The Primal Hunter

Miranda was tapping her fingers on the table as she stared at the system menu in front of her. She soon noticed she hadn’t actually read a word as her mind was far too distracted. She couldn’t help but regret the weekly ritual she had created where she would go meet the owner at his lodge and bring him up to speed over a bite of food.

At the time, it had seemed like a good idea, but now she couldn’t help but consider it incredibly silly, if not downright disrespectful and blasphemous. She had been ignorant and stupid to a level that she had only recently come to understand.

Her weeks after getting her class evolution – or more accurately getting her Divine Blessing - had gotten… longer. She would spend at least a few hours of Realtime every day deep in meditation, where she then reached out and entered the Verdant Lagoon.

The Verdant Lagoon was a mysterious and quite incomprehensible place. It looked like a giant swamp with countless islands in it, each unique. Some islands had entire cities on them, and some had huts and tents making it look like something from the stone age, while some were even winter-landscapes or deserts.

But where she found herself most days was on the central island - a place generally reserved for the three ladies that had created the Lagoon. They spoke of the Lagoon as their divine realm, something Miranda was more than willing to believe. They were gods, after all. What reason would gods have to lie to her?

It wasn’t like they were the only ones she had spoken to either. Many different individuals resided in the Lagoon either with their actual physical bodies, with avatars of some kind, or through a projection-like skill, same as her.

Her meditation-sessions only lasted for a few hours, but within the Lagoon, that was more than a day. It was only in specific areas that time moved like this, and sadly – or luckily – her weird projected body was confined to these places.

Being in the Lagoon felt… odd. Miranda looked the same, wore the same clothes, and could even touch things, but she knew she wasn’t actually there. With a single thought, she could appear back at her real body at any time, and if her real body were disturbed, she would wake back up too.

The many individuals she interacted with – some of them humans, others less so – were all unified in one thing: their reverence of the Ladies that had created the land they now occupied. This reverence and respect were then reflected onto her, as she was viewed with respect by entities far more powerful than herself.

All that she could handle. She could deal with it. She felt like she was halfway shitting her pants whenever she interacted with some otherworldly creature that politely tipped its hat to her in passing, but it was somehow still manageable.

No, what wasn’t manageable was how the Ladies treated her. They acted far too friendly for her comfort. There was always a barrier that made it absolutely clear that they were superior beings, but they seemed to almost recognize her as being close to them in rank. Not power-rank but in respect to hierarchal power.

This confused her until one of them said that apparently the city owner... Jake… had allowed them to bless her. That thought just seemed utterly preposterous. Who was he to tell them what they could and couldn’t do? Yet they seemed to accept it without question, and when she couldn’t hold in her curiosity any longer, she had asked… and the answer hadn’t exactly put her concerns to rest. She knew that he was friendly with a god they served, but the implications of that she couldn’t comprehend… until she learned more of their master.

In the overall hierarchy of this entire multiverse – of limitless planets, worlds, dimensions, and factions – their master sat amongst the pinnacle of existences. Their master was one of the first twelve beings that achieved godhood and a creature that entire Pantheons of gods feared.

Miranda had felt the utter reverence, adorations, and slight fear the three Ladies held regarding their master. A Primordial called the Malefic Viper, an enigmatic god that could – in their own words – kill every single living being not just on their planet but their entire galaxy with nothing but a snap of his fingers. Putting in a bit more power, he could destroy the Verdant Lagoon and its three creators, and with his full power, the sisters were unsure if any but the most powerful of beings in existence could stand up to him. One thing they were absolutely sure of was that none could escape unscathed, at least. For their master was a god of poison, destruction, and corruption.

And that… that kind of being was what the owner had as a “friend.”

She… didn’t get it. The thought of being friends with the three sisters didn’t even cross her mind. She couldn’t quite get on a good metaphor to describe the difference… there simply wasn’t one with the logic of the old world. The thought of beings living trillions of years and personally wielding power to reduce planets to dust with a casual glance just wasn’t something she could wrap her head around. Much less being “friends” with such a being. It was like a poor farmer being friends with the largest nuclear power on the old Earth… and even that was an understatement.

couldn’t even delude herself into believing he wasn’t serious. He truly did consider the Malefic Viper his friend. Even her next logical step of concluding that he

a True Blessing – a blessing that still carried heavy implications for any god to give out, with the True one being infinitely

and deliberate everything she did… because what if she somehow

above her in the hierarchy of the multiverse she was like the poorest farmer meeting the emperor. She tried her best… but was it truly enough? She had progressed more than

but also for Hank, his family, and every citizen of Haven because she felt like they lived at his discretion and mercy. Which made all their meetings so

firing the arrow and getting a better handle on this new affinity-thing. It was actually a bit funny that my first encounter with a beast from the tutorial happened by accident… I did consider trying to travel to where it hit, but I honestly have no idea where it even landed. Sure, I could try and do some quick math to try and figure it out, but as

like she became more and more distant over the last few weeks, and he

make any snippy comments when

always. She had barely eaten any of the quite frankly delicious food, and the atmosphere in the lodge

her, she began pulling back. He had never been the best at social interactions, but he rarely had issues around friends… and

and just looked at the woman across from him. She met his gaze

is there anything

calling me “Sir”? It’s

apologize, I didn’t

what happened?” he once more cut

“I’m not sure I-“

just begin sending over written reports. This is just too damn

him, as she looked almost… scared. What

she had evolved her class

such things…” Miranda said, Jake not interrupting her this time. “If you wish to receive written reports instead of these meetings, I would be more than

shook his head, asking the question he had just wondered about. “Is this in any way related to that blessing and all the

looked at him like she had just been caught doing something wrong. It reminded him of the time he admonished her when she stared at him for hours back during one of their first meetings. It made him feel like their relationship really had deteriorated to that level… one where

usually could control every signal

poker face that he couldn’t see through even with his sphere and instincts. But now, she was apparently so nervous she couldn’t even keep that

sighed as

of one’s knowledge is more than any mortal could learn in a lifetime. To see them as creatures on an entirely different level than

us as humans when they began their journey to power. They aren’t that much different from you and me… at least I don’t think so. I told you this

finally got a

Verdant Lagoon… they aren’t like us. Saying they are is like believing a single ember is no different from the sun… no, even more than that. We live at the mercy of the gods; how could we not treat them

hard, and that is damn respectable. But it doesn’t mean this relationship is static. If I had met Mystie right after returning from the tutorial, I would have lost to her in a fight. Now, I am stronger. The gods are no different. Sure, right now they are stronger, but when I become a god too, who says that won’t change?” Jake cut in, once more voicing his genuine thoughts on the matter. To him… godhood