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“Membership of the Order and Academy can naturally be rescinded at any point by you or as punishment if you break any rules.”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

slight punishment, like paying a fine or something and don’t flatter yourself to truly think you are worth that to them. Of course, there are a few ways to more or less shield yourself from anything. Like being associated

part as she referred to

the blessing of the Malefic One

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 out with the Divine

align yourself with, or you could just not mess with people you shouldn’t mess with. If you feel

hand and asked: “How

information package within the token.

Jake did the same thing, but only some of the surface stuff as he would

leaders with a gold token asked. Jake guessed

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,

to answer a question many had, but someone else did raise their hand: “How will the shared

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.

wanted to see if she had any interest in sharing his residences as he assumed he would get a big one, but she declined. Which

woman before besides his mother either, so it

talking to others, which was when Jake discovered the tokens also worked as phones within the Order to contact one another. It

token signature bound to the inherent mana and soul signature of the other person owning the token, making it far more secure and borderline impossible for anyone besides the two speaking to intercept the

Jake decided to keep calling it a number

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 through, and the moment he did, it

room began emptying out. All of the Risen went together to 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 also informed him one of them had died during the dungeon, which Jake

Before he left, Irinixis quickly came over and stood beside him. “I

off again. Jake did wonder why she showed him special interest. Well, a special interest that she didn’t show the other people

about it more as he activated the token and made a gate open. It was instinctual and easy to do with the token, and when he stepped through, he

green courtyard before him with a large house standing atop some

in front 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 of sorts with trees leading up to the house.

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

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 above;

the house himself as he walked closer. Mind you, he needed to walk closer as the walkway with grass and trees on

even saw modern-looking furniture, but he didn’t really consider it as he also spotted someone in the mansion’s

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

the ground.

[Elf – lvl 109]

early twenties, though to be fair, all elves he had ever seen looked young. She had the 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 way