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“Membership of the Order and Academy can naturally be rescinded at any point by you or as punishment if you break any rules.”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

Irin said, shaking her head. “It isn’t like there is anything in it for some powerhouse to slap you to death, and chances are they will get a slight punishment, like paying a fine or something and don’t flatter yourself to truly think you are worth that to them. Of course,

said this part as she referred to the

Malefic One himself, or perhaps just someone subordinate to the

last part was naturally said 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

with, or you could just not mess with people you shouldn’t mess with. If you feel like things aren’t fair or work

sort raised her hand

package

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

or higher located?” one of the leaders 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

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

had, but someone else did raise their hand: “How will

stars above will have entire 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, if you live in

it to be over. He did throw Reika a glance across the room, but she subtly shook her head. He wanted

woman before besides his mother either, so it was good to

continued for a few 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

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 the

decided to keep calling it a number as that was just

he declined all of them. Draskil was once more the first to leave without getting any numbers as he went over to a wall with a small magic circle on, held the token up, and made a Malefic Dragonkin-sized gateway appear. He stepped

one residence, it appeared, while Jake had a brief talk with Reika where he learned she would be with the one other bronze token alchemist while the others from the clan would be by themselves at their respective dorms. She

went over to a wall. Before he left, Irinixis quickly came over and stood beside him. “I wish you a good time in the Academy and Order,

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

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

lush green courtyard before him with a large house standing atop some stairs. It had a black glass

of it as his Sense 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

should also be noted that all of the observers Jake had felt while in any of the common areas were gone. In there, the only one he knew was still 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

blue sky above. He instinctively knew it was not a real star,

himself as he walked closer. Mind you, he needed to walk closer as the walkway with grass and trees on each side was several hundred

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 the mansion’s entry hall - the one observing

with a tall ceiling with several large

Master,” she said as she knelt on the ground. Jake instantly used Identify as

[Elf – lvl 109]

usual pointed ears and a generally slender build too. She was wearing a white dress that didn’t cover as much as it probably should, and the