The Primal Hunter

Jake felt a lot better as he stared at the downed Goldsun Eagle Prima before him. The eagle’s one wing lay on the ground beside it, and its radiant feathers were now no longer glowing. He had called for the birds to come and finish it off, as quite frankly, Jake had no desire to.

He hadn’t enjoyed the fight at all, only the purpose behind it. The Eagle Prima hadn’t been powerful enough for him to feel challenged, and this was the kind of fight he would usually try to avoid or finish as fast as possible. However, he felt this wasn’t his decision to make. It wasn’t his kill to claim.

If Jake turned around and left now, the Eagle Prima would live. It was already slowly healing while under the sunlight, and he had purposefully not used a lot of poison. He wanted to leave the hawks an option – to kill the eagle or leave it alive. That’s what he would have wanted himself - a chance to come back at a later date for a rematch.

However, he knew this mindset wasn’t exactly considered normal, so he made it entirely possible for them to finish off the eagle if they so wished.

Hawkie and Mystie flew down from the cliff above, with Sylphie being a bit slower to react before she also dove down. They landed a bit behind Jake, still clearly a bit apprehensive towards the eagle. The eagle also threw a glance at them but just closed its eyes, resigned to its fate. It was not like it could do anything anymore.

“This isn’t my hunt and not really my enemy. It’s yours; you decide what to do. You can leave it here and come back later for a rematch, or you can finish it now. The choice is yours to make,” Jake told the three hawks.

He stayed close in case the eagle tried to pull out another move. Well, it did a few times by trying to summon forth a bit of magic, but Jake suppressed it with his presence and Gaze of the Apex Hunter every time – the two of them were quite an effective combo and seemed to have completely broken the Eagle Prima’s spirit.

The two hawks exchanged a look before swiftly pushing Sylphie forward. They gave her a stern look, almost as if telling her this was her job to do. She looked reluctant and looked up at Jake as if checking if it was okay. He gave her a nod, and she walked towards the Prima.

Jake could tell she wasn’t in a good mood. He wanted to cheer her up, but another part of him also knew it was important for her to learn from today. Jake didn’t need to be told Sylphie was the one who got them in trouble as he couldn’t see Hawkie and Mystie enter an area so clearly marked by a powerful creature, and her generally ashamed demeanor made it even more obvious. Shit, he could feel the natural treasure from where he stood, and he knew she could too.

Sylphie slowly flew over to the Prima, and the eagle tried to get up and retaliate, but Jake froze it again and pressed down with his presence. It failed to resist as glowing talons penetrated it through the eye. It struggled, but Sylphie at least knew how to finish it quickly and as painlessly as possible. The eagle was too weak anyway, and once the brain took damage, it died nearly instantly

*You have slain [Goldsun Eagle Prima – lvl 144] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

The moment the giant eagle died, its body began glowing before turning into wisps of light that soared up into the sky. Jake was momentarily surprised until he remembered what kind of creature he was dealing with. It was a bit like the Monkey Prima in that the body disappeared, and like the monkey, two items remained in its stead.

Jake had no qualms about taking those. He walked closer and squatted down beside Sylphie. She looked down on the ground, not at all happy with the kill. She shouldn’t be, as it wasn’t truly hers either. It was just her taking responsibility.

Reaching over, he picked up the small golden metal fragment he recognized.

[Key Fragment of the Exalted Prima (Unique)] – A key fragment to the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Collect three fragments to form the Key of the Exalted Prima to gain access.

Oh yeah, those were a thing, Jake thought as he picked it up and threw it in his inventory. He had two of them now, though he still didn’t know exactly what it was about. It did make him consider if he would have killed the Eagle Prima just for the fragment… probably not. Not before he knew what the fragments were truly for. He believed giving the choice between killing the eagle or a rematch was more important.

item, it was,

as an alchemical ingredient for many types of creations but is

up as he actually needed it. None of the hawks complained either. He checked them all an extra time to make sure they were okay,

just to let them rest there as he went to check out the natural treasure the Goldsun Eagle Prima had been guarding. There were no more threats, with the other Goldsun Eagle also dead off to the side. As for the juvenile eagle? Jake was aware of it but didn’t do anything to it. If the hawks wanted it dead, they could kill it. It at least seemed smart enough not to attack

flew up there and entered the cave. He

in the middle of it all was a large glowing rock-like thing. It looked like a fallen meteor, and Jake felt his still-summoned scales

it was a natural treasure

fragment is incredibly durable and near-indestructible for anyone below C-grade and gives off large amounts of heat.

energy. The name surprised him a bit, though. Back in the dungeon, Jake had gotten a Mooncore Shard, while this was a

around two meters. Not overly large or too small, and it should be easy to transport, right? It really wasn’t. Throwing it in his inventory was already out of the question due to its

pretty much sure most living things would take intense damage just by being close to it. He was also pretty damn sure it would kill or severely hurt most of the people he knew to be close to it. Heck, even he was

So he did the only logical thing

He ate it.

Palate stomach and put it in his inventory. With space opened up, he activated the skill and inhaled. He felt the Suncore resist, and Jake had to

of wearing down the natural treasure’s defenses, it relented

felt the Suncore within, now no longer able to

beasts. Perhaps it was a mercy as the young eagle would likely have

the two hawks as he deactivated his Limit Break and felt the weakness invade his entire body. He slumped a bit and laid back on the ground, relaxing. Sylphie looked worried and jumped over to him with concern. He just gave her a smile as

obliged as she sat on top of

Jake said as he rubbed her head. “Do you know what

face, looking damn cute while doing it. But Jake wasn’t going to fall for the cuteness today, even

territory of a being more powerful than yourself… it’s that you didn’t do it properly. Scout it out a bit first, find out if you can take it, and then lay down a plan. You are small but incredibly fast and can do a

He didn’t; he just looked back at her with a light smile as he relaxed his body. Sylphie stared for a bit before bopping her head in what he

never be in trouble or fight again. He wouldn’t ask that of her, just like he wouldn’t accept if others asked him to give up fighting. It was simply life, and Sylphie had to

of his message. They, too, wanted their daughter to grow powerful. Jake guessed that when Sylphie went through her level 100 transformation of sorts, she would be able to rival them to some

hours as Jake decided to get a nap. Napping was the best way to recover after

parent-hawks closed their eyes as they focused on recovery, and Sylphie was the only one still awake

dark, another chain broke. Another spike ceased to be,

chain to

996 remained.