The Primal Hunter

Jake had never been the type to enjoy road trips much, most likely because it always included being cramped in a car with too many other people, and there were always at least a few he didn’t know that well. He had still gone on a few, and the times he went with his family was fine, but extended periods of nothing did weigh you down.

Traveling across the landscape as you bent space to your will and teleported one step at a time did seem different, but it turns out it really wasn’t, besides it being a one-man road trip. The first few hours had been just fine. Heck, the first day had been just fine, as there were many interesting sights and new creatures to see. Still, it did begin to get a bit samey, especially when he reached a long stretch of empty plains with pretty much no creatures around besides the occasional hole leading into a vast underground area filled with insects.

None of them bothered him, and Jake didn’t head underground to bother them either. Perhaps there would be foes worth fighting deep underground – in fact, he was certain there were – but he was just as certain that a foray down there wouldn’t be a brief one.

The only thing keeping him kind of sane was Sylphie still poking him mentally once in a while to update him on her victories or when she came across something interesting. Jake learned a lot about the diversity of ”super-weird” trees in the forest.

He did try to find things to do, like improving his One Step Mile or his flying skills, but it was a slow grind without much progress if any at all. On a side note, it also quickly became clear that using any sort of boosting skill during travel was a waste of time as it would just wear him down faster overall.

This meant Jake just ran with One Step Mile and sometimes flew while consuming a potion once in a while. He really, really tried to keep himself engaged, but it was just so damn monotonous seeing the same open plains over and over again.

After the second day, he got too bored of the same repeating landscape for thousands of kilometers in a row as he finally decided to ask Villy something he had been holding off on:

”Hey Villy… I have been meaning to ask, with the Treasure Hunt and all, if you can, like, give me a brief history of vampires? Are they still around and stuff? I feel like that place Yalsten was isolated a long-ass time ago.”

It didn’t take long before the amused voice of the Viper descended on his mind. ”So, my little Chosen is bored after only a few days without proper stimulation and comes crawling to his gracious and benevolent Patron god for comfort and entertainment.”

”Not my fault I don’t have any audiobooks after the system. Man, that reminds me, I never found out what happened towards the end of-”

”And you never will, the author died,” Villy said with evil cackling. ”Forever shall you live in ignorance and have it become a mental demon that will haunt you and make you unable to progress.”

”Pretty sure the book was already finished,” Jake commented.

”It probably was; I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. Either way, vampires… I guess we should start from the beginning with those, but can you give me an overview of what you know?” the Viper finally said, going back to the original topic.

”Sure. It may have come from an unreliable narrator, but according to the vampires of Yalsen…” Jake began as he explained what he had learned during the Treasure Hunt. Jake didn’t cheap out on giving details either as he narrated everything he knew, primarily out of pure boredom. It ended up taking him over an hour to convey it all, including information on all the vampires he met, the Vault with the token related to the Malefic Order, and even the fight with the Monarch of Blood. After he was done, he just waited a brief while with no response as he suddenly remembered to ask something he probably should have from the beginning.

you’re busy, it’s fine,” Jake quickly said, hoping he had not just been talking Villy’s ear off for an hour

honestly think it requires much mental energy to talk to people? Splitting your mind is basic shit, so it isn’t like I am just sitting in a room solely focused on listening to your every word? Well, most often, I have an

the multiverse nor a natural one. Instead, they were created, much like the Risen. Their creator was called Sanguine, and he was a nice chap,

era, and I met him when he was still only in S-grade. He came to the Malefic Order as an alchemist seeking training and mentorship, and while I wasn’t that keen about him in the beginning, I must admit he was the most talented alchemist I ever met since Duskleaf. So I took him in and taught him for a good while, during which he ascended to godhood and began realizing his true dream of creating

races. Ah, three-path races are those who with a class, profession and race. Anyway, he finally came to realize that all of these

he

he put into it rivaled that of Inmortau and any other who created a new race, if not surpassing them. Vampires ended up being more than merely another version of enlightened species but ended up being far closer to monsters than something like humans in many ways. It was the kind of race that only allowed one to have either a race or a profession,

as you know. All vampiric races, even the weakest ones,

”But the vampires talked about that only

also gave him a certain level of control and more or less made all of them his thralls… so yeah, not a fan of that part. Anyway, the second thing he returned

get faith is naturally loyal followers. A great way to get loyal followers is to have them be bound to you in other ways than simply a blessing that can be revoked. Make the faith part of their community, their empire, and entire social circle, or the highest level: their very race and existence. The greatest example of the community-driven faith is the Holy Church, with the race-driven faith

Risen - it doesn’t work. The same is true if someone blessed by the Holy Mother or her Pantheon tries

what Villy was saying. ”And Sanguine created a third such path that also interfered

minor race, the two Primordials didn’t care much about Sanguine, but the issue was that Sanguine was too talented in their eyes. Because he didn’t only make a viable and powerful race, he even built into the vampiric race methods of giving the race to others through both rituals, alchemic creations, and items, much like the Risen. As a result, the vampiric race began spreading far more than

as he kept using One Step

from existence. As long as a single vampire lived, they could spread from there and help transform others. Especially the disciples of Sanguine – vampiric gods - were big on this, offering

and Empire of Blight, but in the end, he was cornered as his former allies began betraying him. He was slain in a battle against the Holy Mother, Blightfather, and a hired Umbra, along with many other gods who had joined the crusade. This was the only time the Empire of Blight and Holy Church had worked together on a single goal so openly in the history in the multiverse,

once more, and they tried to find solutions but were hunted down

were allies of some kind? I got the same feeling from the vampires of Yalsten. Even the Monarch of Blood was amazed that I would fight him as a Chosen until I explained the

too weak. Sanguine willingly challenged the established forces, he knew what he was doing, but it was a gamble he lost. It would have ended with him either being one of the most influential gods of the multiverse or death. If he had been stronger, it would not have mattered. Why do you think the Holy Mother and the Blightfather can’t reach a resolution? Because neither can actually defeat the other, even if they get

He had promised the Monarch he would check, and if they weren’t dead, put in a good word. Same for that Nalkar woman from the first Vault he had explored, who had

of the multiverse expanding. This was all the way back in the fifth era, and we have eighty-eight more universes since then. Well, eighty-seven as I doubt your world has many vampires quite yet. The big difference is that they are no longer unified as one race. Many larger factions have vampires among them, and quite a few vampiric

divine item from the Treasure Hunt, they really couldn’t be as they had just

the Order?”

Empire of Blight that complete extermination was impossible, as I fucking dared them to come and try to act out their crusade on my home turf. Oh, some did try, but nothing we