The Primal Hunter

Jake sat regenerating on the ground, observing the trolls in his sphere. He was inside a dungeon, but everything was just like out in the real world. Yet he knew he wasn’t… dungeons were special. He knew that he himself could meet the trolls now and befriend them, the next party could kill them, and the one after that could never discover them to begin with.

The same troll could die a thousand times, give the same experience a thousand times, yet when party one thousand and one entered the dungeon, they would still see it. The dungeons were temporal pockets of sorts, so whenever Jake entered it alone, he started another timeline for the dungeon. A new reality. This was common knowledge throughout the multiverse and one of the reasons why dungeons were such valuable natural treasures for monsters and enlightened races alike.

But Jake also knew dungeons wouldn’t last forever. One day a natural dungeon would come to an end, and what happened to the monsters then? Where did these dungeon creatures come from, where do they go, where did they come from cotton e-

Anyway.

Were they born there? Had they grown up in the dungeon until one day a door appeared, and invaders came? What about if no one ever entered a dungeon… would time just stand still forever? Jake didn’t know the answer to any of these things… but he knew someone who did.

Vilastromoz stood within his realm as he once more tried. The entire realm shook as he mobilized every inch of his power. He put his hands on the obelisk as the runes came alive just like all the other times – his entire mind focused only on this one task.

Usually, he would have his mind split into countless fragments. One could talk to Jake, another theorize some magic, work on a concept, and if he needed something physically done, he could just use his Avatars or, if it was a smaller task that didn’t require much power, summon a temporary Incarnation. For him to have hundreds if not thousands of these fragments of his mind up at a time wasn’t unusual.

But at this moment, everything was gathered for him to use his full power.

A dark green glow emanated from the entire realm for a few moments before everything faded once more. Blood poured out of the Viper’s eyes and mouth as he shook his head. ”Failed again…”

It was expected in most ways, but every time inspired an immense feeling of failure and grief. He clenched his hands in anger at himself. It wasn’t power… he needed something more, but he didn’t know what the fuck it was.

Maybe he should fully return his focus to-

”Sup Villy, just making a phone call to see how you’re doing and to shamelessly get advice on things I probably should know to begin with.”

The Malefic Viper was stopped in his train of thought as the message came. After Jake’s evolution, he could no longer stop them… he could zone them out, but the connection between them had changed. A blessed mortal could not stop the divine message of a god, and now he as a god could not stop the divine message from his own Chosen. It was weird and something he had never encountered before. Yet he appreciated it.

Vilastromoz – or Villy as Jake insisted on calling him – answered with a smirk.

”I'm just dandy, and what studying did my Chosen skip out on this time?” Jake heard Villy’s voice say.

tone reminded him of the first time they met in his realm. If someone

alright on your end?” Jake asked with

Villy laughed it off. “What could

if you just need someone to listen. I am probably not the best

articulate, but he hoped to get the point across anyway. He always felt a bit bad about how he only ever got things from Villy while he didn’t give much in return. So if Villy needed anything,

appreciate the thought, but no. Maybe in the future. Right now, a distraction is all I need, so hit me. What’s up?” Villy answered after a delay.

anything,” Jake relented as he asked the actual question he wanted to know. “How do living things and dungeons

“In what way?”

way for dungeon monsters to leave the

Unless the dungeon has inherent mechanics allowing you to bring out living creatures, don’t expect it to happen. All dungeon creatures are, for all intents and purposes, considered dead in the context of the outside world,” Villy

mean

Records – everything it is – becomes bound to that dungeon. From there, two things can happen once a natural dungeon reaches the end of its lifespan. One is that it will simply disappear along with all the creatures bound to it. The second thing that can happen is that it merely stops being a dungeon but becomes its own accessible separate space somewhere as part

the issue of possibly being multiple copies of the same creature out in the real world.

dungeons, and this isn’t common knowledge as it really isn’t something that can happen often. If, say, you managed to bring a creature out, and someone else brought the exact same one out… the second one would disappear the moment it entered the real world. This is because they have the same Truesoul, and thus only one can exist. Well, there are ways to kind of

I am screwed if I want to bring this nice troll and the small trolls out with me? And that I should just consider them almost virtual creatures that are already dead?” Jake asked, his frown growing

may have some ways to bring them out. You can also do it through some very limited exploits of sorts. Pretty much consider the kind of means deployed to get people out of the tutorial. If you kill

do. Trust me on that one. The only other way is to bind their souls to yours and make them be considered almost an extension of your being, but you have no ways of doing that either, as far as I can tell. This usually requires special items or a very special set of skills.

theorize that was the case back in the tutorial, but then I got a bunch of light-affinity equipment instead… speaking of which, I still have that book and staff sitting around… I really need to pawn

be related to what is in it. So, based on the dungeon you are currently

agreed. “Also, no comments in me slaughtering

You are dutifully collecting mushrooms right now. I even saw you eat some. That you hate doing it deep inside is exactly what I would expect of a heretic. That you do it anyway because you want the rewards associated with doing so is just what I want out of my Chosen. So keep it up,

if I leave the dungeon now and come back later? What if I wait

if you just stay in the dungeon forever… well, nothing, really. Time will keep moving inside, but nothing will really happen. Due to how dungeons work, the creatures within cannot level or reproduce above a certain

on itself while I am in there? Nice,” Jake

an extremely long time has passed, and you will find yourself in a world all but foreign to you, as your prolonged stay in the

something, and Jake had a faint idea of what it was… but wasn’t going to press. He had enough emotional awareness to know some things shouldn’t be pushed but had to

ping me whenever. The connection is two-way, and as I kind of claimed