The Primal Hunter

Jake smiled as he took a deep breath of the toxic concoction. He felt the fumes enter his system and quickly be eliminated and turned to mana, but he also felt the potency of what he had just made. Even if the fungicide wasn’t made to kill humans, a person sure as hell shouldn’t risk getting it on them.

He quickly bottled up the super-fungicide. He didn’t get a lot of it, only enough for two of the small bottles, but the most important thing was that he had succeeded.

Leaning back in his chair, he quickly went through a few of his other notifications. The first of which was one he had expected, but seeing it still broadened his smile.

[Concoct Poison (Common)] – While most focus on the aspect of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of common-rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds a minor increase to the effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.

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[Concoct Poison (Uncommon)] – While most focus on the aspect of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of uncommon-rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds a small increase to the effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.

The changes in the description were absolutely minimal, but that didn’t matter. Jake knew the requirement for upgrading both Brew Potion and Concoct Poison was just to make a creation of that rarity with your own skills, aka without effects such as those from Malefic Viper’s Poison. The upgrade did little to actually help him except making his wisdom increase the effectiveness of his poisons a little more.

No, what mattered far more was the implications of him having upgraded it. At F-grade, he had learned to create common-rarity poisons, and now in E-grade, he had learned to make uncommon-rarity ones. He was a step ahead every time.

It would help him with his profession-evolution for sure. Though Jake had to admit he wasn’t sure if he needed any help in that regard, as his Records had to be quite good. But a small part of him did fear his evolution options would have too much focus on his friendship with Villy and not as much on his abilities as an alchemist.

Jake would hate for that to happen. He refused to become some kind of priest or preacher for a friend. That was just too fucking weird. No, he wanted just to be a damn great alchemist. This is also why he had set the requirements of upgrading his skills before reaching D-grade.

Now, he only needed to upgrade Touch of the Malefic Viper and Sense of the Malefic Viper. As for the last skill from level-ups, he had naturally picked that up.

[Fangs of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – When born, the Viper had limited weapons to fight with, yet it prevailed only with its fangs. Its bites the deliverer of death. As a human, you have taken inspiration and learned to apply the same concept. Allows the Alchemist to coat his teeth in deadly venom, sharing all the same effects as Blood of the Malefic Viper in an empowered state. Additionally, all poisons you have crafted or created are significantly more effective when injected directly into the body of your foes. Passively provides 1 Strength per level in Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May you bring death in a single strike.

Jake had briefly skimmed the other options, and while they were fine, some of them great even, nothing could compare to the Fangs skill. There is also the fact that Jake predicted it to be part of a “set,” and he really wanted to complete that set.

With his skill chosen, he took a look at the free points he had built up. While it was suboptimal for sure, he hadn’t actually spent any for a long time. Not since he last picked a skill at level 80. For the longest time, he had just been putting every point into perception and honestly still felt like doing so.

He had 90 free points available to distribute. Of course, those points would be way more after the percentage bonuses from all his titles, so it was closer to 150 in any stat he wanted. He opened his status screen to see how it was beginning to look after many weeks of alchemy.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

Race: [Human (E) – lvl 95]

Class: [Ambitious Hunter – lvl 99]

Profession: [Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper – lvl 92]

Health Points (HP): 13068/13150

Mana Points (MP): 3841/15637

Stamina: 7014/9930

Stats

Strength: 855

Agility: 1172

Endurance: 993

Vitality: 1315

Toughness: 840

Wisdom: 1251

Intelligence: 640

Perception: 2234

Willpower: 926

Free points: 90

[Forerunner of the New World], [Bloodline Patriarch], [Holder of a Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer V], [Dungeon Pioneer V], [Legendary

Ambitious Hunter (Rare)], [Archery of Vast Horizons (Rare)], [Descending Dark Fang (Rare)], [Limit Break

[Brew Potion (Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification (Common)], [Alchemical Flame (Common)], [Toxicology (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)], [Concoct Poison (Uncommon)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Rare)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Epic)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Epic)], [Scales of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Blood

Blessing of the Malefic

Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)], [Identify (Common)], [Thoughtful Meditation

Primal Hunter

changes every single day, but it was still developing at a noticeable pace. He was looking forward to D-grade more than ever too, and he

He stared through the void, not looking at anything in particular but just the vast nothingness that existed

up and shifted his gaze to raise his

before shaking his head. “I wonder how that came

just of the wind-affinity but also possessed a plethora of other means. They were hell to deal with

almost archaic. A Sylph was not born but only evolved into by powerful elementals that had lived nearly to the end of their lifespans before evolving. Was that his own contribution to the creation? A touch of time and ancientness? No… that wouldn’t have

had caused the change? It was incredibly pure and was approaching a new threshold; one the Viper hoped he would overcome before reaching D-grade… even if it would

of any greed for anything but power itself. A truly pure and straightforward path. So was his approach to everything, including mana. His way of doing it was… simple. His mana practice was almost insultingly effective considering how inane and uncomplicated it was. He didn’t mix in other mana affinities but had even ignored his quite frankly top-level

specialize any of his mana with any mana attunements because of that. One didn’t need to have an attunement to shape one’s magic, but simply using a type of

he was only condensing and refining to an entirely new level, even if he did so unknowingly. It was

was that truly what gave birth to the Sylphian Eyas? Just… the purity of his mana? The Sylphs were as pure as

Records could only hold one explanation… his bloodline. If not, the Viper’s Records would have undoubtedly affected him on a more fundamental

too. What did increased perception and natural fighting instincts have to

his pal’s bloodline outside of pure curiosity. The only real

clearly cared for the

realm as his mood dampened significantly. He knew he couldn’t

avatar closed its eyes as it became dormant and returned to slumber, the Viper’s real body still in the

long, she had been denied her rightful resting place. Too long had her parents kept her away. The

making sure to stay low. She swiftly made her way under one of the chairs, staying perfectly hidden throughout it all. Small amounts of wind

a second as she made a long leap - assisted by the wind and a flap of her

Halfway there.

back end of the big treehouse and through the opening leading to the water with the scary-long-fish. She could have tried to go around the building, but she knew her parents watched from above

her steps calculated to the smallest

see the tall human, utterly unaware of the apex creature about

final leap, she jumped through the slightly open