The Primal Hunter

Jake walked through the hall as the black mist parted around him. He found that even with the Root in his inventory, the mist still parted for him. The Root was an interesting item that he was certain had some specific intended use already.

Also, the wood the Root was made of was a bit recognizable. He had a strong suspicion that whatever tree this Root came from was the tree that had been used to make the Pure Ones’ anti-vampire weapons and, of course, the Stake. However, the Root was clearly far superior to the Stake. In fact, Jake had a strong suspicion that if he stabbed a Count with it, it would be a near-instant kill.

The mere fact that it was even useful before using it as a stabby tool was awesome, and he saw several possibilities to explore areas filled with black mist. But for now, he planned on just keeping it hidden away in his inventory… at least that was the plan.

Yet just as he reached the atrium again, he felt something from his Hunter Insignia. The Root wanted out, and Jake responded as it appeared in his hand, and the moment it did, it functioned as a black hole of curse energy once more… but not towards the atmospheric mist.

No, it was from some of the nearly a thousand golems he had slain. A large number of them below sent energy up towards the Root as it absorbed every bit of it, and Jake felt the curse be amplified as it subtly influenced him. It wanted him to slaughter vampires and made him feel anger and hate towards them… or at least it tried to. The thing is, Jake had been walking around with a cursed blade for months and had gotten accustomed to its constant influence, plus he had to deal with what was essentially an emotional minefield caused by his bloodline, too. So yeah, while the curse on the Root was powerful, it failed to really do anything. Also, one shouldn’t discount the now legendary-rarity Pride of the Malefic Viper, which facilitated his resistance and amplified his will to resist the curse.

It only took a few seconds before all the curse energy had been collected, and when Jake jumped out over the railing, he got in range of even more dead golems and felt yet another rush of cursed energy. He kept holding the Root throughout the halls as he just let it absorb more and more curse energy.

He decided to give the tower a quick rundown for any hidden treasures, considering the Count’s gate had been intact, so maybe there were other hidden places too?

Well, after half an hour, he did finally spot another closed gate, and once he got close, he saw that behind it was another six Knights. They were gathered around a chest, making it damn obvious they were guarding some kind of treasure or something.

I guess I can kill a few more.

He went up to the gate and just gave it a quick kick as it fell apart. All the gates in this place were just shitty. Jake had expected the five Knights to react when the gate was suddenly destroyed, and they did… just not as expected.

They all turned towards him for a second before just returning to standing around the chest, ignoring him completely.

”Huh?” he said out loud as he walked closer. Jake went straight up to one of the golems and just poked it with his finger, not getting any reaction. He then looked down at the Root and got an idea.

He lifted it up and hit the golem gently on the helmet with the blunt end of the Root.

*You have slain [Reanimated Black Knight Golem – lvl 135] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

The black mist that inhabited the golem was instantly absorbed into the Root as the armor fell to the ground and crumbled into scrap metal. Jake’s eyes lit up as he went over to the next golem.

“Bonk.”

*You have slain [Reanimated Black Knight Golem – lvl 135] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

With childlike glee, he bonked the next three too. Seeing the enemy that had given him that much grief just fall apart and be one-shot with the Root was so damn satisfying. Also, he was fully aware that while he got notifications for the kills, it wasn’t like he actually got any worthwhile experience. It was like that rat swarm in the Forgotten Sewers he had killed with the control staff. Sure, it said they gave experience, but it was negligible due to the way he killed them.

chest and saw

once crushed by coating the user in a

about thirty of them, and he was amazed at how useless they would be to him after obtaining the Root. This was the puzzle room all over again, in the sense that

Jake had no need for them now with the far more effective Root. Hence, he

it was time to speedrun

different factions had stayed closer to the center of the Treasure Hunt area, also known as the Mistless Plains. Additionally, they had chosen to focus on the Counts first above anything else, and it soon became obvious that the faction named the Pure Ones had hidden armories or weapon stashes in nearly all the towers. All of them hiding a Stake specifically created to severely

a Stake had been used or not was unknown. Either way that

barrier is ready?” Bertram asked as they stood outside the room to enter the Count’s chambers. The caster and healer of the party were hard at work laying down a barrier in collaboration to seal in the Count of Blood to avoid it running down the

clear that one couldn’t let the vampire run free and consume people, hence why they decided to seal it

and boosting its enchantments – courtesy of her profession. Lucian was sitting with a small pen, engraving small runes upon one of the swords related to

going all-out in

be done within the next minute,” Noor

will sneak in first and use the Stake on the Count. The moment he does so, he will retreat to the rest of us, and we’ll deploy the tactics discussed and used against the Viscount.

a robe enchanted with stealth-improving properties and went up to the gate. The moment Noor gave the sign that the barrier was ready, he presented the Mark of Blood

movement inside yet as he held the Stake in his hand. The vampire didn’t react before the

THIS HERETICAL TOOL TO HARM ME!? MERE

had skills to resist the constant mental attack from the

team followed up. They had planned for this using the last half a day or so, and that preparation showed itself. They continually suppressed

but it was far from powerless. It used whips of blood to try and cut them up and summoned snake-like creatures from bloody spots it left on the ground. These attacks had not been predicted, and the Count seemed far less melee-focused than they

off the already-haggard vampire. From Lucian building up poison with envenomed attacks to the two powerful ranged fighters, they had significant damage output. Bertram constantly smashing it down and keeping the Count controlled had also been a major contributor to what made them victorious. Noor had been supporting them throughout it, of course, and she

all the other loot. The entire group was tired, and Noor was already sitting down from being out of mana along with Joshua. Maria was in the

as he commended them. ”Great job, everyone… this was

of the vampire. ”And the Sword Saint and Lord Thayne killed one each alone… no one reported seeing signs

get it, Bertram thought but chose to say silent. But do not compare yourself to

without the Stake either. We don’t even know how effective it is, and he maybe used something else to weaken it.

you seriously believe

was just weak in comparison,” Lucan

”You-”

a sigh, getting everyone to turn their attention to him. ”That is simply a fact. But he is also alone. His support system is weak compared to ours. He may have the biggest stick, but we have thousands of sticks.

eventually nodded. After that, Bertram just closed his eyes as he entered meditation. One thing

his doubts that their numbers would be ultimately useless before true monsters

of fluffy feathers tore through the halls with incredible speed, tearing apart anything in their way. It was mainly done by the woman at the front as she slammed her fists into the cursed black