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.

agreed after some hesitation seeing as they didn’t want to be the only ones not participating – once the beast was dead, that would reflect badly on

there within the next two years, so

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

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

recognized it as the form he had 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 left

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, it would be an interesting insight into B-grades, and at best, he

floating through space – the only one large enough for the

the mana in the atmosphere be vacuumed in from far and wide, as well as the draconic body humming with energy. A green

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 to hunt down…. but seeing one in action

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 giant meteor smashing down, scorching much of the

would have if it

thousands of kilometers into space. The council members who summoned it seemed to be aware it wouldn’t be enough, and soon five more

collapsed on the impact point. Everything became warped, but the very next moment, Jake could see what was

A second later, it gave out as the breath hit the third. That one only took a few seconds before it slowly eroded away,

appeared behind the last one. He placed his hand on it, and the entire thing lit up with what looked like a magic

energy, and the entire barrier got fired forward with incredible momentum towards the Viper. The breath simply wouldn’t have time to erode it in time, and the huge dragon was forced

the Viper as he flew forward down

All of them were hidden not just in the spatial bubble but also under several arrays. They had been in there for over half a year, just waiting for

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

set activated closer to the surface of the planet, effectively making a closed circle of space around the planet. Only

anything, he had a feeling 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

beast of an

within the barrier for a nine versus one battle. But

in there with

attacks he 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

of effectiveness. Yet hope was not lost. One of their members teleported to be right above the head of the

as the dragon raised his claws, making it evident it was not only tough versus magic. But surely, the Viper’s offensive

miasma of poison seeped out from the dragon wings and overtook the

but it had shocked the nine of them. But… that seemed to be enough. A seed was planted. One of doubt. One where death or severe injury

gone all-out from the start, even boosting himself right from the get-go to appear as strong as possible. This

Jake felt fear.

Anticipation.

Doubt.

Greed.

Anger.

Hesitation

Bloodlust.

than anything… he felt

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