The Primal Hunter

*Avaricious Arcane Hunter class skills available*

Jake always liked getting new skills. Not just because he got something new and shiny to add to his repertoire, but because the list he got was a testament to his progress. Every single offering was proof of his achievements and a small insight into what kinds of improvements he had made. It felt like a good pat on the back and a high-five for how great he had been. The skills also often gave him good ideas for what he could do himself in the future.

As with every other time, he went in with great vigor. He opened up the list of new skills offered, and as always, was incredibly disappointed with the first skill available. Well, at least it was an expected disappointment.

[Arcane Bolt (Rare)] – Inspired by the simple Mana Bolt, you have taken it to the next level and created the Arcane Bolt. Allows the hunter to summon bolts of arcane mana to defeat your foes. You can summon two kinds of bolts, a stable and a destructive version. The destructive bolts will explode upon impact, and the stable version will be tough and piercing. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Intelligence when using Arcane Bolt.

This was far from the first time he had been offered some kind of “Mana Bolt” variant, and it was a bit funny to have seen it progress from common-rarity with the Dark Bolt back in the day to the rare-rarity Arcane Bolt he was offered now. He was even pretty damn sure he could get offered an epic-rarity version if he kept working on it. Jake liked making Arcane Bolts and firing them, but he didn’t feel like he needed a skill to do so at all. Would it make them stronger? Sure, but he seriously doubted they could ever get as good at his arrows.

Hence he moved to the second option – which was another damn repeat. At least it appeared to be so at first glance.

[Disruptive Arcane Wave (Rare)] – Mobilize the arcane and dispel that which impedes you. Erupt in a torrent of destructive arcane energy, dispelling any spell constructs in your immediate vicinity by overloading them with mana and pushing away anything else in your immediate surroundings. Higher consumption of mana and stamina is required based on the power and stability of the spell constructs or physical impediments. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Wisdom, Intelligence, and Endurance when using Disruptive Arcane Wave.

Not much had changed from that Disruptive Arcane Eruption he was offered at level 90, but upon closer reading, there was a difference; it wasn’t a mana eruption at all but an energy eruption. It also used stamina and even now benefitted from endurance. It was now more just a small localized explosion of arcane energy around himself. A simple and probably effective skill that Jake didn’t need a skill for at all.

It did give some more inspiration, though. Jake should really work on not just using his arcane-affinity with mana but also with his stamina. This Wave clearly used both mana and stamina, making it even more effective on physical impediments as well as magical ones. Having had something like this skill during his second fight with the Indigo Fungus would have saved him from getting half his body sheared off.

But in the end, Jake had no interest in getting the skill itself. He would rather just work on mimicking the effects with free-range magic. Moving on.

[Barrier of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Epic)] – Stability is a cornerstone of your arcane-affinity, making barriers an obvious application of your arcane. Allows the Avaricious Arcane Hunter to summon a barrier of pure, stable arcane energy in a bubble around you, blocking out any kinds of direct attacks that attempt to pass through – both physical and magical attacks alike. Mana or stamina will be consumed depending on the nature of the blocked attacks. All concepts not deployed by you will be weakened within your barrier. Adds a small bonus to the effects of Wisdom and Endurance when using Arcane Barrier.

Now we’re getting somewhere, Jake thought. It was the first skill with “Avaricious Arcane Hunter” in the name and was epic-rarity right away. As for the skill itself? It felt a bit like something he had done many times before, but also had some new stuff.

as he usually made. This one was also once more arcane energy and not only mana, likely making it a lot better against physical attacks. Right now, the arcane barrier he

was another case of him needing to get off his ass and use stamina as well as mana with his arcane-affinity. He had originally formed the affinity primarily using mana, but he knew affinities didn’t just affect mana. He still remembered the Aspiring Blade of Nature back

thought that he would have to sit down and seriously go over, hopefully before

about concepts. How would that work? It said it would weaken any concepts not deployed by him, which he had no idea what meant. Would that mean things like gravity, space, and time itself would be weakened within his barrier? That sounded ridiculous and not at all how things would work. Jake assumed it was great, though, and likely the reason behind the epic-rarity tag. If not, it was just a

concepts but only weaken them slightly, so if he was hit with some weird spell akin to his own Gaze of the Apex Hunter or some mental skill, it was only a partial defense. Once more, he was just guessing, but it did have some interesting

on as he had two more to go. The next one was a lot more interesting than anything prior, as

is chosen; the hunt is on. Covertly mark targets, making you aware of their positions at all times until the marks expire or are dispelled. All damage done to marked targets is increased. Arcane damage has its damage amplified further. The extra arcane damage inflicted while the marks are active will be built up in the form of an arcane charge that you can detonate to release all the stored up energy. Additional bonus experience earned for slaying a marked target above your level (this effect remains even if your target dies to the mark detonating or within a short

This skill is unlocked by, and will serve as an upgrade to, your existing Mark

one. Was this something new to D-grade? Did it only include class-specific skills?

think about applying it to targets before he killed them for the experience, but this did mean that he hadn’t really made much use of the extra damage part outside of against singular, powerful enemies. He couldn’t

is dispelled. All damage done to

made the differences obvious. The new one would add the arcane charge mechanic, likely more extra damage than the old mark even without arcane damage; it would allow more than one mark active at a time, and it was likely just better in every

every single kill on enemies above his level anyway. Everything counts, after all. He already had a strong suspicion that his class leveled faster

him in the future. Skills were a limited commodity which is why getting some from the Tutorial Store was so valuable. New skills usually only came from titles and

that bad? He already had skills he barely used now, so wouldn’t it be better to make those he actually does use better? Sure, he could upgrade the old ones, but he hadn’t had time to do anything like that yet. Skills could also fuse, like how his Hunter’s Sight had merged

being part of a whole and eventually merging into one singular incredibly powerful skill. Sure, he had been offered the Malefic Dragonkin race change, likely as a result of having all the skills at ancient-rarity, but he still believed they could be merged somehow. Would he be angry if two or three of his ancient-rarity skills merged and made a legendary one that retained all effects but stronger? No, of course not.

Jake needed a second opinion, so he

me about skills being valuable as you can only get a limited amount, so would upgrading an existing one not

the attention of the Malefic Viper upon him and the connection strengthening as he answered, his tone the same as usual. It made Jake happy that his pal hadn’t gone back to moping, and the reason why he asked honestly had as much with

for one of your skill options while leveling up, I reckon? Tends to begin happening around D-grade, but most often only if you pick a class or profession closely associated with the one you had before. Also, for once, don’t be ashamed at not knowing this – not that I think you know shame about such things – as this

who is telling me? Also, I am pretty sure you didn’t