The Primal Hunter

Jake had so far wondered one thing during this lesson so far. How the hell was it worth 420,000 AC? Like, sure, it sounded like it was an interesting viewpoint and application of Willpower merged with the Alchemical Flame, but it didn’t seem that special. It was basically just a trick most would probably figure out at some point themselves and definitely not worth paying that much for. It was also possible that those at higher grades just got a shitload of AC.

Luckily, after the first hour and the introduction was complete, his answer was given.

”To achieve this oscillation and resonance between your Willpower and Alchemical Flame, I have set up a number of methods and training exercises. It will primarily be done within the Soulspace and will depend on if you possess a Soulflame or not. The first parts can be done either way,” the A-grade dragon said.

He waved his hand as crystals appeared on each pavilion at once. Jake inspected it for a moment as he walked over and held it in his hand after a brief scan.

”This information crystal will hold several exercises to be done as well as my own insights during the time of enlightenment, as well as even experimental reports of prior testing I have performed. There are certain magic scripts within I would highly recommend looking into as well as a formation I would advise either making yourself or commissioning. The formation will allow you to practice controlling the flame without using mana but only Willpower. Most potent anti-mana formation will make do, but the one included in the crystal is specifically targeted towards mana control without limiting Perception-based detection skills.”

Finally, it was getting somewhere. Jake had not expected to be handed an information crystal, and from the looks of it, the thing was filled to the brim with insights, blueprints, and exercises. His brief scan did reveal it obviously required a very solid foundation, and Jake had a strong feeling practicing anything within would be a dead-end instantly for him simply due to how damn weak he was.

The practice in the real world, at least. Because a large part took place within the Soulspace where Jake had far more confidence in competing with near-anyone. Some of the scripts and magic circles were even to be placed within the Soulspace for practice and looked complicated as fuck, and as they existed within the Soulspace, Jake saw no way of getting help for those.

”As mentioned earlier, this state of harnessing your flame as an extension of your will is suited, if not made, for a Soulflame. Due to the Soulbound nature of a Soulflame, there are few other ways of establishing the metaphysical conceptual connection between your will and the flame regardless of all other circumstances. There are methods within the crystal to mimic a Soulflame, and while this may seem like a waste of time compared to simply just waiting till you acquire a Soulflame yourself, it is most definitely not.”

This seemed to instantly pique the interest of everyone once more, making it quite obvious many of them didn’t have a Soulflame yet. It also made Jake pay more attention as he, of course, didn’t have one either.

The dragon down on the platform smirked at the interest displayed by everyone.

”In fact, this may be the most valuable aspect of this lesson. Through practicing with my disciples and juniors, I learned that simply learning this method will result in a significantly improved ability to integrate a Soulflame as it touches on many of the same concepts as the integration process. I would go as far as to say it will almost double the chance compared to attempting it before fully comprehending my method.”

Now that got a response as a wave of disbelief and skepticism went through the mountain peak. Jake himself didn’t know if getting a Soulflame or whatever was hard to begin with, so he didn’t even react but just sat back and listened to why this was the case.

To paraphrase, it was down to similarities of methods and the fact that a Soulflame in itself was apparently very dependent and heavily impacted by Willpower, so if one began learning this method, one kind of began learning to better control a Soulflame too.

The lesson continued as hours slowly passed, and the dragon teacher summoned magic circles and began displaying different examples of how one could create certain arrays to ease the initial process. He even spoke about certain flasks or potions one could brew to speed up the process and some poisons with what sounded like psychedelic properties. Those seemed to be a big hit in the Order when it came to comprehending high-level concepts.

Jake also quickly learned this knowledge had not come cheap. Well, it was cheap for the dragon but not his assistants, disciples, and even slaves. This is also where Jake learned that this entire technique and many of the formations and practices could also be dangerous and lead to adverse effects, perhaps even making the Alchemical Flame worse.

A Soulflame was also dangerous to integrate, it seemed. Like, the dragon said the chance of the Soulspace being burned down and the soul destroyed was far lower after learning his technique, and that sure sounded dangerous. Jake was seriously going to look up what a Soulflame was after this lesson.

and took it all in. Towards the end, he had to admit he failed to understand about ninety percent of

the dragon appeared to have one final demonstration in

to finish off this lesson, let me show you the

the air and spread out to surround the entire mountain. It covered an area

array he had just erected before this final demonstration activated. ”Now, usually with mana cut off, my connection would fade… but my flame has

was nothing as the destructive flame turned the solid enchanted stone to nothing. On every single platform, the flame closed in on those sitting there as some reacted by making barriers

Everyone except for one.

he curiously touched the deep red Alchemical Flame of the A-grade dragon. His hand sunk into it easily, and he felt like it was slightly warm to the touch, and it felt a bit weird. It wasn’t solid, but he did feel like he touched… something. He waved his hand around a bit inside the flame before he pulled it out again, not a single mark upon his skin. Jake did not wear gloves currently, but based on how it didn’t harm his sleeves,

now being focused squarely on him. Even the dragon teacher looked at Jake a bit curiously, with a hint of surprise also there. It was understandable why. The flame had

Jake touched the flame… well, because he knew it wasn’t harmful to him in the least. His danger sense was silent even as it

blocked it, but not before leaking through a bit of his own aura and presence. The dragon reacted as he smiled and bowed

of my technique and

pressure, though, as everyone now focused on him even more, and with the teacher

and more powerful than he was. Also… he had a feeling he was right, and even if he made himself look like an idiot, he could just leave

you control it, it is still an Alchemical Flame and bound by its fundamental concepts. Additionally, with only Willpower, it will naturally act according to your will, and your will was clearly not to harm anyone. Both consciously and unconsciously. The flame is destructive, yes, but only to objects without souls. Naturally, this includes items bound to an individual with

dragon asked curiously. ”The Soulflame I possess is one with inherent combat potential; would it not be risky to bet on an assumption? Not that I believe senior would

issues if my ability to deduct and detect intent are good enough,” Jake answered back. ”Additionally, this flame is only powered by Willpower. It isn’t made for a fight but to destroy objects that put up no inherent resistance. It is a conceptual flame, didn’t

my intent and will was to cause harm when the flame is conceptually able to damage living entities?” the dragon asked

was a bit out of his depth by now. However, he

It is driven by your will, and

such a level of killing intent would even be detectable. If I even purposefully willed

killing intent,” Jake smirked as he touched it

in reality, right? The dragon finally bowed as he gracefully thanked Jake. ”You have my gratitude for your insights; I shall take it

waited for Jake to nod in acknowledgment before

as the flame of destruction closed in, but as shown by the senior, the flame was indeed harmless. However, this

out during Jake and the dragon’s conversation closed in again, and in a wonderous display, it touched upon the broken edges of the platforms as new stone seemed to grow out. It did not have the same color as the old pavilion, nor did it seem to retain the enchanted nature, but

it appeared from the flame. A

know it isn’t so. The environmental mana alone is enough to construct this stone as it responds to my flame. Once more, this does not consume my own mana, but the flame functions as a tool imposing my will upon the environment to amplify the concept