The Primal Hunter

Jake stood with his eyes open wide in shock as he was blinded for a moment. Not only were his eyes blind, but so was his sphere. He saw nothing but pure energy as it washed over him, but only for a moment before a figure appeared before him.

Long black hair flowed through the air from the power exhibited from the man’s body, a bare chest of muscles with not a single wrinkle or sign of weakness in sight. If not for the all-too-familiar wounds Jake knew he had caused himself, he wouldn’t recognize the person before him.

For who now stood there was a man no older than himself, a sword in hand as he pointed it skywards. He looked up towards the sky that was now filled with clouds that had occasional holes to let sunlight through.

The Sword Saint looked down, and what met Jake was not the same sunken eyes he had stared into so many times before, but two deep blue eyes that were in no way natural. Jake narrowed his gaze as he bent his knees, ready for what was to come.

“I have been blind for too long,” the Sword Saint said as he smiled at Jake. “Thank you. Now… this is presumptuous of me to ask… but-“

“Come.”

Jake didn’t need to say more as the swordsman grinned with a childlike smile that fit his younger appearance far more. Then, just as Jake thought it was kind of funny, his danger sense suddenly exploded as he raised his blade on instinct and blocked.

Just in time, too, as he felt an impact upon his blade stronger than even the blows from the Monarch of Blood. He purposefully lifted himself off the ground and allowed himself to be blasted back, giving him a chance to stabilize as he felt a faint pulse of mana behind him as the figure of the Saint appeared.

Teleportation?

Jake could see no other way to move that fast. He himself spun in the air and landed while facing the Sword Saint, instead teleporting himself backward the moment his feet touched the ground. The swordsman didn’t teleport again but merely stepped on the ground too as the soil was ripped up, and he flew towards Jake as his blade cut upwards.

Stronger. Faster. What did he do?

He naturally didn’t get an answer as he was forced to dodge the swing of the sword. Jake barely managed to slip by it, but it turned in the air at an impossible angle. Once more, he avoided it by a hair’s breadth only due to his near-precognitive intuition and danger sense.

How and why the man had transformed, Jake didn’t fully comprehend. Did he suddenly gain a skill upgrade that allowed him to change? He had already ruled out the Saint awakening a Bloodline as he didn’t feel anything… so what else was there?

Jake blocked with his scimitar as he was blasted back again. Without even being sure how it had happened, he got a slash on his arm, and he gritted his teeth as he landed, kicking up the soil.

It doesn’t matter now…

He wouldn’t figure it out just by asking himself. Instead, he would just have to ask the old man after their duel. The Sword Saint had changed, but the situation hadn’t… they were still just two humans fighting, one of them suddenly getting an unexpected powerup.

Mana condensed all around Jake as he stopped holding anything back. Pride of the Malefic Viper activated as he took dominion of the area around him, and his wings appeared and began pumping out poison mist. He also didn’t hesitate to begin using poison on his weapons.

poison, patiently waiting for him to be done. They exchanged looks, and Jake saw the absolute confidence in the

his bolts that way, and just in time to hit the appearing form of the swordsman. However, he failed to do anything

hit as he teleported back, drawing his bow as he fired off a Splitting Arrow. Once more, the sword simply swept to the side, and as all the arrows

any way discouraged as he teleported again just in time to avoid the Sword Saint appearing. Twisting in the air, he drew the

and prepared to repeat the attack. He saw the Sword Saint appear, and, to Jake’s surprise, he didn’t even try to dodge the arrow. Instead, he simply pointed his blade forward, and in a

pure respect. Blocking his arrow that way wasn’t something he had seen coming at all, and it quite frankly looked cool as fuck. Of course, Jake would have to make sure the Saint couldn’t

restraint as he didn’t break eye contact. The old man froze completely as the arrow approached.

Sword Saint only partly blocked it as the arrow

floated through the air and landed on the ground, clear marks present on his arms and chest from the explosion – a bit of

that much more durable,

used so far besides the teleportation and a few tricks

as the Sword Saint appeared right in front of him. He felt as his own body was filled with power from Limit Shatter, and he was stronger than before for sure… about as strong as he was versus the Monarch of Blood, perhaps. The difference was that Jake didn’t get any benefits from Big Game Arcane

of attack. Jake only had to repeatedly dodge the

“Thousand Droplets.”

summoned a barrier of arcane energy and readied himself with his scales as he dodged backward, unable to teleport as the attack had already arrived. He barely managed to raise an arm to cover his face as he felt like hundreds of tiny stabs hit him and sent him flying back, leaving

miscalculated… perhaps been baited in as Jake recognized his fuck-up. His entire body hurt, but now was no time to wallow as he made a platform of mana below his feet to teleport away

bolts of mana along with orbs that he sent flying all around him to make them explode. He didn’t expect to hit, just buy enough time to consume

not much, but it was there. Compared to the Sword Saint, his boosting skill was clearly far worse. The formerly old man hadn’t

Jake began firing arrows again, alternating between explosive

of the Malefic Viper to exploit a weakness. He tried to attack the man’s feeling of responsibility towards his family and how he was gambling a divine item on their duel in an attempt

and was forced to stop right away, still feeling a slight headache. He was lucky that he didn’t dodge attacked based on conscious thought because if he did need to think, then his failed attempt would have cost him an

pressured as he found fewer and fewer chances to counter. He tried different things, but the only real method he had to make openings was Gaze, preferably coupled with large explosions. His poison mist even proved ineffective as the god damn rain suppressed

since that first night. It spoke to a particular part of him to battle a human on his own ‘level’ in ways battling a beast or monster simply couldn’t. He reveled in that feeling, and he felt the heartbeat that only came when Jake – and thus his Bloodline

Sword Saint was coming out on top. Their positions had reversed completely, with Jake now trying to adapt and find a way

made a casual swipe to send Jake away. “You still underutilize your abilities. You already know your

Saint didn’t attack again but

do not overcome your limits, then this round is

Lose?

dare entertain. Jake felt his heartbeat speed up as he sped up his energy in tandem with it, and he didn’t wait for it to work but

melee, the other party only parrying. “You also need to work on your swordsmanship,” the Saint cheekily said as he purposefully deflected Jake’s blade

making it momentarily looked like he was casting Arcane Powershot. It