The Primal Hunter

The vampire Count was truly a peculiar creature. He moved and acted like a fully intelligent and relatively competent fighter. It nearly fooled Jake into believing that he was fighting a smart enemy and not an absolute moron. However, the illusion was dispelled every time the Count opened his mouth.

”This is the part where you fall down and bleed to death!” the vampire yelled as he fired out a crimson wave of energy. Jake dodged it easily, taking far more mental damage than physical from the exchange. The red glowing aura was still there, with the four clawed hands constantly trying to get hold of him. All in all, Jake would call the current attack pattern of the vampire more annoying than dangerous.

And yes, he would call the way the vampire attacked an attack pattern, as he could easily predict the next moves. He didn’t even need his sphere or Bloodline.

Teleport, Jake stepped away as he dodged the blade that appeared from the red mist as the Count of Blood teleported to attack him.

Claws. The four clawed hands chased after Jake’s fleeing figure as he nocked and fired another barrage of explosive arcane arrows, burning away at the aura but failing to actually injure the vampire. It did stop the attack, though.

Ranged blade waves of energy. In response to being pushed back, the vampire sent out more crimson waves of blood that would for sure tear up the nice room. The fight had been going for a few minutes now, and Jake had switched his tactic a little bit by incorporating an important element: stealing shit.

Jake leaped back and touched two very comfortable-looking chairs, making them disappear into his inventory just before the sword waves came. To save all the furniture was impossible, but he would do his best to take what looked the nicest.

His next target was a bookshelf filled with old tomes as he summoned bolts of arcane mana to blow up the grasping claws. This bought him enough time to make a hastily charged Arcane Powershot. The aura around the vampire was resilient but not resilient enough to block even his fastest-charged Arcane Powershot using a stable arcane arrow.

Once more, the vampire was blasted back, an arrow embedded in his shoulder seeping out poison. Said vampire ripped it out and chased after Jake. It was predictable to the level of boredom, but at least it bought Jake enough time to swoop up the bookshelf and even a nice dining table and accompanying chairs.

He didn’t bother with the paintings, though. Too gaudy even for his taste, and all of them depicted the damn Count of Blood in different obnoxious poses anyway. Most of them were him leaning against the sword, trying to look cool. Some would perhaps argue he did… but Jake wasn’t one of those people, though he was somewhat biased.

That is when the Count once more used his most powerful ability.

”I shall paint the carpet red with your blood!” the vampire boss yelled, making Jake cringe back.

”The carpet is already fucking red, you absolute moron!” Jake yelled back.

Balancing his desire just to kill the Count and actually looting stuff in the chamber before it all got destroyed by their fighting was a difficult challenge. Sadly, Pride of the Malefic Viper’s defense against mental attacks didn’t work against the bullshit spewed by the Count.

”Then I shall deepen it as I slit you open like the livestock you are!” the Count rebutted, making Jake groan. Don’t entertain his stupidity… just clean out his room and finish him off… don’t let him get to you…

Before today, Jake had fought only one being that was higher level than the Count. The Heartwarden in the Undergrowth dungeon had been 162, seven levels above this vampire. If Jake were honest, he would say they were about even. Both were a bit strong… but not truly powerful for their level. The Altmar Census Golem was level 150 only, but it was far stronger despite its lower level compared to both the Heartwarden and this Count of Blood. Of course, one had to remember this was from Jake’s perspective. Match-ups mattered a lot too.

Considering how much stronger Jake was now than when he fought the Census Golem, his victory against the Count of Blood was pretty much assured. This was why he had the leeway just to dodge attacks and take potshots while looting everything of value he could.

He had already tried to take the coffin, but that was clearly bound to the Count in some way, so that would have to wait. Besides that, there was only furniture and other knickknacks like chandeliers, candle holders, plates of different metals, a statue here and there, and even a few nice-looking blades that were more for show than combat.

Ten minutes later, Jake felt like he couldn’t find anything more to perfectly legally acquire, as all the valuables that caught his eye were already nicely tucked away in the Hunter Mark storage. With all that settled, it was time to actually finish the battle. The current standstill only continued because, to be honest, Jake hadn’t dealt any significant damage to the vampire but had instead just slowly been emptying out his opponent’s resources.

dodged a final blow as he cracked his

Limit Break at 10%. Energy swirled around him even further as he infused his presence with mana. In a split second, the entire mood

One Step Mile, appearing on a platform in mid-air. The vampire followed as it appeared to his

*BOOM!*

half-appeared vampire away. Before even seeing if he had hit – he knew he would – Jake

vampire that was already flying backward was hit square in the chest and was blasted back even more, with a large gaping hole blasted through

make the vampire feel a sense of despair

as he dodged an arrow by teleporting, appearing atop the

obvious transition to

energy that entered the vampire, and the Count himself waved his hand as a bottle that looked a

hair fell out, and his clothes tore as two leathery white wings sprung on his back along with his muscles growing and becoming far more pronounced.

of venom. The head looked almost to have been cut in two as a slit went up between his eyes. A slit that Jake soon came to learn was its damn mouth as the entire front of the face split open to reveal several rows of

lay eyes upon the true form of a Balnar

would have no effect on the moronic

fired another barrage of arrows, waiting to see what tricks the

his wings before beginning to charge him. Jake swiftly adjusted and fired another arrow. The Count tried to dodge

swung his claws while flying, sending out waves of red energy. Jake repeated his tactic of dodging around the room with

The vampire once more tried to dodge and again found himself frozen as he got hit by all five. This caused him to fall to the ground as he crashed down and tore up the carpet. The

your running… Chains of the

down, and he felt like heavy chains were attached to his body. There was nothing visible, but when

over. Jake tried to use One Step Mile but found it impossible. He could still move but slower than before. He began charging up a disruptive wave of arcane mana, but it

Fine.

inventory and took out his two other weapons, also quickly splurting some of his blood on them. The Nanoblade appeared in his left hand and the Scimitar of Cursed Hunger in

Have it your way.

down. Raising his blade, he crashed with the claws of the vampire

Count barely even tried to defend himself. In turn, the vampire clawed at Jake’s shoulder, but he moved in closer to dodge the blow

Count of Blood and leaving light wounds on his chest. Jake pressed his advantage and moved in to leave a few more shallow cuts before being forced to block again and

loud shrill shriek. For a fraction of a second, his entire body tensed up, and he failed to

wound but returned the damage in kind as he cut the vampire. The two of them continued exchanging blows, Jake landing ten

toxins simply weren’t potent enough to overcome the legendary-rarity Palate of the Malefic Viper. Meanwhile, Jake kept inflicting the Count with poison, and clearly, vampiric resistance didn’t beat out viperic resistance. Bad puns aside,

desperation, the Count shrieked again, and his claw began glowing red as he tried to land a possibly lethal blow. Jake responded by freezing the large monster with Gaze simultaneously, completely ruining his opponent’s momentum. Seeing his chance, Jake kicked the Count hard in the chest the

drew his bow and fired another fast Arcane Powershot at the transformed vampire. The

out a wave of explosive arcane arrows. He rapid-fired after the vampire as he was forced back, the chamber now more or less completely destroyed from their fighting as explosions

Hunter made him aware of where the Count was, and he had to admit, the charge had gotten big by now.