The Primal Hunter

Meira waited in the entrance hall after she had changed her clothes out of the ragged robe and cleaned herself up. She had even set her hair and tried to look as representable as possible for her new master to arrive. Not a single part of her doubted the first impression would be important, so she wanted to look and perform her best.

She knew it would be a good while before he arrived, so she had gone through the mansion. There were seven buildings adjoining to it, including a large lab, two greenhouses, three more residential buildings, and a large warehouse of some sort to be customized by the new owner.

The main mansion was massive with dozens of rooms, three stories not counting the underground, and everything looked incredibly well made. It was like the buildings of the Brimstone Conglomerate and only hammered home that her new master was a person of influence.

Meira had gone through everything in preparation for him to arrive. She had located the meditation chamber, the formation control room, the relaxation rooms, and even the bed-chamber. Considering D-grades no longer needed to sleep, the use of that room was obvious, especially with a bed that large, made to accommodate several people at once.

Once everything had been gone through, she had returned and was now waiting in the entrance hall. It took only an hour more before something happened. At the entrance to the courtyard appeared a single figure wearing black clothes and a mask. She looked through the one-way glass out and the door leading into the mansion as she subtly tried to study him as he also stood still and appeared to observe his new surroundings.

Soon enough, he began walking towards the mansion. Meira had already gone over hundreds of scenarios in her head of how this first meeting would go and felt as prepared as she could when he went through the door and laid eyes on her.

“Welcome, Master.”

She said the words with as much servility as she could, making sure to keep her head low to make it absolutely clear she knew her position.

“Thanks? May I know who you are?”

His answer was unexpected, especially his tone as she felt genuine confusion. His voice also seemed very relaxed and not as intimidating as she had feared. She dared raise her head as she met the admittedly frightening yellow eyes, but she tried to keep her cool as she answered.

What followed was even more confusing as Meira introduced herself, and her new master kept asking probing questions. At first, she began to believe it was a test for her to prove she truly recognized her position, but that became doubtful as he kept sounding so genuinely perplexed.

This wasn’t good. Meira’s new master had clearly not expected her to be there. Meira tried to calm herself down and make it clear she would be useful, but he kept seeming dissatisfied at her presence. If he decided to throw her out…

“Villy, what the fuck is this?” he suddenly said, as an aura of bloodlust poured out, making Meira shiver. Who was this Villy? What was-

Then suddenly, she felt something else. Like the entire world stood still, and an utterly oppressive aura appeared. Every fiber of her being cried out as she shivered, her mind unable to comprehend what exactly was happening. Yet she still knew… instinctively she knew, after spending so long within the Order, seeing the statues, and being bathed in their aura:

It was the Malefic One.

Her mind was jumbled as she couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Meira’s psyche was in disarray as the aura weighed down on her, and she felt herself slip in and out of consciousness, but she was mercilessly forcefully awakened again and again. She felt like death was upon her, tears streaming down her face as she wasn’t even able to open her mouth to beg for merc-

“Relax that fucking presence, man, look at her!”

Meira barely registered the voice of her new master, but it shocked her nearly as much as the appearance of the Primordial. How could he… how did he-

“Fine, fine. Geez.”

were spoken, the presence crushing her subsided as suddenly it was like the god had never been there. She

tell me… why the fuck do I suddenly own

that of a god… if the aura of a god made you feel like you could die at any point, the aura she was currently feeling made her think she would be killed at any moment by something just as scary

are doing!” the

first time in what felt like forever, Meira could breathe again. Yet she was still shivering and crying as hopelessness and confusion dominated her mind. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but she knew she was the cause of it. She knew her new master was unsatisfied with her presence. As for why the Malefic One would suddenly appear… it almost felt like this was just an illusion, or maybe she was already

up. Meira looked up and saw

gently pushed down, and she felt herself sit on some kind of chair. “Deep

the-“ the Malefic One

turned to the god.

stared as she desperately tried to understand what was going on. How could a mortal yell at the Malefic One? Why was the Malefic One here to begin with? Why did the Primordial not seem offended or to

try to make herself smaller and hope to fade away as the

looking at Villy and the poor elf that looked white as a ghost and like she was certain death was right around the corner. He always forgot how much the aura of a

slave you would get? No, my interfering would only have been

the question of why the hell that is

Think about how no one else can observe within this residence – besides me, of course – and consider why the only assistant provided by the Order is a slave. It all comes down to the basic principle of trust,” the

had taken a deep breath as he calmed himself a

Maybe you need someone to fetch you alchemical materials, deliver a message or an invitation, or a plethora of other mundane tasks not worth your time. A slave like this can also help you in the alchemy lab as a great test subject, take care of your garden, or just help you relieve boredom. The point is, having someone so close and working with you will inadvertently lead to them finding out some of your secrets and have access to valuable items you own. This is ignoring the fact that it would be

seemed to be finished with his point, but Jake still stood annoyed. He didn’t like it nevertheless, and when he looked at the elf just staring down onto the ground, trying to hold back her tears and biting her own lip, he just felt

still don’t like it, and I don’t see any reason to repeat an old conversation on the topic. You know my stance, and you knew I wouldn’t like it. You could at least

manipulation. Like if someone made an illusion to make them look like you perfectly, that girl on Earth could spill the beans and be none the wiser. She would still be hit by the backlash after the

anything in the first part as he knew he had no legs to stand on when it came to arguing the efficiency of contacts and whatnot. Even the second part, Jake understood

and believed it wasn’t a coincidence it had used “under

mean attacking an extension of you. Killing her would mean the destruction of your property, and dependent on how mad that makes you, it could lead to heavy punishment. Also, with the slave contract, everyone knows she would be useless to try and extract

just do all the mundane stuff myself rather than force someone else to. So

away then. That would be far kinder than release a freed slave within the Order only to be

to where she originally came from, or just on some weak world or something. I know Earth is not an option, but there

directly to me, released your aura, and didn’t bother hiding anything anymore, that ship sailed. It isn’t like the memories can be scrubbed from her head, and I don’t trust any contract less than a soul contract that may as well be a slavery one to keep her quiet. Even such a contract would be proof in itself of her association with the Order or at least someone powerful at one point, leading to her life

wall. He looked down at the elf as he regarded Villy again. “We both know that is bullshit. Shit, you can just place her on some fringe planet no one has ever heard

with a smile. He didn’t look angry or disappointed or really like this conversation was of any consequence but remained oddly neutral. Like he truly didn’t care what Jake decided to do.

“What?” Jake asked.

decide,”

she just looked down at the ground