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.”

arcane mana down the tunnel he had just made and entered from, making the unstable structure collapse, effectively sealing off the only exit of the biodome,

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 as Arcane Awakening had activated on the balanced 30% along with two wings springing

large as a two or three-story house. It regarded him as he fired an arrow towards it. A barrier sprung up between Jake and the Queen, making the arrow explode along with the barrier

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 cleansing magic. He also saw the wounds he had just inflicted

confirmed, having already had a

as he vaulted over one, kicking the air as he released an arcane explosion to send him flying backward while spinning in the air, firing two

on the move, pumping out poison. Jake was fully aware it wasn’t that effective against any of

blanketing everything in poison mist, it was indiscriminate, including the thousands of eggs. The Queen made a loud screeching sound in rage as all the eggs got covered by faint golden barriers keeping his

fired an arrow at the Guards, knowing that he was forcing the Queen to consume obscene amounts of 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 he heard evident anger

explosive arcane attacks. To up the potency of his attack, Jake even took out the Bloodfeast Dagger and cut his own arms to spray

eggs were splashed as the barriers were eroded. The outer shells instantly disappeared and out crawled some non-fully formed termites

Jake felt the killing intent focused on him.

his feet began moving. Jake knew it was the Guards using their earth magic, and it appeared that the Queen was

bolts appeared and were flung all over, exploding close to a hundred eggs that the Queen failed to protect in time. Jake

him, but he just stomped down and sent a wave of destructive arcane mana through the ground,

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 Guard could move away,

sent flying up as it smashed into the ceiling, leaving a large crack on the reinforced stone. There was now a large hole of sizzling arcane energy where Jake's arrow had hit, with

cavern, blowing up over a hundred eggs again. Once more, the Queen reacted with an angry screech, and Jake believed he had found a good tactic… until the insects switched

golden energy appeared

least decided that killing me is more

as his danger sense reacted, forcing him to swiftly dodge back as a pair of mandibles tried to make Jake into two Jakes. The speed

trying to impale him and impede his path. The two undamaged Guards were the ones who stayed in melee as they chased

but found them all blocked by barriers, and what little he did get through was healed as 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

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 than before, so he decided to get serious

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

as he began channeling his Arcane 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 Queen tried to defend but was struck and

again, Jake dodged away as the Guards refused to give up. However, the game had changed, with Jake now

two poisoned weapons. With every

aura that boosted the Guard was consumed by the blade as it indiscriminately ate anything it hit. Healing energy injected into the Guard was also merely something to be consumed. The only thing not consumed was the energy Jake himself had injected, meaning

specified it was all attacks made with the weapon that drained 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

coat it in arcane energy without losing any effectiveness. This meant when Jake shattered the outer carapace of the termite’s head and

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

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,