The Primal Hunter

Apparently, it was a really great cloak. At least the talkative projection refused to stop speaking about it, overexplaining details of where it came from, even throwing in info about a cousin of his who used to make them. While it was a bit interesting, Jake did notice that despite it saying so much, it didn’t really give out any truly valuable information. Well, besides fashion advice.

Jake tried to ignore it at least a little as he went and opened the epic-rarity box. Within, he found a folded pair of pants. They were made of a very dark green fabric – almost black – and looked slightly worn. The fabric was rather thick as he picked it up, and he had to say the pants were rather heavy. They looked like they could actually provide some solid protection.

Yet the first thing he picked up was the smell. They smelled like… like that smell when it has just rained, and you are walking through greenery in the middle of summer. Yeah, exactly like that. It was a pleasant smell. The reason for the scent was obvious as he could practically feel the life-affinity energy emanating from the pants.

Using Identify, he finally saw the description.

[Legguards of the Undergrowth (Epic)] – As the first to wander the Undergrowth, the Records of the long-forgotten place has lead to the creation of these legguards, so you can keep a piece of the Undergrowth with you as your path continues. An Immense amount of life-affinity mana has found its way into these pants, and simply wearing them will fill you with vital energy and energy to help you on your travels. The legguards will passively absorb and store life-affinity mana in the atmosphere. This mana can instantly be released as a burst of healing if the wearer is a vitality-based lifeform. Passively emits an aura that encourages growth. Enchantments: + 150 Vitality, +50 Agility, +50 Endurance. Self-Repair. Life Burst. Aura of the Undergrowth.

Requirements: lvl 115+ in any humanoid race

Goodbye, my dear Badger Pants, you have served me well, Jake thought as he had to hold back his desire to bind the legguards now and just jump into them. Sadly, he had a curious hologram looking over his shoulder, and it would be a bit awkward to strip in front of it.

While he had just skipped over the cloak to look at it later, he couldn’t hold himself back from inspecting the pants a bit closer and consider their properties.

First of all: stats. Great stats. 250 stats. Jake’s current Badger Pants gave 25 Agility and 25 Endurance, so he would double up on those alone. On top of that, he would get a massive 150 Vitality and two other effects. He didn’t really count Self-Repair as another effect, as while it was great to have, he had just gotten too used to it.

The Life Burst enchantment seemed nice too. Almost like an extra health potion of sorts? He was a bit unsure how it would work as the potions had inherent system-fuckery built into them to make them more effective. It was something to test out for sure.

The last part was that Aura of the Undergrowth. To that, Jake had only one response:

I swear on my fucking life, if that aura makes mushrooms grow in my house, I’ll do something very unpleasant to these damn pants. Stats or not.…

He hoped for the best but feared the worst. Either way, the pants looked nice, and he would surely put them on once he was out of the dungeon and test them.

“The Pioneer, eh? I guess it does make sense as most factions prefer to send their most talented to secure the title and bonus rewards. A bit risky, of course, but risk and growth go hand in hand. I shall not comment on the reward itself, but I hope it will serve you well,” the hologram politely said.

“Thanks, pal,” Jake answered. “So, what makes you so curious about this last box?”

“My curiosity will only hold meaning to you after it’s opened,” it answered back with a smile.

“Oh, okay,” Jake said as he threw the lockbox in his inventory, making a mischievous smirk. “I guess I’ll just open it outside then since it doesn’t matter. See ya!”

“Wait, wait!” the hologram said, surprised. “Alright, the last reward should be a signet of the Altmar Empire for you to wear and serve as proof of your budding relationship with the Empire.”

he

bit flustered before answering. “Yes… but it will be openly shown as one of the enchantments and will also allow you to feel the direction of

plausible,” Jake answered, shaking his head. “Anyway, how come an elven empire has managed to create a natural dungeon like this? From what I know, that isn’t how

with the Viper, Jake knew that direct factional connections in natural dungeons were exceedingly rare. Of course, it could happen, but often it contained old and destroyed factions, not ones currently in power, and

all the details of how everything is made possible; I am but one of many designers. A talented one, if I do say so myself, at least all my teachers believe so. Anyway, the dungeon itself serves as a test to find talents and create connections to budding experts in faraway worlds as the Empire is rather self-contained. Note that I have done a vocal transcript of everything that has happened so far. What you speak to currently is a projection of my soul at the time of construction. I do not know the current Realtime, but this particular experiment was started approximately 5.1 billion years after the integration of the 91st universe. Everything we say is being recorded even

as the projection spoke. Honestly, he didn’t need that much information. The projection could just have said “dungeon experiment,” and he would have taken it

your name?” he asked. “I’m

will

After he left, the only trace of the conversation would be if he brought out the recording. Once the

As only he, Villy, and a hologram of an elf would hear everything; he didn’t hold back any

is a new universe? Absolutely remarkable progress in such a short time. I am certain the Empire will be more than happy to invite you,” it answered,

best. Became a Progenitor and all,” he answered with a big grin on his face. “Also, the Norlynn family is doing quite well. Villy told me you even had

what? Wait,

a beer-buddy. People keep calling him the Malefic Viper or something like that. It’s a bit weird. Wait, maybe he’s just with me because

seemed to think so as

should have added humorous to the evaluation,” it said, making a

looking deadly serious. “Why hide anything when this is 100%

as

fully believe him. I guess I

reason to share personal information with the Altmar Empire when I don’t even know them,” Jake made clear, as he finally moved on to the final

opened the last box, the projection completely forgetting its prior mood, and returned to being overly curious. Quite an eccentric

Jake saw a very simple-looking ring with a large N-shaped gem placed in it. Without further ado, he Identified

is proof of your performance and contains an identifying script designed to only be readable by the Altmar Empire. Yet even if this ring is primarily a display of status, it is far from just a showpiece. For with great status comes great power. The first time

100+ in

he closed the

read it wrong. No

He opened it again.

Still says a thousand.

newly integrated universe! That must be the explanation!” the hologram exclaimed, a bit excited. “Usually, they only reward 750 due to the location-enchant on the ring, but the system seems to have fully redistributed the Records into

100 ring serious gives a thousand

aren’t quite capped yet. I know it likely won’t help you much currently, besides getting

my stuff right now; this is fucking insane,” Jake kept saying as

aren’t joking, are