The Primal Hunter

Jake made his way back to Haven with only a few stops on the way. Arnold was still trying to improve the Nanoblade, and Hank was still busy, so Jake didn’t need to meet anyone but just checked in from a distance.

He left behind Miranda, Lillian, and Neil with Sultan to figure out some final things. Nothing major, just where he could set up shop, and for him to sell some stuff to those three too. Jake wasn’t afraid of him causing trouble even if Sultan was the strongest person at the Fort now. After all of what he went through to get in the good graces of Jake, that would just be moronic.

The only one who followed him was Sylphie. She was also a happy little hawk as Jake had bought a dozen of those Beast Pellets as the final thing before he left. Sylphie wanted them all right away but had only gotten one. So Jake shouldn’t spoil her too much. A little was okay, though.

Once he got back, the first thing he did was switch out his two chest pieces. He gained 150 toughness and 75 endurance from that but lost 25 vitality. It did suck to lose a bit in a stat, but what can you do?

Looking at his stats, he saw that he could get a bit more than 1000 additional stats from gear overall. A whole lot better than before the dungeon. He was certain that when his boots were upgraded and coupled with another upgrade or two, he would be damn settled for the Treasure Hunt.

Speaking of the boots and the upgrade token… while Villy had told him to buy it and use it on the boots, the god hadn’t said when. Jake had already guessed that Villy knew the origins of the boots, and was of course, related to its Records. He wondered who would become aware when he messed with them. He would find out eventually… but not now.

Because the Token had a level cap of 130, while Jake was 118 in his race. Basic deduction told him the Token would upgrade an item to be close to his own level… so why not wait till he was closer to 130? He had around one and a half months before the Treasure Hunt, so he would just have to do the upgrade before then.

He did take a look at his boots, though.

[Boots of the Wandering Alchemist (Rare)] – Boots once offered to an alchemist before setting out on a journey to experience the world outside. Despite being made of simple leather, the Records of the alchemist has left a deep mark on this item, allowing it to transcend many ranks. Enchantments: +20 Endurance, +15 Agility. Reduces stamina expenditure from all movement-related skills by a small amount. Increases sensitivity towards earthbound plants.

Requirements: Lvl 25+ in any humanoid race.

They were old, worn, and looked to be falling apart. But Jake loved the damn boots. It was his first Rare-rarity piece of equipment, so of course, he would. They were also just too damn comfy. He looked forward to upgrading them and finding out who the alchemist in the item was.

But, for now… it was alchemy time.

Considering his cave wasn’t done and making poisons would just lead to an ecological disaster, he would stick to potion and elixirs for now. He had gained so many materials, and he still had the System Store to splurge from. Speaking of the System Store, Lillian would come by later to drop off a whole load of items. During Jake’s dungeon run, she had bought at least a few uncommon-rarity goods a day and sometimes even a rare one.

Having employees was tight.

The first type of elixir he would craft would be to enhance Vitality. He would use the Lifevines and eventually the Core that he still had absorbed with Palate.

[Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza Lifecore (Epic)] – The Lifecore of an Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza. Contains a massive amount of life-affinity mana and vital energy. Can be used in a myriad of alchemical creations. +25 Vitality upon consumption.

He had the Lifecore absorbed for nearly two months now, and he had learned plenty from it. The description with Identify had even expanded slightly, now also specifying how many stats it would give. He had learned far from everything, though. That would take years. But he had learned enough… at least enough to rather learn about the perception-enhancing eye.

Jake opened his mouth and spat out the Lifecore, quickly tossing it in his inventory. Afterward, he took out the eagle eye and absorbed that, storing it in his metaphysical magical time stomach. With all of that in order, he moved on.

and got to work with making a few potions to warm up. After that, he would begin wasting

right; it was time for

as Jake sat on his ass

Hunt coming closer day by day, all the factions worked to realize their full potential in time. A push for as many

fight above the sum of their parts. Before, they had trained to counter beasts and the less intelligent lifeforms

challenges, but humans would likely still be the primary threat.

these powerful parties. Haven even had Neil and his group. And

foe after foe. This was their first D-grade dungeon ever, and just in time with around a month before the Treasure Hunt would begin. At the front was a

that seemed to glow with embers, a male caster with two floating mirrors above his shoulders,

was Bertram and the leader of the group. They entered a new cavern, and the darkness from the golem in front of them encompassed their bodies and tried to suppress their

preparations, Joshua release first, Maria follow-up,” Bertram’s voice echoed in the head of them all through

shadow golem. It was the third mini-boss of this type they had encountered, and this one was 130 while the last one had been 120, the one before that 110. They chose to apply the same tactic this time, hoping their more honed movements would give them

priestess, summoned her staff and slammed it into the ground as a bubble of light exploded out from her, pushing back the darkness.

her body became cloaked in flames. Joshua angled

with D-grade plate armor, with an extra layer of magical light armor on

in the dark metal. Several quick flashes of light followed it up as more cuts appeared on the arm. The golem tried to raise its arm, but Bertram stepped forth and sent out two chains of light from his shield that

arm as it tried to get free, but this one was blocked by a barrier of light that exploded just as it hit it, sending what looked like shards of glass flying into its body. Then, before it

the golem. An intense beam flew forth and began burning into the chest

the chains from his shield and slammed them into the ground like spikes, anchoring the arm entirely, freeing

now,” he said to the

but the golem would not be as lucky. She released

bit until the chain became taut, making it fall forward. A large wound was on its chest as the flames kept burning, and Maria breathed

spell on Maria, making her wounded arms and upper body rapidly heal. Joshua was also

area around Noor was spared from being completely darkened. Bertram and Lucian both

actually a

of a far smaller and thinner figure. Finally, the remnant dark energy took the shape of smaller shadow creatures, all still in D-grade. The party struck them all down with coordination and

Bertram kept it locked down. Maria bombarded

at 110, the light mage 109, and Bertram the lowest at 107. He was chosen as the leader due to his role as

as he and the swordsman both used their strongest skills to make the elemental unable to fight back for a

Noor, the priestess, waved her staff and sent a beam of holy energy into the man, making the wand glow even more. Then, he pointed the wand at the elemental and fired out

the elemental in holy energy as it let out an unnatural

of fire spread out behind her. She drew her bow and charged the shot for