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.

himself float upwards as he gathered mana in his hands. He also identified the

[Razormaw Rockshooter– lvl 151]

a lot more 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 bolts gathered around him. With a mental command, he released them all in a bombardment of pure death as the ground

destructive bolts every second as the insects struggled, some of them even trying to re-burrow in the ground. Jake shot that down

creatures, and Jake reckoned that most humans above level 135 or so could kill them. This was also why Gaze so easily killed

himself standing on flat plains with

– about three to four meters - lanky with sharp claws at the end of arms practically dragging across the ground. They had not seen Jake yet from where they stood but were instead curiously inspecting their surroundings as one of them began tearing up the ground for

Kalamore – 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 complaining a bit recently about being

ran over, they also spotted him. They all turned on a dime as they practically flew towards him, surpassing Jake’s own running speed. Jake met them as he stood his ground and swept his

as he dodged the third and weaved in between them as he swung his blade and cut one in the back. The third one attacked again, but Jake blocked it with his mana-infused gloves as he forcefully twisted its

back and drew blood, also infusing its venom. Weaksauce venom doing little more than provide him a bit of mana regeneration as Jake decapitated

really

he was now within some kind of cave with lava dripping

arena-like

Demon – lvl

humanoid, but the berserker part of the name proved quite relevant fast, as Jake didn’t see much intelligence and awareness in its

began burning and red pulsating veins that seemed to almost burn

allowed it to come. He blocked the first blow and found himself tossed airborne as a wave of fire licked across his body. Outmatched

time to respond as he stabbed his sword into his opponent, also making the

was now bleeding from a hole in its chest, but at the same time, the veins also began

really a stereotypical berserker. Take damage? Do

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 demon across the

but Jake didn’t let up as he kept cutting and kept stabbing. He was far faster and more agile, not allowing the demon to land a single 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

the poison and its own wounds as Jake stood unscathed besides a few burn marks on his cloak. He deactivated Arcane

get harder now, right?” Jake said to himself and the more than a hundred observers

he now found himself within an expansive sky, standing on a small cloud. In front of him flew a single

[Whisperleech – lvl 174]

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

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, he didn’t

a good idea as he really didn’t wanna storm 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 a strong

next

expected. Practically everyone did, with the only ones struggling being those who were pure alchemists, having likely not even evolved their classes yet, or were of a