy, he would give it a solid eight out of ten. Miranda had shown an adequate amount of courtesy without seeming weak or meek while also making their position clear.

She had emphasized that they were not coming as enemies but to negotiate. The strategy revolved around not needing to fight or even having to reveal Mystie. No, Mystie and Jake were the backup plans if things went south and the primary strategy failed.

But… Jake also knew one other little snippet of information. 90% of all strategies fail.

The primary cause of failure was outside sources, or emergent factors from within that didn’t conform with the organization’s existing culture - individual actors taking on roles to operationalize undiscussed tactics.

Such as shooting a bullet straight towards them.

Now, individual actors making these decisions sometimes had severe negative impacts on the organization as a whole - a media manager making a lousy tweet or a salesman trying to go off-script and losing a big client. But sometimes, it ended up having close to no impact, as the actor simply didn’t have enough institutional influence or social capital to accomplish anything.

This did result in quite the uproar and not from the party of 11 – except Miquel, who jumped with fright – but from the direction from the fort. Miranda couldn’t help but flash a small smile that Jake caught with his sphere. And he got it.

They had just significantly weakened their own position by being the first aggressors… effectively justifying any violent retaliation. Or, as Miranda planned to leverage it, make them appear benevolent for not counterattacking. It even had the added benefit of making absolutely clear how unthreatening they found the attack – and how big the power-disparity truly was.

Neil and his party alone were enough to overpower most forces, Jake reckoned. They were all above level 50 in their races, and all of them appeared to focus mainly on their classes. His barriers were even stronger than Abby’s had been, which meant that he could easily block almost all physical attacks. Of course, a monster like Jake could still shatter it, but he doubted anyone at his own level could do it without using a powerful skill.

The fort was clearly restless as they approached, but no more bullets were fired. Instead, a few dozen people jumped down from the tall walls while a line of gunmen lined the wall itself. And while they didn’t point their guns at Jake and his companions, they looked ready to do so at a moment’s notice.

Jake observed the people that had jumped down and noted the man in front. A large man with a buzzcut, followed by a squad of people with similar hair and demeanor. Military. Annoyingly so, their stances and aura reminded him a bit of Richard…

He used Identify on the frontman and got an unexpected response.

[Human – lvl ?]

Jake felt like something blocked him from seeing the level. The others around him were clearly also surprised at being unable to Identify him correctly. Jake himself was the only person he knew of where it was blocked, and that was due to a divine-rarity skill.

But… while the others were stumped, Jake instead sharpened his gaze. He refused to believe that it was impossible to see through. His yellow eyes lit up as small parts of Gaze of the Apex Hunter activated. He peered through whatever obscured the man’s level as his soul lay bare before him… and he used Identify.

[Human – lvl 59]

He saw the man on the other side shiver and throw a look towards Jake. Jake quickly averted his gaze to one of the other men, trying to act innocent. Likely not a good idea to spook them.

Inwardly he was happy that he succeeded in circumventing the skill. It likely wasn’t a very high rarity as it only blocked a basic Identify. He was a bit surprised he didn’t get any notification about his Identify upgrading or anything like that.

On the other hand… was it even an upgrade? Even Jake, with his transcendent instincts, couldn’t tell when someone used Identify on him – other than the apparent staring – so his current use of the skill that was far more invasive couldn’t be called strictly superior. He didn’t even really do anything different… it was more like stepping around a wall that obscured your vision to see something better.

rude welcome,” Miranda said, breaking the silence with a

broke out of the stupor created by Jake as he steeled himself and answered. “I apologize; he

why would we threaten you?” Miranda answered, still smiling. Neil’s invisible barrier remained in front of her, in case

never know with which intentions people approach in these trying times.

a bright smile. “We truly have no interest in the fort at all. To my knowledge, you have nothing of interest besides potential citizens for the settlement, no, city,

were. Jake got it… he doubted many people would come here, and

this entire matter highly questionable. You claim to come from some enigmatic location safe from beasts and want us to follow you there? I don’t want to insult your intelligence, so please don’t insult mine by acting like that sounds

to leave now, but it would be a disservice to all

before joining them a few weeks ago,” Lillian added from the side. “I and the others who joined were under… unfortunate circumstances then, but

up, finally making himself useful. “A small group of a bit over a dozen I was leading stumbled across their settlement a week ago, and I truly haven’t seen a single

people and considered them. “Even if what you say is true, the fort is already

“Lie,” a voice spoke.

the skill to determine lies from truth. It is a bad habit of his

Not as much from the fact that he could apparently determine lies, but more so that their leader, with his silence, clearly admitted that

and he could just stand at

grass at his side, clearly bored by everything that was happening. Jake could feel its impatience as it wanted to get home as soon as possible. If these matters took too long, he planned on letting her return early to lessen her anxiety. She spent a long time guarding and nurturing the egg… it was understandable that she would prefer to stay with it till it

more defensible than this. We have a clear view in all directions, and tactically it is impeccable. We have yet to have a single casualty to any beasts entering our premises,” Phillip said, arguing

discussion if the fort was safe, Jake didn’t know… but he still

fort Phillip?”

him

capabilities, yes,” he answered. He likely knew that the human lie-detector would call out

the shield generated by the magic circle is commendable, it won’t matter if a

you

isn’t safe at all. You have no magic circle or formation able to ward off enemies and no individuals strong enough either. Unless you or others make massive progress within a short time, I can only see this place falling within a few months at

far away and can react adequately if that happens. They won’t even get close, and I doubt there are many beasts out there we can’t collectively hold off. Nothing is sneaking up on us,” Phillip answered, making his stance quite clear. He obviously wanted to keep his valor in front of his men and not lose face. There was just

enough to destroy the fort already did,” Jake said, shaking his head.

to dispel its own invisibility and let its aura lose

Neil, and his party, and

few men even stumbled back. Phillip and the men around him all went into a defensive

that the bird didn’t even have to look intimidating at all. She just looked bored as she propped herself up a bit, trying to at least look a little majestic, which was quite easy for her with her vibrant

of the men yelled as he raised what looked like a small handgun and aimed it at Mystie. Phillip

flew towards Mystie but was blocked by Neil’s

DOWN!” Phillip yelled, red in the face. He seemed incredibly flustered, yet he never took his eyes off

gave them a nod. Jake reacted by poking Mystie with his foot, making the bird disperse its aura once more with a small huff. Jake just smiled beneath his mask, finding the entire situation oddly

tried to remain stoic as much as he could. But Jake could clearly see the drops of sweat running down the