The Primal Hunter

The combat arena changed once more as the forest was replaced with a mountainous valley. When it was done changing, the environment was bare with a mountain range in the distance, making Jake think the room had also expanded spatially.

Jake considered if he should head there, but instead, he saw movement. From atop one of the mountains came a black mass of flapping insects that would no doubt look like a black cloud to someone with far less Perception. Jake used Identify on a few of them as he inspected.

[Soilwasp Swarmer – lvl 105]

[Soilwasp Swarmer – lvl 107]

[Soilwasp Swarmer – lvl 106]

Each Soilwasp was about the size of a human with a large stinger and, of course, wings. As they got closer, Jake saw them point their stringers upwards towards the air as they all released their attack at once. A rain of small black, almost diamond-like shards rained down upon him as he was attacked by thousands of D-grades at once.

At the same time, Jake felt something not from the sky but from the direct opposite direction. Through his Sphere of Perception, he saw several forms move below him. He had no idea what it actually was, but it looked like some weird insects that managed to dig through the ground.

Describing these insects was difficult. They had long slender bodies and huge claws and mouths that seemed to somehow swallow up the soil as they moved through it. Jake had to be honest; they all looked kinda creepy.

With a casual demeanor, Jake raised one of his hands as arcane energy moved around it. A bubble formed around him, shielding him from attacks coming from below and above. He then turned his gaze towards the many incoming wasps as he smiled.

Through Jake’s extensive training to control Shroud of the Primordial, He had become very familiar with his own Soulshape. He had already faintly noticed how he flew a bit better on his way back to Haven, But it was not only his wings that had improved.

In the same vein that understanding a skill, it helped improve it, understanding your own body also made you better at using it. So what happens when a skill is inherently tied to the body? Wings were an example, but one example was even more prominent and relevant for this improvement.

The skills Jake had received related to the Malefic Viper didn’t actually alter Jake’s physical body or his Soulshape, but instead simply created phantasmal body parts. These were only temporary parts of his Soulshape but It funtioned similarly, even if it wasn't exactly the same.

However, one skill had permanently altered Jake’s actual physical body. It was the skills that had turned his eyes from their normal brown color to a beastly yellow. It was the first legendary skill Jake had achieved that wasn’t done through simply bullshitting with his Bloodline. Well, alright, he had kind of bullshitted it by buying it through a tutorial store, but still.

Jake usually only used his Gaze of the Apex Hunter to freeze foes that were difficult to fight or to simply keep them still for him to land a good blow, but today, he would use the more lethal part of it. With intense focus, Jake controlled all the energy going towards his eyes, as he almost felt the metaphysical veins going to them.

It wasn’t to make the ability more powerful. Instead, it was to shield himself from doing any more damage than necessary using this skill. Was using Gaze necessary, and wouldn’t it just be better to bombard them with some arcane attacks? Well, sure, but Jake wanted to use his Gaze, so he did.

He infused his eyes as they glowed yellow, and bar-none Jake released the most powerful Gaze of the Apex Predator he had ever used. The legendary skill truly showed its power as he looked at all the incoming wasps, wishing death upon them.

After a brief sting in his eyes, the sound of wings flapping in the distance suddenly lessened significantly as more than seventy percent of the swarm fell to the ground, lifeless – the remaining ones only surviving by having their bodies covered by their comrades.

Something a second Gaze quickly fixed as the last nearly seven hundred wasps also fell lifelessly to the ground, their souls destroyed by the gaze of an apex hunter.

At the same time, the ground beneath him erupted as seven huge insect-like burrowers tried to consume him. Each of them was as large as a bus with huge maws filled with teeth-like grinders. When they came up, they shot Jake into the air as the arcane bubble around him held up.

he gathered mana in his hands. He also identified

[Razormaw Rockshooter– lvl 151]

sense in the next second when they all shot human-sized shards of rock towards him, but Jake simply dodged to the side as arcane

Jake shot that down as he teleported down

and Jake reckoned that most humans above level 135 or so could kill them. This was also why Gaze so easily killed them all with nearly no backlash… they were just

he now found himself standing on flat plains

across the ground. They had not

–

Kalamore – lvl

– lvl

see that these beasts were melee-focused, so he decided to meet them head-on. He just ran towards them as he pulled out Eternal Hunger. The blade had been

they practically flew towards him, surpassing Jake’s own running speed. Jake met them as he stood his

cut one in the back. The third one attacked again, but Jake blocked it with his mana-infused gloves as he forcefully twisted its wrist and

infusing its venom. Weaksauce venom doing little more than provide him a bit of mana regeneration as Jake decapitated

really managed to accomplish

it had gotten very hot as everything turned red. Looking up, he was now within some kind of cave with lava dripping down from the ceiling and

circular, almost arena-like platform as someone

Demon –

someone. It at least looked humanoid, but the berserker part of the name proved quite relevant fast, as Jake didn’t see much intelligence and awareness in its eyes. It was a large

him as its large sword began burning and red pulsating veins that seemed to almost burn covered its body. This was the test that marked

and found himself tossed airborne as a wave of fire licked across his body. Outmatched in

in front of the demon. He didn’t give it time to respond as he

from a hole in its chest, but at the same time, the veins also began glowing more intensely as the wound healed.

stereotypical berserker.

poison it and prepared for slaughter. As the demon was upon him, his body exploded in arcane energy as he released Arcane Awakening at the balanced 30%. He dodged under the first swipe of the heavy sword and cut the

hit. Even as the berserker grew stronger and faster, Jake just kept dodging. Towards the end, he didn’t even bother attacking but re-deposited his blade in his inventory to

stood unscathed besides a few burn

a hundred observers as he activated the token again, not

enough for even Jake to notice. The cave walls were gone, and he now found himself within an expansive sky, standing on a small cloud. In front of him flew a single creature larger than anything Jake had ever

[Whisperleech – lvl 174]

looked like small banners of cloth that extended from a humongous balloon with lightning crackling within. Like a massive sky-jellyfish or something like that, but with just ridiculous proportions. The cloth-like banners extended for more than fifty kilometers out from it as the main body

was amazed a creature of such size could still only be D-grade, much less have such a “low” level. Moreover, how it could feel so… unthreatening? Jake stared at it, and even when it also became aware of him and began attacking,

in and try to stab the massive creature. Primarily because he could only begin to imagine whatever goo it would spew when stabbed. He had

next one

easily passed the first test was expected. Practically everyone did, with the only ones struggling being those who were pure alchemists, having