The Primal Hunter

The arrow slowly emerged from his palm as he focused on the monkey in the distance. He had a feeling that it knew he was there, just not where exactly he was hiding. It was just sitting on top of its temple, inviting him to attack - something Jake would gladly do and even open with his most decisive blow possible.

On a side note, Jake had tried to use Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter with his new Splitting Arrow, and it still didn’t work. He couldn’t split an arrow fired with Arcane PowerShot either. Then again… it would be pretty silly if he could effectively triple the power of a powerful epic-rarity skill with a rare skill. No, copying the Arcane Hunter’s Arrows didn’t really feel like he copied an entire “skill”.

With the arrow fully summoned, Jake was careful as he took aim at the monkey. He was far away - several kilometers - and its back was turned, yet he felt like he knew. He couldn’t help but use Identify to once more confirm it was indeed the Prima.

[Penta-Lighttail Monkey Prima – lvl 134]

Yep, that’s the one…

His instincts also made it clear it was the real one… that it wasn’t some mental magic trick or an illusion or anything like that. It genuinely was just sitting there, waiting for him to strike. Was it stupid, overconfident, or did it have a plan in mind? Perhaps all three? Jake didn’t know.

But he was sure as hell about to find out.

He didn’t hesitate to activate Limit Break to 10% as he charged his Arcane Powershot. He released the string just as he felt the Windsoar Bow no longer able to endure it anymore, and with an explosion of arcane mana and stamina, the giant arrow flew forth.

Just before he let go of the string, the Prima sitting atop the building turned around and looked his way. Jake instantly froze it, and just as he did, he noticed how he had frozen it mid-smile.

CRASH!

The two upper floors of the ancient temple collapsed in an accelerated manner as if the entire building and Prima had suddenly gotten dozens of times heavier - that damn smile still on the monkey’s face when the arrow passed over its head and harmlessly into a tree on the other side of the temple grounds.

You little shit.

Able to move again, the monkey didn’t jump or do anything in particular; it just slowly stood up on top of the ruined upper parts of the temple and stared at Jake, who still stood far away on a tree branch. Their eyes met for a moment, and Jake felt the provocation and confidence in the gaze of the Prima – a sentiment he returned in kind.

Neither of them felt like they could lose.

Jake quickly drew a pre-poisoned arrow from his quiver and began charging another Arcane Powershot. In response, the monkey pointed one of its five tails in his direction - a move he had seen the other D-grades make many times before but never at this range.

The immediate surroundings of the tail distorted for a second, and Jake was forced to jump. A massive shockwave hit the tree below him as he fired his arrow while in mid-air.

another wave of force, but clearly, one attack was superior to the other. The wave of force was broken as a sonic boom sounded out midway through the arrow’s flight caused by a small explosion from the clash. The Prima was forced to dodge

returned an arrow for every tree that had a large part of its bark blown off. It was a ranged battle with several kilometers between the fighters – Jake coming out on top initially, as the monkey took a few minor injuries. Unluckily, Jake didn’t manage to land much of his poison quite

monkey that had clearly had its pride hurt. It screeched angrily once more as

even faster than Hawkie. It was a speed that would have

reacted by summoning his wings of poison and death as he fired another arrow after the charging monkey. It didn’t even attempt to dodge as the exploding arcane arrow split in three, and arcane energy appeared to consume the Prima in a raging

the figure exited the explosion, not a scratch on it. But Jake saw the reason right away. It had a rippling sphere around it that

powerful barrier… but… compared to the

Every single D-grade Jake met, he compared to the King… he just couldn’t help it. Especially not after the mask on his

any creature to the King, he just found them… lacking. Perhaps it was due to a part of him inherently overestimating the King as he, for all intents and purposes, was the only foe Jake fought that he

not to

strong, and its speed impressive. He managed to fire one more quickly charged Powershot before it arrived, and he had a stable version of his arrows for that blow. The shot managed to pierce the barrier but missed the monkey itself as it was deflected

was clearly even better than himself at flying, and if it could increase his weight like its brethren, then mid-air

with the sphere around it. Jake wasn’t sure exactly how a direct clash with the monkey would go, and he really didn’t see any reason to find

ground, he took another step away, arcane bolts spinning to life, floating where he

BOOM!

more, the forest shook as the ground exploded with even more arcane mana, followed by a quick Arcane Powershot straight towards where

him he had hit, the new response from Sense of the Malefic Viper sure did. Hemotoxin

and soil, making Jake see that it had an arrow sticking out of its shoulder. It looked more annoyed than angry as it ripped it out, stared a bit at the poison, and then tossed it aside. It stood in a weird pose, with one hand on the wound and another over its

beast as it looked to have calmed down a bit after being infected by the poison. At least Jake thought so

that was hidden by the monkey’s hand glow. The motif didn’t at all fit

The Prima disappeared.

as his Sphere of Perception made him know it truly was gone… even the Mark was gone, and so was any

wondering what the hell to do… as he dodged to the side, narrowly

lot like the Prima before, but its hide was white, almost silvery, and its tails looked more like those

instincts made him aware.

Prima

poison in its system, and even his Mark was no longer there… some kind of double-body skill? Or is it just its

it didn’t matter… what mattered more was that this new figure was quite different, not just

their three tails constantly attacking… unsurprisingly, five was

all the time, yet still getting hit here and there. The wings on his back were pumping out poison, making the Prima now target those. It moved in closer as it momentarily stunned