The Primal Hunter

Jake shifted the form of Eternal Hunger a few times, from a dagger to a sword, to a two-handed blade, and even into a spear and an exact replica of the old Scimitar of Eternal Hunger. He had also transformed it into a bow or, at the least, the body of one, which was effectively just a curved stick.

The problem was that the metal had low flexibility, and while Jake could make some changes to the form to make it better, he couldn’t make a string. He also couldn’t really see it be useful as all of its power was in hitting things with it.

In the end, he settled on a shape similar to the Nanoblade as he had used these last few days. In the other hand, he wielded the Bloodfeast Dagger from the Auction, getting a good feel for both of the weapons.

“Yeah, this is good,” Jake muttered to himself as he made them both disappear to take out his bow.

Jake had no intentions of taking the following hunt too lightly. The last two Queen’s Guards had shown these termites were not to be trifled with, and he had a feeling the ones in the area ahead were even stronger.

So, for now, he pushed everything related to Soul Rituals to the back of his mind as he ventured forth into the hive. With his high perception, sphere, and Sense of the Malefic Viper, he sensed the path forward, feeling intense mana density not far ahead. He even got some responses from his boots, alerting him to earth-bound natural treasures.

He had a feeling what was up ahead, considering termites called Queen’s Guard had guarded it. During the fight, Jake had retreated from where he had originally encountered the guards, and he was now making his way down the tunnel, scouting ahead.

Soon, he came to a mound of dirt blocking the path. He placed his hand on it and felt it was enchanted to keep it stable and isolating. It didn’t really work that well as a barrier, though, as Jake channeled arcane mana into it, seeing it slowly break apart as it eroded and turned to nothingness, forcing a new tunnel into existence.

Jake walked forward through it until he came out the other side, and the moment he did, he felt the influx of mana. He had just entered another overtaken biodome that was now filled with a slime-like substance on every surface.

White eggs lined the walls and edges of the biodome, as he on the far side saw a massive form rise to regard him. It looked like a regular termite with its huge mandibles and six legs, but its backside was absolutely humongous. Before he even Identified it, he knew what he was looking at.

[Isoptera Queen – lvl 191]

Three other figures suddenly unburrowed from the ground between Jake and the Queen, having been alerted to his presence when he broke through the wall. All of them with wings on their backs and powerful bodies. Unless you counted the eggs, there were no other living things within the dome than those three, the Queen, and Jake.

[Isoptera Queen’s Guard – lvl 185]

[Isoptera Queen’s Guard – lvl 184]

[Isoptera Queen’s Guard – lvl 179]

More Queen’s Guards, huh, Jake thought as neither party moved right away. The biodome was large, at least a few kilometers across, and Jake counted thousands of eggs, each one likely containing E-grades or perhaps even weak D-grades. It was hard to tell as not all eggs were the same, with some having far more resources invested in them. The mana density had been for them to grow faster, and he felt several natural treasures spread throughout, like valuable metals, rocks, a few herbs, as well as a lot of cores taken from killed prey. All to assist the next generation. Moreover, he had a feeling this entire biodome was like a big Nurturing Ritual circle.

The entire dome was cut off with no exits or entrances besides the one Jake had just made, likely to keep this mana trapped.

Jake, standing there with his bow, suddenly smiled. “You know, I just remembered my grandfather once complained about getting termites in his barn… he invested so much in pesticides and whatnot, but when they got into the house, he was forced to disinfect the place to get rid of them. They used poison gas on the entire house by enclosing it and then pumping it in. Fumigation or something, I think they called it. Not a bad tactic, don’t you agree? Ah, but I will mix in some more, let’s say, explosive methods.”

mana down the tunnel he had just made and entered from, making the

of aggression became the impetus for the termites to attack. In less than a second, two truck-sized termites were at either side, but Jake had already taken a step forward to avoid their blow, leaving a trail of arcane energy and poison mist

two or three-story house. It regarded him as he fired an

he shot again. The arrow split into seven as they all impacted the massive body of the Queen, making the insect screech out in anger. Jake felt the poison infect the termite, but it quickly was challenged by some kind of

Jake confirmed, having already had a feeling that was the

were more classical warriors. Jake was once more made to dodge as they attacked. Their movements were fast as he vaulted over one, kicking the air as he released an arcane explosion to send him flying backward while

explosions rocked the cavern as Jake tried to stay on the move, pumping out poison. Jake was fully aware

including the thousands of eggs. The Queen made a loud screeching sound

mana to try and protect the eggs. He had already confirmed early on that these insects were not the smartest, but the Queen did seem to hold some level of intelligence and emotions as

explosive arcane attacks. To up

were splashed as the barriers were eroded. The outer shells instantly disappeared and out crawled some

intent focused on him. “That really made you mad,

the cavern as the ground beneath his feet began moving. Jake knew it was the

a hundred eggs that the Queen failed to protect in time. Jake fired another salvo but

shot up beneath him, but he just stomped down and sent a wave of destructive arcane mana through the ground, breaking much of the mana the termites had activated. He then turned and stormed

drawing his bow. He stepped down and teleported beneath the large body of the Guard as he fully drew the string. Jake felt time slow down as he began channeling Arcane Powershot, and just before the

a large crack on the reinforced stone. There was now a large hole

all that did was give Jake the opportunity to fire off a Splitting Arrow towards one side of the cavern, blowing up over a hundred eggs again. Once more, the Queen reacted with an angry screech, and

unhurt Guards suddenly began almost burning with energy as vein-like cracks of golden energy appeared all over their bodies. The damaged Guard also reacted soon after, and when Jake saw

up on the eggs… or at least decided that

to make Jake into two Jakes.

spears of earth flew towards him from the ceiling, as literal pillars shot up from the ground, trying to impale him and impede his path. The two

the Queen now completely ignored the eggs. Jake saw many of them melt from the poison mist, and even if it was the Queen’s choice, her rage at what was happening couldn’t be more

moment, Jake felt like he was on the backfoot. But he also knew it was not like he couldn’t change it at will. His opponents were strong, nearly at the peak of D-grade… but honestly, Jake had beaten worse. He had come into this fight with full resources and a far more stable mind

him as walls of soil rose to limit his movement, mixed in with magical barriers. Just before they managed to close their mandibles around Jake’s body, they were both blasted back by

Powershot. The two Guards closed in on him again but were once more repelled by a second arcane explosion as Jake fired his shot. The

up.

engaged one of the Guards, tearing into it with two poisoned weapons. With every slash, it had its energy drained, and it

something to be consumed. The only thing not consumed was the energy Jake himself had injected, meaning his poison had free reign as the energy normally used to fight it off also had

energy, and the system counted poison attacks made with the sword as attacks, meaning all his poison injected with a sword blow also had an extra energy-draining effect. It

also activated when Jake extended the blade with any skill or magical effect, so he could safely coat it in arcane energy without losing any effectiveness. This meant when Jake shattered the outer carapace of

him, including the still slightly injured one. Jake responded as he tossed Bloodfeast Dagger into the air and opened his palm towards one of them, firing out a massive blast of pure arcane mana as he stood his ground and blocked the blow of the other. He was pushed back, but with a string of mana, easily retrieved the dagger and went on the offensive

away as, frankly, there was no reason to. The Queen was struggling to keep them alive, just slowly tiring itself out. It seemed like the insect did not have any real offensive powers itself, as all its strengths revolved around healing, creating eggs, and protecting those eggs – all the healer powers likely related to