The Primal Hunter

Jake had not heard much of the time god known as Aeon Clok… only some basic stuff from conversations with Villy and some casual reading. Out of all the Primordials Jake had heard of, he seemed like the hardest one to pin down and understand. He kind of got most of the others.

They had religions, empires, orders, or domains they controlled. The Wyrmgod had Nevermore, Yggdrasil was a massive fucking tree dominating an entire region of a Universe, the Starseizing Giant an even more massive entity that liked smithing and being big. All of them were public, besides two. Well, it used to be three, but Jake kind of dragged Villy into the spotlight again. Also, while Stormild did not have a faction per-se, the living catastrophe still controlled a large domain and had many elementals following her.

The two hidden ones were the dear Eversmile that Jake honestly still couldn’t understand, but the other was Aeon. He was just a time mage or something who liked to make watches, with the most on-the-nose last name “Clok.”

“Can you give some information on the guy?” Jake asked Villy.

“Sure. Aeon Clok, Primordial of Time, the Watchmaker, bunch of other names too, but that is just par the course. As far I know, he was a human born to two F-rank humans on a planet with not a single D-grade. He became a watchmaker as his profession, gained by working with his family, and he was always intrigued with the concept of time. Mind you, all of this is stuff I learned later, so it may be wrong or partially made up. He was the first one to reach D-grade on his planet in centuries, but he didn’t stop there. He kept experimenting, he kept making watches, and eventually, he reached C-tier… without having killed a single thing. He was just a watchmaker, and I heard his class hadn’t even reached level 100 by the time he was C-grade. Entering the wider multiverse, it quickly became clear that he was a freaking nightmare to deal with. B-grades tried to kill him in vain due to his magic,” Villy explained as he gave some lore.

“Huh… he sounds impressive somewhat, but Primordial-level? What made him so special? A Bloodline? Did he become a Transcendent early on?” Jake asked.

“Bloodline, no… Transcendent… not before he reached S-grade. No, it was simply his skills. Their rarities were often two or three levels above what it should be at his level, and his sheer comprehension of the concept of time made him near-unkillable. In late-stage B-grade, an entire group of S-grades wanted to hunt him down as he had acquired a natural treasure they wanted. They hunted him into a world much like Yalsten… and only he exited it, now firmly in A-grade. He had killed a group of thirty-seven S-grades, all able to kill him in a single move if they got the chance… but they never did. Moreover, he killed them without ever truly fighting them… for they all died of old age. He trapped them and manipulated the world itself to accelerate time,” the Viper said, Jake now beginning to get it a bit more.

“Okay… that does sound pretty badass,” Jake recognized.

“His most impressive feat is not that, but what he did in S-grade as he aimed to become a god. Ah, but one interesting thing was his motivation to even become one. You see, wanting to become a god to become immortal is normal. Wanting it for the power is normal. But Aeon wanted it for neither of these… no, he just wanted time. The concept of immortality didn’t matter to him; it was not about life or death; it was about how it felt like the ultimate way to beat an aspect of time as a concept. He wanted to steal time… to claim it. And that was his Transcendence. The day he evolved to a god, he stole a moment of time itself. For a moment, the entire multiverse froze… I still remember that day as clear as was it yesterday. I was already a god, and the sheer sense of wrongness was intense. I can’t begin to explain it. Out of all the Transcendences I know of, his is the most complicated. I don’t even fully understand it myself, but I do know I have no fucking idea how to kill him and that out of everyone in the multiverse, he may be the hardest to put down permanently,” the Malefic Viper continued.

Jake nodded along as he listened. He always liked hearing these stories of gods and how they grew to power. It was like those old mythical tales, but something that actually happened with a chance to meet the myth themselves.

“I guess that leads to the question… what makes you think he is a good fit for the Sword Saint? I do know he got younger and stuff, but I’m not sure it was time magic. Also… are you sure Aeon will even bless him?”

“Eh, my plan was just to put the human on Aeon’s radar. As for why they would fit together? Well, because they are similar in some ways. Both are ridiculously stubborn and achieved their Transcendence by claiming something as their own. The mortal claimed the concept of seasons, and I do think his magic is somewhat time-adjacent, and honestly, even if I am wrong, Aeon may just be interested as the swordsman is interesting,” Villy explained.

“And what’s in it for you?” Jake asked. Villy wasn’t the type to help a random old man out of the kindness of his heart and based on the entire thing with Stormild, Jake was certain he did a lot with his own agendas.

“In this case… I owe Aeon, so this can be part of paying back that debt. He rarely blesses people, but that doesn’t mean he gets nothing out of it. Also… I’ll be honest, I find the dynamic of focusing so many blessed by Primordials on one planet interesting. I don’t know if this has happened before in a newly integrated Universe, ever. Especially not with Eversmile and Aeon both involved,” the god answered.

“Makes sense, I guess, even if it is a bit of a weak reason. Now… final question on this matter; why the hell is he called Aeon Clok and not some cool title? I already think Eversmile is stupid, but Aeon Clok? It sounds… childish? Like what… he is called a “long time clock” or something,” Jake asked.

“Hah, always interesting hearing the opinions of those newly integrated, as no one would find it silly in the multiverse. Maybe even get you labeled a blasphemer and heretic to be hunted down. But you are actually correct. Aeon’s last name was Clok, which was just his family name as they made clocks. And don’t even try to argue that is stupid as your planet liked to name people stupid stuff based on the parent’s job. Anyway, his first name is the only one he chose, and he chose it to go with his last name. In some ways, his goal was to become an eternal clock; a watch that would forever record and be one with time itself,” Villy explained.

about him for one

know him well. We have spent a lot of time together once upon a time. Out of the other Primordials, he is someone easy to get along

“So, a friend?”

like that,”

and it would be

Jake, if it was anyone else, I would interpret that as a joke, but with you, I am genuinely unsure. Then again, there are few people who could even handle being in the prolonged presence of one Primordial, much less two, a concept

serious; why wouldn’t I want to meet a god damn time wizard?”

he could kill you if you said the wrong thing? Imprison you in a tiny subdimension with accelerated time until you die of age, forever trapped in total

a present-Jake problem, but a potential future-Jake problem,” Jake shook his head with a wry smile. “But enough about that… I meant to ask, did

“Of course,”the god answered.

never

any benefits. It’s just a classification of a curse, so not sure what I should say, and it isn’t my fault you never bothered to research the obviously very peculiar growth curse on your own weapon. You know what it did, didn’t you? But why are you asking

and the curse on the scimitar to create a new powerful weapon,” Jake said as he pulled out the Chimera weapon and the

A pretty good

“Nothing dangerous about it?”

believe your survival instincts should keep you well enough in check to not try and slaughter something too powerful while in the inevitable blood-fueled rampage that you will be under, as you kill anything with vital energy you

asked, wanting the god to elaborate a bit

very compatible, but when you transfer the curse, you integrate with it even more. I don’t think this is a big problem, but I do think you want to do it somewhere far away from anyone you don’t want to

I will become a rampaging beast?”

thing is, it doesn’t. In fact, I could be afraid it would amplify it. Hunger is a powerful kind of sin, it is a very broad concept, and you cannot tell me you don’t instinctively want to consume. Consume life as fuel to advance

desolate

wild is probably better as you want to kill powerful beings, and I doubt you can find many

to slaughter an entire human city,” Jake answered, adding in his mind. Not without good

as the sentiment that he didn’t even feel like it would be that horrible. He didn’t feel like killing humans. In fact, he would very much prefer not to, but at the same time, he

interesting you

I have you… advice on making my very first secret

ask? The god also gladly answered as Jake began going over his plans as he got feedback. Especially when he asked

insect. The god was actually impressed Jake had managed to swipe up such a