The Primal Hunter

No set time for the duel had been decided, so for now, they all just sat and relaxed as they healed. Jake shared his potions liberally, and no one tried to start anything. Silas and two other healers even joined in to help set up a ritual to help everyone regenerate faster.

Maria, as Jake learned she was named, also came over after her body was done being healed by her flames. That is also when Jake became fully aware she was the maker of his current bow and seemed very interested in how he had quote-unquote “fucked it up” with his transmutation.

All-in-all it was all a very good time, with many of the strongest people on Earth just sitting together and chilling. Jake learned that everyone was pretty cool, and it helped a lot that he had his brother sitting beside him to make him feel more comfortable with the entire situation.

He had always been a good brother when it came to social situations with Jake. The kind of guy to deflect topics Jake wanted to not talk about and keep a conversation going, so it didn’t get awkward. Heck, Jake had a long-standing theory that his brother became so good at dealing with people and a teacher from learning to deal with having Jake as a brother.

The humans talked about a wide variety of topics, most prominently the battle with the Monarch and the general state of Earth. It was a bit odd with the Holy Church not present, but perhaps it was for the best. Because a lot of them had some doubts about the large religion’s intentions.

The undead were also all gone besides two random Risen hanging around for a bit before they left to try and find a few more treasures. Even Priscilla had left at some point without Jake even noticing. The same was true for the guy called Sven and all of those people. Honestly, for many factions, this final phase of the Treasure Hunt had just been a complete disaster, and they likely praised themselves for at least getting all their treasures out beforehand.

They also began sharing some things the nominal leaders would perhaps not be happy to see shared during this time. Well, some were just sharing stuff without a care, like Eron, who was excitedly talking with Silas and two other healers about how to better heal people and how everyone should focus more on pure healing and less on all that supportive magic stuff.

Jake didn’t have much to share himself besides some tips on alchemy, but it wasn’t something that could really be taught effectively with their limited time. The Sword Saint didn’t have much either besides a few words of wisdom. Again, one couldn’t really teach others swordsmanship in a few hours. At least not without sparring, and sparring would make the entire restoration process wasted. All of them were dealing with backlash from boosting skills, after all. Well, they were. Jake, right now, was just focusing on restoring his resources.

Speaking of boosting skills. Carmen, who had been blessed by the presence of Sylphie in her lap, turned to Jake as she was allowed to scratch the small hawk.

“You got Limit Break, right? What rarity?” she asked curtly. She, Jake, and the Sword Saint had ended up being left alone as other people spread out and went away from them. Some had left to get more treasure themselves or were just sitting a good distance away.

Jake looked at her, wondering what she was getting it. He had a feeling she already had a good idea as he answered truthfully. “It is, and It’s at rare rarity.”

“I figured,” Carmen said with a smile. “Honestly, that a skill like Limit Break even has a rare rarity is a damn tragedy. It’s basic as fuck. When’d you get it?”

“During the tutorial, so quite a while ago,” Jake once more answered truthfully.

Carmen turned her attention to the Sword Saint. “Hey, your boosting skill is an upgraded version of Limit Break, right? It seems quite a lot better and far more controlled. Really playing into that entire water theme, you got going.”

The Sword Saint simply nodded in acknowledgment.

“What I am trying to say is that you should seriously consider getting that shit upgraded,” Carmen said, turning back to Jake. “I am sure you’ve noticed by now how you can easily handle it even at the “unsafe” level. That unsafe level is where your body is not taking any damage, but with a high enough Toughness, you can push it even beyond the twenty percent. Of course, it would be better to improve and not use stamina so crudely.”

Jake looked at her for a bit, having not expected the unsolicited advice… but he appreciated it anyway.

“What would you recommend I do? I honestly haven’t experimented as much with stamina as I should,” he asked while explaining himself. However, it did feel a bit embarrassing to be called out like that.

other boosting skills interacting within the same archetype?” she

what she meant by that but made a guess. “No, my only real boosting skill is Limit

not to as he didn’t think it was the same as Limit Break in any way. Sure, both gave stats, but he

at the same time, or at least you need some special stuff to make that happen, and stuff like Limit Break is the same. So yeah, if you don’t upgrade it yourself, you need to either waste a skill selection on it to

two skills that did the same thing rarely worked. It was like wearing two hats at once or, as Carmen said, trying to summon two wings out of the same place

up his current version of the

consumption. Increase by up to 10% for double stamina consumption. Increase by up to 20% for quadruple

tiring to use when he first got it, and he sometimes took a bit of damage from overstraining himself. That strain was completely gone by the end of E-grade, and after D-grade, he could use it at both 10% and 20% without any issues. Even the period of weakness was often a short one. This time he had used for well over an hour, and here

asked her. He had seen

I may ask, you do not possess any mana anymore,

all into stamina after I reached D-grade,” she shared openly. “Does have some drawbacks, but it also makes all of my stamina more potent and gives me a way bigger pool in return, so totally worth it as

That actually made sense in retrospect. He hadn’t detected any mana from her, but he guessed that could just be because she didn’t really use it during combat. That she didn’t have the resource at all hadn’t crossed his mind. He did wonder if it didn’t lead to a lot of problems, but he assumed there were ways around everything. Maybe her stamina worked a bit like mana now when infusing it into items to bind it? Or

began, as she regarded Jake and the Sword Saint, “have you two done any proper martial

did archery,” he

useless how to use your entire body,” she stated. “Limit Break just circulates stamina at

his stamina during both Infused Powershot and Arcane Powershot was far more effective and controlled than during Limit Break. Limit Break

is more gentle, probably with some form of water affinity merged into it or at least something mimicking the effects, making it not cause the same toll as it passes and making it flow faster and more naturally. Been

Optimize the flow, direct it more, compress it, avoid unnecessary flow, and maybe speed it up a bit; you can then work on more complicated improvements afterward. Find a balance where maybe you lose a bit of health and be fine with it. Just push it to the limits of what you can handle

also seemed to be in agreement with what she said as he added: “Recall how your body moves as you battle. The places where the stamina passes are the most important parts and

Break, as he quite frankly had some bad memories with doing it still. The first time he tried to freestyle it, he ended up blowing off an arm after all, and

Hence he

it most. Focusing on where your muscles and bones are located tends to be the most effective. It may take a

Break (Rare)] --> [Limit

dust around him parted. It felt like his body was faintly tingling, and he noticed how he lost a health point after a few

him just looked at him. Carmen looked weird, the Sword Saint began chuckling, and Sylphie looked like it was the most natural thing in

as he got used to the feeling. It really had been easy. He just activated Limit Break, directed it a bit himself, and then pushed it over 20%. It quickly climbed to 25% and then around 30% before his danger sense tossed him the slightest warnings, making him instantly stop the increase and search for a new equilibrium. He compressed it a bit here and there and took some inspiration from Powershot, and then it just clicked in place. Then again, reaching an equilibrium was something he had gotten quite

had gotten the notification, and he quickly checked it

straining your body. Increase by up to 15% for triple stamina consumption. Increase by up to 30% for six times stamina consumption, with the hunter beginning to take

at him for

“What?” Jake asked, confused.

Carmen looked more grumpy than usual. “It normally takes just a tiny bit longer, but fine, I guess it’s

“Sorry?” Jake awkwardly apologized.

you prime for an upgrade. Often merely bringing attention to a blind spot is all it takes to get the final push when one is already at the precipice of enlightenment - only a slight nudge