The Primal Hunter

The dark ball of mist hung above the valley with mana swirling around it in a spiral. Bolts of arcane mana were condensed by the dozen every single second, falling on the many people around the valley as they tried to attack the person hidden by the mist.

Jake, who stood within, had his aim set. Arcane Powershot had been charged to the maximum, and the three bolts hanging above him ready. He released the three bolts down towards the healer and leader of the ambush, these three far more powerful than those prior.

The healer swiftly reacted once he saw the bolts exit the mist and poured more mana into his barrier. The people around him also helped as the three bolts arrived. A massive explosion was kicked up, sending soil and dust flying everywhere but didn’t do much damage to the barrier itself. Not that the blow was meant to… it was just a smokescreen.

It was simply there to make the healer feel a slight moment of relief before the true blow arrived.

*BOOM!*

For this second attack… the healer didn’t react in time.

The entire ball of black mist exploded, the mist scattered by the sheer release of power from the Arcane Powershot. Arcane energy burned in the wake of the arrow as it tore through the air. Before anyone below could react, it reached the barrier of the healer. The man only managed to open his eyes in fright as his defenses shattered like broken glass, and the arrow pierced straight through his chest. Usually, Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter couldn’t pierce magic barriers… except Jake had come far in his understanding, especially of humans. He viewed mana as simply an extension of the body, so why the hell couldn’t his arrow pierce a barrier constructed of it? The skill had clearly agreed with his conclusion.

Once the arrow hit, there was no grand explosion, but simply the man being sent smashing into the ground. Yet, at that very last moment, something activated as his body began glowing. Jake recognized it as some kind of life-saving skill. Perhaps one to nullify some damage or ensure he couldn’t die to one attack… Jake didn’t know, but what he did know was that the healer wasn’t ready for the follow-up.

Because before he even saw the arrow land, he fired the next one. This one wasn’t simple either. The two orbs of power on his bow began channeling all their energy as an arrow condensed on the string as Jake prepared to make the area into a Scorched Plain.

He fired the second arrow only two seconds after the first, not leaving the healer any time to prepare. Seeing their leader suddenly be downed had already created even more panic and doubt, meaning no one reacted adequately.

Jake released the arrow and, at the same time, used One Step Mile. While Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter was his most powerful attack by a fair margin and archery was his best tool of combat, his greatest damage per second didn’t come from ranged attack.

It naturally came from Touch of the Malefic Viper.

The large arrow infused with all the energy from his bow landed just before Jake did. The Scorched Plains effect activated as it exploded, sending a wave of destructive arcane energy burning through the area; all the blue grass it encountered turned to nothing.

Jake landed amidst this explosion, the arcane energy washing over him. He took it unbothered as his scales blocked what little damage it could usually do to him. Out of everyone in existence, Jake was the one with the most natural resistance to his own affinity, meaning he could tank it pretty damn well. Far better than the other humans.

His target within the inferno of arcane energy was the healer. The man was still alive, but that would soon change. The guy was still thrown off and semi-conscious as Jake jumped him. The other party failed to respond as Jake smashed his face into the ground, and his hand began glowing green. Jake pressed down with all his might as power swirled around him, the arcane energy still dominating the environment.

Jake squeezed his hand tighter and tighter as he pressed down until eventually, Touch of the Malefic Viper had weakened the skull enough. With a final push, he completely squashed the head of the formerly oh-so-confident leader of the independent factions.

damaged man didn’t

130 / Auspicious Mind Mender –

relaxed than before as his rage began to subside. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, focusing on getting his emotions under control. Jake was fully aware that this had been another case of his emotions – specifically anger – going wild, no doubt due to his Bloodline. Jake just really didn't like being called a slave. Luckily, the guy was dead, and Jake could now relax as he didn’t feel the need to murder anyone anymore. Instead, he simply assessed the

destructive force that was his affinity began destroying someone, they reacted with fright, activating their Hunter Insignia to escape. In fact, while Jake’s attack did do significant damage, he reckoned nearly everyone should be able to survive and

was a wise choice and one Jake would now implore them all to take. As the effect from the Scorched Plains attack subsided, everyone saw where Jake

four people he had been solving the puzzle with. His attack earlier had hit not only his enemies but also those within the valley. In fact, the arcane energy had hit anything and everything within the barrier, with even the barrier

all managed to handle the blow somewhat. The arcane energy had still left some wounds, but as they weren’t attacked by anything else, they had managed to put up some defensive measures. The same couldn’t be said about the earth mage, who had his armor of stone eroded halfway through and was

true, making the armor of stone explode and sending the man tumbling through the air with a large hole in his chest. The earth mage was already

mage, but the man defended himself at the very last moment as he yelled: “We will

those words, he activated his Insignia and

appeared all around as people chose to flee. They no doubt feared they would be the next target of an arrow and have their head pierced or something similar, making them unable to flee. Jake noticed that some people did stay behind, all huddled together in a defensive position. He saw around thirty people and saw among them several

at the front spoke: “Lord Thayne, please, I

head, Jake stared at the man as he asked: “In what way am I misunderstanding you

to kill,

me like a normal fucking human being. If you want to negotiate from a position of strength, at least make sure you can actually back it up. Oh, and last of all, don’t fucking insult someone you want to negotiate with. I’m no

healer but more by the prospect of being forced to leave the Treasure Hunt with more

do to get out of here alive or without having to leave the Hunt?” the man finally asked sensibly. He seemed far less moronic than the healer but cut

answered with a nod before turning to the three people inside the valley. The elemental mage had already swiped up the loot from the earth mage and

a bit bad about it. He hated getting others involved in his own matters without any reason, and this ambush was made with him as the

just to steal all the loot? Probably, but Jake couldn’t know for sure. In fact, he had a

apologizing for being such cunts,” the elemental mage yelled. “Who the fuck brings a fucking army to rob one

the way, but ya could have

He and the elemental mage had thrown more than one dig at each other during their puzzle-solving, and Jake had happy the guy hadn’t changed. People usually started acting weird after seeing Jake fight and kill people. Odd how that

or so didn’t dare interrupt, and from what Jake could detect, the man seemed happy to let the two of them talk, lightening the mood. Jake didn’t doubt the guy would prefer less killing to be going on. He was lucky that Jake didn’t plan on killing anyone, but there was no way he was getting off

to make it clear that the words of Jakob weren’t spoken for all of us, but were his personal views only,” the man said, it not being certain if he was fully telling

guy was

answered,

With a C or a