The Primal Hunter

The inside of the keep was quite spacious, but what hit Jake first was how hot it was. The building was split into several sections, and he felt heat emanate from one of the side rooms he looked towards. The others also looked at it. Phillip explained with a bit of pride, perhaps just happy to feel like he was not ‘losing’ any conversation currently.

“Inside there, we have our smithy. Lots of talented men and women who focus on their professions have managed to create old-world technology with new magical means,” he said, leading them into the room, happy to show off the good parts of the fort after walking through the terrible situation outside.

Inside the smithy, Jake truly felt the heat as he saw several contraptions and worktables scattered around the room. It all looked somewhat chaotic, with the only real order being to split the furnaces and anvils away from the workbenches. Nodding his head towards one of the men sitting in the corner, Phillip brought their attention to a small thin man intensely working. The man hadn’t even noticed them, or maybe he didn’t care. He was sitting with what looked like tiny electronics, and Jake saw a drone on the table like the one they encountered earlier.

“That there is Arnold; he is the one who made the drone and nearly all our more advanced equipment. He made the walkie-talkie too - a real genius, that one. The rest mainly focus on weaponry and armor, and we produce a wide variety of both cold weapons and firearms.” Phillip explained proudly.

“Interesting. How do firearms work with the system?” Miranda asked.

“Calling them firearms is actually a bit silly now. They are more like magical weapons now and generate their own bullets. Not that much different from wands in many ways. They also use mana, of course, so there honestly isn’t much difference between a mage and a gunman,” he said before continuing his explanation.

“Yet guns do retain one of their most useful features from before the system: they are easy to use. While each weapon has a level requirement to use, they aren’t that different to operate than a pre-system gun. As a ranged weapon, they are far easier to use and still vastly superior to something like a bow.”

Jake scoffed, getting the man’s attention, but he didn’t dare enquire further. While the hunter did see some usefulness in guns, he vastly preferred bows. The reason for that being relatively simple. A gun only used your magic-stats, and it was far easier to, one could say, customize your attacks with a bow.

When using a bow, Jake used nearly his entire body. He even used his magic-stats with Infused Powershot, and in cases where he didn’t use them for the shot itself, he used it with his Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter or his poisons. Oh yeah, that was another major thing. It was far easier to poison arrows than bullets.

Sure, you could build a gun specifically to use pre-made bullets and then make poison-bullets, but at that point, you should just get your shit together and use a damn bow. The only possible advantage Jake could see bullets have was with range and while using a sniper rifle. But even then, one just had to ask the Storm Elemental if Jake wasn’t also deadly at extremely long range.

“Anyway,” Phillip said, trying to act like he hadn’t noticed Jake’s protest. “We have managed to arm nearly every individual, and with our tall walls, we have managed to defend the fort from any beasts. As a large settlement, we appear to attract a lot of attention.”

“Not surprising,” Neil said, cutting in for the first time. “You are effectively a bag of experience waiting to be claimed by those strong enough. I reckon there are quite a few levels to be earned for any beasts managing to break through and enter the courtyard.”

“Yeah,” Eleanor added. “The only reason you haven’t been overrun is that you aren’t worth it for the stronger beasts. While you all level and get stronger, you will also begin attracting stronger and stronger enemies. It is just a matter of time before a D-grade comes.”

“What makes your settlement any different from ours?” Phillip asked. He appeared to understand their logic, and a part of him knew the fort couldn’t stand forever, but that didn’t mean some other place was safer.

“Because it’s my territory,” Jake answered without even thinking.

Everyone turned to him as this part certainly wasn’t part of their practice. They instead had planned on Miranda explaining how the forest was safer, how they had a talented space mage and then finishing by mentioning that the owner and the D-grade beast would defend them. Mainly the D-rank, actually, as that was a kind of power more quantifiable than the enigmatic Jake.

“I don’t see how that matters, an army of beasts could still easily de-“

“Beasts aren’t as stupid as you think,” Jake said. “They know to stay away from where they don’t belong. it's simply pure instinct. A beast does not willingly enter the domain of a hunter.”

When he said those words, Jake came to a realization he probably should have a long time ago. The area claimed by the Pylon was his, that was clear. His mana signature was in the atmospheric mana itself, making it clear it was his. And like a beast marking its territory, so had Jake marked what was under the influence of the Pylon.

It wasn’t the Pylon keeping beasts away. It was that it was Jake’s Pylon. They all felt the faint aura of Jake, and their instincts made them aware that they should stay away.

territory of

a D-grade, that didn’t mean his aura was any less powerful. But it was different because it didn’t stem from the natural suppression

wasn’t the kind of suppression that had any physical effects. No, it was purely mental. The bird gave Jake a small nudge with its wing,

thought, afraid that he just ruined Miranda’s

down her back as he proclaimed the city his territory. She felt his presence even more than when the Mystsong Hawk had released its aura. Like every fiber of her being – especially the small lizard brain all humans had – practically yelling at her that she should not mess with the man in front

like he had just been splashed with a bucket of cold water, the sweat visible on his face. He looked genuinely scared, and it appeared

masked owner a look. She needed to communicate that even with his power, he was still human and at least listened to her advice. It would strengthen her position not just in this negotiation but even more so if they decided

eyes and almost seemed… apologetic? No, she must have read that wrong. Truly skills that could read others

dispersed as the room became calm once

any way; I didn’t mean to question

encouraged. Now; should we find a place and talk about

led Phillip away as she sent a glance towards the owner, asking him to stay. Neil and his party followed while Lillian stayed with the owner. Miquel also followed her, likely just wanting to get away from the scary masked man. The setup was perfect. Miranda believed she would never have an easier time convincing the man than now.

stayed in the room while Miranda led Phillip and the others away, leaving him only with Lillian. She went over to his side and just stood there, Jake not entirely sure

himself. He had known since childhood that one had to be controlled or you would scare others. Before the system, Jake had just thought he had

was clearly the bloodline,

his brother had. He remembered that Caleb would be scared if he got too close while emotional, and it was only when

competed with him, and

and figure out what exactly this whole bloodline-business is

asked as Jake had now just been standing still

One for no one

the keep, and many eyes turned to them instantly. Jake just did his best to ignore their gazes while Lillian seemed to genuinely not care. As the only woman surviving the hellspawn that was Abby and her sadistic fuck of a father, Donald, she,

walked away from the keep as he looked around the fort. And man, did he mention that

looked like a sad campsite mushed together in the courtyard. The courtyard was large but far from large enough to accommodate this many people. He took the time to try and determine how many people lived there, and a conservative estimate would

by the day. He could already imagine the many levels Miranda would get from recruiting this entire base, and

to get a

him a bit before she waved her hands. A barrier appeared around them. It was invisible to the eye and only had the simple function of blocking out sound. Neat skill... and handy for an

as she could appoint three lords and one Baron, but nothing is settled.

she told you about the Pylon?” Jake asked, frowning. He was pretty sure that was meant to be a secret between them and

only after I signed a system-enforced contract that bans me from discussing anything related to the Pylon with anyone

in the books, but he always assumed they were just regular old contracts like the one he made with Miranda. Was it possible to make them

punishment if you break

or someone can listen in without my knowledge, it does not count as breaking it. If I purposefully

near-suicidal people. He had done equally stupid stuff himself. And in the end, that stupidity had led to gains. Also, he would have totally done the same thing as her and pushed the contract to its

good work,” Jake said in acknowledgment. Wait, didn’t I just tell her

smile. Well, who cares? Everyone likes

the same time, considered if it was really wise of him to

work, he did feel like he should at least do something to contribute. He was technically her boss. Shit, that means I

the walls. Lillian was just following along silently while everyone they came across got