The Primal Hunter

There were many things one could do after suffering a setback. One could wallow and feel sorry for themselves, blame someone else and act like it wasn’t their fault, ignore it entirely and move on like nothing, or a slew of other things. Jake ended up going with a far more productive approach as he reflected on it all.

First of all, he had undoubtedly gained a lot from the fight. Skill upgrades and all that, but also some realizations that could only come with losing. Sure, one could argue if Jake truly lost, but in his mind, he had. Even if he had killed his opponent, too, he wouldn’t exactly call it a win if he also had to die himself.

The first thing he realized was that he actually cared more about losing than the prospect of death. It was odd… his survival instincts were through the roof, and he naturally had no desire or intentions to die, and yet the thought of it didn’t really bring up any innate fear. Just a feeling that death was a natural consequence if you fucked up too bad, and that was okay. Jake killed people, and he fully understood that death was always around the corner when fighting powerful foes.

It did take some mental gymnastics to both be fine with death but not fine with dying or getting killed. Or perhaps it was just a natural adaption he had made, potentially due to his Bloodline? If he walked around with fear, it would impede him and make failures far more likely. Or maybe Jake was just weird and had an odd mindset.

Either way, he moved on as he continued reflecting on what had happened towards the end of the Treasure Hunt and the Hunt as a whole.

When you succeed, all you really learn is what works, even if the victory is achieved through struggle. It is often said that failure is far more valuable to long-term success as you find out what doesn’t work and what is lacking to succeed. Additionally, Jake hadn’t magically forgotten his many years of formal education on business strategy and operations. There, failures were often viewed merely as learning experiences, and as long as the losses were not too significant, they could even be a good thing.

Hence, Jake tried to go with a logical approach as he analyzed the battle to figure out where he fucked up the most and how to improve. He knew he had fought a challenging opponent, and even if he made mistakes, it didn’t take anything away from the Sword Saint. So he thought long and hard about both the fight with the Monarch of Blood and the Sword Saint as a conclusion appeared swiftly.

“I kinda suck at fighting?” he asked himself half-rhetorically.

No, that isn’t entirely right. In his own opinion, Jake wasn’t bad with his bow, though he surely had room to improve. But melee combat? He had to admit… he didn’t really know what he was doing.

The only reason Jake was managing was due to his instincts allowing him to dodge most blows and instinctively strike back. However, these counters weren’t really thought about. Instead, he just reacted and attacked with straightforward slashes and stabs while coating his weapon in arcane energy and poison.

This was one of the reasons why Jake preferred duel-wielding; because his arms kind of just moved, and two weapons were just superior in his mind. At least a part of him thought that. Jake had always been ambidextrous and good with both hands, and that had naturally only improved after the system arrived. He had a strong feeling everyone could be considered ambidextrous now, which raised the question: why did someone like the Sword Saint only use one sword?

Because one thing was absolutely clear and had been from their first clash. The Sword Saint was far better at using his weapon than Jake, and so had the Monarch been. This was one of the reasons he could only dodge, while the Sword Saint managed to not only block but also counter and land attacks despite his far lower stats than Jake during the boss fight.

Jake realized he had in many ways been ignorant and naïve as he had begun to believe that he didn’t really need to learn how to use a sword or melee fighting in general. If he could predict the other party’s moves and instinctively counter, why would he need to learn how to actually fight like some martial artist?

blows he did not understand properly, seen the Sword

not giving any input besides just cuddling up to him. Jake scratched her as he considered her, and one of the reasons

how to fight wielding a sword be effective versus a beast? Swordsmanship was inherently rooted in learning how to battle other human beings – blocks, techniques, attacks, methods, et cetera -

more easily see how a bow and learning how to use that made better sense against beasts. Same for even things like spears or axes. Yet clearly, the

up the line of communication and spoke to his Patron god: “Hey Villy… do

as the Viper answered: “Fighting? No. Knowing

didn’t need to ask as

have a very disconnected style that certainly does need working on, but everyone has room to improve. Anyhow, what brought this on? Heard you muttering

Treasure Hunt, having to backtrack a bit to tell him general stuff about the Treasure Hunt meanwhile. It quickly became clear Jake had a lot of questions,

was silent for a while and seemed almost a bit distant. A few moments later, he returned his attention to Jake. “Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t expect a random Transcendent to appear like that;

genuine surprise in his voice as he only

only two kinds of things exist outside of the system and can break its rules? One of them is Bloodline-holders, as you know, and the other

the hell it is,” Jake

fundamental rules and does stuff otherwise not allowed within the system’s current parameters and limitations. Transcendence is not something you can aim for but something you just gain, and like Bloodlines,

Also, how many of them are out there? Just on Earth?” Jake

there is cost. Breaking the basic rules of the system does not mean you break all the rules of reality. This power does not come for free, the same as any kind of boosting skill that makes you stronger temporarily. You still need to consume something to make things possible, and what

As in, you can find more gods than Transcendants by a good deal, and far from all gods have a Transcendent skill. And how I can know this? Well, same as how those with Bloodlines can feel others with Bloodlines, then one Transcendant can recognize another. Also, while a Transcendant is essentially just someone with an extra skill made, it does have wider implications and does bring some benefits outside of the skill itself, courtesy of a title. And no, I will

a Transcendent skill?” Jake asked curiously.

only one with more than one Transcendent skill and even some who don’t have any at all. I need to make one thing clear, that while having a Transcendent skill is good, it doesn’t mean using it is or that having one is in any way required to be powerful. Again… they all have cost outside of merely using a bit of stamina, mana, or even rare catalysts. Cost anyone with

the Holyland of the Holy Mother. It is a place anyone who is blessed by the Holy Mother goes after death, no exceptions. It directly messes with the Truesoul of those affected, transforming them into new beings

a purely offensive one that allows him to completely annihilate someone through karma, severing all connections they have to the world and even erasing their Records, making them cease to exist, and all information related to them disappear. Their names erased from books, memories gone

the Holy Mother’s divine realm, and the cost is constant consumption of faith to keep it active, and the activation cost was originally not pretty either. There is more, but I made a promise not to share such details a long time ago, and while I am a snake, I do keep my promises. Oh, but fuck Eversmile, the cost for him is that he has to sacrifice positive Records and memories himself every time he uses the skill. As someone who views himself as a researcher and scholar, to sacrifice knowledge is something he seriously despises, he really

a lot in there, and he did feel like he had a far better understanding of what those skills were about. But, one