The Primal Hunter

There was going to be more monkey business going on.

Once more, the Prima was fighting in a way that just didn’t make any logical sense. It took far more damage than Jake with every exchange; in fact, it was even worse for the Prima now that it had changed back to its golden form. It relied on magic and ranged combat, which was a-okay with Jake.

Its magic was something he was getting very used to, even if it did spice it up sometimes. At times, random areas around him would suddenly increase in weight, only making half of his body heavier, while at other times, the monkey threw a small stone that probably weighed a few tons post-weight-amplification.

The waves of force were something he easily dodged to by now, as he had learned most of the Prima’s tells, and yet despite it all, he still couldn’t help frowning. A few injuries here and there against a foe of equal or slightly greater strength was expected, so Jake did take quite a few blows, while the monkey looked to not give a damn about taking several poisoned arrows just to return a blow that did far less damage.

Can it do that transformation again? Jake asked himself, genuinely unsure. He believed it shouldn’t be able to based on how the golden version of the monkey was still a bit wounded after it transformed back, and the silver version had been left close to death.

Besides that, the silver symbol on its forehead currently wasn’t glowing. It was still there and gave off an odd gray color, even with a bit of black mixed in. Jake even thought for a second it was due to toxins as it looked almost deathly, but Sense of the Malefic Viper didn’t give off any response.

However… he was sure the symbol meant something. Maybe it truly was just a sign to show the silver version was out of commission? But why did the monkey then fight as it did? Had it given up or something? Decided to try and take him down with it? It was doubtful… because it looked to be in pretty high spirits, and even if it did try for mutual destruction, clearly, the monkey would fall first as things were going.

Did it not know I drank the health potion and now believes my health points to be lower than they actually are?

So many thoughts, just searching for an explanation, went through his head as he kept fighting and exchanging blows. Jake dodged under a blast as he fired off one of three arcane bolts floating above him, making a hole in the monkey’s barrier as the arcane mana tore it apart. He followed up with a quick arrow, penetrating the monkey’s stomach, sending even more blood flying.

The Prima retaliated by pointing all its five tails forward and released a massive wave of force that expanded in a giant cone in front of it. In a display that must have consumed ridiculous amounts of mana, it managed to make Jake lose his footing for a second, allowing the monkey to land a quick blast of force, sending him flying back.

He felt a few ribs be pushed in, but nothing was broken. It did worsen his wounds a bit, but currently, Jake was fine with not moving too fast. While he was confident the monkey had more tricks up its sleeves, Jake also had a trick. Or, well, a potion cooldown.

Perhaps the monkey noticed he was just dragging the fight out, too, as it finally decided to use its final card and changed up the fight. It kind of had to do something as it was dying of poison pretty damn rapidly. It released a few gigantic blasts, likely running itself out of mana, and it was only when it looked barely able to fight that it made its move.

Jake was unsure what it would do… until he saw it raise its hand towards its forehead once more.

You got to be fucking kidding me.

The moment it touched the mark, the Prima disappeared, just like all the times before.

He just took out his bow and began charging an Arcane Powershot, hoping to give it a good opening blow when it appeared again. Which it did a few seconds later.

Jake instantly fired his arrow before even seeing the figure fully appear. The Arcane Powershot tore through the air towards the Prima, the monkey unable to possibly respond to-

fully appear. The Arcane Powershot tore through the air towards the Prima, but the monkey was already dodging before it was fully

changed, he still remembered all of it. It wasn’t due to any bloodline-shenanigans;

Prima –

not. Before, it had been hunched over, while now it stood with a straight back. It had even grown nearly half a meter to be as big as Jake. Its fur was now dull and gray with several scars all over its body, including one across its forehead. The symbol there was gone, destroyed by whatever had caused the scar. Even more surprising was its

it stood there silently observing him.

It was before Jake the same moment he reacted, doing some more time-magic bullshit, allowing it to move extremely fast if Jake had

clawed hand. The hands that the monkey could barely use competently before now soared towards Jake’s throat like an eagle’s talons, forcing him to bend

scimitar and dagger out now and blocked the first swipe with ease. He had expected to cut a bit into the bare arm of the beast but found its fur as hard as metal, no doubt caused by a skill of some

himself be slightly pushed back at it retaliated, proving he was inferior in pure stats. Its speed slightly above his too. In a purely

it should attack, allowing Jake to summon his bow. The moment he did so, the beast knew it had to attack as it didn’t wish to face the hunter in a ranged

up for a second and only became able to move just as

least that is what Jake first experienced happening before suddenly the monkey became able to move a fraction of a second earlier than expected and dodged the arrow by the narrowest of margins. With Jake momentarily stumped by his own immense annoyance, he barely managed to block

and the claw sink into his chest before sending him flying back into a tree. It

could I forget

mean it had lost its other school of

did hurt a bit from the blow and had five small holes in his chest from the fingers of the monkey… but honestly, that wasn’t a big deal. His entire body was already a mess from the drawn-out fight, and he was in many ways at a

could only remain in its current form in a limited

at every turn, his scales already summoned all over his body to lessen the damage a bit more.

Jake a small sense of dread as he knew that the monkey before him was no longer as dumb as before. It had a plan to finish him off before its

more even than one would expect, and Jake’s many levels from committing monkey genocide came in

itself. It dodged his blows with grace and counterattacked only when opportune, never overextending. A few clashes did end with both taking a heavy hit, but yet just as Jake felt that happen, it just became a feeling of Deja vu. Another obvious weakness of that time magic trick – it worked on both parties. It truly was like

step too far. He was proven wrong as suddenly the monkey flew backward, as he noticed its tail embedded in the ground behind it, acting as a rope to drag it

with both its hands, making him momentarily lose all strength in it, allowing the monkey to effectively

Well…

own chest and tossed it into the air before catching it with

…this is annoying.

dodge his own damn scimitar. While he was fully aware the blade wasn’t actually “active” in the hands of the monkey, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt to be hit by what was now practicality just a metal

the blow barely hurting but still throwing him off balance. The tail’s power in its older veteran form was weaker than both its golden and silver form, but it made for that

between him and his foe. Without

bow and turned in the air to fire a shot towards the monkey. It responded by punching the air and sending a wave of force out that broke all three exploding arrows mid-air, far too close to

as he finally became aware. It was time for the big turnaround. And just in time, as he saw that the

vigor, he took out the small bottle and chugged it down as if his life depended on it