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.

didn’t want to be the only ones not participating – once the beast was dead, that would reflect badly on them. The last time

the next

One entirely blue and glowing with energy, 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 the planet

as a shadow seemed to follow the creature, and a miasma marked its path, and death was in its wake. It was a dark green dragon with spikes lining its body and two deep green eyes that

Challenge Dungeon. So, the Malefic Viper turned into a dragon at B-grade and left his home planet… Jake realized

state of extreme observation yet, so he knew this wasn’t the time yet. But he still kept careful watch and took it all in. At worst,

and eventually landed on a large asteroid floating through space – the only one large enough for the several

and wide, as well as the draconic body humming with energy. A

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

straight for the planet, and Jake could already imagine the effect it

it would

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

as if space itself collapsed on the impact point. Everything became warped, but the very next moment, Jake could see what was happening again as space had

broken, and the second had already cracked. A second later, it gave out as the breath hit the third. That one only took a few seconds before it slowly eroded

appeared behind the last one. He placed his hand on it, and the entire thing lit up

The breath simply wouldn’t have time to erode

Viper as he flew forward

saw the eight other council members hidden in a weird spatial bubble of sorts behind one of the moons of the planet. All of them were hidden not just in the

closer to the planet, another set of barriers activated. However, this one was not meant to keep the beast out – it was to keep

third set activated closer to the surface of the planet, effectively making a closed circle of

they were all roughly the same level. At least none of the council members looked worried, as Jake assumed they could see the level of the Viper. Unfortunately for them, they were under an assumption… one Jake perfectly understood. One he would have made many times without

fought above their own level. A beast of an equal level was just another

trapped the dragon within the barrier for a nine versus one battle.

were trapped in

couldn’t fully understand. Flames that melted colors, winds of space mana that tore up the fabric of reality, 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 drink

aback by the lack of effectiveness. Yet hope was not lost. One of their members teleported to be right

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

in mid-air as the Malefic Viper counterattacked with green explosions. Meanwhile, a miasma of poison seeped out from the dragon wings and overtook the area. His claws swung and

enough. A seed was planted. One of doubt. One where

He knew the Viper had gone all-out from the start, even boosting himself right from the get-go to appear as

Jake felt fear.

Anticipation.

Doubt.

Greed.

Anger.

Hesitation

Bloodlust.

anything…

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