The Primal Hunter

Jake opened up his system menu and went through all the stuff.

He had saved up a stupid amount of Free Points. 220 of them, to be exact. He should have probably just tossed them where they belonged, to begin with, but hey, better late than ever. As to where they belonged?

All to perception!

Heck, if Jake were to do another of those weird Legacy trips from his Path of the Heretic-Chosen, it would be silly not to have as much perception as possible to experience it fully. At least that’s what he kept telling himself to justify his questionable decision just to keep throwing everything in perception. He just liked to do it, and his other stats had always been growing nicely, so it wasn’t that bad.

“Jake…” Villy’s voice sounded out before Jake got side-tracked again.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what, for you alone, I will check out my Path of the Heretic Chosen before I pick my level 120 skill. Don’t say I never do anything for you!” Jake joked as he shook his head and opened the menu thing. It wasn’t really a menu; Jake more just poked the skill and saw if it did anything.

He knew it wasn’t a sure thing that he could use the skill and potentially get an upgrade but that he needed to reach some threshold he didn’t know about. He assumed he had reached the threshold for Palate nearly solely due to the Trial of Myriad Poisons, but he wasn’t sure about any of the other skills.

So he had to be honest; he was actually a bit surprised when the skill responded, and he knew he could activate it. A prompt came up before him.

Do you wish to experience the Legacy of the Malefic Viper? Uses remaining: 2

Jake stared at it for a while as he wondered what skill it could be about. A part of him hoped Sense, but he seriously doubted it, but it was only a faint vain hope. Jake could also use more perception.

“Yep, it works. Two uses too. I guess I’ll give it a go?” Jake said, semi-asking Villy.

“Go for it and tell me what you saw afterward,” the god answered.

Jake nodded as he accepted the prompt as his vision went dark.

The council had convened, and they were ready to pass down judgment. They had attempted to scare off the beast several times, but it always returned. Where it had come from, they were unaware; it had simply one day entered the imperial oligarchy and begun ravaging it.

Yet, it was not like the other beasts. Monsters born in the infinity of space often were simply beasts or unintelligent creatures that only sought to kill and consume. They were often weak for their level, and a single council member could take it down easily.

But… a council member had already fallen to this menace, forcing their hands. Sure, it had been the weakest council member, but it was still significant. It was a rarity they were forced to meet like this to begin with, especially in person.

Every single one of them were early B-grade powerhouses, and each had conquered their respective worlds long ago and founded factions with no rivals besides each other. In the end, an equilibrium had been made, and now the war between their factions was simply a game to nurture new worthwhile fighters. It was also a valuable source of experience for them as respective leaders.

“All agree, we spring the trap at Neonwell once the beast arrives?” the council member asked.

He was the most desperate as the beast was now in his empire. The last empire it had been in, the council member from there had been slain before the beast moved on to find new challenges and to claim all their national treasures. So, naturally, he feared he would be the next to fall without assistance.

“In agreement,” one of the strongest council members said. However, even if none were strong enough to easily slay the others, that didn’t mean they were truly equal. The bribery to make this council member agree first had not been cheap…

“Fine,” another agreed with a nod.

reflect badly on them. The last time a council member had risen to B-grade and joined, he

the next two years, so let us prepare

tens if not hundreds of times larger than even the Sun-sized Earth. It also looked almost crystalline and very otherworldly. He saw all nine council members descend on the planet, and from there, his vision sped up. He saw

and a miasma marked its path, and death was in its wake. It was

seen ascend from the planet on the mural back in the Challenge Dungeon. So, the Malefic Viper turned into a dragon at B-grade and

wasn’t the time yet. But he still kept careful watch and took it all in. At worst, it would be an interesting

as he observed the planet. He waited a bit and eventually landed on a large asteroid floating through space – the only one large enough for the several hundred meters long beast. The Viper looked towards the

well as the draconic body humming with energy. A green glow appeared around the mouth as a tiny ball of energy appeared… and then he

It flashed green as the Dragon Breath was released. Instinctively, Jake knew… this attack was a concept in itself. The Dragon breath, the signature move of all dragons. He had always thought dragons to be majestic and kinda cool creatures that he totally wanted

breath took the form of a beam of green energy that headed straight for the planet, and Jake could already imagine the effect it would have. It would be like a

would have

summoned it seemed to be aware it wouldn’t be enough, and soon five more identical ones were layered along with it – each barrier thousands of kilometers

a mighty explosion sounded out, and it looked as if space itself collapsed on the impact point. Everything became warped, but the very

the breath hit the

Viper kept using his Dragon’s Breath. When it hit the second-to-last, a figure appeared behind the last one. He placed his hand on it, and the entire thing lit up with what looked like a magic circle inscribed upon

got fired forward with incredible momentum towards the Viper. The breath simply wouldn’t have

of the Viper as

behind one of the moons of the planet. All of them were hidden not just in the spatial bubble

the dragon got closer to the planet, another set of barriers activated. However, this one was not meant to keep

the same time, a third set activated closer to the surface of the planet, effectively making a closed circle of space around

Jake assumed they could see the level of the Viper. Unfortunately for them, they were under

the strongest. They had great classes, great professions and had always fought above their own level. A beast of an equal level was just another easy prey to them. Sure, they had met variants and stuff, but out in the real world, they

nine versus one battle. But they weren’t aware. Jake felt it, though. The Malefic Viper wasn’t the

trapped in there with

and many more types of magic – all of them more useless than the next against the scales of the dragon, as they seemed almost to

their members teleported to be

his claws, making it evident it was not only tough versus magic. But surely, the Viper’s offensive capabilities besides the signature

Meanwhile, a miasma of poison seeped out from the dragon wings and overtook

enough. A seed was planted. One of doubt. One where death or severe injury was a possibility.

also the nine. He knew the Viper had gone all-out from the start, even boosting himself right from the get-go

Jake felt fear.

Anticipation.

Doubt.

Greed.

Anger.

Hesitation

Bloodlust.

more than anything…

– a presence - blanketed the area, the nine council members within as the entire atmosphere seemed to