The Primal Hunter

”We’ll need to build it deeper. There is no way the ceiling of the cellar can take that kind of toxic exposure. Even if we put some serious enchants on the floorboards, they will eventually lose effect as they are slowly corroded, and the stronger you get, the faster we will need to keep reapplying the enchants,” Hank explained as he shook his head.

”How deep do you reckon?” Jake asked. ”It would be best if we can still keep the lab within the area affected by the Pylon to function as a ward to keep people out if they for some reason try to dig in.”

”Oh, that should be easy enough. We just need to put in some good layers between the lab and the rest of the lodge. I would be able to put in some wooden layers that can absorb a lot of the poison and other toxic energies released, but you will have to switch them out or extract the poison from them again occasionally. That, or you could just sell them. They may change into actual items,” Hank answered.

”That would be fine; I just don’t want my entire valley to turn into a wasteland from my own experiments,” Jake responded.

”Great. Anyway, we will dig down to create a second floor to the cellar below the first one. I intend to leave at least five meters between the two floors with the wooden layers placed there. You will still need some magical warding on top of that, I reckon. I am sure Miranda can hook you up with someone, or maybe ask that bird friend of yours,” Hank said as he did a rough sketch of his plans on a piece of paper.

Jake just looked on, nodding. Making it be that low also allowed them to make the whole lab a lot bigger and… wait.

”Say, could we link it up somehow with the cavern leading to the dungeon? The barrier by the Pylon should help isolate the lodge still and keep any energies from flowing that way, and it would mean easy access for me when I make a garden down there,” Jake asked, liking his own idea quite a lot.

”That is a lot of digging, and we would need to place the lab a lot lower, most likely… how far down are you comfortable with it being? I would assume the lower it is, the more future proof it will also be, but everything will add to how long it will take to get done. We are talking meters in the triple digits,” Hank said after scratching his beard and thinking for a while.

”I am fine with any depth; it doesn’t matter much when you can walk on air and make your own staircase at any time, anywhere. Or, you know, just fly. It is more if you think you can do it, and of course, have the time to. I know you’re a busy man,” Jake smiled.

He really didn’t wanna put too much on the father of two. Hank had been in charge of most of the construction in Haven, and the man had barely stopped working ever since Jake met him. Yet he actually looked a bit younger now and full of spirit, even if he still had that vibe of a grizzled old lumberjack.

Jake had heard he was getting close to his profession-evolution. He was actually a bit surprised the man hadn’t gotten it yet with how much he worked, but then again, he still wasn’t sure exactly what determined why some leveled so much faster than others. In retrospect, his class actually leveled pretty fast. At lightning speed compared to his profession. 15 levels in a week was kind of insane, even if he had spent nearly every hour of every day fighting monkeys at higher levels than himself.

”Alright. I’ll have to bring in quite the crew to get it done properly. Do you want proper ventilation down there too? I know you probably don’t need it; it’s more of a comfort thing,” Hank asked.

”Nah, no need. I already have a plan myself for the future. One that includes really sealing in the flavor,” Jake smiled mischievously.

”Sounds like we’re making a real man cave here,” Hank chuckled. ”Do you want us to get started right away?”

”Not today, tomorrow at the earliest,” Jake answered.

”When I said right away, I didn’t mean here and now… at the earliest we can begin tomorrow afternoon, we need to finish the current project first. Miranda’s orders. The whole town is really coming together,” Hank answered, a big proud smile on his lips.

Louise doing?” Jake asked curiously. He hadn’t seen the man’s kids around much lately, so he was a

counts as Haven, but the flat plains around the Fort are just perfect for building on. More people already live there than in the entirety of Haven. At least twenty thousand last I heard with more coming… ah, I’m sure you

he found the builder’s embarrassment as he answered.

scoffed. ”You’re barely older than

”Teenagers then,” Jake corrected.

is 22,” Hank answered,

on topic… won’t it more end up being an alchemy cave

Jake was unable to tell if he was serious or just

idea of making a deep cave beneath the lodge to use as his alchemy lab. Possibly an entire network of sorts. It would also allow them to make a long vertical tunnel leading down to it, and they would be able to

he most certainly knew it would fuck up the spot he used a bit

couldn’t get someone with nature magic or something

impatient was that he wanted the poison ready for the dungeon. He also made a few batches of fungicide as he guessed he had a high chance

more thing to take care of before heading

was quite frankly insane at this point, and just the short way to the Fort made him increase the range of each step just a little as he got more used

for the day the skill would actually allow him to

reasons he was going to the Fort were twofold. Firstly was to have a talk with Arnold, the weird guy who liked to make drones and stuff like that, as well as

towards the Fort, he noted that the Pylon’s area of influence had grown even more. The city of Haven was now technically over 100 kilometers in radius, though it was a bit oval, and the

less now, especially when you could travel hundreds of kilometers

a second weapon for the dungeon. With Venomfang broken and his Shortsword of Icy Winds subpar, to say the least, he wanted to check out if they had something decent. He didn’t even need it to be that good,

period, Jake had made time to do one task he knew he would have to at one point. It had hurt him to do… but his old bow needed some change. The old one was

their home. Now restored to a form made for hunting down the beasts hated by the young elementals. The elementals’ spirit and mana have left their mark upon the wood, making it light

in

It even made them a bit more stealthy. He had noticed that after he began using his Arcane Arrows, the enchant’s effect had lessened, and by now, he doubted he

just wanted it to be as

elementals, now corrupted beyond recognition by powerful arcane energies. The string is made of the sinew of beasts long forgotten. The blessing of the spirits once laid upon this bow has been devoured and transformed by the arcane energies - their final wishes and will made into nothing more than nourishment. All that they were now serves only one purpose:

in any humanoid

description, mainly about how it really painted him as a bad guy. Seriously, all he had done was to transmute it a bit, and now it made him feel like he had just

the most part but did have some subtle pink-purple lines running through it. It