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-”

Jake asked, cutting the

it was a bit late… but Jake clearly remembered the area outside the barn filled with bulls and quite a

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

this just great, Jake thought, quickly having put together

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

scared or confused to leave. ”Wait here. I will have a group sent to escort you back towards the fort within the day… after

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 estimate, they had likely already

were there, and they could surely buy some time even against the

Mystie

looked out into the horizon, cold sweat running down

he said, turning to Miranda’s group, Neil just nodding in

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

of them appear to be above level 90. They are followed by an army of Roughhide Bovines and Bulls.

words, way too fucking many?” Christen butted in, getting a nod from Phillip, not even bothered

Miranda and sternly asked. ”Is this the doing of

the hell would he do that? Secondly, if there was an army on standby not far away, ready to charge here within an

at her before shaking his head. ”Doesn’t matter, we need to evacuate

by an eruption of light, stemming not from the approaching herd but within

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 ten

brought by the masked

[Mystsong Hawk - ???]

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 anything they could

being emitted from the center of the

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

It looked like some kind of giant cat, but before anyone could get a good look at it, the second creature exited. And then a third, and a fourth, before soon dozens of animals were floating

mist emanating from their bodies. They looked semi-transparent, and when Phillip identified one, he was

[Mystbeast - ??]

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 there from elsewhere? He didn’t know, and he doubted the giant blue

summoned more than 30 Mystbeasts, it stopped spitting out more. No two of the summoned beasts were identical but varied widely - from cat-like beasts to birds and even one that looked like a mix between an elephant and

wing, the Mystsong Hawk ordered the summons to move. The mist swirled around each beast as they ran on a trail of mist forming beneath their

only watch in astonishment as they stormed towards the approaching herd.

an evacuation,” Eleanor said with a

know the D-grade stayed behind?” Phillip asked Miranda, who had been looking relatively relaxed even after the Mystsong

leave the fort defenseless in his absence?” she answered confidently while inwardly thinking the exact opposite. How the hell could I know, he didn’t say anything, and the damn

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 wiping out an army of beasts was a good start to

anticipation, she watched the battle that

he turned to his party. ”Wanna join in? Quite a few of those Herd Leaders should be