The Primal Hunter

Jake sat in meditation a bit as he went over his gains and familiarized himself a bit more with Fangs of Man and his improved Fang of the Malefic Viper. Having the time, he also reached out to the Viper, who promptly answered.

“So, thoughts on the test dungeon? It is pretty old and outdated, but it still gets the job done, doesn’t it?” the Viper’s voice echoed in his head.

“Rather uninspired interior design, I must say. Very old-timey and old temple-like. Reminded me a bit of an abandoned crypt,” Jake answered jokingly.

“I would have the designer executed if she hadn’t died well over a trillion years ago,” Villy answered.

“Heh. Anyway, I think it was fine, but I don’t really have any frame of reference, now do I?”

“True. But you did at least get to fight a strong opponent,” Villy said with an obviously teasing tone. “Hydras aren’t easy foes, and this particular one sure had you countered.”

“I would have won without the timer,” Jake asserted.

“Maybe, maybe not. It did certainly become a possibility after your powerup and upgrade of Fangs. You used the Path of the Heretic-Chosen skill, right? Or have you gained some new skill or ability since last that makes you ignore cause and effect to travel through space and time?” the Viper asked.

“Nah, just the old and boring Path,” Jake answered, but he felt reluctant to get into details. The vision had not exactly been a flattering one for the Viper.

“Oh? Not spilling the beans what it is about?” the Viper asked. “Come on, you already saw my bad phase at B-grade back then. This can’t be worse.”

Jake decided to not hide anything if the Viper wanted to pry as he just said four words. “Valdemar. Fang of man.”

A few seconds of silence followed. It was enough for Jake to consider if saying it was a mistake, but luckily the Viper finally spoke:

“Was there a golden sphere involved or present?”

“Yep.”

“Ah… right.”

“Yep…”

two of them sat in silence for a while before Jake finally broke it. “Pretty specieist back then,

context?” the Viper asked. “It was a different

up shit when younger… and it wasn’t like you

respect. The enlightened races treated all monster races like trash and viewed them as lesser, while the powerful monsters began looking down on humans and elves and the like. It was a kill-or-be-killed kind of scenario whenever

to humans before but always when they came in groups or were vastly higher level. I still held respect for humans, however, not as fighters but as creators. They were some of the best craftsmen around, with

rather unique,” Jake

know the half of it. Valdemar was and still is an absolute monster. That fight back then was a humiliating loss that made me reconsider my stance on the enlightened races as a whole and began working with them more, not as servants but equals. You also need to understand that humans as a whole are far more reliant on Records and history than a beast like me. You nearly always need legacies and such to

a single choice in D-grade and only a handful in his entire journey to godhood. Beasts instead choose their path solely by their actions and their evolutions. This is

could never reach the top as an individual, only a collective. They had forced upon them professions that result in inherent non-combat potential, something that in

that. The multiverse is far too open to opportunities, and a set scale doesn’t matter. Too many ways to grow more powerful exist. Valdemar forged a path I could not comprehend and grasped power beyond anyone else I had ever faced at the time. He was not some paragon of his race or someone more knowledgeable than anyone else. He was just an individual. He opened my eyes to never looking down at someone for their race alone, especially not enlightened species. As time passed, it has only been confirmed again, and again the true power you can achieve isn’t defined by your race but

long speech as Jake listened intently. He liked the explanation even if there was not much

are actually embarrassed,

you did something was the hallmark of someone embarrassed and Villy seemed to really want to justify and explain why he acted

it in? I am beginning to really dislike that skill of yours that just shows you uncurated shit. If someone from the Holy Church got such a skill, they would

know even evil snake gods can learn to grow

an obvious question Jake couldn’t help

The thing is, Valdemar only truly fights someone when he has a cause. A justification that makes him want to fight and create a legend from it. Ah, but if you speak of a duel… well, let’s just say I tend to avoid them as fighting him is a pain. In a fight to the death, the most likely is either one party retreating or mutual destruction. This assumes third parties don’t involve themselves and we fight on

not

sounds like you had quite the journey, and I will say that taking inspiration from Valdemar would be smart. You and he do have some similarities in mindset but are just as different, but if it is just about melee fighting and his application of will, go right ahead. Just

“Such as?”

when it comes to manipulating mana is so bad he ended up completely giving up on it and eventually transformed it all into stamina and health somehow through sheer rejection of the resource. Also, his profession was very much neglected, which was part of the reason why he was so strong despite his low race level. Valdemar was

me guess, his profession is to be a brewer of some kind?”

only thing he figured out how to really do as his father apparently owned a brewery before the system. Well, Valdemar said his father owned a brewery but later said he just made moonshine and sold

like you two made friends later on?” Jake asked half-rhetorically. The Viper seemed to know a lot of personal stuff about the

That first encounter was not our last, and we butted heads a dozen or so more times before godhood. I did win some and lose some, but more often, it never got that extreme as one party had an advantage making the other back off. After godhood, it ended up being an utter stalemate. It was and still is for all the Primordials, so eventually, we ended up just co-existing and, in some ways, got close. It is hard to personally know someone for countless years and not begin to understand them and get to know them. Of course, some get along better than others, and there is plenty of healthy rivalry going on, but we

you and Eversmile didn’t strike me as on the friendliest of terms and didn’t you kind of screw over Stormild with

disfunction. Have no doubt that if both needed help with a task, they would also come to me and ask, and

off with a warning not to look down on humans this time around,

your benevolence,” the Viper