The Primal Hunter

Jake woke up in his new huge mansion bed after a well-deserved rest. He had taken a nap to rejuvenate himself and felt thankful that was still an option. Jake had learned some races didn’t know how to sleep and never became able to, no matter if they gained human form or not. He was grateful that at least he would never lose his ability to, only the need for sleep. Sleeping was nice.

Sitting up in the bed, he saw he had slept only three or so hours. He stretched a bit before he got up and headed to the library to finally figure out what the hell a Soulflame was. He had already checked the Viper’s drop of blood using Sagacity and found nothing, and the crystal he gained from the lesson didn’t include a description either.

He would also leave Meira alone for her task, so he went to find the books himself. Not that he would necessarily have asked her either way. Jake was a big boy who could go to the library all by himself.

The library was huge and naturally came pre-stocked with books. All of them centered around D-grade alchemy and general knowledge. In the middle was a large tome that served as an index of sorts, and Jake went over and opened it. A projection of a list appeared, and with mental commands, Jake searched for the name Soulflame.

It returned a few thousand results, so Jake tried with something more precise.

He narrowed it down a few more times until he finally found a book just called: Soulflames! Beware!

It was a picture book. For children.

Perfection.

Jake quickly tracked it down as he took it out from the shelf, and it truly was a colorful picture book. It had a picture of a flame on the cover with two small, scaled children, staring at it. Jake couldn’t wait as he opened it and began reading it. Well, reading was a strong word as it was light on text and heavy on colorful pictures.

He skimmed it for fun but quickly found it wasn’t what he had hoped for. It was more a warning than a guide on Soulflames for children not to absorb any. So, by context clues, now Jake at least knew Soulflames were something you absorbed.,

Deciding to not mess around anymore, Jake went and actually found a real book on the subject. This one had the far more normal name: Locating, Identifying & Understanding Soulflames For Beginners.

Could he have just asked Villy? Sure, but he had an entire library to himself, so why not make use of it? The library also came with comfortable armchairs, so Jake found one and took a seat as he started reading.

So… Soulflames.

Soulflames were not some skill rank or something you ”made”; instead, it was something you found. Soulflames were a special kind of natural treasure found throughout the multiverse, but they were scarce and often quite dangerous and incredibly difficult to find due to appearing in dangerous places.

A Soulflame formed when an environment reached a certain threshold, and an elemental was about to be born and awaken spirituality, but somehow it failed and turned into a Soulflame instead. It was just not truly a living object, but somehow it managed to retain a fragment of a Truesoul from what Jake gathered, making it a potent item.

and absorbed atmospheric mana while being compatible for upgrades, but a Soulflame needed to ”learn” and upgrade itself. Because while a Soulflame did not live, it did have instincts that

it wasn’t as simple as finding one. Firstly, Soulflames had rarities, and while they could be upgraded, it was difficult. The only way to upgrade a Soulflame was to have it absorb similar Soulflames in order to ”learn” from

even if one got a common rarity Soulflame, it wasn’t necessarily good. In fact, Soulflames below rare were

all shapes, sizes, affinities, and with innate concepts. Jake would not be able to absorb a Soulflame of pure light magic, and while he could absorb a Soulflame of the water affinity, it would probably ”nerf” him and his current Alchemical Flame as he would get a flame he wasn’t good at using and didn’t truly fit

Soulflames and making them a part of themselves by integrating them into their Truesouls, like they were Soulbound items. This process also integrated the Soulflame with their Alchemical Flame and effectively permanently merged the two. Big focus on the

would downgrade the rarity of his Alchemical Flame to common, and based on the nature of the Soulflame,

were good to have, and an alchemist with a Soulflame and one without at a similar rarity and level

another layer of difficulty to the upgrade process while ”locking in” the nature of the flame semi-permanently. This did result in a better flame – assuming you got one suited to

their state as semi-living entities. Giving birth to one, while theoretically possible, would likely take Jake thousands of years and way

an idea what a Soulflame was, the next question was

he get one? And should

a Soulflame was to just buy one. Alchemists had devised methods of trapping Soulflames and sealing them for later

would struggle. It would try to destroy whatever sealed it, and often its power was not to be underestimated. Jake even read many examples of people dying to Soulflames that they tried to capture. The

obscene amounts of money on a Soulflame would find themselves killed or crippled in the process of absorbing them. The book Jake had found did not touch on any absorption methods but did warn one

he should get one was also tricky and one he couldn’t truly answer. It was the kind of thing Jake would only know if he ever came across one, and when that happened…

his first lesson in quite a while as he instantly took out a token and sent a message towards an Elder of the Dragonflight. The information he included resulted in an instantaneous answer as

the multiverse in many different sectors and planets. They had naturally also chosen to have a presence on Primordial-4 due to the vicinity of the Order of the Malefic Viper. Also, the fact it was a Great Planet just made it

fire but also alchemy. The Order was a great place to send their young and for them to learn methods not taught anywhere else. In fact, the Dragonflight currently had well-over ten thousand of their young geniuses

a few more times before he went towards the Firebound Peak, home of the local branch leader. It was a Grand Elder of the Emberflight Clan

pressure from the flames that burned at the top. It pierced the sky like a pillar of the world, extending an impossible distance. The heat emanating from the Peak halfway up would be enough to kill a C-grade, and the chamber of the Grand Elder was something Albaromoz as an A-grade couldn’t

himself before a giant golden gate leading into it. He kneeled before it as it swung open, inviting him in. This was only his second time there, with the first time being when he had been granted his Soulflame by the Grand Elder herself. It was a Soulflame nurtured by their clan only granted to elites, and Albaromoz

gate, he entered a massive hall of gold with countless precious treasures scattered throughout. A single pillar of the hall would rival the wealth of most A-grades, and the treasures scattered haphazardly would be able to create wars in even A-grade

Dragon Cave, far better

he instantly kneeled. A

and leader of the local branch but also his Patron. He looked up and saw the horned woman, wearing a deep red dress that looked to be burning as she stood in the middle of

lightly… are you certain?” her ethereal voice echoed throughout the hall. Albaromoz felt the barriers fully up as their conversation was fully sealed

use the word certain, but I do hold enough confidence to request an audience just on the chance I am correct. The ambient mana surrounding him was fresh, not from here. His knowledge seemed surface-level at best, even if he had deep insights into certain elements. Additionally, he somehow possessed enough Academy Credits to attend my lesson, which means he must have a backer within the Order. He was the last one to sign up for the lesson, too, despite it being available for two years… and he signed up the day the new batch from the ninety-third universe finished the entry-dungeon. He had the blessing of the Malefic One and was able to hide from my Identify effortlessly. What he did feed me was purposeful… and I felt a presence that should not belong to one such as

”Elaborate.”

presence was… and pardon my disrespect, more powerful than Patron Fireplume’s, at least it felt as such. Yet he was no