The Primal Hunter

The Monarch stumbled back, four arrows in his chest and a newly made deep cut that nearly severed one of his arms. He reacted by pulling the arrows out and tossing his sword to the other hand as he barely managed to block a blow from the Sword Saint.

His movements were slower, and he didn’t heal as fast anymore. Every action looked draining, and Jake felt how tired the vampire was. However, that didn’t mean he stopped as he and the Sword Saint kept pushing the Monarch repeatedly, making the wounds accumulate.

Everything had been pulled out at this point, and the Monarch was clearly out of tricks. At least it seemed so. Jake and the Sword Saint also weren’t at their full either, far from it, but they had already won several minutes ago. All three of them knew it.

An understanding had been reached, and the Monarch got the final fight he had wanted.

A final clash sent them flying away from each other, and the Monarch stopped in mid-air. His stance made his exhaustion evident, and anyone could see he was on his last legs. Yet, a smile remained on his lips as he chuckled.

“I genuinely thank you… I never thought I would ever get a chance to experience something like this ever again when I entered slumber,” the vampire said as he made a slight bow towards Jake and the Sword Saint.

His body began flaking as his skin peeled off, revealing glowing red energy beneath. At first, Jake thought it was his body had run out of energy to sustain itself, but that was overturned as he felt the Monarch’s aura spike.

“Now, if you will allow me a final moment of vanity.”

Before Jake or the old man could react, the vampire turned into a blood-red mist and appeared down below in the midst of all of the remaining humans. Jake had a very bad feeling and was about to use Gaze as suddenly the Monarch teleported again – taking every single remaining member of the Holy Church with him, including Jacob and the party members of Bertram. In the final moment, before he disappeared, Jake had placed a Mark on Jacob.

Jake felt his Mark reappear several hundred kilometers away, only to disappear a second later. Jacob’s disappeared just a moment before that as he no-doubt left the Hunt. As for the Monarch’s Mark, it disappeared not because the Monarch had dispelled it… but because he died.

*You have slain [Monarch of Blood– lvl 170] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 141 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 136 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 142 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 143 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 137 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

The levels came in as confusion struck him for a brief moment. At least that is until he saw the red light in the distance.

An earthquake hit the entire Treasure Hunt as space shattered, and a massive shockwave of pure energy washed over him and everyone else present. It was by far the most powerful display of power Jake had ever seen by anything since back during the-

At that moment, it felt like so many things happened at once. The notifications from the kill, the shockwave of power, the realization of what the Monarch had done in his final moments, and the feeling he suddenly got from within himself… or perhaps more accurately, what was connected to his inner-self through the mask on his face.

The first thing he addressed was the thing on his face. Jake ripped his mask off as he stared down at it. The only lucky thing was that no one was looking with the Monarch’s final moment of vanity taking away all of the attention. He stared down at the mask as he got heard a faint murmur in his mind. A familiar voice he had heard many times before whenever he was too deep in meditation or distracted as he remembered the most hectic fight he had ever been in.

“Patience.”

word, but enough for Jake to go on full alert. Eron had dropped not-so-subtle hints. The description described the King slumbering… but now it was confirmed. The King of the Forest still lived, at least in some form. He identified

born from the Records of the one once known as the King of the Forest; a mighty Unique Lifeform that died just as its path began. The mask is made of a wood-like material unique to the lifeform it comes from and does not obstruct vision when worn and regenerates itself from any damage taken. The Fallen King remains within. Enchantments: Living Wood. Passively absorbs mana in the atmosphere, increasing mana recovery rate by a large amount. Increases maximum mana by

Requirements: Soulbound

King remains

all the changes to it, and when Jake probed it further, he felt nothing different compared to before. If not for the changed description, he would have been inclined to think that voice earlier was simply his imagination… but

had ever killed. He believed that was it, and his intuition was rarely incorrect about such things. His intuition and danger

Hence he just tossed on the mask again and decided to deal with it later

had struck back at his hated enemy. With every last shred of his power, he had teleported them away, leaving everyone else unharmed, and detonated himself. It was only a few dozen people, but it

as he knew that they had either teleported out or died. That is until he saw a single figure in the distance speed towards the plains surrounded by flames. Jake recognized her as the archer that had been with Bertram, and she flew like a meteor as she crashed down onto the ground. He was impressed she had survived

he noticed that the flames on her didn’t seem to injure her. Quite the opposite. They spread as flesh visibly healed, and Jake recognized that she wasn’t in need of any help. She had no doubt deployed some very powerful life-saving skill to get her out because even Jake wasn’t

reason, Jake couldn’t help but chuckle a bit under his breath as he thought about the antics of

the Sword Saint asked with

rewards only to get shafted in the end by a miffed old vampire,” Jake

side,” the old

fan of the Holy Church in principle either. Additionally, the old man had clearly also gotten quite a few levels, so it made sense he was in a good mood. Now,

world flashed again. Jake and the Sword Saint both looked up as they saw the Blood Moon still hang above. Within a few moments, it shrank to nothing but a small blip, and a beam fired down and

Quest completed: Fallen Monarch

victorious. Not only was the ancient vampire defeated, but the

upon leaving the Treasure

the world, the

blood attached. Yet as the two humans stood there, they both felt the pressure from it,

left behind by the first-ever vampire and the creator of

told

yield any useful information?”

item left behind by that Sanguine guy,” Jake answered

then,” the old man

just looking at it.

be gained from the Monarch, and with the Monarch’s self-explosion, there wasn’t even any loot from his body to claim. Not that Jake thought there would be anything to

didn’t seem possible either. It looked

to

the conundrum indeed,” the old

man extended him the same trust. The problem

as he turned to Jake

take it for now. Just

Jake saw three ancient-rarity coffins and altars, as well as the three weapons from Counts, and even two legendary-rarity items.

reverse the exchange in the event of your victory,” the Patriarch of