The Primal Hunter

Jake and Villy moved to the living room of Jake’s mansion, and when Jake went to grab something to drink, the Viper just pulled out two beer bottles that gave off a response from his Sense of the Malefic Viper. Poison beer, nice.

They sat down across from each other as the Viper leaned back on the couch and began talking.

“Bloodlines have quite the history in the multiverse. As those with Bloodlines are often compared to Transcendents, it only leads to more scrutiny and interest, especially from those who possess neither. Bloodlines were a thing from the beginning, and many of those with Bloodlines in the first universe did grow up to be powerhouses who dominated, even if they failed to make it to godhood. Naturally, as time moved on, many also became gods… but their survival rate back then was just abysmal.”

“Why?” Jake asked, a bit confused. Did a Bloodline not give an advantage if it was beneficial?

“Hm… did you know not a single one of us Primordials had Bloodlines? At least not ones anyone knew about?” Villy asked

“No,” Jake shook his head. “I had kind of assumed someone did… though it is true I didn’t feel one from Valdemar, and does the current Eversmile even have one? I didn’t feel it. Not from Stormild either, now that I think about it…”

“Stormild does not have one as far as I know, while Eversmile does, his is just hidden due to the nature of his Bloodline. Well, he may have had it always, but no one knew, not even others with Bloodlines. The point is no one with a known Bloodline became a god during the first Era.”

“That is odd,” Jake thought out loud.

“No, not if you understand the landscape back then. You see, people are greedy. Beasts, humans, elementals, it doesn’t matter the race. We are all greedy for power. So when we see someone with something we don’t have, and we don’t know how to get it… we try anyway to take it, no matter how futile the effort. If you had a Bloodline back then, you had a target on your back. In the beginning, because people wanted to capture you and try to extract it, with even rumors spreading that you could gain a Bloodline by consuming someone who had one,” the Viper explained, shaking his head.

“That sounds fucking rough,” Jake said.

“Oh, it was. This was how the entire first Era went. Most with Bloodlines were slaughtered before realizing their potential, and those who survived lived as test subjects until their death. It was a curse more than anything else. Some with Bloodlines were used as Bloodline Detectors and were strutted around to find others with Bloodlines to capture them. Towards the end of the first Era, I don’t think a single person in S-grade even had a Bloodline.

“When the second Era began, people seemed to have gotten the message that you can’t steal Bloodlines, especially as we Primordials spread it with our nascent factions. However, it was discovered that they could be passed down, so I guess you can imagine the next step in the evolution of Bloodline hunting?” Villy asked grimly.

“Treat them like cattle?” Jake asked with a deep frown.

due to how propagation works with the system. Have we ever had the talk about the flowers and the bees?” Villy

have a feeling I

get pregnant, and the male cannot impregnate unless they both wish for it to happen. In what should not have been a surprise to absolutely anyone, people with Bloodlines that have practically been turned into sex slaves aren’t exactly excited about becoming parents. Women and men alike were forced into being nothing more than cattle for their masters or dying. It was a shitshow,” Villy explained. One could feel the disgust in his voice… as well as a wave of deep-seated anger. Jake knew Villy was trying to hide it, but Jake felt the bloodlust and hatred

he nevertheless

least, and there is also the fact that you want the one with the Bloodline to be powerful. The Bloodline alone is nice, but the Records of the parents also

who used a more diplomatic approach. The ones who genuinely made them members of their factions, nurtured them, allowed them to prosper, and even sometimes had them end up the new leaders. In fact, this is how many still-existing factions began. There was also a growing tendency to just

doubt those with Bloodlines themselves would help, and unless something was drastically different back then, I don’t see every team

beasts where variants were often confused as ones having Bloodlines… the entire situation was utterly fucked and in no way sustainable long-term. Yet it continued, and this craze came in waves. However, there was a shift

possibility; they will just be secretive about it?” Jake asked a

dare try,” Villy said,

of my

all hell was unleashed upon them, leading to a treaty that still stands today, banning the abductions, enslavement, and coercion of those with Bloodlines for purposes of procreations,” the Viper said. When he got to the middle part, Jake felt

Instead, he asked a question, slightly changing the topic. “Who was behind

were desperate for expansion. At the same time, a small clan that was rapidly growing to power appeared within their territory, all having powerful Bloodlines. The Pantheon’s leader was a god who was most known for having fought the Starsiezing Titan, another Primordial, and the fight having been mostly deemed a draw. He was confident, but he felt like he needed more. So he looked to this small clan and

came as a surprise. He knew factions could

The problem was that he also forced them into propagating their Bloodline. He forced the women of the clan to be his own mistresses to sire powerful children and the men to copulate with his own daughters. This was caught within a week of it happening… and this moronic god learned the consequences of breaking the

my place, more than ten thousand gods surrounded the planet the Pantheon called home. A slaughter began, the god in charge fled to his realm, where he was promptly followed and killed within. Even if he was stronger in there… even if he was a top talent, one not even another Primordial could kill in single combat, he was no match to the combined might of what may as well have been the entire multiverse. The entire Pantheon was killed and every single member of god’s faction. Trillions died that day,

any Primordial broken it, or won’t they dare to either? I have a hard time seeing someone like Eversmile purposefully avoiding doing certain things just due to the

is not a liar. His word means more than you can understand due to the Path he walks. A promise made by him is more binding and more meaningful than any contract,” Villy just shook his

to conclude, this treaty means I am more

only if the kidnapping is to research or forcefully spread the Bloodline. Not that there is much other reason to. As I am sure you can imagine, they would have loved to make Bloodline Holders into

a good understanding of the situation by now. “The method you talked about

as a member or even just bribes them or pays them to join temporarily as mercenaries to have them spread

people with Bloodlines are