The Primal Hunter

At the end of the Treasure Hunt

Caleb used his Hunter Insignia to leave the Treasure Hunt as he found himself back inside his main office located in the center of Skyggen. He quickly checked the time on a clock on the wall and saw only a bit less than ten hours had passed since the Hunt began.

He briefly reflected on the battle between the Sword Saint and his brother but quickly shook his head as he got to work. There was loot to categorize, and when he got the message about the Auction a moment later, he naturally also added that on his to-do list.

Just as he was exiting the office, someone else slammed the door open, surprising Caleb as he saw one of the workers there.

“Judge! Hurry, we had an invader, and something is going on at your home!”

Caleb stopped for a moment as he let the words sink in. Without any hesitation, he activated a skill as his body turned to lightning, not even giving a chance for his aide to elaborate on the situation.

He flew through the city for a few moments before his residence came into view. He saw it surrounded by people, including some of the recently returned D-grades. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he slammed down in front of them all as he turned corporeal.

Pushing past the people around, he saw that they were taking a defensive perimeter. The situation was tense, but when he saw his wife holding his son while standing with some of the guards, Caleb breathed out a sigh of relief as he hurried over.

“Maja, what happened!?” he said loudly as soon as he was within earshot, running over to her.

She looked calmer than he expected with all the commotion, and when she saw him, she just shook her head. “I already told them everything is fine, and they’re just overreacting.”

“Ma’am, an intruder managed to break through all the barriers and enter the residence without being detected…” one of the guards beside her said.

“And he didn’t do anything besides talking once he did,” Maja countered.

“Give me a rundown,” Caleb ordered the guard.

“Sir, approximately two hours ago, an individual managed to sneak into the city and get through the barrier around the residence and entered without being detected. We only became aware when he triggered an alarm on the way out, and guards are currently in pursuit, joined by Matteo and Nadia,” the guard quickly answered.

Caleb frowned as he considered it. Someone had purposefully waited for the Treasure Hunt to enter, and based on his ability to sneak in had to be D-grade at least, so he chose not to join it on purpose. Who the hell?

“What did he want?” he asked his wife.

“Just to talk, he wanted information about you and Jake. Just regular stuff… like who you were and what you did before the system. He even asked questions about you two growing up, and it didn’t feel malicious in any way,” she explained with a shrug.

“Who was he? Did you get a name?”

“Just a young man. Now that I think about it, he never gave a name. He said he was friends with Jake and knew quite a lot about him, he even told me about Jake’s tutorial, and it was pleasant enough. Debra and Robert didn’t even consider not answering as we all assumed he had gotten in with permission with a proven identity. And again, nothing seemed weird, just an old friend of Jake who had gotten split from him after the tutorial and wanted to get to know him and you better,” she kept explaining. “It was only once he left we figured out something was wrong as he tripped the alarm, and then all hell broke loose. That was fifteen minutes ago or so.”

was far easier to avoid when getting in. Why sneak in, to begin with, if he didn’t do so with bad intentions? Much less clearly purposefully trigger the alarm

and dad?”

answered as she held the sleeping baby. “I don’t really think any

he turned to the guard.

mere direction by giving him a

okay? I’ll check it out,” Caleb said as he gave her

unnecessary fights; he didn’t seem like a bad

“Of course.”

that, Caleb took flight again as he turned to black lightning and followed the locator towards Matteo. His head was filled with potential scenarios, none of them quite making sense. Was it the Holy Church? It was a possibility as he was never quite sure what they were doing. It had to be someone powerful, not just in infiltration but also mental magic… because Maja sure

not in their MO. An independent faction? Did they even have anyone strong enough to break in? Honestly, Caleb was lost for possibilities. Unless it was an inside job, it was hard to determine who it could be, and even then, he would know of

guess I will have

city. Soon, he was outside the border, and he kept

took him ten or so minutes before he spotted something in the distance, and what he saw wasn’t what he expected. He saw a large cube of

a dozen or so other assassins all lying on the ground. Some were missing limbs and covered in blood. Some turned partially to metal,

here faster than expected,” he heard the armored

and found not a single one of the assassins were dead. Who the

to use Identify but got a somewhat

[Human – lvl ?]

to

as he asked: “Who are you, and

he spoke: “You two look a lot alike, and even your demeanors are similar. Seeing you, it makes more sense as I was beginning to doubt Debra and Robert were truly his parents. I do wonder how such regular people can give

his identification skill to pierce the other guy’s obfuscation skill. He managed

[Human – lvl 172]

thought as he began formulating a plan to retreat. But he also had an idea who

“You must be William.”

possibilities, and when the armor of the person in front of him retracted, he got his suspicions confirmed as he saw the man appear. But he looked slightly different than what Caleb had heard. He was supposed to be a teenager, but he was clearly older

at least you know my name… your brother didn’t the last time we met,” William answered calmly. “I guess you

not wanting to bicker meaninglessly. Another reason was due to the constant influence he felt. Some

am gathering intelligence,” William answered with a smile. “I must admit, it was more pleasant than expected. It turns out that having non-shitty parents does a lot for a kid’s development, allowing even a freak like your brother to learn how

to show up like this was clearly no coincidence, much less the timing. He had somehow known when the Treasure Hunt would end, timed it, so he left just before Caleb returned and then baited him to follow. It was a trap he had walked straight into, but he had no idea what the purpose of the trap was quite yet. So instead,

ever quite a basket-case like you. I do wonder, how did you manage

been based on his aged appearance: Nevermore. It was the only dungeon Caleb was aware of with built-in time dilation without any negative consequences,

even if he could leave and go to Nevermore… why do it? He had not attended the World Congress, which one could argue wasn’t really missing much, but the Treasure Hunt? It gave a title that was massive by multiverse standards, and, of course, it was a lot of loot lost just to do something anyone could do anyway once they

the receiver or sender. This meant the other side could soak all the cost of bringing someone from the 93rd universe and doing the same when sending them back. All you needed was someone sufficiently skilled