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 young

remembered the area outside the barn filled with bulls and

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

this just great, Jake thought, quickly having put

it appeared 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 if it lost to

people still in the barn. He was pretty sure they were all there, likely too scared or confused to leave. ”Wait here. I

One Step Mile to quickly head back to the fort. By now, it had to have been 45 minutes since the bovines

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

and Mystie

as he looked out into the horizon, cold sweat

he said, turning to Miranda’s group,

after Phillip listened to one of the snipers on

appear to be above level 90. They are followed

Christen butted in, getting a nod from Phillip,

doing of this owner? Did he go

charge here within an hour of him leaving, don’t you think they planned on attacking all along? At worst, he just made them push up

at her before shaking his head. ”Doesn’t

by an eruption of light, stemming not from the approaching herd but within the fort. More accurately, from the top of the

floating in mid-air. It had a wingspan of nearly ten meters, and what looked like blue mist floated all around it, taking on different

was the D-grade brought by the masked

[Mystsong Hawk - ???]

the humans within the fort found themselves suppressed; even the powerful ones like Neil

began overlapping, and soon they formed a huge perfect circle. Blue light began being emitted from the center of the large circle, soon covering its

like a shining blue vertical lake had suddenly appeared in the air, one with a diameter of more than 20 meters, making

up to, the surface of the metaphorical lake rippled as something came out of it. It looked like some kind of giant cat, but before anyone could get a good look at it, the second creature exited.

were blue, with mist emanating from their bodies. They looked semi-transparent, and when Phillip

[Mystbeast - ??]

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

spitting out more. No two of the summoned beasts were identical but varied widely

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

as they stormed towards the approaching

an evacuation,” Eleanor said with

behind?” Phillip asked Miranda, who had been looking relatively relaxed even

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 bird is

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

watched the battle

out over the walls as he turned to his party. ”Wanna join