The Primal Hunter

Once every person had gotten their tokens, there was just one more round of orientation before all the students would be let loose. Jake followed behind again as they were all led back to the old waiting chamber and quickly went into new “camps” of sorts based on the level of their tokens. It was a bit odd in Jake’s mind to put yourself into a box based on colored crystal tokens.

“So, as a final thing, let’s have a small orientation,” the succubus began once everyone was back in position. “Let us start with some basic ground rules of the Order of the Malefic Viper, more specifically, the rules while part of the Academy. Do note that the Academy is but one branch of the whole Order, and entry into the Academy also means membership of the Order, so you will all have these imposed on you while on Order ground.

“Membership of the Order and Academy can naturally be rescinded at any point by you or as punishment if you break any rules.”

With those words, a large screen was projected in front of all of them with a small list of six rules.

1. Guests of the Order of the Malefic Viper shall be treated as members for all subsequent rules.

2. Killing any member of the Order within common grounds is strictly prohibited. Killing any member of the Order within their own or a residence they have been allowed access to is strictly prohibited.

3. Destruction of property is strictly prohibited and will result in severe punishment partly determined by the damaged party. Slaves, pets, servants, and other auxiliary living creatures under the control of a member of the Order fall under the umbrella of property. If these creatures break any rules, the owner will be punished accordingly.

4. Theft of property from any member of the Order is strictly prohibited.

5. Unauthorized entry into the residence of another member of the Order is heavily disincentivized and can lead to punishment.

6. Any case of perceived injustice can be brought to an Order official, and it will be processed. Punishment will, if proven correct, be subjectively determined. If the plaintiff is found in the wrong, punishment will be served upon them instead for wasting the official’s time.

Jake read them over and was surprised at how little there was and how basic it was. It was basically just saying not to kill, steal or destroy the stuff of others and if any of these things – or anything else you didn’t like – happened to you, to just go complain to an official and hope they take your side or get fucked yourself.

“The rules are purposefully simple as honestly having a long list serves little purpose. Ah, and before anyone gets any fancy ideas, then guardians of the Order are always present and actively observing any non-residence at all times, so assassination attempts tend to not work very well. Now, any questions?” Irin explained as she asked with a light smile.

An elf in the room raised their hand as she acknowledged him. “What happens if a servant acts of their own volition and breaks one of the rules?”

“Depends entirely on what happens and how the judge in question feels that day. If they think you had something to do with it, everything from being told it was a fun idea to getting your entire homeworld destroyed can happen,” Irin shrugged.

A few hands were instantly raised at that as the succubus took the initiative to explain.

“While these rules exist, don’t think for a moment they are absolute. Punishment is entirely determined by those in power, and with enough influence and power, you can do borderline anything. You can’t all seriously think anything would happen if an A-grade feels annoyed and decides to erase some weak white token D-grade academy student, can you?”

She chuckled a bit at the sentiment, but the mood in the waiting room did not seem to agree with her as people now looked a bit more worried than before. Reika also frowned, and the only ones who looked relatively relaxed were Jake, Draskil, and the Risen.

get a slight punishment, like paying a fine or something and don’t flatter yourself to truly think you are worth that to

part as she referred

all, carry the blessing of the Malefic One himself, or perhaps just someone

as she motioned towards Jake and Draskil, as well as a few others. In fact, most leaders of factions had low-level blessings from the Viper, but all of them besides Jake and Draskil had only the Minor one. Jake acted like he also had only a Lesser one, but Draskil truly stood

to align yourself with, or you could just not mess with people you shouldn’t mess with. If you feel like things aren’t fair or work as they should, get strong enough to fix it or adapt,

sort raised her hand and asked: “How will lessons in

information package within the

tokens not to ask any more questions, only to have them be shut down. Jake did the same thing, but only some of the

with a gold token asked. Jake guessed gold meant either high-end three-star performance or maybe early four-star too? Either way, gold surely had to mean

that easily discerned as it is underground, hidden by formations and spatially expanded,” Irin answered. “Also, to answer the obvious follow-up, your token is already linked to your residences, and simply by activating any of the gates spread throughout, you can enter it. The token is also used to leave it again. Each residence is placed in a neighborhood of sorts with individuals roughly around your level, but don’t fret, each residence is individually

but someone else did raise

courtyards with several buildings, also giving ample space to house your servants or followers. It is also entirely possible for those with residences to just have others come stay with them if they so wish; it’s all up to them. And no,

room, but she subtly shook her head. He wanted to see

had never tried living with a woman before besides his mother either, so it was good

more minutes as some more simple questions were asked. After that, a few people began going around and talking to others, which was when Jake discovered the tokens also worked as phones

naturally exchanged his number with Reika and found that the number to Irinixis was already inside. Well, Jake said number, but it was more like a token signature bound to the inherent mana and soul signature of

it

getting any numbers as he went over to a wall with a small magic circle on, held the token up, and

one other bronze token alchemist while the others from the clan would be by themselves at

as he went over to a wall. Before he left, Irinixis quickly came over and stood

last part with a wink as she scurried off again. Jake did wonder why she showed him special interest. Well, a special interest that she didn’t show the other people with outstanding performances. She hadn’t tried this with Draskil or any of the Risen but seemed to only focus on him. Maybe she just didn’t find Scalekin or Risen to her

gate open. It was instinctual and easy to do with the token, and when he

went through the gate, he instantly saw the sunlight and the lush green courtyard before him with a large house standing atop some stairs. It had a black glass façade, and Jake instantly

of the Malefic Viper reacted to the herbs. Good for potions, he noted. Entire flowerbeds were lining the perimeter of the house with a large lawn of sorts with trees leading up to the house. It looked

looking from the outside was a certain snake god. So that was nice for privacy, as at least there were no longer a dozen hidden powerhouses looking at all times. However, he did also feel something from

looked up to see the bright sun and a blue sky above. He instinctively knew it was not a real star, but it was really fucking close. As in, Jake didn’t doubt there was an actual celestial object

closer as the walkway with

the modern look continuing. Tiled floors, concrete walls, glass facades. He even saw modern-looking furniture, but he didn’t really consider it as he also spotted someone in

over and opened the large door leading into the house, only to be met with a large open hall with a tall ceiling with several

said as she knelt on the ground. Jake instantly

[Elf – lvl 109]

looked young. She had the usual pointed ears and a generally slender build too. She