The Primal Hunter

Right away, Jake knew this time was different than any prior. The feeling he got was one not from a perspective… it was one where he was purely an observer of the world - of everything that happened. He was not bound by the figures in the Records but merely a historian gazing upon it as he experienced reality as it once was.

Before him was a vast wasteland of red rock, stretching infinitely into the distance. Pillars of sizes incomprehensible to him marked the surface. On top of two of these pillars stood figures, each spread thousands of kilometers apart, yet they spoke as if they were right next to one another.

“You really don’t know when to surrender, do you?” one of the figures said. It was a primarily black dragon but with a dark green sheen to its scales. Spikes of pure power covered its spine as it had a lithe form, yet it still looked more powerful than ever. It was only about twenty meters long, and Jake guessed this was a purposefully smaller form.

This was Jake’s first time seeing the Malefic Viper in this form. This was clearly an evolved form of the B-grade dragon, but based on the sheer difference and aura, Jake reckoned this wasn’t A-grade anymore but a fully-fledged S-grade being. Late S-grade, based on his instincts.

Across from him stood a man. Just a regular human from the looks of it with a half-burnt beard, his armor was broken now, making him wear little more than a loincloth and a simple-looking axe in his hand. It looked worse than the average one from any hardware store as it was rusty and chipped.

Needless to say, this man wasn’t just a regular human despite his looks. He gave off an aura of an S-grade, but one quite a bit weaker than the Malefic Viper. Perhaps he was only mid-tier S-grade? Jake wasn’t sure, but he had a strong feeling that was the case.

This man breathed heavily as he looked around him. “Damn, everyone else just left like that?” he muttered.

“It appears that to them, failure of the event was preferable to death. A logical choice you seem to not comprehend,” the Malefic Viper answered.

“Bah, why leave when I still got fight left in me!?” he said with a huge grin.

The Malefic Viper looked down on the human as a scoff resounded through the empty wasteland. “You humans and your hubris. Forever ignorant of how inferior you are. You don’t seriously think you can win, so disappear from my sight. I have wasted enough time on you already, you cockroach.”

Just after those words were said, the sky suddenly parted as light bathed the entire wasteland. A golden orb descended from out of nowhere, giving off an aura that almost made Jake’s mouth water. He couldn’t Identify it… but he was certain this was something special. An artifact? Natural Treasure? No matter what, it was what these two were there fighting for.

However, only the Malefic Viper looked up towards it as the human kept his eyes trained on the dragon before him.

“As every other human fell, only one stood before the evil black dragon that had terrorized the human race… despite how injured and how much weaker he was, he refused to back down and eventually managed to beat back this evil. Isn’t that a good story? One the bards will sing songs of for ages to come?” the bearded man said as a laugh as he lifted his axe and threw it over his shoulder.

“A better tale is how the stupid human was killed by the dragon as he was too moronic to know when to quit,” the Viper said, still looking up towards the orb. The treasure was still sealed, but soon it would be released.

“I like my version better,” the human shrugged.

Finally, the Viper bothered to regard the human again. “If you want to die that badly, be my guest.”

With that, the entire wasteland suddenly turned dark green as intense mana gathered. The human responded as a golden aura emanated from him, protecting him. “Come! Let us make a legend of the ages!” he yelled as he took the initiative and flew over with speed that may as well have been teleportation.

Jake could only keep up due to the special state allowed by Path of the Heretic-Chosen, but he was still shocked as they impacted each other. A claw met the axe as a shockwave was released, tumbling thousands of pillars all around them as a crater formed underneath – the only unaffected thing being the golden orb floating above.

The clash had an obvious winner as the human was sent flying back, leaving a trail of blood as his shoulder was torn up. He instantly attacked again but was repelled as hundreds of dark green orbs of mana formed and fired beams towards him.

Yet he refused to give up as he managed to dodge them and continue his assault. The golden aura around him only intensified as he got slightly faster for every moment, and soon he managed to reach the Viper again.

They clashed once more as the winner remained clear. Jake observed intently as the claw and axe impacted one another, and Jake noted how the claw of the Viper seemed to inherently infuse poison into every blow, and he felt oddly familiar energy from the claw. Fang of the Malefic Viper… in the claw? Jake investigated this as he also kept following the battle.

his arm, with the poison also seeping in. With every clash, the difference in power was obvious, and yet Jake

the

accumulating, yet the axe warrior just kept going – the grin on his face not fading for even

they wrought was earth-shattering. The Viper was superior in every way, even if magic seemed to be his forte. Meanwhile, the human just swung

Flashes of the two clashing repeatedly dominated his mind as the situation

human was sent barreling backward as the Viper followed up with a breath of pure dark

he looked stable, he coughed out black

Malefic Viper said. While the warrior was injured and bloody, he himself barely had a few chipped scales. “You humans never fail to amaze me. So fragile and so inferior, yet you keep trying. It

have to brag about?” the warrior

stared at the man with contempt as he briefly tossed the orb above a look. “A human so old, yet so ignorant. Creatures and races of the system exist on a spectrum, and on that spectrum, so-called “overgrown lizards” are on another league than you pathetic humans. You are merely fodder for the progress of those competent enough to evolve away from their feeble

the man said as he laughed. He raised his fist and slapped his own chest as he grinned. “But this right here? This

guy was referring to his ripped chest or his race as a human, but the man

for

got this!” the man said as

weapon? So what? Is the result not

the broken scraps of armor still on his body. “I

at him, and Jake was certain that what the Viper was doing was just waiting for the orb above to become claimable.

who break the shackles of humanity and ascend. Those who toss away their inferior forms. Why else do you think you

I do know I don’t need any of that lizard

began glowing with energy, but the Viper didn’t bother. To him, the fight was already a foregone conclusion. So… he decided to

despite your shortcomings. Now die, proud to be killed by a superior being,” the Viper said

clearly insistent on killing the man using his superior physique. The man responded as he lifted his glowing axe and charged. Axe met claw as they

man dared challenge the evil dragon,” the warrior spoke as he charged. The golden aura around him intensified even more as he released power that Jake had no idea where

as for the first time, the Viper lost out in a clash. “A legend

the man’s gaze and felt something he had never expected. Something straight from his Bloodline as he felt it hum to life upon looking at another human. It was not a feeling of wanting to challenge him

would be. The Malefic Viper was a monster many levels above the axe warrior, yet that inkling the man wouldn’t lose only amplified as his golden aura intensified. From the man’s gaze, he didn’t believe losing was even a

was what Jake could only describe as flabbergasted as he was pushed back and a few scales broke. The dragon clearly saw and felt this as he was enraged. The Viper roared as he flew forward, smashing the man flying, but

don’t need any fancy

as the Viper bit forward. They clashed as the human was blasted away, leaving a trail of blood. But at the same time, the Viper roared in pain

need any

with golden power as he lifted his axe again and chopped. The Viper responded as he released a blast of magic, knocking the man back before snapping forward with insane speed as his

roared as he released a Dragon’s Breath straight down at the pinned man. He managed to raise his axe as he shouted in response, the axe glowing gold. It released a glow that managed to block the breath for a few moments before suddenly his weapon exploded in

axe,” the Viper said as

gone, entirely eroded away, and his

human looked down and saw a fragment of the broken fang of the Viper he had smashed off before. He picked it up as the dragon scoffed,

need

and carved it into the rough shape of an axe. It almost conformed to his will as he looked towards the Viper with bloodshot eyes. “I just need whatever the hell I can get