The Primal Hunter

Jake couldn’t help but be disappointed in the Minotaur. He had felt it invade his mind as he struggled to fight off the energy. He couldn’t move, and he just stood there, less than fifteen meters separating him and the monster.

His sphere made him aware of the outside world, but nothing more. Yet inwardly, he also felt… something.

Half an hour passed like that, the two having a battle of the mind. Well, it was more Jake in a bit of a haze, slowly fighting off the mental energy and the damn Minotaur trying to find a weakness to exploit.

It was all just a shame. Jake believed he could have actually had a good fight with the D-rank. He was faster, but it was stronger and had its mental magic to at least throw him off here and there. And while its body wasn’t that resilient, its vitality was high for sure.

The wounds caused by him earlier were mostly healed on the dead body of the Mindchief, just through the passive consumption of health points to heal it. Jake was also pretty damn sure the monster wasn’t anywhere close to out of mana or other magic tricks. He doubted the fight would have ended within the next hour even if they just slugged it out… and Jake had been looking forward to it.

Yet it died. Not because of running out of health… it had just given up. Jake had allowed it in, not bothered to resist its mental exploration of his memories. He didn’t know where it was looking, at least not to begin with, but he soon got the feeling the Minotaur was seeking towards a deep part of his soul. One the Minotaur could usually never approach. But Jake allowed him closer... and as soon as the Mindchief caught a glimpse of what it had been looking for, it chose to end itself.

A fucking coward.

It was just a bull that had gotten lucky and found some item that allowed it to evolve quickly. Jake didn’t think all beasts would gain memories from before they evolved, but clearly, the Minotaur had. Perhaps due to its skills. Not that it mattered anymore.

Jake walked forward to check out the corpse of the monster, and the first thing he noticed was the staff.

[Pillar of Encumbrance (Rare)] – A metal rod made of a type of metal with the natural ability to change weight based on the intensity of the mana infused within. Incredibly durable.

Requirements: N/A

Jake looked at it and was honestly a bit surprised. It wasn’t even a weapon… it was just a rod of metal that could get heavier if infused with mana. It didn’t even have any requirements. The weapon did fit the Minotaur fantastically, though, and Jake also happily picked it up.

The monster hadn’t had any other equipment, leaving only its body behind.

That is also when Jake heard the yelling behind him, and he suddenly remembered that the large barn behind him had been filled with mind-controlled humans.

Jake deposited the Minotaur’s corpse and the Pillar of Encumbrance before he quickly made his way into the barn to see what was going on.

He entered it and instantly felt dozens of eyes land on him. All the people held prisoners by the Mindchief were now clearheaded and out of whatever hypnosis kept them passive. The appearance of a masked figure walking into the barn quickly got their attention, their wariness clear.

None of them spoke but just looked hesitantly at him. From the looks of it, they had broken out of mind control a bit ago and had time to try and get a basic understanding of their situation. And Jake was more than happy to clarify what had happened further.

”The Minotaur is dead,” Jake said, summoning its corpse. Now, that got their attention.

”Did you kill it?” a person in the front asked - one wearing a familiar uniform.

”I did. Are you from that fort led by a guy named Phillip?” Jake asked, tossing the Minotaur back in his storage immediately.

”Yes! Do you also come from there? I didn’t see you before, are you-”

the bovines?” Jake asked, cutting

Jake clearly remembered the area outside the barn filled with bulls and quite a

off towards there,” a voice cut in, pointing out the large gate and into the distance. Directly towards

thought, quickly having put

Minotaur Mindchief had ordered every single bovine to charge towards the fort. A real asshole-move, entirely in line with its personality. Even if it lost

they were all there, likely too scared or confused to leave.

as he left, using One Step Mile to quickly head back to the fort. By now, it had to have been 45 minutes since the bovines left. Which meant that, by

his party were there, and they could surely buy some time even against the Herd Leaders that were closing in on

and Mystie was

he looked out into the horizon, cold sweat

we will all die,” he said, turning to Miranda’s

mage asked, and after Phillip listened to one of the snipers on a walkie-talkie,

counted and based on their sizes, some of them appear to be above level 90. They are followed by

way too fucking many?” Christen butted in, getting a nod from Phillip,

to Miranda and sternly asked. ”Is this the doing of this owner? Did he go and provoke them into attacking

charge here within

before shaking his head. ”Doesn’t

light, stemming not from the approaching herd but within the fort.

began raining down from above as a giant blue hawk lifted itself slightly off the keep, floating in mid-air. It had a wingspan of nearly

brought by the

[Mystsong Hawk - ???]

forming magic circles in the air. All the humans within the fort found themselves suppressed; even the powerful ones like Neil and his party felt the pressure. It was magic with power above

circle. Blue light began being emitted from the center of the large circle, soon covering its entire center. A few more seconds passed, and the

the air, one with a diameter of more than 20 meters, making it look more than

was up to, the surface of the metaphorical lake rippled as something came out of it. It looked like some kind of giant cat,

bodies. They looked semi-transparent, and when Phillip identified

[Mystbeast - ??]

at least level 89… and he couldn’t Identify a single one of the blue beasts. But that in itself wasn’t as shocking as the fact they could even be identified. Were they summons of some kind? Or were they teleported

the summoned beasts were identical but varied widely -

the summons to move. The mist swirled around each beast as they ran on a trail of mist

could only watch in astonishment as they stormed towards the approaching herd. The Mystsong Hawk was

avoid an evacuation,” Eleanor said with a

D-grade stayed behind?” Phillip asked Miranda, who had been

confidently while inwardly thinking the exact opposite. How the hell could I know, he didn’t say

she wouldn’t take advantage of the situation nevertheless. Heck, while the owner had gone off-script more times than she liked… boy had it worked out well. He managed to display his own power, the power of his companion, and at the same time create goodwill towards all the inhabitants of the fort. If he was to be seen as a protector of the city… proving exactly how capable he was at protecting them by

watched the battle that was about

out over the walls as he turned to his party. ”Wanna join in? Quite a few of those