The Primal Hunter

Jake readied himself as the creature swam beneath him. He knew it was aware of him as he felt its attention upon him. The eels before had been about five meters long, but this one… this one was on another level. More than an eel, it was a giant sea snake. He estimated it to be in excess of a hundred meters with a large bulky form, with a diameter over six or seven meters.

However, this didn’t mean it was slow. It slithered around the pillars lining the large room, seeming to enjoy the jolts of electricity that ran through them. On the other hand, Jake really didn’t, as he was forced to keep his distance from all the pillars or risk getting zapped.

The large Eel Lord didn’t seem to be in a rush to attack him. It appeared to have only just awakened as whatever powered the room also turned on. It happily absorbed the electricity and empowered itself. Jake decided not to waste his opportunity as he held out his hand.

Mana condensed as an arrow began appearing from his palm. More than an arrow, it looked like a harpoon, with jagged etches and a large broadhead. It was naturally Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter. While he didn’t know much of these lightning eels, the Terror and Spitters were close cousins, and ultimately, they were flesh and blood creatures.

Jake kept an eye on the eel as its massive form made its way around the chamber, keeping an eye on him too. It was apprehensive, far more so than any of its brethren. This indicated at least some level of intelligence as it had no doubt noticed the four dead eel around his more-or-less uninjured form.

It wasn’t that smart, though, as it allowed Jake to fully summon the arrow. Now his only issue was how to deliver it. He had no confidence firing an arrow with all the pillars lining the room to function as cover, not to mention the tiny little detail that he was still underwater.

Underwater archery didn’t have a good historical track record. In that, it didn’t have any track record. Because underwater archery wasn’t a thing, because underwater archer would be stupid, and Jake didn’t plan on inventing it in mortal combat.

So he wrapped the Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter on his back with arcane strings and took out his blades. He coated both of them in uncommon-rarity necrotic poison and added a small layer of stable arcane mana on each blade to encapsulate the toxins and not have the water dilute and weaken the killing power. Also, he had a very advanced attack tactic called “stabbing both swords into the eel to their hilts” planned.

Next up, he began condensing what looked like cubes of highly stable arcane mana. Whenever he made one, he sent it flying out into the large chamber, simply floating where it was. He did this tens of times, making hundreds of these cubes. The mana expenditure was insane, but he had the natural environment to keep him topped up. As for the purpose of these cubes? That would become clear later.

Being fully prepared, Jake narrowed his eyes as mana began condensing around him. Crystalline bolts began assembled by the dozen. The eel noticed what he was doing and knew it could no longer continue what it was doing. It moved around a few more pillars as it began rapidly making its way towards Jake.

Far more rapidly than Jake had expected.

Shit, he thought as he released the bolts of arcane mana towards his foe. Despite its massive form, the eel managed to dodge most, while the rest only left surface wounds. Four tendrils of pure lightning consensed around its head when it got close and moved to grasp him.

When he got a closer look, he noticed they were a mix of highly condensed water and electricity. The Eel Lord used them almost like hands, Jake dodging backward. In his moment of temporary panic, Jake fired off a blast of arcane mana, sending himself flying back and getting a bit too close to a pillar as he felt the hair on his head stand as faint amounts of lightning entered him.

The eel dove forward, lunging as it tried to bite down on his significantly smaller frame. Jake was more prepared this time as he already made a path of escape. He condensed some water below his feet as he stepped down. One Step Mile activated as Jake found himself standing on a cube of stable arcane mana more than two hundred meters away.

He had come to learn that One Step Mile really didn’t give a shit about what kind of environmental mana it had to make him travel through. Sure, the water was far denser, but in the end, it was still neutral and not antagonistic mana, making his One Step Mile work as well underwater as on land.

was incredibly difficult as Jake usually used his Sphere of Perception for this, but with the Sphere limited, he required pre-prepared stepping platforms. That is where

oriented properly. Cubes were far better at that as they tended to spin randomly around from the currents and whatever movement in the water his fighting instigated. The cubes of stable arcane mana also lasted longer as they had more real

electricity, but Jake was ready as he simply tanked it with his scales. The large form of the beast allowed him to take yet another step as he appeared on top of it. Electricity

made a loud squeal of pain, sending a soundwave through the water that made Jake’s ears bleed. Yet Jake didn’t let up as he dragged both the blades across the body of the beast, leaving two incredibly deep cuts in its body. Not to mention

he couldn’t continue his assault as the eel shook its body and amplified the voltage. Jake was forced to jump off, and just in time as an almost shockwave-like jolt of blue power ran through the eel. The massive creature fled from him as it slithered

bolts of arcane mana. However, he didn’t simply do that but also coated them in his own blood as he sent

range and wait for it to get close as his arcane bolts petered it as it tried to hide behind the

Jake felt

doing. Without thinking, he poked a certain skill, impulsively activating

to experience the Legacy

dragon that was the Malefic Viper, having activated their trap and sealed the beast within a grand barrier. They were confident and saw no reason why they shouldn’t be able to

dragon’s scales, yet the moment they did, something wondrous happened. The scales seemed to almost come alive as they consumed the magic

a part of the plan to make them all fear him to amplify the effectiveness

he had noticed this peculiar phenomenon, and now that he experienced it himself,

level. Jake saw the scales consume the mana with absolute avarice, and he felt that it didn’t stop there, far from it. The mana stored in the scales began being broken down by an odd mix of Touch of the Malefic Viper and Palate of the Malefic Viper. The two skills seemed to fuse, existing within each scale as they passively did their work. The purpose of this was clear… to transform and then absorb the mana. Claim it as his own, with absolute gluttony and greed – a concept Jake understood very well and perhaps a part of the reason why he comprehended this skill

he focused his mind, he applied it. The vision around him began breaking down soon after, being the shortest Jake had ever experienced and even repeating the same scenario. Jake understood why… for he had wished to experience this again. He had wished to finish his comprehension, and the system acknowledged his desire and granted

seen this end before, and he had

and adding a certain damage threshold. All damage below the threshold is nullified. The scales are exceptionally resistant to magic, allowing the alchemist to handle toxic substances better. Passively provides 1 Toughness per level in any profession related to the Malefic Viper. May you continue down

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Alchemist of the Malefic Viper to turn parts of his skin into scales, vastly increasing the effect of toughness and adding a certain damage threshold. All damage below the threshold is nullified. The scales are legendarily resistant to magic and will store excess mana from any magical attacks that would have otherwise damaged you. If the damage taken by the scales is too high, this mana will be dealt as direct damage after a certain amount of time. Otherwise, this mana will be slowly refined and be absorbed or dispersed into your surroundings. Passively provides 3 Toughness per level in Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of

the Malefic Viper] has reached level 131

135 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free

only been gone for a few seconds, but it was enough to throw it off momentarily. His trip away had been

that granted him stats. The skill had been the beginning of it all. It had served him well and been his primary defense for such a long time… and now he would see what the improved version was truly capable of. Scales covered his body, looking no different than before

treasure in itself, holding concepts and power Jake couldn’t fully understand. Yet the knowledge of the skill made him aware this was because the scales he summoned were true dragon scales or at least a very close imitation of them. He was certain an actual dragon would have far more powerful ones, as the Viper’s were still on another level, but

Ambitious Hunter was still on his back, and he couldn’t help but smile. He began condensing mana under his feet as the massive beast charged towards him, its gaping maw open

blue light. If it had hit him only a dozen seconds ago in realtime, then he would have been paralyzed and found himself in quite the