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.”

just a person. As they were spoken, the presence crushing her subsided as suddenly it was like the

why the fuck do

blacked out from sheer fear. It was different than 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 as any diety. It seemed the same on the surface but was vastly different. Her mind

you are doing!”

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

new master said as she suddenly felt herself be helped up. Meira looked up and saw the scaled figure stand behind the masked man helping her

and she felt herself sit

you later the-“ the Malefic

said as he turned to the

just 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

words as all she could do was try to make herself smaller and hope to fade away as the two began talking right

certain death was right around the corner. He always forgot how much the aura of a god really wore down others, and Villy had clearly not bothered holding anything

you really think I descended down and ordered what kind of slave you would get? No, my interfering would only have been for you to not get one, as it is customary for one with your performance. It was entirely done by members of the

to the question of why the hell that is a procedure,” Jake

and talking openly like this even with her present. Think about how no one else can observe within this residence – besides me, of course – and consider

deep breath as he calmed himself a bit and let the Viper keep

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 annoying and stressful to constantly be on watch within your own home. A

stood annoyed. He didn’t like it nevertheless, and when he looked at the

stance, and you knew I wouldn’t like it. You could at

of being limited in scope, impossible to revise without consent from both parties, and can even be circumvented in many cases through smart wording or even just mental 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 fact, though, once she realized she was fooled, but at that point, the damage is done. That doesn’t happen with slaves, as the limitations are far more extreme, especially the kind deployed by the Order. In fact. Even if she was fooled, she would

bite into anything in the first part as he knew he had no legs to stand on when it came

remembered the wording and believed it wasn’t a coincidence it had used “under control” rather than

would 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

and would rather just do all the mundane stuff myself

then. That would be far kinder than release a freed slave within the Order only to be picked up by someone else

take her someone else then,” Jake argued. “Take her back to where she originally came from, or just on some weak world or something. I know Earth is not an option,

to be honest. The moment you called out 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

at the elf as he regarded Villy again. “We both know that is bullshit. Shit, you can just place her on some fringe planet

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. “But how about I

“What?” Jake asked.

her decide,”

again. Meira had kept quiet throughout after her shaking had stopped, and by now, she just looked down at the ground with empty eyes. She didn’t move even an