The Primal Hunter

Meira sat and stared at the pile of papers within the western residence as she had been ordered. However, she was utterly lost as to what was expected of her. The assignment simply didn’t make any sense. She had done as asked the first time around already, but that was clearly unacceptable.

The problem was she couldn’t figure out what would be acceptable. She began shaking a bit at the thought. She hadn’t even served her new Master for a few days, and she was already disappointing him and failing tasks. Perhaps she simply wasn’t good enough to comprehend what he asked of her? Was there some profound reason or deep meaning behind the task he wanted her to see?

There was only one thing she felt relatively sure of: this was a test. It had to be. Was it a way to scout out her thought process and evaluate if she was suited to serve? Maybe it was just as simple as him wanting the insights of a nobody like her because he valued perspectives widely different from his own?

She recalled the final thing he had said about if she had to choose a path for a sibling of hers. She had two sisters and five brothers, but her brothers were already set in their paths as builders and miners, while her two sisters were naturally trained to be married off or sworn to another faction or influential family.

But, what if she had to pick lessons for them? They didn’t know anything about alchemy, but would it do them good to learn? Were they even talented enough to learn it? Her one sister was pretty good at mana control and a promising mage, so maybe?

Meira began looking at the lessons again. Her sister was still free, and if she learned some useful things, she would be able to increase her value. Maybe even enough to be viewed as more than just someone to be married off. Skilled alchemists were valued nearly anywhere and by any faction, so that would be a good path. If she was talented in it.

Turning her gaze to the pages, she picked up one of the lessons she had picked before about finding the path suitable for yourself. If she had to pick for her sister, brother, or even herself… this had to be one of them, right? She was certain it would be good for anyone starting out on any new path to truly learn what they were good at.

The problem was… wouldn’t the other lessons be based on what it was discovered a person was talented at?

She thought again and remembered she had to answer why it was interesting. Meira thought about it and decided to write her reasoning on a separate piece of paper. As she prepared to write, a wild thought entered her head… wouldn’t it be interesting if her sister was talented enough to not just learn alchemy but even become a member of a faction? Maybe even the Order of the Malefic Viper?

That would mean she would not only be able to uplift herself but everyone else. If she was good enough, she could even buy or acquire their father, who had also been turned into a slave… maybe have some influence over the clan back home?

Don’t be stupid, she reminded herself as she slapped her own chin a few times, enough to draw blood. She wiped it off quickly before she sighed and wrote down that it would be interesting because it would allow someone to be more useful and have a better future. It was far more realistic her sister could become a valued servant or find work somewhere if she was a talented alchemist. Not by the Order of the Malefic Viper standards, but just for a small place like their village.

With this mindset, she tried to put together a proper list. She had been given three days, and she was certain it could not be this simple. Clearly, there was a deeper reason she had to realize, which was why she was given this much time.

Jake felt damn good finally having some alone time. No one bothered him for over a day as he just relaxed, ate toxic materials, chilled with books, and overall had a swell of a time. The mansion itself was filled to the brim with different things to explore, including some board games that reminded Jake of chess and even a damn television of sorts. A 3D television one could buy lessons for to enjoy on their own time.

where it was entirely possible Jake had been the strongest one attending. He had no interest

an entirely different level, and Jake was extremely interested in seeing how it would work out. Before he went, he decided

changed how his level displayed all the way down to 100 and shifted the color of his cloak to appear entirely dark green. He also took off his armor and put it in his spatial storage as he shifted to something more casual. Jake was pretty sure that most

damn obvious it was changed. It led to some doubt that Jake could

far as to change his boots. As for the mask, Jake thought a bit as he mentally tried to change it, and to

stepped through the gate to his

found himself standing not in a

saw different creatures already lounging on the different pavilions all around him. On one was a raging inferno that sometimes took on a

the center stage sat a single being in meditation too. It looked

but decided to just write it up to gods probably being able to customize their form more. Or maybe it was that the humanoid form was just highly customizable to

A few dragons and wyverns, a human, and some other scalekin were among them. It was all a bit of probing

presence worm his way as one of the dragons got curious, and the moment it impacted him, Jake glanced the way of the dragon. He met its eyes as Jake just stared. A second passed before the dragon averted its gaze, with Jake doing the

been observed by others, and after it, all probing coming his way dispersed. It was like he had passed some weird test to be allowed to stay there. Not that Jake thought a normal D-grade could manage being surrounded by C, B, and A-grades all around. He had no idea how to actually determine the grades of others present, except he knew true dragons had

time for the lesson to begin. The dragon teacher sitting down on the platform opened his eyes

”Welcome.”

it. Not a shadow of a doubt was in his mind that the A-grade below

to otherwise break. Melt a slab of metal even one’s own Dragonsbreath cannot leave a mark upon. It ignores anti-magical

The Alchemical Flame is something each of us has wielded on our path as alchemists. A loyal companion that has been at

The second part was also something he understood, even if it clearly led with an assumption of having done alchemy for a

of one’s soul. At first, this flame is merely another skill and a tool, but as with all other things, it changes

impacts the usage of all skills. Due to the malleable nature of the Alchemical Flame, the impact of Willpower is even greater; due to the conceptual nature of the Alchemical Flame, Willpower is more impactful. However, the unconscious effects of Willpower will result in changes to

was almost a shift on the mountaintop as if what the A-grade had just said was very revolutionary, or perhaps just went against what many presently did. Jake, of course, was mostly clueless about what

your Alchemical Flame becomes so ingrained within you to synchronize directly with your will, a new path opens. I hold this lesson because I recently experienced enlightenment in my struggles to improve my flame. I did not believe it possible,

the cradle of creation and the vessel of destruction incarnate within my palm. It faded as the flame ran out of mana, but the enlightenment remained. Allow me