The Primal Hunter

The undead and Jake talked for a while longer, just chatting and discussing things related to Earth and the struggles of the Risen. Casper didn’t say much but mainly let Priscilla outline their difficulties, as quite frankly, he himself barely had any issues these days. He didn’t have any family, to begin with, so he didn’t go through the struggle of convincing one’s parents or a former lover that they were still the same person despite now being undead. Overall, it was pleasant, but soon Jake had to return.

Casper sat back as he watched Jake leave, the ancient rarity auction beginning shortly. He was a bit miffed he had not gained the Root, but he believed Jake would stay true to his promise and trade it with them soon enough.

”Why tell him what to do?” Priscilla asked him once Jake was out of the hall and unable to hear them, her mood changing quite a bit from the welcoming and kind persona she put on in front of others. ”The consequences if he becomes consumed by a curse, much less one of Hunger, would be disastrous. You know that Hunger often expresses itself as pure greed and gluttony, making him a living killing machine.”

”Because he is going to do it anyway, so may as well just tell him what it entails,” Casper explained. ”Trying to dissuade him will only make him more convinced to give it a try.”

”That’s just… moronic,” Priscilla said with exasperation.

”Well, Jake can be a bit of a moron; what can I say? But he is also a moron for whom things just tend to work out. Besides, I doubt the Viper would allow him to do anything that could legitimately risk his life or future.”

Jake knew Villy would totally be up for Jake doing something insanely risky, as long as he got front-row seats to see him do it.

He walked back towards his booth with a brisk pace, already looking forward to doing some funny experimentation after the event. Of course, it was time to do some more auctioning before that.

Jake got back to the booth before Sultan, Miranda, and Sylphie, but he did see Roman and Felicia already back. The two of them sat on a couch, chatting with Eleanor, Christen, and Levi from Neil’s party. The two last members – Neil and Silas – were absent for some reason.

Deciding not to bother them, Jake went over to a corner and summoned his arcane mana to set up a barrier around himself. He got a few glances, but he just motioned for them to ignore him as Jake got to work. As for what Jake was doing? Well, he was eating some healthy greens.

But first, he would have to throw up what he had already eaten.

Jake opened his mouth as Palate of the Malefic Viper activated, and space around him warped as a glowing rock appeared. At the same time, the purpose of his barrier became clear as incredible heat bombarded it.

Knowing he could not put it in his normal spatial storage necklace, Jake took out the legendary storage cube. He activated it, and the Suncore Fragment was stored without any resistance. Happy it worked, Jake took out the Root of Eternal Resentment, and a good gobble later, it was stored inside of his Palate of the Malefic Viper. It was a natural treasure, so naturally, he could use the skill on it to learn about its properties.

The fact that Casper and Priscilla praised it so much made him even more interested. He didn’t think they lied to him about the Root, but confirming using his own skills was always advised. Besides, no matter what, he would learn about the Root and the curse energies within by having it absorbed.

As for how it tasted? Eh, pretty neutral.

With all of that done, he dispelled his barrier again, getting a few more stares, with only Roman yelling at him. ”Yo, the fuck ya doing?”

”Put the sun in a box and ate the Root of a cursed tree able to destroy worlds,” Jake answered.

”Fair enough!” Roman yelled with a shrug and a laugh.

as he closed his eyes for a moment, just relaxing as the minutes ticked by and people returned

more extreme than the others, and it will no longer be individuals but entire factions investing in items. However… I have a good feeling equipment won’t be as bad as it could be. Many factions are unwilling to invest substantial funds in a piece of equipment that could be lost permanently should the user die

for people like me,”

in temporary equipment. Of them, it is doubtful how many will even require the same things you do. As for the auxiliary items… that will be a whole other deal. Those are items factions as a whole can use,”

as the intermission came to an end. ”Let’s hopefully spend some

System Announcement:

will be sold off. All items will be listed with a set minimum bidding price by the seller, as

of 413 listings of ancient items for sale during this third phase of the Auction.

be a period of one hour before all bidding ends. Items will be posted in order of minimum bids and buyout price. Any item not bought at

first item will be posted in

and a half with the extra bidding time, same deal as before. Jake had his wallet at the ready, everyone

[Helmet of-]

puts horns on helmets, to begin with? That just sounds impractical as hell and a great place

started at one Credit, making it clear the guy who posted it wanted to game the system as the lower-priced items appeared first. The buyout price was set at forty

only three or four people were

[Yalsten Choker of-]

more interesting as it included spatial storage. People always went wild for spatial storage items. Even if many already had it, this one was special because it allowed one

stats as can only be expected. Despite Jake’s less than enthusiastic reception of the choker, there was much interest, and the price quickly climbed far

A third item appeared.

Dud.

Jake kept watch, waiting for something good to appear. Soon, a

by the environment in Yalsten and the curse. With every slash, release frozen ash to freeze your foes. By infusing the blade with mana, release a blast of ash, hiding your presence and freezing any nearby

lvl 140+ in any humanoid

and had to admit it was tempting. With the preview feature-thing, he saw it looked like a katana with an entirely gray body giving off faint vapor. It also reminded him a bit of his old Shortsword of

were extremely popular, no doubt due to the majority of the Noboru clan using them, and he also had the impression that many just preferred swords over other weapons. The fact that it was a sword with wide usage, perhaps even for more spell-casting-focused

because of the price or what it did, but because it was a sword. He recalled his talk with the Viper and decided to try and only go for shorter weapons like daggers. Also… if he decided to still bid, he had

specifically wanted. Did he kind of want a painting able to summon phantasmal soldiers that attacked anyone deemed an enemy? Sure. Did he actually think it would

no real

when something did pop up that

hide of a powerful C-tier Nightprowler variant. The hide is incredibly sturdy against physical and magical attacks, especially piercing and slashing blows. Due to the Records left by the Nightprowler, any time you are not under direct sunlight, activate the passive ability Shadow Prowl, increasing all effects of stealth-based abilities as shadows hide you. The armor

in any

armor. Nearly entirely black, and from what Jake could see, the Nightprowler had likely been some cat-like creature. The stats were great, even if he could see himself get too much Agility and go over the cap… but then again, he would need levels to use the armor first. Jake was already calculating how much he would need from levels and if he should invest some free points and drink some elixirs before he had even placed