The Primal Hunter

Jake came to a realization as he stood hidden far up in the air on solidified mana within the Undergrowth and observed the posturing of the Deepdwellers before the troll. As he prepared to watch the show, something was missing, and it took him a few moments to realize what it was…

I miss popcorn.

It felt like an eternity since the last time he had popcorn, and the battle about to unfold before him made him truly understand how much he missed those small poppy corns. He would have to ask Miranda about it when he got back because some chef somewhere must have made it. But, wait, they had unlocked Foodstuff with the system store… yeah, he could just get at least the base ingredients through that.

Actually… this made Jake realize that he wasn’t even entirely sure how popcorn was produced. He only ever really had them at the movies or when he made them in the microwave. Were those small kernels actually made of regular corn? They were hard and dry… maybe dried corn?

These were all critical questions that occupied his mind as the impatience he felt from the cowardice of the Deepdwellers only increased with every passing second.

Seriously, Jake had assumed things to get started when the Warlord showed up, but instead, it had just joined in with the yelling. He got that it was lower level than the troll, but they outnumbered it heavily. So even if the weaker Deepdwellers couldn’t do much damage, they could still do a bit, right?

The five warriors, the Warlord, and the two Fungamancers should be able to put up a good fight, shouldn’t they? So what the hell were they waiting for?

Well, Jake learned that only ten minutes later. More reinforcements.

Three more Fungalmancers and six more Warriors came, all with a level between 128-137, along with nearly forty more of the regular Deepdwellers, most of those below level 110. Jake assumed they could only serve as distractions or perhaps living bombs.

Finally, when the Deepdweller side outnumbered the troll with over a hundred to one, they made their move.

The Warlord took the front as the Fungalmancers channeled magic into empowering both it and the many warriors around it. Eleven warriors and the Warlord charged, Fungalmancers right behind as support, and nearly a hundred regular Deepdwellers were surrounding the troll.

As for the Cave Troll, it backed away towards its own cave, roaring higher than ever before. It smashed its club into the ground to intimidate its attackers, but the Deepdwellers were determined. Fungalmancers then waved their hands, and Jake saw the spears of the many Deepdwellers begin to light up with an ominous green color.

Jake sensed the poison and knew the Fungalmancers had done something to amplify it. The same green glow also appeared on the stones of the Deepdwellers with slings and the claws of the big and bulky Deepdwellers – Jake actually felt a bit for that last group because they were sure as fuck not gonna survive melee combat with the troll.

The first strike came from over fifty spears and about a dozen thrown stones headed straight for the troll, timed with a charge from the Warlord and its comrades. Jake heard the Warlord make a weird noise as a green aura washed out of it and into the warriors around it.

They all began glowing green like their leader and engaged the troll.

its arm and stomach, but honestly, this only seemed

the power of the troll. That was some strength it had there, and Jake sure as hell had no plans of taking a direct hit from that club. The warriors who had

the Deepdwellers impacted weren’t as lucky as they were blown off more than a kilometer into the distance. Likely still alive, but for sure hurting a

blue glow emanated from the crystalline edge as it swung, sending a wave of energy towards the troll. Simultaneously, four warriors also moved in close to stab one of the troll's

It kicked with the leg that had been stabbed and

extreme grace that Jake hadn’t seen coming, the Deepdweller managed to block the club with the edge of its halberd. The body of the halberd bent, and the Warlord used that momentum to spring over

troll, sending green blood splashing everywhere as it made an almost supersonic roar louder than anything ever

attacks. Vines grew on its lower body, and mold grew all over its thick hair, and it had dozens of spears sticking out of it. Blood was pooling beneath it. The

though. Even with the troll down on one knee and bleeding from its entire body…

Deepdweller looked to be in high spirits as they kept up the aggression until finally,

it, the Fungalmancers felt

*BOOM!*

a few. The warriors weren’t unscathed either but had

All of it had happened incredibly quickly, and Jake was amazed by its healing powers. Then again… trolls having high

as both sides healed up. However, this stalemate was broken by the third-strongest creature present as the Warlord cut through a spike of earth and flew forward, once more

Earth moved, and the soil beneath them seemed almost liquid as if the entire area

not on the ground as he got flashbacks to the Horde Leader

pushed back the Deepdwellers. All the regular ones were utterly useless as they were forced

Jake noticed the Fungalmancers do as Fungalmancers do:

like he had seen one of them consume to hulk out. Then, five of the warriors retreated back and were handed a crystal each to eat by a Fungalmancer. He saw them hesitate for a moment, but some stern noises from the Fungalmancers

as they bulked up, and massive cancerous growths appeared all over their bodies. With the hesitation of the warriors and the effect the crystals had, Jake was sure that shit wasn’t healthy in the long run. He

hulking versions of the Deepdwellers, the troll was too large and slow not to be hit. To then make

just getting too trigger-happy to stay put. While it would be a bit fun to see what else the Fungalmancers, Cave Troll, and Warlord could pull out between them, he would

popularly known as Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter. The arrow that appeared looked pretty regular but was just bigger than usual. Jake felt powerful energy from it, reminding him of necrotic

poison, and he also prepared a good stock of stable arcane arrows soaked in poison, all while observing the battle

and healed from any wound near-instantly, but the troll did the same. Its skin also looked to be made of stone now, and he saw the

large chunks of flesh. The Warlord did most of the damage, with the warriors creating openings and keeping the