The Primal Hunter

Hm, should I go for human-form Villy looking silly? Nah, that would be boring. Small snake eating a mushroom? That could be funny. Oh, what if I added a plaque below saying ‘danger noodle’? Yeah, that could totally be funny, Jake thought as he considered his options while waiting for the two men to wake up.

His hands were weaving different figures of stable arcane mana as he tried out a few shapes he thought could be funny.

After fifteen minutes, Chris woke up. Felix was still out, as it seemed like being possessed by that god had done a number on him. Without the healing potion, he would have 100% died. Again, that Eternal Servant guy was a major asshole.

“What happened?” Chris asked as he woke up. He didn’t even try to stand up right away but stayed on the ground as he rubbed his head.

“Felix got possessed by a god, and the aura knocked you out. I heard that can happen, so no reason to feel bad about it,” Jake explained.

“Oh…” Chris answered. He sighed as he sat up and stared at the floor as he muttered: “Why do I keep being mentally assaulted and knocked out all the time today?”

“Sorry, that’s on me,” Jake apologized. “On a positive note, that should be the last time. I hope it is, at least.”

Chris nodded. He looked at Felix also lying on the ground and saw the bloodstains from the possession earlier. The missing eye was still being regenerated, but it wasn’t exactly visible. “What happened to him!? Is he dead!?” Chris yelled as he got up in a jiffy and backed away from Felix.

On a second look, he did look like a corpse. His entire body was bloody from his cracked skin, blood had flown from every opening, and he didn’t look healthy at all. If one looked a bit closer, one could see that no actual injuries besides the still healing eye were present, but Chris hadn’t done that.

“I told you, divine possession. Apparently not the healthiest of things to engage in. Don’t worry, Felix should be fine. Physically at least. I think he’s already a bit out there mentally,” Jake patiently explained. Not like he had anything better to do, and Chris was a nice guy who just seemed to accept all the fucked up shit he told him without question. Quite refreshing.

“I hope he’s okay,” Chris said, clearly worried about the sculptor.

“He’ll wake up eventually. Anyway, while we wait, do you know where Hank is these days?” Jake asked. He had been meaning to ask for a while, but things kinda happened.

“Hank and Louise went to the Fort. They’re always super busy there, and he needed to help them out and handle some issues. There are a lot of new settlers because of the increasing presence of beasts, and people feel unsafe due to the lack of a physical barrier between the outer parts of the Fort and the surrounding plains,” Chris explained, sounding more confident than before.

I guess it helps to talk about things you actually know about, Jake chuckled internally. “Has there been any major issues with beasts?”

The Minotaur Mindchief was still on his mind, and Jake wondered if something similar had happened. Anton and Neil were there, both D-grades, so they should be able to hold enemies off. Neil, at least, should be able to put up lots of resistance. Jake didn’t know if Anton could really fight, but he had a feeling the man wasn’t defenseless.

“Not as much as elsewhere. I heard a lot of the smaller settlements are struggling, but the attackers only hit the places with Pylons. Apparently, Neil is in communication with some other space mages, and they let us know. I’m not sure about the details, though…” Chris said, looking apologetic.

have Miranda fill me in; we’re

was also headstrong and determined. Jake learned even more information he frankly didn’t need or want to about Donald and

but when he talked, Jake saw the pure hatred in his voice, coupled

he tried to dodge

him, Chris had decided that he would gladly use his life to repay that favor. It wasn’t normal at all, but the man had clearly been fucked up mentally by what he had gone through and had

to

mean?” the

your early days, you can change what you wanna do still. What you want to be. So, what do you see yourself doing in a decade? A century?” Jake asked. It was something he had been meaning to ask, because besides “repaying Jake,” Chris didn’t really

not sure what you mean?” Chris asked, his confusion growing. “I’ll just keep working, I guess. Do my best. I think I’m

off; no one that matters will judge you for it. So I ask again, what do you want to do?” Jake reiterated. He himself had thought a lot

seconds as he looked deep in thought until

to figure out his entire path of life on the spot like that. Jake should have known better. Of course, that kind of thing is only okay to do with teenage students choosing higher

owe me anything. I helped you because Donald and Abby were pieces of shit and invaded my territory. That you also

Now he was even worse. Jake didn’t want that; he wanted Chris to be his own man. If he then decided to still be on team Jake? At least that would

thought. Jake kept playing with his mana strings, making small funny-looking miniature statues of Villy as

pain as he struggled to sit up. His one eye was still regenerating, and his body was a mess. Jake wouldn’t

a coughing fit, spitting out

possessed by your Patron,”

useful! I shall do my utmost in creating a sculpture to the best of my abilities! Even if it isn’t able to display even a fraction of a Primordial’s magnificence, I must do it! I beg of

healing for now; we can discuss the sculpture later,” Jake said. But he

asked as he looked at Jake’s

just playing around with sculpture

Primordial!? I’m so sorry for my arrogance and disrespect! To not be kneeling… I… I swear

didn’t get further before he let out a big cough, spat out a large amount of blood, and

sculptor who had

asked after a few seconds as it

“No.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”