The Primal Hunter

Jake sat in the meditation chamber as he went over some basic knowledge within the Token related to the Academy as a whole. He had wondered for a while how exactly an educational institution would function in the multiverse, much less an Order of poison alchemists, and the way it worked was rather, well, simple?

There wasn’t a curriculum or a set schedule of teachers and their lessons. There were no long-term lesson plans or forced subjects either; there weren’t even defined grades or “years” of any kind. It was all honestly weird from the perspective of someone from Earth who had gone through any kind of traditional education. He even saw that those teaching were, more often than not, also students themselves.

Classes and lessons did exist, of course, but you had to sign up to them individually, and they didn’t end with any exam or test or anything. There wasn’t attendance either, but it would be stupid not to come to a lesson you had signed up to due to one other thing: Credits.

No, not Credits as in the standard system currency, but Academy Credits used to sign up for classes. Ah, but these Academy Credits could be bought using regular Credits and some other means. To attend a lesson cost these Academy Credits with the teacher getting a portion based on how much was spent by those attending.

It was a free-market capitalist dream-version of an educational institution with ample competition to get people to attend your lessons. Jake was honestly surprised at how everything worked and did question the efficiency of it, but then again… he had a feeling most members of the Order were selfish assholes, so they needed selfish motivations to do anything.

Lessons themselves were as varied as they came. Some were massive seminars where it looked like hundreds of thousands if not millions could attend, performed by powerful individuals on their own specialties, while others were one-on-one lessons and practice. The most popular form was smaller lessons with below a hundred people and often combined teaching and practical workshops.

Time was also a massive factor. Some lessons lasted a few hours while Jake saw one that said it had an expected running time of fifty years. It was one related to growing certain kinds of herbs and would seriously last fifty years based on the description without any breaks or anything in between. This seemed insane to Jake, even if he could see it really did not matter as the lesson catered to C- and B-grades, where spending fifty years wouldn’t be that bad.

That was another thing. Jake could sign up for any lesson he wanted at any time, though most did have an advised grade. Shit, if he had the Academy Credits – or AC for short – he could attend the lesson of an S-grade if he so wanted. Maybe even a god at some point. Of course, it would be an utter waste as they would be speaking about way too advanced subjects, but it was an option.

As for what kind of lessons there were? Well, it would be a better question to ask what kind of lessons there weren’t. Jake saw everything from rituals, potions, elixirs, all kinds of poison, everything related to herbs and natural treasures, including how to grow and find them.

There were even lessons on practical applications of poisons where one could use them on targets and observe their effects. Jake didn’t like the sound of that but would rather do another kind of lesson: combat.

Yep, the alchemist academy had combat lessons too, and a wide variety of them. They were far less, and they were definitely not as popular from the looks of it, but many did also hold lessons in them. In fact, it looked like anyone could make their own lessons at any point for others to sign up for using the Token.

The Token was the root of everything and functioned as both a lesson plan and the only way of signing up for things. It also stored the AC and all the information regarding lessons. It even had a small spatial storage in it. Jake kept sitting in the room, tinkering with it a while longer as he went through some potential lessons for fun.

Oh yeah, while there weren’t really any school years per-se, there were certain set periods where new members were recruited. Jake theorized this was for the ones making lessons to focus on stuff new students would need in those periods. In fact, he saw quite a lot catered towards newer students in the upcoming weeks, including topics related to general knowledge of the wider multiverse.

He also found many interesting classes on a subject that honestly shouldn’t have surprised him. There were thousands total pertaining to languages. The reason why these were interesting was that he saw even E-grades who would hold these classes. Of course, with Tongue of the Myriad Races, such a thing was completely unnecessary for Jake. He and others from Earth had really lucked out there.

Jake had not decided on anything yet but would wait and probably take some of the ones aimed at people new to the multiverse. There were a few related to understanding affinities and what ones you were good at, which he especially wanted to give a go, as so far, he felt like he only discovered if he was good at something when faced directly with it.

He spent a bit longer going over stuff before he was forced to leave the meditation chamber again. Now, he was a bit reluctant to do this, as his sphere had made him aware Meira had been sitting outside the room for the last nine hours, completely unmoving as she waited for him.

Getting his shit together, he walked out. Meira stood up immediately when he exited and bowed deeply. Jake threw her a glance and asked: “I have been wondering, how much do you know about herbs and natural treasures and such?”

“I have been educated in both herbology and toxicology and possess skills related to both. In addition, I also have skills pertaining to Identifying and acquiring any kind of natural treasure requested, as well as the locations and methods of which I can acquire them within the Order,” Meira quickly answered.

had picked up over the last day or so since Jake arrived: her ability to avoid referring to Jake in any direct way. It

Neurotoxin properties from the warehouse as well as some

Meria seemed to be to actually allow her to feel useful by making her do things. It was just small things, like asking her to show him where something was or maybe check up on the garden and make sure everything was okay or any other mundane task. Jake believed, perhaps wrongly, that with time she would learn he wasn’t

as she bowed and

yelled after her as she turned and bowed again in acknowledgment before enthusiastically

Jake muttered as he went towards the lab. Hey, even if he was dealing with her, he would still get some work done, and one of the classes he really wanted to attend was related to Neurotoxins. Jake already used Hemotoxins and Necrotoxins quite a bit,

ones found in nature, but with the system naturally came many more. Ethtoxins, also known as ethereal poison or soul poison, was something Jake had also dabbled in, but some toxins directly targeted mana, some that targeted stamina, and, of course, also ones for

storage as he saw Reika was calling him. He swiftly picked up as he answered in his best customer service voice: “Jake speaking,

a worried tone as the

So, how are you

knew it would also work using telepathy. Shit, the

fine here, and I must admit the accommodations are a lot better than expected. I had assumed a dorm would mean shared living space and possibly even communal alchemy labs and such, but we all have private rooms

Well, there is this one little thing, but I am working on it. Anyway, have you had time

I am coordinating with some of the others from the Noboru clan to take some lessons together. This is one of the reasons I contacted you as I wanted to relay our plans in case you wanted to join some of them too,” she asked as Jake’s Token vibrated in the spatial

said, it included the lessons, with most of them being elementary lessons Jake himself had looked at, along with a lot related to basic knowledge of

few did seem interesting enough to join. He did, however, notice one thing: “How come only you and that Haruto guy will attend all of the lessons and not

Reika answered. “Those with White Tokens start with one hundred while Haruto and I started with a thousand each. We are already looking into ways of getting more, and it seems item donations will be the most straightforward

Academy Credits as naturally not everyone was suited for teaching or had anything worthwhile to teach. Of course, one

the Order. Fulfilling certain crafting requests, taking on quests from the Order, or holding a certain number of lessons with a good evaluation, as well as many

It was a bit like social media in that the users of the system were both the customers and the creators of the product. Sure,

AC yet, and he quickly discovered an issue… he couldn’t find it. He tried mentally searching the Token, but there just wasn’t any registered to it or

a bit but chose to answer Reika either way. “Yeah, donations will probably be good. I am sure you

right now, but it is hard, and as much as I hate to admit it, I doubt any of us from the clan have anything truly valuable to offer as

Order for a while, learn some valuable things, and return

that would be a waste. This entire place is a treasure trove of knowledge and wealth.

better get learning and improving,” Jake grinned to himself, perfectly understanding her thought process. The Order did indeed seem overwhelmingly abundant of opportunity.

before they finished the call. It seemed like everyone was settling in, and besides the guy who died during the dungeon, all

by now, and as he checked through stuff in the Token some more, he spotted something. A special lesson would be held soon and had just been put up now. The name was dramatic and instantly caught his eye, nearly as

flames of creations and

power found within your Truesoul, take control as your flames become a catalyst of creation and destruction alike. This course will also touch on the subject of integrating a Soulflame into your

Albaromoz Emberflight

Suggested Attendance Level: N/A

Duration: 1x 10-hour session.

AC Price: 420,000