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.

sit on his head as he wasn’t doing poisons, he sat down and got to work with making a few potions to warm up. After that, he would begin wasting

right; it was time for another

moving as Jake sat on his ass doing

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

would often dominate a fight, a party that mutually amplified each other could fight above the sum of their parts. Before, they had trained to counter beasts and the less

the Treasure Hunt would lead to plenty of human on human conflict. Most predicted there would also be more environmental challenges, but humans would likely still be the primary threat. As a Treasure Hunt, naturally, there would be treasures to steal

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

party moved through the cave system as they struck down 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 defensive warrior with a large shield bathed in light, and behind him was a young man

archer in all red clothing and a bow that seemed to glow with embers, a male caster with two floating mirrors above his shoulders, and a woman in a long pristine

the leader of the group. They entered a new cavern, and

defensive barrier. Maria and Joshua begin your preparations,

mini-boss of this type they had encountered, and this one was 130 while

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

charging a skill similar to Powershot as her body became cloaked in flames. Joshua angled

the giant fist descending towards him. His entire body was protected with D-grade plate armor, with an extra layer of magical light armor on top of it. The fist hit his shield, and the man, more than 20 levels below the golem, took the blow like nothing as

cut into the golem’s arm, leaving a deep gash in the dark metal. Several quick flashes of light followed it up as more cuts appeared

one was blocked by a barrier of light that exploded just as it hit it, sending what looked like

then he angled them towards the golem. An intense beam flew forth and began burning into the chest of the golem, illuminating its entire body and making it roar in pain as its shadow magic

into its exposed form, and Bertram also took this time to rip the chains from his shield and slammed them into the ground like spikes, anchoring

said to the primary damage dealer of the

the golem would not be as lucky. She released her string and sent out an explosion of flames

a bit until the chain became taut, making it fall forward. A large wound was

staff and cast a recovery spell on Maria, making her wounded arms and upper body rapidly heal. Joshua was also already preparing his next spell as the golem entered its

as a wave of darkness was emitted. It encompassed the entire room, and only the small area around Noor was spared from being completely darkened. Bertram and Lucian

that wasn’t actually a golem, but

energy exited the massive form and took the shape 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

it, the mage burned away at its appendages, while Bertram kept it locked down. Maria bombarded it with burning arrows while Lucian practically teleported around it, leaving cut after cut on its shadowy

at 107. He was chosen as the leader due to his role as

said, as he and the swordsman both used their strongest skills to make the elemental unable

hands as he conjured a wand of light. 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 a

on impact, enveloping the elemental in holy energy as it let out an unnatural roar of pain. But this would not be the end

drew her bow and charged the shot for a second as the